All Forum Posts by: Sean Harris

My wife and I have a HELOC that I will be using to pay for some of the down payment on a house. We got the HELOC about 3 years ago and since then the value of our home has gone up quite a bit. So my question is can I ask the current lender if I can have the house revaluated and get access to more money in the HELOC or will it have to be paid completely down before I attempt this? Thanks

My wife and I are looking to buy our first property in the Smokey'. We have gotten some good feedback from our realtor and lender but I wanted to ask the folks on here the same question. What are some hot areas to look at in the Smokey's where you see high rental occupancy? Popular areas that people prefer to stay so they can experience everything the Smokey's has to offer.

Yes those are gross numbers 100-150k

Just looking for some advice. My wife and I are looking to buy our first STR and we currently have a HELOC on our primary residence that we are wanting to utilize to cover some cost of the down payment. After looking at a cash out refi it will raise my monthly payment by $1000 which is quite a bit. The homes I am looking at are making around 100k a year so I think I would be able to pay off the HELOC in a year or two max I'm just not sure what the best/safest option is

I'm looking for people who have personal experiences with vacation rentals in the Gatlinburg, pigeon forge, Sevierville area. When looking at some of the properties over there, some houses are grossing around 120-150k a year. Some of these properties you can go back 3 years on their tax returns to verify income but as we know 2020 was a very weird year and I feel this year will be similar with alot if people traveling and using vacation rentals instead of hotels. I want to ask the people that currently own property there if the income has been consistent way before the pandemic hit. Thanks

Another thing is finding out the consistent numbers the property grosses in a year would be harder to figure out now because I figure you can't base numbers off of last year 2020 because of how weird the world was and alot of people weren't traveling but if they were they often stayed in STR to avoid large hotels. This year will be weird also because I feel like everyone is purging and going on trips due to the stimulus payments we received and the fact that we were locked down so long. I feel like the only numbers to accurately go off would be from 2019 and below but how do you get that information from that far back on a property? I appreciate all the feedback, you all had some very good points. Thank you!

I appreciate all the feedback, you all had some very good points. Thank you! 

We are buying to replace our income within the next 5 years. My current job will be no longer available in the next 5-7 years so I want to be ready for when that happens. I have a friend who just bought two places in Gatlinburg Tennessee and is absolutely killing it so that made me rethink my investment strategy. The big question I feel like is where to do it that will work for us. I have big time analysis paralysis, which is good and bad. Home prices are absolutely nuts but I don't want my money in the bank just to watch it dwendle down. We want assets to provide the income we need.

Just thought I would start a thread on the current STR market. We have been looking to invest in one for the last month but it seems like all the places you hear about now have already exploded like Joshua Tree, CA and Gatlinburg Tennessee as examples. Do you think it's crazy to jump in the mix when EVERYONE is trying to buy STR and the competition is so crazy. Do you think that cities will start to place stricter rules on them since there are so many popping up making it hard to turn a profit? The short term rental market is crazy hot right now

Awesome, thank you