Newbie Group STR Investment

[Dezmin McCoy]

Hello All!

I have been looking to start in real estate investing for a while and think that STR investment is the best option for me, but I have a couple of questions. Hopefully, someone can help me out with some advice.

My husband and I along with 2 other couples (6 people total) are looking to buy a 4+ bedroom cabin in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area for STR use. What we have been looking at in the $600k range. We travel there quite often and love the area and per our research the ROI would be what we are looking for. The issue is we are trying to figure out the best way to make this purchase happen.

We considered forming an LLC to make the purchase in which all 6 of us are equal members of the LLC. However, we found that this would require us to get a commercial mortgage with 20-25% down. We were hoping on a lower downpayment than that if possible. I know another option is to purchase it as a personal vacation home and do a lower downpayment. If we went the vacation home route, can we do this with all of us on the mortgage? Would there be an option to transfer the mortgage to the LLC down the line, or refinance to the LLC? Is there another option I am not considering?