Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily South.
Hi Emily, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
In 2008 my husband, John made the decision to transition from a staff job to being a freelancer and started his own production company, Shoestring Productions. He is a director of photography and primarily shoots sport-related content for Television. I continued to work in my corporate sales and marketing job for about 2-3 more years until the birth of our first child and then made the decision to become a yoga teacher so I could have more flexibility in my schedule and be a stay-at-home mom. Over the next decade we not only grew our business but our family, adding two more children into the mix. We learned so much over those 10 years, and while there are lots of benefits to being self-employed, there are drawbacks and risks like not having company-sponsored health insurance or a corporate match for retirement. Around 2018 we found ourselves in a much different financial situation with funds we needed to invest, either back into the business or somewhere else as a means of diversifying our retirement portfolio.
This is when the conversation of an investment property came into play. Our situation was unique in that the property would not solely be an investment rental due to the fact we wanted our family to be able to enjoy it was well. Because of this, the requirements of the property were different as we needed it to be located within a max of 2.5 hours of our main residence North of Charlotte, NC, and large enough to accommodate a family of five people plus dogs. Our budget was modest, we did not want to spend more than $250K all in for either a turn-key property or one that would need some renovations. Because we had a long wish list and a small budget, we found it challenging to find a realtor willing to truly work with us. Even when we were able to hire a realtor, she was upfront that she didn’t think a property like we wanted existed in our price range. The market was also very hot at the time, and homes would go under contract before we even had a chance to go up the mountain to look at them. Luckily, my husband had searches and alerts on with Zillow, and one day he had a listing that was for sale by owner show up in his inbox. It was the A-Frame, and on paper, it checked all our boxes and some we hadn’t considered. Our agent thought it was too good to be true and offered to do a site visit before we made a two-hour drive for a showing. As soon as she got to the property, I received a phone call that we had to come see it within 24 hours because if it went to an open house that weekend, we would lose out. We scheduled a showing the next day, made an offer, and were under contract before we had made even been on the road back home for 30 minutes. We also landed the deal for $10K less than asking because we were willing to work with the owner for four months after closing to honor current rentals they had and their daughters’ use of the home while she completed some schooling. While this is an unusual story, I share it because you can get creative when looking for property and how you ultimately make an offer. The terms of this arrangement meant we couldn’t renovate the home until late July / August and left us with just four weeks to turn the property into The Appalachian A-Frame.
We launched the house as a short-term rental for Labor Day weekend in the fall of 2019. Roughly six months later, COVID happened, and our county closed to rentals for at least 60 days. This was a time of re-evaluation, and when I decided we needed digital real estate of our own, so I created our personal website and began building an email list. I had a modest presence on Instagram at this time and through that channel made some connections that helped expand my reach. We partnered with a local home design company, Holistic Habitat, and had renowned cabin photographers out to shoot the property. This started to get our home noticed and shared by more outlets and resulted in our Instagram growing to where it is today.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Owning a rental property has inherent challenges. I host remotely from two hours away, so when a problem comes up, I can’t just run over and fix it myself right away. I need to have a reliable list of vendors and a trustworthy team in town to handle turnovers that can deal with things I am not on hand to handle. Having a global pandemic happen in your first year of business also creates some chaos. We had lots of bookings cancelled and our county closed down to rentals for at least 6 months. I used that time to not only improve the physical space of the house but prioritize aspects of the business a third party couldn’t impact with their decisions. That’s why I decided I needed my own website and email list so I wasn’t solely dependent on Airbnb and Instagram.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My background prior to Appalachian A-Frame was in sales and marketing, and I studied advertising in college. At the heart of our rental business, we prioritize our guests’ experience and truly try to host like we own a small boutique hotel. We are a working family and understand how highly valued family vacations are for our ourselves and our guests. As parents, we know being able to travel and go away just as a couple is rare and hard to make happen. Understanding these two challenges and valuing both heavily played into us designing a space that had both families and couples in mind. We prioritized a simple, cozy atmosphere but one that didn’t heavily rely on traditional cabin decor. As a result, we’ve created a space that people come to for rest and relaxation in a place they can unplug and reconnect with the ones they love the most.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was a creative kid and very into dramatics. At six years old, I convinced my parents to start ballet lessons and quickly fell in love. I ended up studying at a pre-professional school and joining their company, where I danced until I graduated high school. I’ve always been a bookworm and loved to read and loved going to the movies. I also got into musical theater during high school and am a huge show-tunes fan to this day. I think I was into all of these things because I really love storytelling, and as I got older, that translated into homes and how they reflect the people who live in them. I truly believe every house has a story to tell and a life that it is living, reflective of the people who reside within the walls.
Pricing:
- Nightly rates start at $230
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stayappaframe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/appalachianaframe/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AppalachianAFrame
- Other: https://airbnb.com/h/appalachianaframe
Image Credits
Chris Daniele
