6 Surefire Ways to Select the Right Property
Whether you’re building or buying, here are some tips to help you pick the right property.
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Location, Location, Location
It’s a common phrase, and it’s true. Location’s not the only thing that matters, but it’s critical the location matches the customer you’re trying to appeal to. Some guests want to be near a specific mountain town or wedding venue. Some guests want seclusion and privacy, while some don’t mind being in a cabin community, and would prefer to sacrifice some privacy for some additional amenities.
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Have Suitable Road Access
We recommend finding a property either on a county-maintained road or a private road with a road maintenance agreement. Unfortunately, many roads in our area are not maintained by the county, and the houses were developed without a road maintenance agreement. Now nobody wants to pay for the road! It’s painful to have a cabin at the back of one of these roads, and if it’s painful for the owners, the guests aren’t going to like it either! If you’re going full rustic with a small cabin out in the middle of nowhere that requires four-wheel drive, you can get away with a rough access road, but you’ll be very limited in what you can charge.
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Have Plenty of Parking
Similar to road access, parking is often a problem in the mountains. Not only do people not drive well anymore (you have no idea how many ruts we’ve fixed), but if you don’t provide plenty of easy parking for your guests, they’ll be unhappy. It’s very, very expensive to add parking to mountain homes—cutting parking into hillsides or bringing in fill dirt and building retaining walls is a budget buster. If you find a beautiful cabin with a 90-degree-pitch gravel driveway and no parking at the top, don’t be afraid to cross it off your list.
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Be Near Something Significant
Even out in the country, you need a claim to fame: two miles from this wedding venue, a hop, skip, and a jump to this waterfall. You don’t need to be right next to something significant, as long as you’re not far from multiple attractions. If you’re within five miles of six popular wedding venues and wineries, that’s a great location. However, there are parts of rural North Georgia that aren’t within five miles of anything but Bubba’s junkyard, and that’s not what we’re looking for. A little privacy is great, being out in the middle of nowhere isn’t.
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Noise Barriers For the Neighbors
The last thing anybody wants is a neighbor war. Many of the vacation homes in the area are around other people, and it can often lead to problems. Long-term residents, guests, owners, and managers all deal with headaches when guests “party” and residents complain. You need to buy a property with a physical barrier for privacy, preferably one that also works as a sound-dampening noise barrier between you and the next house. Adding more privacy trees, fences, and noise policies can help, but nothing beats avoiding the problem as much as possible on the front end by picking a property that already has the necessary features.
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Don’t Waste Space
You want as much bang for your buck as possible in your house, and vacationers don’t need the same things you do in your personal home. Garage? Not needed—best use would be a game room. Walk-in closets? The guests have two suitcases. You want to look for a property that fits the specific needs of the guests.
We have a licensed real estate agent on staff and would be happy to assist you in any home buying.