Hey @Garrett Brown,
I bought a cabin in the Smokey Mountains almost 2 years ago now.
We did alot of research going into it. We settled on the Smoky Mountains due to fear of unexpected STR regulations in many areas across the country. The Smokies have been relying on short term rentals for their economy for decades and for this reason we felt that it was far less likely to have surprise regulations slapped on us that could affect the investment.
Before purchasing, we analyzed almost 100 in service STR's in the area to see what makes others successful. We came to the conclusion that mountain views, hot tubs, and proximity to big attractions were the most common similarities between successful listings. We settled on a mountainside cabin with a beautiful view only a few miles from Dollywood.
As for reviews, we have learned alot in our time operating the property. The biggest factor as most have said, is communication. Good instructions on access, amenities and use of the property are crucial, guests hate to get to a rental and be confused about how to get in, where to find things, etc. We also found early on that alot of renters don't want to bother to message the host about issues, but then are happy to mention the issues in their reviews. For this reason, we send a friendly message to every guest the day after check-in asking how their first night was and if there's any questions they have or anything they need. Usually it's something minor like "the cabin is great, but the coffee maker isn't working". Getting this info from them allows us to get ahead of the issue and have a new coffee maker dropped off, guests love how quickly we are able to resolve issues or get necessary supplies dropped off. To that point, delivery services have been a huge help for us. We are almost always able to have anything a guest needs dropped off in less than an hour. Most guests are amazed by this and very grateful. Lastly, another problem we noticed with the booking platforms is that many guests don't understand how the review scale is treated. Many treat it like a Google review where 3 is fine, 4 is good, and 5 is perfect. However, all hosts know that the platforms basically treat is as 5 is good and 4 or less is a failure. We make sure guests understand that 5 stars is the expectation by sending them a message after check-out: "Hi _____, we hope you enjoyed your stay at the cabin! You were wonderful guests, we just left you a 5-star review and it would mean the world to us if you left us one as well 😊. Safe travels home and come back soon!"
The cabin has been awesome for my investing journey. I started off house hacking a 3 family in central Massachusetts in 2020. I owned it for 2 years before selling and using a 1031 exchange to purchase the cabin. Our cash flow on the cabin is about 2x what it was for the 3 family, with the potential to reach 3x at peak performance. I also learned a ton about 1031 exchanges and now have experience in 2 different real estate investment methods.
My biggest tip I would tell my past self, as a remote investor, before even starting the property search, call around, talk to agents and locals and find a super reliable contractor for yourself. We did have an inspection for our cabin, but there just wasn't enough detail about the condition of several important things. We had a few surprise capital expenditures come up in our first year that weren't really mentioned to us by the inspector. A reliable contractor however would have likely caught them all and been able to give us estimates to go back to the seller with to negotiate.
Would be happy to answer any questions or give advice to anyone starting out! We have learned alot in our first 2 years.
Here is the listing:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/812587724289123082?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76
