Hello! Gearing up for coastal and mountain vacation rental investing.

[April Calnin]

Hi community - I'm a long-time homeowner but rather new to the investor space. With a major home remodel and addition under my belt and a strong interest in environmentally responsible home building, I am gearing up to begin an investing journey. Most likely looking to invest in the beach/coastal communities in the Southeastern US and possibly also the mountain areas in Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. 

Would love to chat with folks experienced in these specific areas and any resources for continued learning and growing my network and skills. 

[Levi Bennett]

Hey there, welcome to BP. You described my entire region of specialty. I'm in the process of creating a regional brokerage for newer investors to get real help with acquisition, and consultation on STR, MTR and LTR success in the residential space. I've been an investor and broker for the last 10 years in FL and NC, and specialize in the mountain regions, and beach regions because that's where most of the tourists, and investors who want getaways, invest (certainly there are many other interesting markets to invest however, booming wine country for example..)

To add to it, I love the environmentally responsible home building, that's something I've had an interest in for a while, and I've worked with several contractors and architects in the last few years to come up with a useful plan for alternative and environmentally responsible building materials. 

I will say, generally speaking, building new can be an annoying and cumbersome process if you're new to it. And obviously, it rarely cash flows unless you can find property with an existing source of income that can be added to (a savvy strategy actually). 

I will say, when looking, use as much useful data as you can, but more importantly, work with people who know how to interpret the data. There's a lot of contextless data flying around and there is a big difference between people who want to sell you something in the short run, and people who want to see you succeed in the long run and they'll use the data to suit their needs. 

I would say first step if figuring what kind of goals you're looking for, and then going backwards from there. Some people want cash-flow from day 1, some people want to invest long term, some medium term... all different strategies that would require a custom tailored approach. 

Best of luck! I'm happy to help.