Thinking about buying a cabin...Anyone have experience? (Knoxville, Pigeon Forge: spring break, foreclosures) - Tennessee (TN) - City-Data Forum

drmrofam · 08-02-2011, 07:40 PM

This is something that I've thought about for a long time, but I am just now thinking seriously about it. I'm looking for anyone who wants to offer advice or share personal experiences with me to give me something to think about.

First, I am just starting to research and get serious about looking for a cabin/house/condo in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg/Wears Valley area, so I am open to any ideas/suggestions. I am a teacher, and I would like to spend my summers in this home. I know that I definitely want to buy something already in existence (no building), because I think there is already an overflow of properties in these areas. While I don't make a ton of money, I have inherited the house that I am living in now so I have no mortgage.

The way I am thinking now is that I have two options:

1. I could buy something on the cheap and use it for weekend trips and in the summer. This would be something that I could easily afford on my income with some money to put into fixing the place up. I'm young, and I could do some of the work myself. This property would probably not be able to also be a vacation rental. I would be able to check on the house throughout the year on weekend trips or other holidays such as spring break. I'm assuming I would have to hire someone for lawncare.

2. Spend more money, and buy a property that I could rent out when I am not using it. I still would want to find something that I could afford on my income and not rely on rental income to pay the mortgage. Especially since I plan on using the property myself during the summer. If I use it during the summers, would it even be worth it to rent it out? I'd love to hear anyone's experiences about renting out a cabin and whether they used a cabin management company or individually managed their cabin themselves.

What do you think? I want to know everything that I need to take into consideration before jumping in with both feet. I'm just wanting some feedback whether it is good or bad. I am not easily offended! You can tell me if you think this is idiotic!!

Barking Spider · 08-03-2011, 11:18 AM

I have inspected dozens and dozens (just shy of hundreds) of cabins. The number one thing is GET IT INSPECTED!!!!!!!!!!!!! The list of stuff I find is a lot longer than the normal house in Knoxville.

There are tons of foreclosed properties, and in some cases, foreclosed developments, meaning the road maintenance, etc has gone down the tubes.

When you say "on the cheap", it can mean different things to different people. While there may be bargains (less than they were a few years ago) to be had, I have not seen what I consider "cheap" places. Again, the definition of cheap is relative.

If you are going to rent your cabin out, you will probably want to use a management company. Unless you want to spend a lot of time driving. However, good management companies are hard to find. I have heard way too many horror stories about cabin management companies (from my clients).

CaitlandRenee · 08-03-2011, 03:17 PM

I cannot say I personally have experience, but I have an aunt & uncle that live in KY and own a cabin in Townsend. They use Bearly Rustic as their management company, and as far as I know, they do like them. They are actually going to move into their cabin permanently after they retire in the next couple of years.

I will say this though. Bolt down the furniture or buy stuff you can bear to part with. I know at one point, some college students had a party and much of the furniture was missing after they left so it was assumed stolen. I am sure they probably got money for it through the rental agency, but it's always a caution when furnishing any rental property.

hiknapster · 08-03-2011, 04:29 PM

Option one might not be a bad idea. There are a ton of these places in foreclosure and I'm sure you can get a great deal. Just research the price comparisons so that you know what you're doing.

Option will probably be a big mistake. There are hundred and hundreds and hundreds of rental cabins out there and most people take a loss. At least you realize that you can't rely on the rent to pay the mortgage. So many people think that it will pay the mortgage and it won't.

//www.city-data.com/forum/knoxv...roperties.html

drmrofam · 08-04-2011, 07:40 PM

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm still researching and working out everything financially to see what I could possibly afford. I do have some money saved up that I would be able to put down.

Whether I rent the cabin out or not, I would not buy something that I couldn't afford on my own. One of the main reasons that I was thinking about putting it on a rental program was that it wouldn't just be staying shut up while I wasn't using it, and the cabin management company would be able to let me know if there was something wrong. However, I would have to find a management company that I could trust.

I'm still open to hearing suggestions/thoughts if anyone wants to give me their input.

PRenee · 08-06-2011, 03:40 PM

If you have the cash to purchase a cabin then go ahead and do it. If you have to finance the purchase and expect the rental income to overset the note then DON'T do it. We purchased two cabins when we sold our home and had to relocate out of state. My husband always wanted to do it and since we sold our home it was the right time. We have two cabins and we JUST started making a profit. There are start up fees with Management companies, monthly fees, maintenance fees, etc. You maintain the electricity, the phone, the cable and the internet. If it continues to rent well you will recoup that money back but it's not a quick return and it's not for the faint of heart. Seriously our management company had a company come out and sand & caulk a window- $400 - I was LIVID! I would have done that for hardly any money, however we are out of state and don't have a choice to just run over there and fix it our selves. Just be knowledgable of your purchase it's not something to take too lightly :-) BEST OF LUCK! Oh and yes BOLT stuff down people have sticky fingers and find the need to take stuff that isn't theirs ;-)

hiknapster · 08-06-2011, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PRenee

If you have the cash to purchase a cabin then go ahead and do it. If you have to finance the purchase and expect the rental income to overset the note then DON'T do it. We purchased two cabins when we sold our home and had to relocate out of state. My husband always wanted to do it and since we sold our home it was the right time. We have two cabins and we JUST started making a profit. There are start up fees with Management companies, monthly fees, maintenance fees, etc. You maintain the electricity, the phone, the cable and the internet. If it continues to rent well you will recoup that money back but it's not a quick return and it's not for the faint of heart. Seriously our management company had a company come out and sand & caulk a window- $400 - I was LIVID! I would have done that for hardly any money, however we are out of state and don't have a choice to just run over there and fix it our selves. Just be knowledgable of your purchase it's not something to take too lightly :-) BEST OF LUCK! Oh and yes BOLT stuff down people have sticky fingers and find the need to take stuff that isn't theirs ;-)

Where are your cabins and when did you buy them?

chinadog · 08-07-2011, 07:18 AM

We own a cabin in Blue Ridge, GA. We bought it as a get away and an investment - didn't want all my money in the market. We rent our place and use it several times a year. My advice would be to look for something that makes the cabin stand out if you decide to rent. You'll want to have incredible views, be one a lake or river - something like that. There are too many cabins to rent, so you need to stand out. We have a lot of repeat renters. That's what you want. Get a reputable cabin property management company - not cheap, they take 35%, but they advertise, have cleaning people, take car of minor repairs, etc.

We also found that if you have too much work to do, you won't enjoy it. You'll go for a weekend, but work on the weekend. No fun.

Here is our place: Above the Clouds cabin in Blue Ridge, GA

It's about 2 hours away from Knoxville, but was only about 1.25 hrs away when we lived north of Atlanta.

Bud

hiknapster · 08-07-2011, 10:32 AM

I don't know what it's like in other parts of the country but there are thousands of rental cabins in Sevier County and a good portion of those are in foreclosure.

The reason I asked PRenee when she bought the cabins is because she said she just started making a profit. From when? She didn't say. And where is this? I don't think they've ever lived in Tennessee. I'm not sure.

But the point is every location is different and this location is saturated and that's an understatement. They overbuilt there just like they did in Florida and now tourism is down and there are far too many chairs in the musical chairs game.

PRenee · 08-14-2011, 10:06 PM

Hipnapster we purchased our 2bedroom in January and our 1 bedroom in March. It's actually in resorts in Pigeon Forge off of Wears Valley. IMHO (and it's just mine) living there and having rental cabins would be a more ideal situation so you can offset some of the upkeep cost and what not. The ones we purchased were both foreclosures and there were many many many more to choose from :-( That is why I said if you have the cash and aren't relying on the income to offset the note then that would be more ideal. Both of the cabins we purchased the people still owed basically what they payed or it because they thought they could rent it out and cover the note. Sure tourism is rampid over there but so are the cabins. EVERYWHERE you turn there are some. It's best to try and go away from town and buy but it took a great deal of research on our part it's not just something we did over night ;-)