4x4 required in winter STR??

[Brett Milde]

Hey all! Anyone have experience with a STR cabin in the Smokies that requires 4 wheel or all wheel drive to get to in the winter time? Close to pulling the trigger on purchasing one that is great otherwise, but I'm concerned about the potential rental impact due to that. Any advice appreciated!

[Dave G.]

@Brett Milde you need to calculate diminished rental income into your biz case due to seasonality and a market limited to 4x4 customers part of the year. I have been a customer of a VRBO cabin with a curved & inclined driveway with 5" of snow on it. It was not plowed or treated in any way. No way a car could have made it up to the cabin. My F250 4x4 made it ok. There was no communication from the owner that this condition existed, and could have easily resulted in an angry customer/bad review/cancelled rental. And this was over Xmas so it would have been big bucks ($400/night). So if you buy a STR like this you need to be vocal and clear on it in the listing and real-time. I have a friend who has and STR like this and has had to cancel bookings due to weather. And you don't want people to have an accident (slide into a tree or off an edge) on your property either. That could lead to bad things with insurance claims or even injuries.

Bottom line: Would I invest in a STR property like this? Absolutely, but you need to go in eyes wide open, run the numbers correctly and stay on top of it with winter weather managing the situation wisely with your customers.

[Luke Carl]

@Brett Milde. I haven’t seen it or anything but I’m quite sure it doesn’t require 4x4.

If you’re buying in the mountains you’ll have to deal with steep roads! Around here we’d call you flatlander. In good fun of course.

The other gentleman above is mistaking. We get plenty of bookings in winter. In fact there is no market that is less seasonal than this.

—I’ve got over 2000 short term rental reviews on over 4 million in short term rentals.

[Ken Dillard]

I have a cabin in Sky Harbor between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.  Signs posted saying 4WD in winter and my listing details specify 4WD required in winter conditions.  In Dec there was a winter storm which shut down the area and I had guests that could not get out to depart so I extended their stay by 2 days (they did not have 4WD although with that 2 day storm 4WD did not help many).  This also meant the guest arriving could not check in.  They opted to come to the area anyway and stayed at a hotel (I refunded them but some would say do not refund).  I had a couple of guests ask about the need for 4WD and I consistently say it is required in winter conditions so please watch the weather.  They booked anyway and no weather issues.

Having said that Gatlinburg does not have snow on the ground the whole winter.  I would venture to say this season there have been 8-10 days where it snowed and 2 days when roads were impacted.  Like much of TN, "most" of the time it will snow one day and then be 50 degrees.  For example, the high in Gatlinburg the next 5 days is going to be 48, 44, 51, 57, and 44.  There will be times when the weather is an impact, just like at the beach, or Denver, or even currently in Texas and Nashville.  So have your plan for road plowing (if your area does not provide this) and a plan for customer service.  Execute that when needed.

Jan and Feb will be "down" times in the Smokies.  During the down time I have run 80% occupancy.

Good luck!

[Dave G.]

@Luke Carl I think you need to re-read my post. I did not say that the properties would not book. These properties are booked solid. But when you get winter weather and the property becomes temporarily inaccessible to some or all of your customers, it will result in lost revenue, period.

[Luke Carl]

@Dave G. If it snows I offer refunds and have them cancel. It’s super rare. The storm Ken is referring to was the worst we’ve had since 1993.

Probably a decent amount of things to be worried about right now but I wouldn’t consider snow one of them.

[Brett Milde]

Thanks everyone for the replies! @Luke Carl I know you guys are killing it in the Smokies. I'm looking right over the line from your neck of the woods in the Maggie Valley / Waynesville area. I used to live right outside of Asheville, and am not delusional enough to think I'm going to find something that doesn't have steep roads to access, but this one in particular is not paved and basically a muddy mess that apparently isn't very well cared for by the HOA except for gravel in the springtime, so in the winter time, it's not the snow necessarily that I think will require the 4WD or AWD, more so just the fact that it will be a muddy mess in the winter in general and just wondering how much of an impact that may have. I appreciate the feedback on that!

[Luke Carl]

@Brett Milde. I’ve got 2 with roads the scared the pants off me the first time I went up them as a flat lander. They crush it. Just have to manage them properly. Call me any time

[Brett Milde]

@Luke Carl thanks! Would love to! Sent you a connect request before I saw this message. Can you DM me your number?