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While we sit in our camper a few hundred miles south waiting for it to warm up enough to resume house hunting in the mountains in VA, I troll Zillow clicking the Heart to save listings that probably won't be available when we get back there but dreaming anyway.
So, I see a listing. It's a nice looking stick built 2/2 with 6 acres in the area we want. The house is on top the hill and at the base is a cabin being used as a short term rental that looks really nice. I find the cabin on AirBnB and it has tons of good reviews. It rents for about $100/night.
We have intended to be cash buyers, but this house and cabin are about $50k above our price range. In addition, I would want to spend some more money initially making a spot to house our camper and make a site for a guest camper. A small mortgage would be needed.
The house has been on the market 99 days, so it appears to be a bit overpriced or there's something wrong with it that isn't obvious from the ad. At least we have some hope it'll be on the market when we get back up there.
I have to admit, I'm interested in the idea of having the cabin. Is it unrealistic to expect that cabin could pay for a small mortgage on the whole property? Am I asking for trouble? These are the things I think about as I listen to the heater blower sounding like a jet taking off in this camper.
I would double check everything about this listing. Are both homes permitted? Got to admit the misuse of “incoming” in the description text is a potential warning about accuracy.
Being an "AirBNB" operator requires a different lifestyle, compared to the "typical" lifestyle. OP, are you ready for this?
It's a cross between being a baby sitter and den mother.
Good question. We do like to travel and don't want to be tied down all the time but if the goal is to pay the mortgage, it doesn't need to be rented all the time.
My wife is a very social person. We are thinking she would probably enjoy the flow of different people. We've stayed in a lot of AirBnB and VRBO over the years and sometimes met the owners who seemed to enjoy the gig.
I also wonder if that cabin could be made into a longer term leased home. When we were camped in that area there were a lot of workers in campers for months on end who would probably prefer something like this.
It's all just pie in the sky for now. There aren't a lot of houses that tick all our boxes in the area.
I personally would much rather have a tenant than an air bnb. It can be a good income, but I wouldn't want to have to do the constant cleaning and prepping to have it ready for guests. It's a lifestyle and a job you have to want to do!
I personally would much rather have a tenant than an air bnb. It can be a good income, but I wouldn't want to have to do the constant cleaning and prepping to have it ready for guests. It's a lifestyle and a job you have to want to do!
I'm the opposite! Granted, I'd hate to do all the cleaning, etc., associated with having an Airbnb, but I'd use a professional cleaning crew to prep/clean where it made sense. My family visiting from the UK stayed in a 5 bedroom town house in Jersey City a few years ago. When we dropped them off to the house, we were a bit early and the cleaning crew was still there. I think over half of all Airbnb rentals include a cleaning fee from what I gather. Of course, depending on where this Airbnb location is, professional cleaners might be more money than they are worth, so something to keep in mind!
heySkippy--- Looks like a nice property you found. Maybe its just been on the market for a while because people can not get financing. I looked at the VRBO reviews..,.most had 5 stars....the ones thst had less seemed to complain about stuff the homeowner had no control over. Like one complained the road was closed due to snow, but the owner addressed it by saying usually the road gets cleared. Another mentioned stores were 45 min away, but she replied that there were 2 stores close by that carries the normal needs.
So, maybe this place is kind of remote and too small townish for a lot of people. Some people want their shopping centers close to them. I am just guessing.....
Anyway, good luck with it!
Last edited by beckerd2; 02-19-2024 at 08:47 PM..
Reason: abc
It's rural, all right, half hour to Walmart, 20 minutes at least to a real grocery store. We spent much of the 2nd half of last year camped not far from there. I expect that's why the cabin rents so cheaply. We like that area, though, and even though it's rural, it's far from empty. I'm from Kansas. Rural in Kansas meant miles between houses. Rural in this part of Virginia isn't like that. There are people, there are businesses, etc.
I'm aiming to get us back within range of a day trip by the end of February.
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