All Forum Posts by: Avery Carl

There is no real way to transfer the bookings or listing from one individual to another on Airbnb or VRBO. The only way to do it is for the seller to cancel all his existing bookings and include a link to your new listing with his cancellation email for guests to re-book. Not all of the guests will re-book with you and the ones who do will be annoyed and come into the property the first day with a bad taste in their mouth about the property. It's never a clean process and usually not worth it, especially if the seller wants any sort of compensation for the bookings.

But since it's not legal it doesn't really matter, just say no thanks!

I'd be much more concerned with the credit score than the DWI.

Is there an agent involved?  Your agent should really be able to advise you on the best course of action.  By Tennessee real estate law, future short term bookings are NOT part of the real estate contract.  He cannot hold your earnest money for this.  

I have several recommendations.  Doug Yates at Wynn, Yates, and Duncan is THE Sevierville expert, he knows the area front and back and has seen it ALL. However, he is older and can be a bit unresponsive.  Tara Dutton at Professional Title is also fantastic. Best of luck! PM me if you need phone numbers.

@Paul Sandhu it's a "historic one-laned logging trail that the first settlers in Tennessee traveled for timber, you can still see the potholes that they created today!"

It can absolutely be a great full time gig! I quit my corporate job after we bought our second STR. The catch is to make sure you buy in the right market. Not only in an area that cash flows well, but one where the STR legislation is friendly. My suggestion is to invest in a TRUE vacation market, i.e. a beach or mountain tourist town where the economy is heavily dependent upon tourists staying in short term rentals. For example, ours are in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area of TN where we get 12 million tourists a year and they all want to stay in log cabins. If the city ever decided to put limitations on STR's it would significantly affect the tourism industry, so it's highly unlikely we will ever have to worry about that type of legislation in our market. Hope this helps!

@Julie McCoy!  I have several clients and several friends who are not clients who own multiple properties in TN (only one in Davidson county each) who Airbnb their primaries when they are out of town. I think you will be safe on that front since you will actually be living there most of the time.

I have purchased 5 of my own Airbnb/VRBO properties and have helped investors acquire over 80 in my market this year.  The question of what to do about future bookings comes up every time.  In my experience it can get very messy, and usually it's the buyer that gets burned.  You are correct that there is no way to truly transfer bookings on these platforms. The only way is for the seller to cancel the bookings on his end, refund the money to the guests, and to send them a link to your new listing.  This will annoy some guests and they will start their vacation with you with a bad taste in their mouths, thus affecting your bread and butter, your REVIEWS.  Our market is busy enough that I have 100% confidence that even with a brand new listing and no reviews, the property is going to get booked and fast.  I always recommend making a clean break and starting a new listing.  Put in your headline "new owner special" and set your prices to below market. You will get booked. Good luck!

I agree with @Rachel Kokosenski, mention it but put a positive spin. On one of ours that has a very steep road, we say "the road is a little intimidating on the first try, but by your second trip up you'll be a pro!" In addition to reporting to the HOA, check your city codes and see if there is anything in them that would warrant reporting the neighbor to the city for as well!

Hahahaha @Tara Wright don't worry about @Luke Carl his sense of humor doesn't translate well over the internet.

@Nancy Bachety the case of the disappearing seller was definitely one for the history books.  But we got 'em! Thank you!

We have 3 in the Pigeon Forge area, 1 in the Gatlinburg area, and 1 in the Wears Valley area.  All of them have Sevierville addresses, so the Sevierville dot on the map is a little deceiving as far as actual cabin locations are concerned.  If a cabin isn't directly inside the city limits of either PF or Gatlinburg, it's going to have a Sevierville address.  My rule of thumb is as long as the cabin is within a 15 minute drive of either the attractions in Gatlinburg or the attractions in Pigeon Forge, you're in good shape, just buy where the best deal is, the rents and occupancy rates are going to be comparable.  Hope that helps!