All Forum Posts by: Mark Shay

Winter business in the Poconos can be influenced by your distance from one of the main ski resorts (Camelback, Jack Frost/Big Boulder, Blue Mountain, Shawnee). The resorts offer season passes and have ski teams for kids so it is not unusual to have a 10 week booking during the winter season. By definition this seasonal rental is not STR and therefore some don't book these though the booking engines which does challenge the averages and reporting.

Investment Info:

Other buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $85,000
Cash invested: $85,000

10 acres Vacant Land in PA's Act 319 (Clean and Green) at the last traffic light before the Blue Mountain Ski Resort. Land is zoned Resort Commercial allowing for a hotel, convenience store or similar businesses. Clean and Green means I have reduced taxes in holding the property, back taxes would be due if it were to be developed (maybe $20K). A small price to pay for what might be a very successful hospitality development.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I am encouraged by the expansion of the Blue Mountain Ski Resort, now a 4-season destination. Lack of nearby hotels/inns is one of the biggest challenges for the resort and hopefully someone will find this land as the ideal spot.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Saw a sign on the property.

How did you finance this deal?

Cash purchase, used a SBA loan, using our vacation home STR as collateral.

Nice work on this list! I agree with you that Lake Harmony area is the first place an investor should consider. It can be complicated with the 5 communities that can join the Boulder Lake Club and homes in Split Rock that aren't actually in a HOA. It's got everything from $250K townhomes to $5 million mansions and great rental histories.

From what I hear, finding quality contractors and craftspeople is not only an issue in the Poconos.   There are national firms like Lowe's, Home Depot and LL Flooring (Lumber Liquidators) with stores in the area who sell installation services and take responsibility for project management and quality assurance.  Not everyone likes this option, but it is an alternative to looking for a local small business.  There are also franchise operations like Stanley Steamer and ServiceMaster here.  

Monroe County, the core of the Poconos has a population over 200,000 and not all of us are hanging out in taverns or spending time in rehab clinics!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $350,000
Cash invested: $500,000

Purchased 47 acres of vacant land near the Blue Mountain Ski Resort. Since added a home, a campsite (listed on HipCamp.com) and lots of trails for our vacation rental guests.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The area around the ski resort is very under developed.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Used a local realtor

How did you finance this deal?

Cash

How did you add value to the deal?

Had a manufactured home added, developed the grounds

What was the outcome?

https://www.vrbo.com/1762782

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Running a vacation home rental property is like running a micro-hotel

As @JohnGeldert has stated, the Townships and Boroughs (municipalities) are the ones to provide the licenses necessary to operate a STR. Places like Blakeslee, Tannersville, Albrightsville, Pocono Summit, Pocono Pines, Pocono Lake are just postal designations, not the names of municipalities. I suggest you look beyond the mailing address to find the legal address and places like Penn Forest Township, Coolbaugh Township, Tobyhanna Township, Tunkhannock Township, Jackson Township, Mt. Pocono Borough, etc. Google Maps will give you township boundaries if you search on the township name.

For anyone who is tracking STR-friendly Pocono communities, Tobyhanna Township, home to more than 800 STR's has just published their STR ordinance.  If you are looking at properties in the area, it is important to understand the difference between mailing address and legal address.  Post offices (zip codes) in the area do not correspond with municipal boundaries, so for every property you are considering, first check to find the township/borough name and then look to their STR zoning restrictions and licensing requirements.

A lot has happened in Tobyhanna Township over the past few years. STR just became regulated and the new ordinance is causing some angst. There were an estimated 800 STRs operating in the township before the ordinance and based on a surge of new properties for sale, some of those operators are getting out. The ordinance limits occupancy to 2 per bedroom, with a maximum of 10 per property. The number of bedrooms for STR has to match the number of bedrooms cited in the septic permit, so you are seeing homes with 7 BR now have a 10 person STR occupancy limit and some homes that had bedrooms added without permits now being restricted. Check the Tobyhanna Township website for the latest details - Also, pay attention to mailing addresses and legal addresses as there is a Tobyhanna, PA zip code that includes neighboring Coolbaugh Township and the Tobyhanna zip code does not completely line up with Tobyhanna Township.

Currently two Tobyhanna Township LTR rentals in Pocono MLS:

1) 1400 square feet, 3BR 2Bath rancher in Emerald Lakes = $2250/month

2) 3500 square feet, 4BR 3Bath home in Pinecrest Lake = $4,250/month 

The area is woefully short of LTR as communities like Pocono Farms, Pocono Country Place, Penn Estates and Stillwater Lakes see more LTR move to become STR. It bucks the trend, but might be worth going for.

If you have vacant land and can provide some form of driveway, consider putting up a campsite and listing it on HipCamp.com Key is to only have one campsite so that the zoning rules don't come down on you. Look for 10 acres or more, happy to help set you up with a MLS search