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What $300K Gets You in New Jersey, South Dakota vs. Virginia

September 24, 2026 · Landian Weekly Deals

The Harbor Light condotel pool in North Wildwood, one of four homes at the same $300K budget

This week's budget is $300,000 — the most attainable anchor we've run — and the four answers span the continent. In North Wildwood, New Jersey, it buys a renovated condotel unit a block off the beach that sleeps seven and comes with two heated pools and a building that runs like a motel. In Lead, South Dakota, it buys a furnished two-suite condo literally across the street from Terry Peak's lifts, with Deadwood's casinos fifteen minutes downhill and the Sturgis Rally filling the calendar every August. Near Basye, Virginia, it buys a one-level log cabin at Bryce Resort — the Shenandoah Valley's four-season hill, two hours from DC — where the county allows rentals this size by right. And the fourth, in a state the subject line doesn't name, is the issue's biggest modeled number: a furnished, licensed, already-operating rental with a hot tub in the Midwest's favorite weekend town.

Each listing was verified active as of this issue, each is on Landian so you can tour or offer with a $4,999 flat fee instead of a commission, and every number below is an estimate — the disclaimer at the bottom applies to all of it.

Deal 1 · North Wildwood, New Jersey

The condotel that runs itself, a block off the beach

301 Ocean Ave #204, North Wildwood, NJ 08260 — listing photo

Price

$315,000

Home

1 bd · 1 ba · 450 sqft

Est. revenue*

$29,565/yr ($180/night · 45% occ.)

Gross yield*

9.4%

The Jersey Shore answer is a condotel: a recently renovated 1-bedroom at the Harbor Light, one block from the beach and seawall at North Wildwood's quiet north end, near the Hereford Inlet lighthouse. Don't let the single bedroom fool you — it sleeps up to seven, with central air, a dedicated parking space, elevator access, on-site laundry, and two heated pools with BBQ areas below the balcony. Condotel buildings are built for nightly renting — the place runs like a motel while you own the deed — and North Wildwood requires only a per-property mercantile rental license. AirROI has North Wildwood at a $363 average rate and 37.8% occupancy across 400+ listings, an average dominated by whole shore houses; we've modeled this 1-bed at $180 and 45% — about $30K a year, with the building's rental desk doing the heavy lifting.

Buying it through Landian costs a $4,999 flat fee instead of a ~2.5% commission — about $2,876 back on this one.

See the full listing & tour it →

Deal 2 · Lead, South Dakota

A furnished ski condo across the street from Terry Peak

21097 Stewart Slope Rd, Lead, SD 57754 — listing photo

Price

$299,000

Home

2 bd · 2 ba · 1,050 sqft

Est. revenue*

$29,382/yr ($175/night · 46% occ.)

Gross yield*

9.8%

A fully furnished 2-bed, 2-bath condo across the street from Terry Peak — the Black Hills' biggest ski hill. Inside it's turnkey lodge style: open living room with leather seating, full kitchen, and two bedroom-bath pairings across 1,050 square feet, with a covered balcony into the pines. Winter is only half the season: Deadwood's casinos are 15 minutes down the hill, Spearfish Canyon is next door, and the Sturgis Rally books out all of Lawrence County every August. Lead licenses short-term rentals with a simple city license plus health inspection. AirDNA has neighboring Spearfish at a $265 average rate and 48% occupancy; we've modeled this 2-bed conservatively at $175 and 46% — about $29K a year from a maintenance-free building you can lock and leave.

Buying it through Landian costs a $4,999 flat fee instead of a ~2.5% commission — about $2,476 back on this one.

See the full listing & tour it →

Deal 3 · Bryce Resort, Virginia

A log cabin at a four-season resort, rentable by right

417 Ironwood Rd, Mount Jackson, VA 22842 — listing photo

Price

$304,500

Home

3 bd · 2 ba · 1,700 sqft

Est. revenue*

$33,726/yr ($220/night · 42% occ.)

Gross yield*

11.1%

A one-level log cabin on a level lot near Bryce Resort, the Shenandoah Valley's four-season hill — skiing and tubing in winter, golf, Lake Laura, and lift-served mountain biking the rest of the year, about two hours from Washington, DC. Full-length covered porch, vaulted ceilings over the open living/kitchen, a huge bonus room off the kitchen, and all three bedrooms plus laundry on the main level. The big-ticket items were replaced together in 2022: new metal roof, new HVAC, new stainless appliances. The rental picture is unusually clean for Virginia: Shenandoah County allows short-term rentals of four bedrooms or fewer by right with an annual zoning permit in this zoning, and the Bryce area is the county's vacation-rental hub with 250+ active listings. AirROI has Basye at a $238 average rate and 34.8% occupancy; we've modeled this 3-bed at $220 and 42% — about $34K a year in log-cabin curb appeal.

Buying it through Landian costs a $4,999 flat fee instead of a ~2.5% commission — about $2,614 back on this one.

See the full listing & tour it →

Deal 4 · Galena, Illinois

The surprise: already licensed, already furnished, already earning

3 Briarwood Trl, Galena, IL 61036 — listing photo

Price

$328,800

Home

2 bd · 1.5 ba · 1,459 sqft

Est. revenue*

$37,230/yr ($255/night · 40% occ.)

Gross yield*

11.3%

Already licensed and already earning: a cozy 2-bed retreat in The Galena Territory that operates as a popular short-term rental with rental history, sold furnished for a turnkey handoff. The walk-out lower level gives both bedrooms direct access to a screened porch with a hot tub, there's a stone gas fireplace and a game room, and it sits on 0.95 wooded acres at the end of a cul-de-sac minutes from Lake Galena and the Owners' Club amenities. The mechanicals are done: new shingles, furnace and A/C in 2020, new refrigerator and dishwasher in 2023, asphalt drive in 2023. Galena is the Midwest's favorite weekend town — AirROI has it at a $290 average rate and $27.6K average annual revenue with light regulation — and an established license with history de-risks the ramp-up. We've modeled it at $255 and 40% — about $37K a year, the biggest modeled number in the issue.

Buying it through Landian costs a $4,999 flat fee instead of a ~2.5% commission — about $3,221 back on this one.

See the full listing & tour it →

Four answers to the same $300,000: the Galena Territory retreat pencils to the biggest number and comes with its license and history, Bryce and Terry Peak are both across-the-street-from-the-lift plays at very different altitudes, and the North Wildwood condotel is the lowest-effort door into Jersey Shore summers. Whichever answer fits, buying it through Landian costs a $4,999 flat fee instead of a ~2.5% commission — that's the difference you see in each card above.

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*Every revenue, occupancy, and yield figure on this page is an estimate based on market-level short-term-rental data and our own assumptions — not a promise of performance. Listings verified active as of publication and can go under contract at any time. Landian is a licensed real-estate brokerage; this is not investment advice.