"Is buying a cabin in the Smoky Mountains still a good investment?"
Almost everyone buys into the same market. Very few earn the same money.
A three-bedroom cabin in the Smokies earns about $71,000 a year on market average. The top ten percent of three-bedroom cabins earn $110,000 to $125,000. Same market, same bedroom count, nearly double the revenue.
That gap has almost nothing to do with whether the Smokies is a good market. It's about which cabin you buy and how well it's run afterward — and most first-time investors are learning both at once, alone, after closing.
That's the part The Short Term Shop is built to solve. Buying the cabin is where we start, not where we stop.
Talk to a Smokies agentWhat the gap is worth
Market-wide performance across roughly 1,900 active Smoky Mountains listings:
| Cabin size | Market average | Top 10% | Occupancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 bedroom | ~$47,000 | $70,000–$80,000 | ~77% |
| 2 bedroom | ~$58,000 | $85,000–$95,000 | ~76% |
| 3 bedroom | ~$71,000 | $110,000–$125,000 | ~70% |
| 4 bedroom | ~$98,000 | $150,000–$175,000 | ~70% |
| 5 bedroom | ~$133,000 | $200,000–$225,000 | ~73% |
| 6+ bedroom | ~$175,000 | $265,000–$300,000+ | ~73% |
Annual gross revenue. Figures are market-wide estimates based on PriceLabs market analytics for the Great Smoky Mountains. Individual properties vary significantly by location, amenities, condition and management. These are not projections for any specific property.
Four things decide which column you land in
- LocationNot the town on the address — the drive time and what's around it. Two cabins in the same zip code can perform very differently.
- Buying a cabin guests actually wantLayout, sleeping arrangements, views, amenity package, how it photographs. A cabin that looks fine to a buyer can be mediocre to a guest, and guests are the ones who pay.
- Roads and accessSteep switchbacks and difficult driveways are among the most common deal-killers here. They raise cleaning costs, limit which guest vehicles can reach the door, and generate the reviews that suppress bookings for a year.
- ManagementThe largest and most fixable of the four. Pricing, listing quality, response times, cleaning reliability. This is where most of the gap between average and top actually lives.
The first three are solved by an agent who owns cabins here and knows which roads to walk away from. The fourth is solved by knowing how to run the property — which is the part we hand you for free.
Free self-management training, for every client
Most brokerages hand you keys and a closing gift. We built the operating side, because that's where the money is made — and every Short Term Shop client gets it at no cost, with no upsell.
Full onboarding, systems and coaching for running your cabin yourself:
- Dynamic pricing strategy
- Listing optimization
- Photography direction
- Guest communication
- Messaging automation
- Cleaner coordination
- Furnishing and setup
- Ongoing coaching
This is the same operating knowledge our agents use on their own cabins. It isn't a webinar funnel and it isn't a paid course — it comes with working with us.
What that training is worth in dollars
Full-service property management in the Smoky Mountains typically runs 20% to 35% of gross revenue. It's the single largest controllable expense in the model, and it comes off the top every month whether the cabin performs or not.
$14,000–$25,000 a year
What management costs on a three-bedroom cabin earning the market average. On a top performer, considerably more.
Self-managing from out of state sounds daunting until someone shows you the systems. That's exactly what the training is for, and it's why so many of our investors run their cabins successfully from hundreds of miles away. Keeping that fee is often a bigger swing in net return than anything you negotiated at the purchase price.
And our vetted local vendor lists
Finding a reliable cleaner in a market you don't live in is the hardest part of the first year, and it's the thing that quietly sinks otherwise good cabins. Our clients don't start from a Google search. They start from the list of people we already use in the Smokies.
- Cleaners and turnover teams
- Handymen and maintenance
- Hot tub servicing
- Photographers
- Interior designers and furnishing
- Lenders
- Short term rental insurance
- Property managers
If you'd rather not self-manage, that's a legitimate choice and plenty of owners make it well — so the list includes vetted property managers too. The point isn't that you must run it yourself. It's that you get to make the decision with the training in hand and a short list of people we'd trust with our own cabins, instead of guessing from reviews.
Talk to a Smokies agentAgents who own cabins here
Not agents who sell in the Smokies. Agents who own Smokies cabins, operate them, and have made these decisions with their own money. That's why the first conversation about a specific property starts at underwriting instead of at explanation — and why they'll tell you when a cabin isn't worth buying.
- 5,000investors served
- $4 billionin closed volume
- 20+short term rental markets
Talk to a Smokies agent
Tell us how to reach you. We'll call, understand what you're after, and match you with an agent who owns and operates cabins in the Smokies.
Someone from our team will reach out, usually the same business day. No cost, and no obligation to transact.
Questions people usually ask next
- Is the training really free?
- Yes. Every Short Term Shop client gets access as part of working with us — onboarding, systems and coaching for running the cabin yourself. No separate charge, and no requirement to use it.
- Can I actually self-manage from out of state?
- Many of our investors do. The pieces are a reliable cleaner, dynamic pricing, automated guest messaging and someone local for maintenance. The training covers all of it, and the vendor list solves the hardest part — finding people you can trust in a market you don't live in.
- What if I'd rather hire a property manager?
- Completely reasonable, and plenty of owners do it well. Our vetted vendor list includes property managers we'd recommend in the Smokies. It typically costs 20–35% of gross revenue, so it's worth deciding deliberately — but if that's the right call for you, we'll point you to good people.
- Do I need to live in Tennessee?
- No. Most Smoky Mountains short term rental investors are out of state. Remote purchase and setup is the normal case here, not the exception.
- Are short term rentals legal in the Smokies?
- Yes, and Tennessee is unusually protective — state law prevents local governments from banning them outright. Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville require permits, and Gatlinburg enforces most actively. Tennessee also has no state income tax.
- What happens after I fill out the form?
- Someone on our team calls you to understand what you're after, then introduces you to the Smokies agent who fits. No pressure, and no cost to talk.
The Short Term Shop is a real estate brokerage. This page is for educational purposes and is not financial, investment, legal or tax advice. Market data referenced represents market-wide averages sourced from third-party analytics platforms and is not a projection for any specific property, and no particular level of revenue or performance is promised or implied. Revenue, occupancy and pricing vary significantly by property, and training, vendor referrals and agent guidance do not guarantee any outcome. Vendor referrals are provided as a convenience; vendors are independent third parties and are not employed by or affiliated with The Short Term Shop. Short term rental regulations change; verify current rules with the relevant local authority. Consult your own financial, legal and tax professionals before making an investment decision.