All Forum Posts by: Stephen Ray

@Cel Arrington Thanks so much for the info. This has been extremely frustrating not being able to get anyone on the phone for an answer. There are a ton of Airbnbs in the Roanoke area. Do you think these are just being operated illegally? I have actually stayed in a few and they were all in residential areas and definitely not owner occupied. Thanks again

Does anyone currently have a STR in Roanoke VA? Would love to connect. The city zoning department is tough to get figure out. TIA

I can't believe that $1000 sq ft is now being justified as reasonable. That 1000sq ft cabin above isn't $471 all year round. Just check it in April/May at 180. I'm sure your buddy has done his homework if he's local and is spending a million $$ but that price is spicey. That being said convenience to downtown is awesome and I've been looking for a riverfront place. 

I agree with @Gary L Wallman depending on your water provider. If a bill is abnormally high and you should receipt from a licensed plumber that work was performed to fix the issue a lot of times the municipality will forgive the high bill. 

Hey @Mike Petrosinelli. We've been looking at OBX for awhile for mostly selfish reasons (have a place to go to on the off season) I wouldn't worry too much about the market becoming over-saturated with STR's. Beaches have always been STR's between hotels, condos, and houses. There may be more people self managing now but I don't think there is enough new builds happening to change anything (especially ocean front. Right now the biggest thing IMO is that prices are super inflated. That being said rates are also super low so its a tough call. @Greg Dickerson is a super valuable resource for the area. Good Luck!

@Collin Hays sorry, I forgot you were the COVID expert. I seem to remember reading a certain thread where you called it "fake news" that doesn't seem very accurate at this point. Not saying social distancing will magically make everything back to normal but the whole point is to minimize social interaction considering how contagious this is. Walmart and grocery stores are still open because they're essential. People have to still eat (this seems obvious). Lowes and Home Depot are also essential because of emergency home repairs and contractors that are essential. Home Depot is taking steps to limit the amount of people in the stores, not marketing normal spring sales, and other things. Public transportation is also supposed to be limited for essential employees only. Not sure what your argument is there? Shelter in place means if you are not and essential employee driving to work, or someone going out to get groceries, medicine, or emergency supplies you can be fined. 

I went from 95% booked to completely empty for April. Originally I lowered my prices to try and attract some last minute traffic but I ended up just blocking out most of April. The whole shelter in place is to try and squash this thing from lasting indefinitely. If it was for health care or first responders that needed accommodation it would be one thing but people just bored wanting a change of scenery isn't really "essential" of course my decision was easier because the whole month cancelled anyway.  

Unfortunately, I doubt you'll find anyone that will finance 95% of a non owner occupied house. Even hard money will likely want much more than that if its your first one, even if its a great deal. The lowest I've found is 15%. I'd also imagine in the current climate with the COVID-19 its going to be even harder to get highly leveraged loans for non owner occupied. Anyway you could live in it while you're fixing it up?

Just got 3 cancellations today for my cabin in Pigeon Forge. Hopefully they get re-booked quickly like usual. They were all March/April reservations.

@Collin Hays I'd love to see your "data" on the examples of how a name change affects whether or not a cabin rents well. This seems really silly. Everything else makes sense. @Ken Boone my 2 bedroom cabin doesn't have an arcade game, just wasn't a good place to put one, and rents EXTREMELY well. But i could be the outlier in that sense.