I am looking for member insights on log cabins in the Great Smoky Mountain area..Anyone with experience in buying, selling or maintaining a vacation rental in the area can contribute and I would really appreciate any advise.We are planning to have it on a rental program for a few months until we understand the business.Location preferences / do and donts?

If you use a combination of lecture and real evaluations from your market you become succesful and credible to others.

Can you re-evaluate each property and learn the ARV, current selling price, then sell with a lease option or seller financing to get yourself back in the "black?"

I'm logged in, but not seeing any option to do something like that.  

My question is: What is the best way to evaluate and understand your local market?

To help new investors learn, from my experience, I can suggest the evaluation numbers were a miss. 

In addition, evaluate how old and in what condition are these components for each property.Each of these components has a typical life expectancy that will vary by market area.  

We purchased a 1920 Farmhouse but opened the walls and found an 1823 log cabin instead.The project is not a for profit venture as I am doing the remodel for a close friend (lucky girl) but we'll dip our toe into the financial analysis of it at some point as I know there are curious minds like mine out there.

me i'm openminded and know everyone's priorities are different ie a father of 5 kids i admire he put their education funds first, over what he does or doesnt 'own'; but just wondered if brokers are sometimes evaluated by peers along such lines as owning vs renting.seems to me lately alot of acquaintances around exude bountiful success and throw around huge volume numbers but sometimes when given a look an inside look at their assets either some are hidden, lots of $$$ is being spent on overhead/expansions, and/or ppl nowadays somehow generally r spending beyond their means no matter what income bracket?!

Your marketing needs to find off-market deals, your analysis need to accurately determine ARV, your negotiating skills need to enable a contract at a well-below-market price, you need to be able to evaluate the property for for rehab costs accurately, and the easiest part is finding buyers.