Thoughts on Sevierville, TN?

[Brian Harris]

Hey everyone, I am 100% new to real estate investing and was hoping to get some advice. I started looking for a STR opportunity in TN or NC that is near my mom (to visit sometimes!) and Sevierville caught my attention. The Airbnb calculator estimated higher returns than in most places I've looked, as did local property managers. So I wanted to ask: has STR revenue decreased as bad as it looks, particularly in 2023? I see that many of the places in Sevierville were purchased in 2022, listed 2023, sitting for 100+ days. This really creeps me out, despite claims that there are tons of opportunity (mostly from real estate agents).

Example:

List Price: $699,000

Airbnb Calc: $92k/yr

Property Mgmt Est: $85-95k/yr

WOW!

Articles: Sevierville -49% YoY
OH NO!

I have a trip planned for next week to go view properties, and I'm sort of thankful that my wife put insurance on the tix! Please let me know your thoughts about the area, real experience in '22/'23 and this year super appreciated. Thank you very much and good luck hunting excellent opportunities!