Why here
12+ million visitors a year don't need convincing
The Great Smoky Mountains is the most-visited national park in the country, and Sevier County — Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg — is its front door. That visitor volume is why this market supports one of the densest short-term-rental economies in the U.S., and why cabins here trade as income property first and vacation homes second.
But the market punishes buyers who treat every cabin the same. Where the cabin sits determines what permits it needs, what it can legally sleep, and what it will actually earn. That's what this guide covers.
Permits & zoning
Every jurisdiction plays by different rules
"Sevier County" is really four regulatory environments. The same cabin moved a mile down the road can face a completely different permit stack, occupancy ceiling and tax load — or be ineligible to rent at all.
Tax rates at a glance
Airbnb and Vrbo auto-collect some of these, but the legal responsibility for remitting all of them stays with you. A local CPA who works STRs is cheap insurance. Fees and rates change without ceremony — verify against the numbers on each jurisdiction before you wire earnest money.
The county permit, decoded
The STRU permit program in plain English
If your cabin sits in unincorporated Sevier County — and most of the big rental corridors do — it operates under the Sevier County Fire Marshal's Short-Term Rental Unit permit program.
A few rules that matter more than they look
Buying a resale STR
Due diligence on a cabin that's already renting
When you buy a cabin that already holds a county STRU permit, the permit account transfers to you. You're not starting from zero — but "transfers" is not the same as "is clean," and the permit's history becomes your history. This is the sequence I run before my clients write an offer.
The inspection
What the fire marshal actually checks
Every county STRU permit is pending an on-site inspection, and most "failed inspection" stories trace back to a handful of inexpensive, fixable items. This is the county's own list of most commonly found issues, revised 11/8/2024. It isn't exhaustive and requirements vary with when the cabin was built, but clear all of this and you're walking in in good shape.
Cabins with sprinkler or fire alarm systems carry one more recurring obligation: annual inspection by a Tennessee-licensed company, with every noted deficiency corrected. Budget for it as a line item, not a surprise.
Occupancy & the CO
The certificate of occupancy is the law of the cabin
Beginners fixate on bedroom count. The number that governs is on the certificate of occupancy. Under the residential code as the county applies it, a transient rental is illegally occupied the moment guests exceed the CO — a cabin with a 12-person CO rented to 13 people is out of compliance, grandfathered or not. Grandfathering protects a legal existing use; it doesn't create headroom above it.
And here's the date that explains the whole large-cabin market: beginning January 2016, Sevier County capped new COs for overnight rentals at twelve persons. A cabin built after that which wants to sleep 13+ needs a permit through the State of Tennessee Fire Marshal's Office — commercial territory, with sprinklers, commercial egress and a different inspection standard entirely. That's why true 13+ occupancy cabins command premium pricing: the supply is structurally constrained.
Remember the fee math: crossing from 12 to 13+ moves you into the $25-per-occupant tier, and possibly into a different code world entirely. Run the revenue upside against the compliance cost before assuming bigger is better.
The numbers
How I underwrite a cabin
A listing agent's revenue claim is a starting point, not a number you borrow against. Before any client of mine writes an offer, we build the real picture.
The tax angle
Why high earners buy cabins here
Short-term rentals occupy a unique spot in the tax code. Because average guest stays run under seven days, an STR can avoid the passive-loss limitations that apply to traditional rentals — meaning that with material participation, depreciation losses may offset active income like W-2 wages or business profits.
Pair that with a cost segregation study and bonus depreciation, and a significant share of a cabin's purchase price can potentially be written off far faster than the standard 27.5-year schedule. For buyers in high brackets this is often the difference-maker on whether a deal pencils.
I'm not your CPA and this isn't tax advice — but I build the tax-strategy page into every investor package I produce, and I'll connect you with professionals who run these studies in this market every week.
Who to call
The county directory, bookmarked for you
The offices you'll actually deal with as an unincorporated-county STR owner. One tip straight from the Fire Marshal's office: they get heavy call volume, and email gets a faster response than the phone.
Want the numbers on a specific cabin?
Send me an address or a budget. I'll run the comps, check the permit history, and tell you straight whether it pencils.