Beach Vacation Rental Vs. Ski Chalet and Other Vacation Rentals

[Krista Goodrich]

Hey BP Community!

I have been investing in STR/Vacation Rentals on or near the beach but am interested in growing my portfolio to include other places I like to visit such as ski resorts, big cities, international spots. My issue is, we were in Park City, Utah last week and Breckinridge recently and no matter how I crunch the numbers, cash payment, leveraging, etc., I cannot seem to make the numbers work where there is a positive return. I don't mind breaking even if I have an investment being paid down by others and a place to visit (even if it's in the off season for example: Utah or Colorado in Summer), but I can't justify investing in a place just to say I have a ski condo...it has to make money.

Can anywhere share stories of good and bad fun-location investments they have made to shed light on how they are making money in some of these higher cost towns?  

[Megan P.]

@Krista Goodrich Hi there! You may want to consider northern New Mexico. This area (and state) is much more affordable. I have 3 Airbnb condos here near the Angel Fire ski resort and make a good return on the rentals. The benefit here is the ski hill is used as a mountain bike hill in the summer. Attendance was up this past summer, even with COVID concerns. And we have a steady stream of mountain bikers/hikers during the summer months.

There is also a country club open to the public for golf, tennis and other activities. So your only “down months” are April/May and November until mid-December. Even in 2020, I had a full November month-long booking and same in May - folks from larger cities escaping to the great outdoors.

The majority of guests here are driving in from Oklahoma and Texas, but I’ve see an uptick lately with folks from Colorado looking for a less expensive alternative, both for rental costs and property prices.