How A $1.5M Vacation Rental Almost Happened And Why We Said No

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The $1.5M Reality Check:

A local buyer walked in ready to grab a $1.5M short-term rental. On paper, it looked thrilling: waterfront views, high nightly rates, vacation lifestyle. In practice, even with a big down payment and an attractive seller-financed rate, the numbers didn't cash flow. Not close. Not even in best-case scenarios.

This is the trap that catches smart people: best-case projections for nightly rates and occupancy, lowballed maintenance and turnover costs, and a belief that rate cuts will magically save a deal that's already upside down. If your plan only works when everything goes right, it isn't a plan—it's hope.

The Pivot That Actually Works:

So we underwrote a different path. Instead of forcing a luxury nightly rental to perform, we mapped out conservative single-family options around $400K with 30-50% down to generate real cash flow, predictable tax benefits, and a stable tenant base. Boring wins. Systems beat sizzle every time.

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🌟 Who? Jeremy Larkin was born and raised in St. George, Utah and is the owner of The Larkin Group Real Estate Advisors.

📍 Where? Washington and Iron County, Utah, including, but not limited to St. George, Washington City, Ivins, Santa Clara, Hurricane, LaVerkin, Toquerville, Cedar City and Parowan.

💈  What?  Jeremy and his team of expert advisors at The Larkin Group walk the best clients in the world through the brain surgery of Buying, Selling and Investing Southern Utah Real Estate! And perhaps more importantly, they LOVE this community and pouring their heart and soul into it!

📻  Tune in! Jeremy is the host of The "St. George Real Estate Morning" Drive radio show 94.9 FM / 890 AM. You can stream the weekly program Thursdays at 8:35 AM here: https://tinyurl.com/radiorealestate  

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[00:00:00] Cruise Ship Scale And Systems

[00:05:05] The $1.5M Vacation Rental Walkback

[00:10:35] Rates, Prices, And Rental Math

[00:14:30] Client First, Agent As Guide