I started investing in Branson in 2008, and the trends have changed dramatically since then. Guests used to be satisfied with the more ordinary, nice, and clean properties. If you had a luxury product, you knew yours would book, as well—as long as it was managed well and CLEAN. Most of the inventory in my area (Branson, MO) consisted of condominiums with a smattering of houses. The biggest vacation rental house at the time was a massive 7 bedrooms. In 2018, I had the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of something new—I bought one of the first 9-bedroom lakeview properties in the Branson area. It was unprecedented…a new development of mostly 9-10 bedroom homes only. As you can imagine, I wondered if anyone would even book it since there were no homes currently on the market to compare it to. I wondered: are mid-size groups coming to Branson regularly? Are there really that many multigenerational families visiting our area, and will they be coming year-round?
Thankfully, the answer to all of my questions was a resounding: yes! The first full year of being open, we generated approximately $180,000 in revenue, and our equity went gang busters. So, we bought a second 9-bedroom in the same development (and during Covid—another nail-biting story entirely). The second one also booked incredibly well, and a year in advance to boot!
The trend had taken root, and more and more of these large, luxury homes built up around the Branson area. Lake-view became the new sexy thing to invest in. To be competitive you also had to have a hot tub. And then you had to have arcade games. If you had outside space for kids to play, that was a bonus. Swim spas or indoor pools became the newest trend. And why not? If your budget and imagination can handle it, guests seemed to love it. Today, there are properties with indoor basketball courts, lazy rivers, movie theaters, and exterior spiral slides going from the upper deck to the lower deck...truly creative ways of grabbing the first round of renters.
Even though my rents were steady because I had a hefty repeat renter business by then, I realized that this trend of having a large luxury home was not enough if I wanted to capture more renters. We will always have a need for large, luxury homes, as well as smaller condominium units. There is also a group of renters who are looking for a unique experience. Although themed houses aren’t massively popular locally (or maybe we haven’t gotten there yet), data suggests that unique properties that offer something special or that are a different type of construction seem to becoming increasingly popular.
Are you noticing the same thing? I’d love to hear what you are seeing in your neck of the woods.
