Hi everone. I am trying to decide either on a 5 bedroom chalet ( 3 ensuites) with great views and location vs a 4 bedroom pool cabin (4 ensuites)with nice views and good location. Will the rent be similiar? The 5 bedroom is more money and both are new builds. I am torn since the views are what I think really helps increase rental rates, but the pool cabin will be unique and very nice. I appreciate all input received!
Real Estate Agent · USA · Member since 2016 · 909 posts · 1k+ votes
5y
@David Almasy the higher number of bedrooms will drive more income than the view. Views are a fantastic marketing tool in this market. However, it's entirely possible to have a lower ROI on a view cabin than on a comparable cabin without a view due to the price difference. I can't speak to your situation because I don't know the specifics, but I might go 5 bed with pool if it were me!
Real Estate Agent · Sevierville, TN · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5y
What @Justin Anderson said. Especially if the 4BR w/pool has, as you say, a "nice" view vs. the "great" view of the 5BR chalet. 4BR w/pool all day long. (I also suspect the chalet is significantly older than the pool cabin, which will add to your Capex in the long run)
Lender · Asheville NC · Member since 2016 · 469 posts · 317 votes
5y
Agree on the pool. 95% if not more of my cabin inquiries during pool season are pool related. :) In fact, one of my cabins' HOAs is $50, and I was trying to cheap out and not pay it because all I seemed to get for it was a pool. Then all of those pool questions rolled in, and I started paying haha.
Thanks for all the input. Here is some added info-- the 5 bedroom is NOT furnished, but costs about $60,000 more than the 4 bedroom pool cabin, but it IS furnished. Both homes are new builds by the way. Again, I appreciate all insight!
Investor · Ogden, UT · Member since 2018 · 295 posts · 208 votes
5y
@David Almasy I can attest that my Airbnb with a pool in Panama City makes significantly more than my apples to apples Airbnb property only 6 blocks away (both off of the beach). Both are 4/3's, the only real difference is the pool. The pool is more of a headache to take care of and keep clean but I am finally hiring that out this week and the extra $150/month will still be worth it.
Thanks for all the input. Here is some added info-- the 5 bedroom is NOT furnished, but costs about $60,000 more than the 4 bedroom pool cabin, but it IS furnished. Both homes are new builds by the way. Again, I appreciate all insight!
To me, that just strengthens the 4BR with pool argument. If it were the other way around you'd maybe have some COC considerations to do, but if it's 4BR, has a pool, views, and comes furnished, it's looking better and better.
Rental Property Investor · Destin, FL · Member since 2019 · 11 posts · 9 votes
5y
Ahhh. The ole pool question. Caveat: I only own one cabin and have been doing this for 5 months.
But I went big and bought a 5 BR pool cabin in PF as my first. The pool and I started out with a love/hate relationship. It was 95% of the reason my guests booked but it was also 95% of my problems. I had a bad pool guy from the start and knew it but couldn’t find a replacement. (Every pool guy I reached out to said they weren’t taking on any more pools). After a ton of time, I finally found a replacement and fired my initial pool guy.
What a difference. Now my pool is still 95% of the reason people book and I haven’t had an issue since my new pool guy took over. So now I love my pool all the time.
I believe pool cabins rode (and are still riding) the post-Covid wave even more so than the non-Pools. People just don’t want to go swim in a public place still. I have zero data to back this up, just my own inkling based on my guests.
I’m a numbers/Excel guy and am happy to share. I went live in mid-June (lucky timing). I have had $133k in revenue in 2020 and $20k on the books for 2021. With any luck, I’ll be north of $200k for my first year. I spent a ton of time getting everything set-up, but now I only look at things every few days if something comes up.
I would buy a 4 BR with a pool over a 5 BR without, everything else pretty equal.
I’m on the @Avery Carl and @Luke Carl train too BTW.
Pelzer, SC · Member since 2017 · 26 posts · 10 votes
5y
Our cabin is a pool cabin and we dealt with a slow leak the first 6 months trying to get the builder out and then finding the leak, etc. However, once we got past that it’s been great. A lot of pool cabins are being built and if existing business don’t staff up or new ones come in, it’s going to be tough finding a good pool servicer.
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5y
@Justin Anderson in your opinion would a 3 bed cabin with a pool also gross $30k more per year than one without? What do you think the operating/service cost is for an indoor pool? Most of them I’ve seen in new builds are very small!
Property Manager · Pigeon Forge · Member since 2016 · 199 posts · 208 votes
5y
IMO an indoor pool at 85k is a no brainer as you can get 30k/year extra at that size. Especially with interest rates now, you're talking $500 or $600/m on your note with over 2k+/month coming back.
The caveat is what Andy said a few posts up -- there are a lot of cabins going up now that have pools. That may drive down the return. You have to weigh what you think the market is going to do vs the long term cost of adding a pool.
Investor · Staten Island, NY · Member since 2016 · 31 posts · 23 votes
5y
@David Almasy
I am amazed at how many people changed what you asked, not a lot of critical readers. They flipped the pool to the 5 bedroom, they said the 5 bedroom was older after you indicated they were both new builds!
columbus, OH · Member since 2018 · 9 posts · 7 votes
5y
Continuing with the pool question. I am designing a 2 bedroom cabin right now and am on the fence about whether to add a pool or not. I know pools give you a higher return however I'm building in the cobbly knobb subdivison which has 3 pools already. Am I wasting my money by adding an indoor pool to this cabin?