All Forum Posts by: Sam M.

 Hi - Welcome.

Like all management companies, you do pay a significant %age to them. We like them only because it is convenient, they take care of everything, they inspect the homes monthly, they market the property, collect rent etc. Basically, I pay for their services but I am hands-off completely. I am sure you could assemble a team of cleaners, managers etc that would be more economical, but in my area of Banner Elk, Blue Ridge seems to be the goto choice.

Have a place in Banner Elk. There are no day limits, that I know off. We have a professionally managed, local company that takes care of everything and they have clients that rent their places for 80%+ of the days/year.

+1 for Banner Elk, NC STR

Any thoughts on whether buying in the Wild Dune Resorts, on the Isle of Palm is a good idea. Something I had not encountered before was "regime fee" (maybe a SC thing). But in addition to the HOA, there is a regime fee, which on the Isle of Palm is really high (about $1500/month). This regime fee is dependent on the unit and building you buy as it varies across the entire property. So the qs. are:

1. How is the STR market here? Is it summer months or year long?

2. Do these regime fees go up yearly and is there any estimate on what what %age it goes up?

3. Any gotchas or things to watch out for when buying here?

Thanks!

Welcome Jamal. We have a place in Banner Elk (owed in <1 year). We love it up there but the market is pretty crazy. Maybe now, with rates rising, things MAY slow down. Getting a good contractor who will commit to you is really hard because there is so much construction going on up there. So suggest you find a place that will NOT require a lot of their time. Other than that, it is fun to get up there and explore until you find what you are looking for.

We use Blue Ridge Mountain Rental to manage our place in Banner Elk. You pay up but they take care of everything including getting renters in and out.

Good luck with the investment. We have spent one summer there and absolutely love everything about it.

Bought a place in Beech Mountain but sold it a few mos later because we got a good return (not because we were actively looking to sell). Bought a place in Banner Elk with the proceeds. Love it up there. Quieter and more relaxed than some of the larger neighboring towns.

Good contractors there, in my opinion, are few and far between. The few good ones are so backed up with projects that you may not have a home ready for 2-years. Part of that is the "mountain time" concept and the other part is just that they have too many projects that they have taken on and are delivering things VERY VERY Slowly because of this.

In terms of housing demand, last year we wanted to go skiing in the area. Unfortunately, we planned it a few weeks before we wanted to go. The cheapest house we could find was running at $1500/night. Most of the other places were sold out. So I get a sense that there is a huge seasonal demand. We were up there this weekend, and there were a lot of people around (assuming looking at the fall foliage). Just quickly looked at rental prices and there are averaging $400/night in Banner Elk.

Suggest you go visit and spend a weekend there. Talk to the local (very friendly) and they are a source of information. If you want to get into a property sooner rather than later buy a ready made house or you will be waiting a long time.

@Chris T., where is your place in Banner Elk and how are things going for you??

That would be awesome! Thank you:)

Very recently bought a place in Banner Elk, after living in Beech Mountain for about a month (sold this place). Banner Elk is wonderful, if a little quaint. Boone is about 30 mins away if you want some night life and more restaurant options. However, Banner Elk is pretty happening and I heard that come fall and winter, this place is packed so great for STR. Will be spending a few weeks in Banner Elk so can offer more details as I find out more about the place.

BTW, the WaPo had an article this weekend on the 3 western NC mountain towns - Banner Elk, Boone, and Blowing Rock.