All Forum Posts by: Mitch Davidson

@Sebastian Sogamoso, I was about to say much of what @JD Martin said above. It's one of our best STR markets when you study it. I almost bought there myself a few years ago. There are many second homes there, meaning homes where the owners are content with a crummy PM making them a little bit of STR money in their absence, so it can be a challenge to weed those comps out of your study. I also don't think the appreciation opportunity is as great as communities a little closer to Asheville. Friends of mine do really well with cabins in the woods there, and stay pretty booked in the winter (for low rates of course), but they've had the homes listed for years. Meaning it takes a while to get the momentum going. And you have to work hard at making the home a destination in and of itself (ex: hot tub, outdoor lighting, heat umbrella, fire pit with wood, grill, sauna, games, arcades, books, great cookware, etc.). Also, properties on the lake cost 3-4x per SF and have a major downside for Dec 1 - April 1 or so: they see a giant mud bowl out the window because the lake is drained. You won't have that problem with a cabin in the woods. Final thought. I wouldn't buy anything that's more than 15 minutes from the Chimney Rock strip or otherwise the public beach. The drive down from the norther parts of Lake Lure, for example, is a long, slow, twisty pain in the neck. Your guests will hate it. And they'll have no cell signal or gas stations while they drive it, which can be another problem.

@Josef Bryan GersterI would continue to think hard on what else you can do to make the place a destination in and of itself. One thing that helped me was installing some arcade units from Arcade1up (and showing them in the first 5 photos). I've tested out some of them as well. The Marvel vs Capcom is one of the best, as 2 people can play and for a long time. I added 2 red chairs form Amazon to make it more attractive. They also have some great, small arcades for younger kids. Pro tip: try to find the ones you like on Amazon, because ordering from Arcade1up's website involves hefty shipping costs. 

Also, my kids really love it when they see a place provides an Xbox or Nintendo 64 as well. And they can be nastalgic for some of us too. Perhaps you could better show your workstation (desk and chair), as well as board games and curated books if you have such (highly recommend you get and show some if not).

Your photos look good but I think the right photographer could make the place pop a lot more, for just a couple hundred dollars. And beyond the guests themselves, Airbnb's algorithms might gravitate to higher def photos. I heard they did so in the past.

Additionally, your review score is awesome. To help keep it 5.0 I would consider offering, as often as you can, late checkout, and just a day or two before checkout. If I know I don't have someone coming in the same day (and especially if no one's coming in the next day) I'll push the cleaning out if possible and then let the guests know they can stay as late as 5PM, and for free. That seems to really inspire them to (a) clean up well, and (b) leave me a 5.0 review. 

Finally, some guests are more inclined to give you a 5.0 review, and generally be more reasonable and respectful, if the host name is a person not a company, and the host has a headshot. When I've studied my competition in the past, I see people ripping into cabin rental companies, Vacasa, you name it, for things I think they'd never complain about at my place. Meaning, they seem to have more of a heart for a person who seems to own a home or two, has a family to feed, etc. Thus I recommend considering a change to your profile name and photo.

Hope this helps.

Scandinavian style + Black Mountain. Sounds like a lucrative combo.

 Hi Audrey. You can direct message it to me. Just can't post it here in the forums.

Hi @Audrey Wise. Welcome to BP. We have two BP meetups here in Asheville every month, if you're interested. The meetups are casual and conversational, and attendees range for new and curious to seasoned and advanced. Our next gathering is at 9AM next Wednesday, 7/24, at The Rhu (upstairs), and this time is focused on new construction. No need to RSVP, but you can on Meetup.com if you like. And I can add you to our events emails if you want to send me your email address. 

@Maysam Ghovanloo, Rodrigo Afanador would be my top recommendation. And if you're ever in town at the right time, he co-hosts a popular real estate meetup every month.

Vesta Property Management

Rodrigo Afanador

[email protected]

@Maysam Ghovanloo. For long-term rental, short-term rental, etc.? And what town in specific?

@Cameron Wells. I'm local here in Asheville, and eager to help you connect to other people and resources if you want to have a call.

Personally, I would only use HELOC money if the project will be rather quick. I've used such for projects that ran long in the past, while interest rates rose again and again. It sucked. But on the other hand, once the money was paid back I wasn't paying interest on it and I could redraw (unlike a traditional mortgage). And even if the rate is prime plus a percent or two, it's still superior to private or hard money. That said, there are very few options for HELOC's on investment properties. Signature FCU is the best I've heard of. They'll go up to 80% LTV depending on your income. I believe they have a $200,000 line limit though. I'd recommend taking the slightly higher rate for the setup that's interest-only for the first 10 years, as it'll help keep your DTI low for future mortgages.

If you need some local private money connections, I can intro you to some options from our BP meetup network. If you do a construction loan, I would recommend Jason Chambers at United Federal Credit Union (I can send contact info) and Patrick Blackburn at Movement Bank (I can send you info). And if you end up building and then refinancing into a conventional or DSCR mortgage, I can help there as well.

@Bruce Reeves. Here's another plug for western NC: appreciation. Not only do we have high STR/MTR demand, but we have an endless line of people that want to live here and yet very little buildable land, the result of which is consistently strong appreciation.

If you have the option, I would consider a townhome over a condo. The investors for conventional loans (Fannie & Freddie) layer on to the pricing (i.e., rate and points options) for condos. It's lame, but they do. And they don't do that with townhomes. Thus, the same amount of points expense might get you a rate that's .25% higher for a condo.

Also, if you can put 20% down I would do it. Sure, you can put 10% down if you'll call the place a second home (STR is totally fine for that), but your pricing (again, rate and points options) is much higher when you put less than 10% down, and you'll have mortgage insurance for a while as well.

Happy to help you think on plans more if you want to set up a call. 

@Arpit Guglani. 2023 was a pretty down year for the entire region (i.e., WNC, east TN, etc.), especially Spring and Summer. Things have been a little better since then but I sold my place in Bryson City earlier this year. I would recommend creating a market report in PriceLabs for a sample property and then looking at how nearby comparison properties are doing. And keep in mind that BC has a high frequency of STR's that are really second homes with owners that are content to make just a little money by way of a lackluster property manager (who likely charges 30%), so I would be careful to not let some of the comparison properties discourage you.