All Forum Posts by: Shawn Mayhew

If it is in the downtown Bentonville area (East of Walton, North of 14th, South of Tiger, West of J St), it will appreciate for sure. If you are getting a property that's appraised at 125k more than the purchase price, it sounds like a good deal but I am hesitant to STR use if the numbers you crunched don't put you in the green. Would LTR be more profitable since there are lower expenses associated with it?

I have a small Airbnb downtown in my backyard and the bikers that come through mentioned usually it's not as important as the distance to the trail is but more ease of accessing the trail (like not having to go on main streets with your bikes to get to the trail) for them. For example, houses around Coler Mountain Bike Reserve are outside of "downtown" but would be great for Airbnb at the right price.

When you say "with potential STR regulations" are you saying that you've heard Bentonville is proposing regulations? Or are you just speaking generally?

I've never been to Bentonville but I have a buddy who moved there several years back and loves it. He's also doing a really cool vacation rental project out there, so it seems like there is a demand. 

From what you say, it sounds like the big draw is mountain biking so I'd lean into that. You'll want to determine your "guest avatar", which means figure out who your ideal guest is, why they'll be staying there, and what they'll be doing. From there you pick the property and design their guest experience based on that guest avatar. As I mentioned, I've never been there but gut tells me that most people are not mountain biking in the city center. If it were me I'd be looking at more rural properties near the trails with a house and a few acres of land, then add a tiny home or two. At that point you'll have 2-3 rentals which would be much more revenue and could make the deal much more appetizing. Depending on where you buy in that area, my understanding is there is little to no zoning requirements so you would have a lot of flexibility to build what you want. I have to say that's VERY appealing to me, coming from WA state where you need permission from the government to do the smallest things.