All Forum Posts by: Aaron Akins

Thanks Joshua! I reached out to the planning and development office today and waiting to hear back!

-Aaron

Hi Michael, I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

By no means was my initial message meant to be 'coy'. The reality of the situation is, I didn't feel that mentioning the area was relevant for the following two reasons:

1. My question to the group holds true irrelevant of the location. 

2. I assumed most folk on here wouldn't know the town due to it's remote location in small town Idaho. 

But now that you have made the accusation, you have put me on the defense; because of this, I'm less likely to WANT to discuss the location. This is a very simple and almost natural human response to such a situation.

Now if this was a local trout stream that sees little pressure or an archery elk honey hole here in Idaho...then maybe I would have been a little more forgiving of your response to my initial message; etiquette and sportsmanship almost asks this of us at times. 

I've personally achieved growth from Dale Carnegie's book "How To Win Friends and Influence People" and choose to revisit the teachings at least once per year. 

Thanks Michael,

Aaron

Hello All,

My wife and I have an offer accepted on a property that we will be using as an STR/Vacation Rental.

The area we are investing in is an up and coming vacation rental market compared to most ski/mountain towns in the West. It's no Aspen, lol.

Because this market is no Gatlinburg or FL Panhandle, etc...it's hard to say that the realtor and all involved are as educated as realtors in the other prominent markets. 

My biggest concern at this point in my process is to ensure that I'm asking all of the right questions and doing my due diligence to ensure that my investment is 'safe'.

I'd really appreciate it if folks in this group would throw out questions that I need to be asking. 

For example:

"Do we foresee any issues with this county/neighborhood allowing STRs in the future?"

Any help you can provide me with during this period would be welcomed! I have 2 weeks to ask all of the right questions. 

Thanks in advance,

Aaron

 I don't know of any, but I'm sure someone on BP does!

Thanks Lyndsey! If I have any questions about Galveston I'll let you know. Are your clients seeing pretty good COC returns with their STRs in this area? Which is providing the best COC return...condos or homes?

Hi Wilson, I've not gotten deep enough into Broken Bow to suggest that I'm seeing better deals than in the Smokies. Thanks for sharing your research/knowledge with me. 

Collin, I always appreciate your realistic outlook and big picture thinking! Thanks for the input. 

Jeff, are you suggesting that I should have the 'bigger is better' mentality with Brown Bow also? Or do you think something like a 1-2 BR property is just as good as a 4-5 BR property, using COC return as the measurement?

Luke, I believe it!

I'd love some help on this topic!

In the Smokies, it seems that 'bigger is better' and that a view seals the deal. I've been ALMOST convinced that I can drop and 15-20% DP on a $1.3M 4BR STR and net $75K/year. I'm skeptical - also I'd like an exit plan if/when then market declines in the next few years.

So I'd really like to consider a healthy STR market where a $650K home isn't listed for $1.3M.

My compass is leading me towards Broken Bow. I'd love to know what type of property rents in this market and what I should be looking for. 

Thanks in advance!