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Learn the Basics – If you are interested in buying a home that would do well for vacation rentals, then you have come to the right place. Let’s start with the most important factors and amenities for vacation rentals in the Boone area.
Location: The ideal location for vacation rentals is preferably not more than 10-15 minutes to a developed retail area or attraction. If a home has above average amenities, then being a little further out does not negatively affect rental activity.
Mountain Style: When folks are searching for a vacation home, most prefer a cabin or mountain style interior with exposed wood. Mountain modern or cabin luxury decor is an additional appeal when available.
Views: The ideal 10/10 view is a long-range, multi-layered view of the mountains. The better the view, the better premium rate on the vacation home. Valley views, water/river views, or shorter mountain/pastoral views are still a plus, too. Even seasonal views are worth some additional revenue for vacation homes.
Air Conditioning: When you’re in the mountains, often times it doesn’t seem necessary to have A/C with such high elevations. However, vacationers from major cities like to use A/C for specific temperature control and sleep with the windows locked. Often times, a home without A/C can add mini-split systems instead of a full HVAC setup to save on costs, but still offer what guests desire.
Second Living Area: The second living area (often times the basement) is a huge aspect of rental revenue in our market. This space is usually filled with a nice TV, game tables, and additional seating/bar area for all ages to enjoy. Sometimes, an owner will refit their garage to accommodate this space – and that works, too! It’s a great place for younger folks to separate and watch a movie or play games.
Master on Main Floor: A large portion of the rental market is family groups, and sometimes those groups include our elderly folks. Having a master bedroom on the main floor allows for those a bit higher up in age to access their sleeping accommodation without as many steps to worry about.
King Bed: At least one king bed is preferable for rentals. King beds denote a sign of luxury or higher quality accommodation when many guests are booking a home. If you’re not using a bedroom for kids/bunk beds, adding a king sized bed is always a plus!
Lower Level Bedrooms: For most bedrooms, you want to try and ensure they are on the main level or higher; however, for younger kids/couples, lower level bedrooms are a great way to add sleeping space and provide a little extra separation in sleeping accommodations!
Dining Space: One of the items where we’ve had plenty of feedback is the need for your dining space to match the number of sleeping spaces in your home. Your occupancy represents how large of gatherings you can accommodate, and during times like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, 4th of July, etc. you often have groups of people sitting around the table together. We want to try our best to make sure all of those folks are able to be as close together as they can in the same dining space for those special occasions.
Upscale Finish: Granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, wood/cabin style dining tables, end tables, chandeliers, and lamps – these are all items guests look for when renting a cabin. When a guest comes to the mountains, they want it look and feel like a mountain vacation! Having a more upscale finish to the home really accentuates the cabin/luxury style and this translates into higher rental revenue.
Hot Tub: The most requested amenity in the High Country! Useable in all seasons, a hot tub is a great way to relax on a warm summer evening, or kick back after a full day of skiing.
Game Tables: This is a great amenity to add to that “Second Living Space” we recommend for your home. Pool tables are the most requested game tables in our market, but plenty of other game tables/features are still valuable.
Items like foosball tables, shuffleboard tables, air hockey tables, arcade cabinets, and more are great ways to offer a place for kids to play and fun for the whole family.
Cabin Furniture: When it comes to furnishing your home, mountain style decor and cabin furniture is always something to keep in mind. Whether that be live edge dining tables, antler chandeliers, log hewn bed frames/furniture, or leather/faux leather couches, chairs, and sofas. A tasteful amount of cabin decor goes a long way with booking activity.
Flat Screen/HD TV and WiFi: Sometimes homes are in need of a little updating in the mountains. Prior to renting your home, making sure your TVs are up to date and your wireless internet is strong and stable is an expectation many guests have when renting a home.
Many homes for sale in the Boone / Blowing Rock / Beech Mountain area are older homes that have good locations but need some updating and help with style for vacation rentals. Before these updates, this home estimated to bring in $50k, after the changes it is bringing in $75k.
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You do not need to buy a home that is currently in a rental program. Our team can estimate rental revenue with a high degree of confidence.
Feedback from owners on working with our business development team
Everything went very well. Will definitely use Brock and Carolina Cabin Rentals if we purchase another property in Boone, which is highly likely
Todd is the man and his efforts and responsiveness was a major factor in why we went with CCR
Through the process of on-boarding it became clear to us that CCR has established and is looking to maintain a high quality brand and ensure that guests have an exceptionally good experience. We appreciate that, are happy to be associated with CCR, and expect this will benefit us in the long term with more renters willing to pay a premium price for their stay.
Billy was amazing to work with and he went exceedingly above and beyond for our home.
Todd grew up on Hilton Head Island, SC and is an alumnus of the University of Georgia and the University of East Anglia, England, where he received a BA in Communications and Theatre Arts. He also received a Masters in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He moved to Boone, NC in 2004 to work for Appalachian State University for 10 years directing the Community Partnerships and Outreach/Engagement activities. Todd left ASU to go to a medical technology start-up company to handle investor relations. We were blessed to gain Todd at Carolina Cabin Rentals in 2016 where he could focus full time on serving our client home owners as Director of Owner Services. After 4 years of leading the Owner Services Team, Todd has moved into the Sales and Business Development Team. Todd and his sweetheart wife joyously raise their 4 children together through homeschooling on their Catiwampus Farm.
Billy Rich grew up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. He grew up with a father and mother who had long been in the real estate business. Following their footsteps and interests, he earned his realtor license at the young age of 18. Billy has done many things in his life, but one of the most unique things was that he played poker professionally for a season of life. We were very glad to get Billy on our team at Carolina Cabin Rentals in 2013, and are very thankful for his deep realtor skill set in helping owners know how reach their goals with their homes.
Brock grew up in Iredell County, NC, just north of Charlotte. He moved to Boone in 2010, and met David at church. David saw great strengths in Brock, and lured him into the company in 2012 to become our 4th employee! Brock has played multiple roles at the company learning the ins and out all along the way. Coming to the company while it was young, he has had the opportunity to experience reservations, quality control, cleaning management, and being on the accounting team. Brock earned his realtors license in 2013, and has found his home in helping owners know how to best prepare their homes to meet their goals.
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