Real Property Retreats – Beaver Lake Cabin Getaway in NWA
Today we sit down with Steve Real, owner of Real Property Retreats.
Real Property Retreats provides short-term cabin rentals on Beaver Lake in Garfield, AR (just outside of Rogers, AR) for families and medium sized groups in Northwest Arkansas.
If you are looking to get away from home, stay in a unique location, make memories, and have a blast without traveling hundreds of miles then look no further!
In the interview we discussed what to look for in a short-term stay, why Steve started this venture, and how Real Property Retreats provides a special home away from home experience.
You can book your Beaver Lake cabin retreat with Real Property Retreats on Airbnb here.
You should definitely like and follow their Facebook page to get updates of vacancies, renovations, and cancelations.
Enjoy the interview!
See a full 360 virtual tour here.
The following is a rough transcription of the interview. Please be forgiving due to time constraints. Thank you!
00:03 – 00:05
Awesome, welcome to 479 Spotlight.
00:05 – 00:08
Where we provide free promotion to local businesses, and
00:08 – 00:11
give them more exposure and create more trust in the community.
00:12 – 00:17
Overall, we want to provide an inside look to our local business heroes that keep NWA running.
00:17 – 00:18
My name is Brock Holland.
00:18 – 00:21
I’m a small business owner in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Founder of 479 Spotlight.
00:21 – 00:22
and today.
00:23 – 00:29
We have Steve Real with Real Property Retreats, based in Garfield, Arkansas.
00:30 – 00:32
These interviews have two main focuses.
00:32 – 00:40
First, we’re going to be addressing the customers and then we’ll be addressing entrepreneurs that may be either interested or just curious about Steve’s story.
00:41 – 00:42
Steve, how are you doing today?
00:43 – 00:44
Good, Brock, How are you done?
00:45 – 00:45
Awesome.
00:45 – 00:46
And look at you.
00:46 – 00:49
I love this, you’re on-site in your property.
00:50 – 00:54
We might be able to get just like a micro tour, but maybe afterwards do that.
00:54 – 00:56
We can kick off with some questions, are you ready?
00:56 – 00:58
Yes, absolutely.
00:58 – 00:59
Thank you for having us.
00:59 – 01:00
You bet, you bet.
01:00 – 01:04
All right, so let’s talk about this. How long have you been doing this, Steve, how long have you owned this property?
01:05 – 01:09
Well, we actually just bought this property in December of 2020.
01:10 – 01:13
It’s a, it’s a true log cabin located on Beaver Lake.
01:14 – 01:19
And we love to have families and guests out here to enjoy this, this peace property.
01:20 – 01:30
Awesome, OK, and 2020, so that, like, a little bit of a risk on your end, or you just already knew you’re all in, like, how did you kinda get started with this?
01:31 – 01:44
Well, you know, I own another business called Real Property Services, and we do home remodels, and we do a lot of different things and, and I’ve got several customers that have homes on the lake and they do Airbnb’s out of those homes.
01:45 – 01:53
And after I left, my last one, I told myself, I said, we’ve got to find something that’s unique and fun out on the lake because we love the water.
01:53 – 01:55
And we go boating.
01:55 – 02:02
Anytime we can, you know, and so I actually pulled over on the side of the road and I
got on Zillow and I found this property.
02:04 – 02:05
I immediately called my Realtor.
02:05 – 02:10
Within two hours we came and looked at the property and we made an offer and they accepted and here we are.
02:11 – 02:13
Wow, Wow, wow, that’s awesome.
02:13 – 02:14
It was just meant to be.
02:14 – 02:15
I think.
02:15 – 02:16
That’s it.
02:16 – 02:18
That’s when it’s meant to be.
02:18 – 02:22
All right, well, tell me who do you serve in NWA?
02:22 – 02:26
Who would you say is your ideal customer or or renter there?
02:27 – 02:29
Well, you know, we’d love to have families, Brock.
02:30 – 02:30
You know.
02:30 – 02:33
This property is so secluded.
02:34 – 02:36
It’s quiet, it’s beautiful.
02:36 – 02:38
We got kayaks in the backyard.
02:39 – 02:45
The doc is in the backyard, which is located very close to castle cove, so that’s a hotspot on the lake.
02:46 – 02:56
But for families, you can have multiple families. You know, this place accommodates 12 people comfortably and we’ve had a few more over that.
02:56 – 03:00
But, you know, if you have 2 or 3 families that want to get together and spend good quality family time…
03:01 – 03:05
That’s our, our best customers really about making memories really.
03:06 – 03:06
Ok?
03:08 – 03:08
Alright.
03:08 – 03:10
Well, then what would somebody get out of your property?
03:10 – 03:18
Let’s say then from somebody else’s or like maybe what are they getting from you that may be hard to get from somebody else or from somewhere else at that location?
03:19 – 03:21
Well, one is uniqueness.
03:21 – 03:24
So, this is a true log cabin.
03:24 – 03:26
And as you can see, it has got vaulted ceilings.
03:27 – 03:33
We’ve got a lot of animals, in fact, there’s one, a raccoon.
03:33 – 03:35
Yeah in the property.
03:35 – 03:44
But, you know, there’s a lot of log homes around the area, but there are manufactured log, And this one is a true log home.
03:44 – 03:49
So, as you look around, I can give you a couple of examples here as I walk through the property.
03:50 – 03:53
This is actually true logs.
03:54 – 04:01
They are varying sizes, bearing diameters, and there’s no, They’re not a manufactured type of blog.
04:03 – 04:11
That’s what’s cool about this place because it feels like you’re at a hunting lodge, You know, or a fishing lodge, secluded back in the woods.
04:12 – 04:24
This property is located on six acres, and you have a private drive down to the home and when you’re here, you don’t have any homes around you and the lake is literally in the backyard.
04:25 – 04:45
So, you know, that’s one thing, As busy as everybody is, an email, phones, internet, all the stuff, although we have internet that we provide are our customers, um, It’s a place to get away from all that and feel like you’re back, you know, lost in the woods somewhere.
04:45 – 04:45
With.
04:45 – 04:47
All the modern amenities.
04:47 – 04:47
Ok.
04:47 – 04:51
This kind of leads to one of my questions I like to ask which is, you know, what problem?
04:51 – 05:02
You’re solving, and I’m not gonna answer for you, but what I’m hearing is that you’re, given this place where people just kinda disconnect, and get back to life, and get back to family, But, I’ll let you answer that.
05:02 – 05:03
What, you know, what problem are you solving?
05:03 – 05:04
How would you answer that?
05:05 – 05:06
I would say exactly what you just said.
05:07 – 05:11
You know, just taking the time to have family time.
05:11 – 05:20
Make memories, laugh, joke, Play games, go and enjoy the beauties of north-west Arkansas, and what Beaver Lake has to offer.
05:21 – 05:21
Ok?
05:22 – 05:26
So then, let’s say, a family comes out and stays for, you know, 3, 4 days.
05:26 – 05:28
You know, what does their lives look like, after that?
05:28 – 05:29
They come home.
05:29 – 05:31
What are they talking about, What are they, What are they sharing?
05:31 – 05:32
What’s going on with them?
05:34 – 05:38
Well, I’ll just kinda use what our past guests have said, you know.
05:38 – 05:51
The pictures don’t really give this place justice when you walk into this, it’s just, it’s just amazing, now, just the smell of a wood, burning fireplace.
05:52 – 06:00
Just the beautiful outdoor area with the moss covered Bluffs, we’ve got old barns out here that are rustic.
06:00 – 06:14
The home itself is very rustic, but with modern amenities, the kids have a blast out in the backyard we provide for kayaks, two adults and two children kayaks and we also have a paddle boat for our guests.
06:15 – 06:15
Ok.
06:15 – 06:18
And our cove is very deep water.
06:18 – 06:28
It’s so clear You can see down 10 feet in the water and It is just absolutely beautiful and So it’s just very unique.
06:29 – 06:29
Ok.
06:30 – 06:30
All right.
06:30 – 06:38
Well, then, just from a more of a general, kind of, you know, retreat slash, if, you know, if I was interested in like an Airbnb
06:38 – 06:46
Or something like that, you know, do you have any tips or advice about, you know, choosing a property about Airbnb’s, you know, to offer potential customers.
06:47 – 06:50
Well, I would just say, look at the reviews, No.
06:50 – 06:53
That’s very important in this day and age with social media.
06:53 – 07:03
No matter what you do, if you’re looking for work to be done, if you’re looking for places to stay, you know, reviews are critical because people are going to tell you their opinion, and that’s a true opinion.
07:04 – 07:09
And so, you know, and then look at the amenities, does it fit the needs for your family?
07:10 – 07:13
Does it accommodate the space based on how many people you have?
07:13 – 07:15
Are you looking for a city getaway?
07:15 – 07:18
Are you looking for a country, or a late getaway?
07:18 – 07:20
You know, there’s all kinds of different options.
07:20 – 07:24
And that’s, that’s one of the cool things about Airbnb
07:24 – 07:29
Is that you can pick and choose what you’re looking for, and what are the needs of your family, or your guests.
07:30 – 07:39
Ok, yeah, my experience in the past, I always felt like, you know, The more information, the better if I ran across something that just didn’t seem to just give me all the answers.
07:39 – 07:42
I Had a hard time either asking or even, you know, justify it.
07:42 – 07:46
But if I find a place It just gives me more and more and more information. I felt OK.
07:46 – 07:51
They either one nothing to hide or to They’re just trying to help me make this decision process.
07:51 – 07:51
So.
07:51 – 07:51
Mm.
07:51 – 07:51
Hmm.
07:53 – 07:53
Ok.
07:53 – 07:55
Well, then on to the last part here for the kind of the customer.
07:56 – 07:56
Base.
07:56 – 07:58
How can someone rent your cabin?
07:58 – 08:01
where do they go, what do they do?
08:02 – 08:04
Well, you can go on Airbnb
08:05 – 08:07
And search for lakefront cabin.
08:10 – 08:18
We also created a Facebook page called Real Property Retreats and that’s an area where we can share pictures and videos.
08:18 – 08:20
We can post with different events.
08:20 – 08:23
We may have going on with different family members or guests.
08:24 – 08:26
We could also get tagged, we get tagged a lot.
08:26 – 08:34
If somebody’s looking for a getaway, you know, maybe they wanna stay local, but
they want something unique, we get tagged a lot for that kind of thing.
08:35 – 08:41
So I would just say just go out and like our page Real property retreats and then on that link, we have the Airbnb
08:41 – 08:42
Link as well.
08:42 – 08:45
Ok, Are you guys booked out for summer yet?
08:45 – 08:46
Or you still got some slots open?
08:47 – 08:48
Yeah.
08:48 – 08:52
We’re pretty much booked through probably the middle of August.
08:53 – 08:55
But we do have a few openings here and there.
08:55 – 08:58
So I would just look at the calendar and see what openings we have.
08:58 – 09:09
And the advantage of being on our Facebook page is that if we have a cancelation, I post those out there and those that like the page can see those and respond quickly.
09:11 – 09:14
All right, great stuff, Steve, let’s shift to the entrepreneur that may be tuning in.
09:16 – 09:24
So you talked about you already having a property management business, so this may kind of answer this question and myself, but I was going to ask you, you know, what?
09:24 – 09:28
Was it that made you want to start or have this rental property?
09:29 – 09:36
Well, I’ve got another rental just in Bella Vista and I know there’s a big need for that around here.
09:37 – 09:48
Ok, but what I love about Bentonville, Rogers’ Garfield, all of north-west Arkansas, is just the entrepreneurial spirit that is going on here.
09:48 – 09:54
You know, there’s a lot of people from a lot of different places coming in, and they’re looking for experiences.
09:56 – 10:00
When I saw this property immediately, that’s what came to mind.
10:00 – 10:01
Wasn’t experienced.
10:02 – 10:09
Something unique, something close, But, something that feels like you’re much farther away than what you are.
10:10 – 10:17
And, you know, I love, I love to provide families with services with our other business.
10:17 – 10:20
That’s what we do: remodels, handyman, dirt work.
10:20 – 10:22
So, that’s the business we’re in.
10:23 – 10:33
And this is just another way we can serve our customers in north-west Arkansas by making, you know, great family memories and something you don’t want people to talk about this place.
10:34 – 10:35
You know, give us feedback.
10:35 – 10:36
What, how can we improve?
10:36 – 10:37
Because we want this?
10:38 – 10:42
For those family members or those guests, you know, work parties.
10:42 – 10:50
If you want to get out here and get your team out here and have a team building, get away from the weekend, now, you can have a guide service.
10:50 – 10:54
Come right to the dock in the backyard, come pick yet, take you out on a fishing trip.
10:55 – 10:58
There’s an Airstrip about three miles from here.
10:58 – 11:00
If you have a small plane, you could fly in here.
11:00 – 11:06
We could accommodate getting into the cab and you know, I mean, the opportunities are endless with this property.
11:06 – 11:10
And at the end of the day, we just want families to have a good time.
11:10 – 11:10
That’s all.
11:11 – 11:11
Ok.
11:13 – 11:20
Yes, you haven’t been doing this for too long, but you know what was the toughest thing that you went through just trying to get started?
11:20 – 11:24
It was there anything that was just like, that was a real challenge I had to had to get through.
11:25 – 11:32
Well, you know, we bought this in December of 2020, December 10th actually can Immediately we started coming in and doing the remodel.
11:33 – 11:44
And one, the road coming down here is a single lane, it’s down in the woods when there’s bad weather or snow on the ground, that pretty much prevents us from getting in and out a display.
11:44 – 11:45
So that was one challenge.
11:46 – 11:49
And then we had extreme temperatures as well.
11:49 – 11:51
You know, we had very, very cold temps.
11:52 – 11:53
January, February.
11:53 – 11:54
Absolutely insane.
11:54 – 11:55
Yeah.
11:55 – 12:06
Yes, it was crazy Seasonably cold and right in the middle of that I bought the property as is and uh we had an unforeseen problem.
12:06 – 12:07
Our heater went out.
12:09 – 12:14
So we ended up having to replace the entire air conditioning and heating system, which was a good thing.
12:15 – 12:16
But what’s happening now?
12:17 – 12:18
Right?
12:18 – 12:20
So, you know, that’s just part of, you know, we.
12:20 – 12:22
Like I said, we’ve done a full remodel now.
12:22 – 12:32
It’s got an awesome air conditioner, an awesome heater that doesn’t have any more problems with that, and but that did prevent us from getting a lot of the work done because it was so darn cold in the air, OK?
12:33 – 12:34
But we’ve worked through it and here we are.
12:35 – 12:37
Have you had to start over from day one?
12:37 – 12:41
Is there anything that you’d do differently, you know, for someone who might be interested in doing this?
12:44 – 12:45
No, I don’t think so.
12:46 – 12:46
Yeah.
12:46 – 12:49
I think it’s just really, everything’s fallen in place.
12:49 – 12:52
You know, I think, you know, we prayed about it.
12:52 – 12:55
And, you know, we just, it was, it was tough.
12:55 – 13:04
You know, under their current conditions of coded and just the way the world, the uncertainty that was going on, you know, the financing was a little bit harder to do than normal, right?
13:05 – 13:08
And then, of course, the challenges we had with weather.
13:08 – 13:15
No, but you just put one foot in front of the other and you keep on going, and, you know, you got a goal at the end of the, at the end of the tunnel, if you will.
13:15 – 13:20
So, you know, we just kept with it and we got it all finished.
13:20 – 13:27
And we’ve had several families out here and the responses were getting our five star, perfect.
13:27 – 13:28
Much better than they anticipated.
13:28 – 13:31
You know, that kinda thing, so love it.
13:31 – 13:33
Yeah, so in regards to …
13:33 – 13:40
And since you know, just start this where you bought in December or trying to get it up and running like have you had to make any?
13:40 – 13:44
I guess either unforeseen pivots are shifts that you weren’t expecting to do.
13:44 – 13:47
Or did you do anything special to get booked out?
13:47 – 13:51
Or was it just hey post it, and people were still coming in like, kinda?
13:51 – 13:52
What happened with that process?
13:53 – 13:54
Well, you know, anything we do.
13:54 – 13:57
We try to do it above and beyond.
13:57 – 14:02
So, when it comes to cleaning, no cleaning is an absolute must.
14:03 – 14:09
And our expectations for cleanliness is well above just your standard, you know, OK.
14:09 – 14:10
That’s a good enough type of mentality.
14:10 – 14:22
So with the code that you know, we’re doing extra cleaning, we’re doing disinfectants and making sure that we’re providing a sterile environment as best we can for our, for our guests.
14:23 – 14:29
And we’re very meticulous as far as, you know, making sure everything’s done and everything is placed and they have everything they need.
14:30 – 14:37
Because there’s a lot, there’s been a lot of stress in the world, because of coven, and this We want this to be a stress free environment.
14:38 – 14:39
Awesome.
14:39 – 14:40
Awesome, awesome.
14:40 – 14:41
You mentioned Airbnb.
14:41 – 14:49
Is that pretty much the number one way you currently book out your retreat, or got any, otherwise, you get that book?
14:49 – 14:50
Yeah, yeah.
14:50 – 14:52
So you can, it’s, Airbnb
14:52 – 14:55
Vrbo, can message through.
14:55 – 14:59
Yeah, through our Facebook page, you can send messages.
15:00 – 15:03
And we can work with you on, on booking through that as well.
15:04 – 15:09
So just, really, however, you can get a hold of This would be the best way to do that.
15:09 – 15:19
Ok, So the sea, for anyone that may be listening that, you know, may be able to serve you is, you know, what is a major challenge that you’re facing right now?
15:20 – 15:22
Anything that you haven’t problems with right now?
15:24 – 15:31
No, not really a whole lot of challenges with this property Really just trying to get it out.
15:31 – 15:38
You know trying to utilize social media Get on you know, get the property in front of people because you know.
15:38 – 15:45
That’s really how you get exposure is just getting that out through sharing through likes through interaction on social media.
15:46 – 15:57
Twitter, we’ve been pushing that out on Twitter as well, and I think that’s for any small business owner, you know, social media is really a very important piece of that marketing plan.
15:57 – 15:58
Right, right, right.
15:58 – 15:58
Right now, OK.
15:59 – 16:04
So in the next, let’s say six months, years, maybe even two years, are you looking at adding more properties to.
16:04 – 16:05
Your retreat.
16:05 – 16:11
Or what kind of, what’s a little bit long slash longish slash short term gameplan you got going on?
16:12 – 16:19
Yeah, I would love to find some other properties that are, that are amazing like this one.
16:19 – 16:23
You know, we’re gonna continue to update this property.
16:23 – 16:31
We just added a picnic table, which is, you know, people say, well that’s a basic thing but this one, we actually found it.
16:31 – 16:37
It’s got 100 year old tractor tires that are just steel wheels.
16:37 – 16:43
Back in, like World War one and the depression days, rubber was in short supply.
16:43 – 16:46
So a lot of attractors had full steel wheels.
16:46 – 16:49
So we converted that into the picnic table.
16:49 – 16:56
And so it’s placed out here right above the playgrounds, so you can go out and have lunch with your family while the kids are playing on the playground.
16:56 – 16:57
It overlooks the lake.
16:58 – 17:04
We’ve got a lot of other plans out here to make updates and just make that stay even more memorable.
17:05 – 17:06
Ok, fantastic.
17:07 – 17:09
I’m almost done here.
17:09 – 17:10
I just have this.
17:10 – 17:13
This is my one hardball question which isn’t that hard But you know why?
17:14 – 17:15
What motivates you to do this?
17:15 – 17:17
What drives you to do this?
17:17 – 17:18
What’s your why?
17:20 – 17:23
Well, we all have to make a living, Brock.
17:25 – 17:26
This is 1.
17:26 – 17:33
1 stream of income, you know, I mean, it takes a lot of resources to own a property like this, sir.
17:33 – 17:33
And.
17:34 – 17:37
So any help we can get through sharing it with others.
17:39 – 17:48
Is great for us, but, I’ll be honest, with ya: You know, Beaver Lake, I don’t know of any lake near here in the four state area.
17:48 – 17:50
That’s as beautiful as Beaver Lake is.
17:51 – 18:06
And when this property came available, it was really just…It was a godsend opportunity for us because of the beauty because of the uniqueness and just being able to enjoy the lake even more than what we have in the past.
18:07 – 18:10
And it’s fun for us because, you know, we’ve got busy lives.
18:10 – 18:14
We’re in softball practice, We work a full-time job, stressful.
18:14 – 18:21
There’s times that we wouldn’t be able to be down here just because life takes place, you know, on an everyday basis.
18:21 – 18:29
So, for those times that we’re not able to enjoy the place, we can share it with others, and, you know, allow them to make awesome memories.
18:29 – 18:32
Yeah, I was about to say, it sounds like your family needs a retreat.
18:33 – 18:37
Yes, Yes, we, I think everybody needs to take that time.
18:37 – 18:45
You know, put it on your bucket, list them, put it on your to-do’s to get it done because otherwise, you know, life will consume you and you won’t take that time with your families.
18:46 – 18:54
All right, well, now it’s a shameless plug time just one more time. You know what’s the best way for someone to book your retreat or to get in contact with you directly?
18:55 – 19:00
Go to Facebook, and like, or page, real property retreats.
19:00 – 19:01
And you could.
19:01 – 19:04
Messages directly on there, as well as find the Airbnb
19:04 – 19:05
Links.
19:06 – 19:08
Awesome, awesome, awesome, Awesome.
19:08 – 19:09
All right, well thank you, thank you.
19:09 – 19:11
Thank you so much, Steve, for being here today.
19:11 – 19:16
And I love that you’re on site, I think that’s awesome, We can kinda get a taste for what we’re looking at here.
19:17 – 19:17
Just to close up.
19:17 – 19:26
So again, this is 479 Spotlights’ mission, is to provide free promotion to local businesses and in NWA to give them more exposure and create more trust in the community.
19:26 – 19:28
To get notified of new interviews.
19:28 – 19:34
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube by searching for 479 Spotlight or by going to 479 Spotlight dot com.
19:35 – 19:40
If you are a business owner, and would like to be featured, just schedule the interview on 479 Spotlight dot com.
19:40 – 19:41
Thanks for joining us today.
19:41 – 19:42
Keep having fun NWA!
19:42 – 19:45
Anything you want to finish with Steve?
19:46 – 19:48
Thank you, Brock, for the spotlight today.
19:48 – 19:50
I love this, I love the idea.
19:51 – 19:53
And I love connecting with Northwest Arkansas.
19:54 – 19:57
It’s just a great place to be, and thank you very much.
19:58 – 19:59
Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome.
19:59 – 20:01
All right, take care, have a good one.
20:01 – 20:04
I hope we’ll be in touch with you again another time.
20:05 – 20:06
Ok, Brock, thank you so much.
20:06 – 20:07
Have a good day.
20:07 – 20:08
Alright, bye.