All Forum Posts by: Chuck Kramer

I have one there that is going gangbusters since last May, and am always looking for more. the area in general really bounced back and Chalet Village, hit real hard by fires, is undergoing tremendous rebuilding. I happen to be in Gatlinburg at the moment too.

I realize this is an old thread but did have a thought I wanted to add to it. I am on BiggerPockets to have discussions with other RE pros and pros-to-be. I was unaware that the forums were completely open and being indexed by search engines. In the thread of a conversation, statements may be made that are fine within the context of the conversation, but may not reflect well or accurately when the snippet arises within a search engine or other index tool.

There may also be information that I/we are happy to share with the BP community, but not necessarily with the Internet-at-large, especially any details about our specific properties or business practices and processes.

I agree with the sentiment that if you have a viewing space, then you would probably get more value from a game room. That is especially true if it is configured in a way to add a pullout to sleep another 1-2 people.

I can’t agree with Lucas about bookings. After being with evolve since autumn on 2 properties, I am around 70 and 75% booked and at higher rates than I see similar properties on AirBNB and VRBO (I check at least every 2 weeks). For 2018, one property is already just shy of 100K and the other is at 37K. Both were on VRBO and AirBNB before by previous owners and ran 76K and 26K for the 9 good months of 2017.

EVOLVE charges 10% pluc CC fees of 3%. I put in almost zero time as they handle all guest communications, getting reviews, handling payments, and the 2 times I had claims from guest damage I just sent them pics and receipts and the insurance checks showed up within 10 days. Good for guests too as they don't charge them booking fees. They also handled the listings on all the main services, a pro photographer on their dime to take the photos, and regular communication on rates (they are dynamic).

Hands-on like Lucas can be rewarding too. Maybe consider doing that at first to gauge the commitment and whether giving up 10% is worth it. Remember it is slightly under 10% because you will have some small fees doing it yourself. You can always jump on EVOLVE or one of the other up and coming booking services later if you decide to.

These are just 2 different methods of accomplishing the business end and both can work well for you. 

@Scott Davis Lucas has an inside source that I understand knows her stuff. I’ll let him respond.

But I have quite a few properties in the area now, including a restaurant. I have been working with Gail Owen and Mark Meade at Smoky’s Real Estate (they own it). Both really understand investors and are lob-time locals, which really matters in this area.

https://www.smokysrealestate.com/. 

We expect ARV to be well over 900K and probably close to $1M. We need space utilization and design expertise to help us eke out all of the value buried in the home. It was, in the past, a showcase home and we want it to be that again. So, color, texture, design choices in flooring and furnishings.

I also use the Schlage locks and have been pretty happy with them. As a backup, each of my properties also has a lockbox installed in a non-obvious location. In the mountains, Internet connectivity is not guaranteed. If that happens at a bad time, we can instruct the renter on getting the key from the lockbox.

@Jeff Piscioniere 100% agreed! I dropped prices a bit in January and ended up with a college party that did over $3,000 damage and needed substantial additional cleaning. Insurance covered most of it. Never again. I would rather it sit empty than risk that again.

I am looking for a designer to join my team on a flip & sell opportunity. Its a high-end property and I know my own limits so think it might be overall better to bring in a design professional. 

Anyone have any experience with firms or knowledge of such professionals in the Smoky Mountain area?

@Luke Carl I knew it was old, but assumed that someone, at some point, may search for this kind of info.

To correct a point, I only said TN law prevents you from advertising more bedrooms than is on the septic permit. The way around that is to focus on how many it sleeps, which is what people are usually more interested in anyway.

My time is worth it and I have many ither pursuits and RE investments elsewhere (plus a restaurant in Sevierville), so giving up 10% isnt too much. There is also the tax side of things. Based on a struct interpretation of IRS guidelines on passive income, doing it myself is not passive and my CPA totally agrees. That makes the income subject to employment taxes. EVOLVE does all the online work, up to check-in, then my local partner takes over and handles renter, calls, maintenance, and cleaning. Completely hands-off for me and 100% clearly passive income. Based on my simple math, EVOLVE isnt really costing me 10%, the net effect is more like 3.5%. YMMV depending on your tax advisor and overall tax situation.

You are right about Gatlinburg cabins being older, which is a sign to be very careful when buying. But there is sooooo much new construction and opportunities to do a ground-up build (and easy+cheap construction money from local banks). My 2 in Gatlinburg are from 2007 and 2004, so they aren’t that old and were built after the new stricter building codes were in place. The larger home is packed, with 254 days rented last year and 2018 on track for the same. The smaller log cabin will run around 200 days and that is perfectly good with me as I got it for a great price.

I have offered on 5 others in the last 6 months but was outpriced by people replacing lost homes. Lots of appreciation in that area now, close to 12-15%. That wont last as the new homes come online, but the new construction will lift the surrounding home values up and keep them there.