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sachi3679

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Hello,
My name is Georgina and my husband and I are looking at purchasing a turnkey B&B next summer. Some fun facts about us:
Neither of us have worked in a B&B before, but we both work in restaurants and retail, so customer service and long hours are all we know. Eventually we would like to attach a 20 seat restaurant to the B&B and do culinary weekends as we are both classically trained chefs (he in culinary and I in pastry). I also do wedding cakes and handmade chocolates and would like to sideline that as extra income on the side. And yes, I do get tired just typing all that out =) We really like the Asheville/Black Mountain area in NC but we are most likely out of our price range there, so we are looking all along the east coast. (Or Hawaii, as that is where I was born and raised, but the chances of finding something there are slightly less than zero =) We are looking for a 5-8 rooms.
Now onto questions. We are having some trouble getting started. My husband has contacted a couple of realtors but has been getting very little response from them. We look online, but there is no way to tell if the listings are still active without a realtor to help us. We are also looking at doing a seminar, but I am leery of forking over money to someone who may or may not know what they are doing. Any recommendations for realtors or seminars/classes? We are in Northern VA.
Also, I understand most B&B's are financed via business loans, not mortgages. Any tips on obtaining loans? I have looked into SBA loans, but for restaurants which virtually no lender will touch. Are B&B's easier to finance?
I also know that costs and regulations vary from town to town, but any ballpark figures for monthly costs? Hidden costs you didn't expect? The best I can figure is going from estimated mortgage calculators and what I currently spend in utilities multiplied by a few. My husband wants us to have 6 months worth of operating expenses saved up, which I think is a great idea, but also insane and unreasonable to expect to have that much of a cushion. Is it, or do we need that much?
Lastly (for now), how long did it take you to actually find and purchase a B&B? I am under contract with my job until 5/14 and our lease expires 6/14, so I want to be able to move out and into our new home/business by then. Are we jumping the gun by looking now or am I right to think it could take that long?
Any and all advice is appreciated.
Thanks!
 
He underestimated the cushion - at least a year. Please read earlier topics on this subject. It really has ben discussed here many. many times. Read and then come ask questions.
 
Please read read read everything here we have posted in the past. Lots of postings to aspirings. There are lots of B & B's for sale out there. Some listed here as well. If you don't have a money for down payment....forget it. No one will give you financing for a B & B these days. DO attend an aspiring workshop. The Virginia association is having one in June. check this site for details: www.innvirginia.com
There is lots you may not have considered.
Good luck.
 
Welcome to the forum. Great questions and so many variables for answers. There are two B&B Brokers who specifically deal with Inn in Virginia. I am sure you have come across them in your google searches.
When you are for sale you have EVERY broker and realtor trying to sell on your behalf, and most do not get the whole B&B thing, so many sell for sale by owner for that reason.
You will need a cushion, and in fact the bank may require that. When we bought this inn we discovered the owners took all the rugs with them, and had mostly hard wood floors we needed to cover, and fast. It was not cheap. Just one example.
Another is the prev owners let ALL online marketing, ALL prof associations, business licenses, anything renewable LAPSE. So this meant, here is your key - open a closet and find all these renewables overdue or you can't operate (I am mentioning this as it needs to be certainty when you purchase that EVERYTHING is kept up to date as the owners may have short-timers disease!) As one member of this forum can attest, as she was the president of our state association then and I called to beg to be allowed payment plans, or credit card use for renewal, everything was expired!
Since then, I have weeded out what we do not need for our marketing, but at that time, stepping over the threshold I had no clue, so needed to maintain what was already on the list.
All the best in Northern Virginia!
 
Happy hunting!
We took over a year to find the property that met our needs. We looked in 5 different states.
6 months' operating capital is a little short. A year is better.
Are you leaving voicemail for realtors who are not getting back to you or are you actually speaking with someone who then ignores you?
You don't want a realtor anyway, you want a business broker. Realtors generally know houses and nothing about inns and businesses. You want someone who can point you to banks that will finance you. You want someone who knows the general business climate and what's opening and closing in the area. ie- is this a viable area for your plans.
In VA you can contact the VA B&B Assoc for info on classes. You really should take a class. You will get so many answers for the questions you have.
 
@Madeleine: Primarily it is email contact. They love to send out the bulk emails with listings, but then trying to get specific info on anything is much harder. We have been using bedandbreakfast.com, bbonline.com and bedandbreakfastforsale.com to try and find listings on our own, but it is hard to tell what is active, and again, can't get any info beyond the MLS. I will look into finding a broker instead. I do intend to keep working during at least the first year of operation to support the business and us, so is one year still necessary? My income should be enough to fully cover the mortgage/loan, with possibly a little left over. I know more is better, but we don't have a ton of cash on hand and I don't want to get caught in the cycle of waiting to have enough. We are looking at taking classes, I just want to know that whoever we take the class from is legit, so we aren't handing money over to be told "it's hard" or, even worse, "it's sunshine and you'll be a millionaire"
@Joey: Thanks for the info, I had not thought of that.
@EmptyNest: yes, doing lots of reading through the archives. We do have money for a down payment, just trying to figure out how much we realistically need over that (aside from a lot). Thanks for the tip of the seminar. That is not too far from us. We are not sure where we will end up, and definitely do not want to stay in NOVA (hate the 2 hours commute each way) but have seen some nicer areas south of us, so would a state run seminar still be beneficial or do they tend to be very state specific? Either way, we will probably go since we just need to start already.
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm sure these questions have been asked a million times on this forum, but I'm a bit overwhelmed just figuring out where to start.
 
@Madeleine: Primarily it is email contact. They love to send out the bulk emails with listings, but then trying to get specific info on anything is much harder. We have been using bedandbreakfast.com, bbonline.com and bedandbreakfastforsale.com to try and find listings on our own, but it is hard to tell what is active, and again, can't get any info beyond the MLS. I will look into finding a broker instead. I do intend to keep working during at least the first year of operation to support the business and us, so is one year still necessary? My income should be enough to fully cover the mortgage/loan, with possibly a little left over. I know more is better, but we don't have a ton of cash on hand and I don't want to get caught in the cycle of waiting to have enough. We are looking at taking classes, I just want to know that whoever we take the class from is legit, so we aren't handing money over to be told "it's hard" or, even worse, "it's sunshine and you'll be a millionaire"
@Joey: Thanks for the info, I had not thought of that.
@EmptyNest: yes, doing lots of reading through the archives. We do have money for a down payment, just trying to figure out how much we realistically need over that (aside from a lot). Thanks for the tip of the seminar. That is not too far from us. We are not sure where we will end up, and definitely do not want to stay in NOVA (hate the 2 hours commute each way) but have seen some nicer areas south of us, so would a state run seminar still be beneficial or do they tend to be very state specific? Either way, we will probably go since we just need to start already.
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm sure these questions have been asked a million times on this forum, but I'm a bit overwhelmed just figuring out where to start..
Sachi allow me to give you this bit of innfo. On directory listings - for sale - we have to pay for this listing for 6 months - so in 6 months, if we do not renew, then the listing is taken down. So stick to the main listing sites and you will see what is current or not. The other one I would recommend if BnBfinder - link here.
Oddly enough you may see some go BACK ON THE MARKET. Why? Were they dawgs? No, the innkeepers did not do their homework and bought the inn and couldn't handle the work load, weren't cut out for it, or tried to do too much too soon and ran out of money, etc etc. So don't be shy about that, there is a turn around.
Innshopper is a free website, pay for more features on the listing, if you have not seen it yet. Newly listed will show up on the homepage.
http://bedandbreakfastforsale.com/ can send you an email every time a new for sale listing it added. It is also the most expensive for sale directory, and sucks. It has the worst listing and least amount of info. If they find this comment from me, then they already know. If you don't pay for the super duper delux listing then you are an idiot, apparently. $600 for a 6 month featured listing. $330 for the next one down (for 6 months).
May I ask you this?
Start a new thread here: Wanted to buy and list in a bullet format or numbered list what you are looking for. You may be surprised that there may be some here who are not listed for sale, but are considering it. Or were for sale, but due to economy pulled the for sale listing back down.
You can make it a WISH LIST and/or a REQUIRED list.
 
@Madeleine: Primarily it is email contact. They love to send out the bulk emails with listings, but then trying to get specific info on anything is much harder. We have been using bedandbreakfast.com, bbonline.com and bedandbreakfastforsale.com to try and find listings on our own, but it is hard to tell what is active, and again, can't get any info beyond the MLS. I will look into finding a broker instead. I do intend to keep working during at least the first year of operation to support the business and us, so is one year still necessary? My income should be enough to fully cover the mortgage/loan, with possibly a little left over. I know more is better, but we don't have a ton of cash on hand and I don't want to get caught in the cycle of waiting to have enough. We are looking at taking classes, I just want to know that whoever we take the class from is legit, so we aren't handing money over to be told "it's hard" or, even worse, "it's sunshine and you'll be a millionaire"
@Joey: Thanks for the info, I had not thought of that.
@EmptyNest: yes, doing lots of reading through the archives. We do have money for a down payment, just trying to figure out how much we realistically need over that (aside from a lot). Thanks for the tip of the seminar. That is not too far from us. We are not sure where we will end up, and definitely do not want to stay in NOVA (hate the 2 hours commute each way) but have seen some nicer areas south of us, so would a state run seminar still be beneficial or do they tend to be very state specific? Either way, we will probably go since we just need to start already.
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm sure these questions have been asked a million times on this forum, but I'm a bit overwhelmed just figuring out where to start..
Working while owning an inn- excellent idea on paper. Have you sketched it out in operation?
You go off to work for 8-10 hours while partner does all the innkeeping. You maybe have to travel for work or would like to go on vacation. How does that gibe with partner's schedule? Do you want to do all the inn stuff on your 'days off' and when you come home at night? Does your partner wish he HAD a 'day off'? How do you resolve these things?
If your job can pay the mortgage you may be able to get a residential loan rather than a commercial one. Will your job cover everything, tho? (Mortgage is probably the biggest expense so good that it's covered.)
After your first year you're still not where you need to be to have the biz cover all your expenses, what happens then? Are you grouchy you have to keep job? Is partner sick of doing everything on his own?
With 6-8 rooms partner is going to need help. Can you afford to hire someone to clean rooms and do laundry and take care of the maintenance?
(There are 2 of us here and we can be really swamped if our housekeeper calls out sick. We might have planned to 'do something' that day and now we're in the trenches cleaning.)
 
also it depends on what kind of work you do ie my neighbour with 5 bed B&B is also an accountant - she can do this from home on a flexible basis and the extra money she earns means she can employ a chamber maid and not be cleaning toilets every day ie accounting hour £40 an hour - chamber maid £6 an hour - do 8 hours a week and its much more than you would pay a chamber maid!
 
Sachi - have you considered Lancaster County, PA? There are many for sale here and a lot of tourism (11million+ per year). Do you have kids in school?
Call or e-mail me any time. I'm happy to help. We moved to Lancaster from NOVA. Don't miss that commute or traffic, either! I do miss Wegman's and Whole Foods, though. However, there are enough farmers' markets around to more than make up for it.
For funding, contact Rick Newman at InnFinancing.com. He's the guy who knows who has $$ to lend. I also know several of the regional hospitality agents/brokers/consultants, too. They're very busy this time of year, so maybe that's why you're having trouble getting a return call.
Do attend an 'aspiring' innkeepers' conference. They are usually not state-specific.
Best of luck to you
 
@Madeleine: Primarily it is email contact. They love to send out the bulk emails with listings, but then trying to get specific info on anything is much harder. We have been using bedandbreakfast.com, bbonline.com and bedandbreakfastforsale.com to try and find listings on our own, but it is hard to tell what is active, and again, can't get any info beyond the MLS. I will look into finding a broker instead. I do intend to keep working during at least the first year of operation to support the business and us, so is one year still necessary? My income should be enough to fully cover the mortgage/loan, with possibly a little left over. I know more is better, but we don't have a ton of cash on hand and I don't want to get caught in the cycle of waiting to have enough. We are looking at taking classes, I just want to know that whoever we take the class from is legit, so we aren't handing money over to be told "it's hard" or, even worse, "it's sunshine and you'll be a millionaire"
@Joey: Thanks for the info, I had not thought of that.
@EmptyNest: yes, doing lots of reading through the archives. We do have money for a down payment, just trying to figure out how much we realistically need over that (aside from a lot). Thanks for the tip of the seminar. That is not too far from us. We are not sure where we will end up, and definitely do not want to stay in NOVA (hate the 2 hours commute each way) but have seen some nicer areas south of us, so would a state run seminar still be beneficial or do they tend to be very state specific? Either way, we will probably go since we just need to start already.
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm sure these questions have been asked a million times on this forum, but I'm a bit overwhelmed just figuring out where to start..
The VA Aspiring Class does focus somewhat on the laws etc in VA, but it would be helpful to you no matter where you finally choose. You would have information upon which to base your search. And yes it is a LEGIT class. You can also take Legit classes when PAII holds its conferences...done for this year..and the MidAtlantic Conference was just held near Baltimore...too bad that would have been a good one for you to attend.
 
Sachi - have you considered Lancaster County, PA? There are many for sale here and a lot of tourism (11million+ per year). Do you have kids in school?
Call or e-mail me any time. I'm happy to help. We moved to Lancaster from NOVA. Don't miss that commute or traffic, either! I do miss Wegman's and Whole Foods, though. However, there are enough farmers' markets around to more than make up for it.
For funding, contact Rick Newman at InnFinancing.com. He's the guy who knows who has $$ to lend. I also know several of the regional hospitality agents/brokers/consultants, too. They're very busy this time of year, so maybe that's why you're having trouble getting a return call.
Do attend an 'aspiring' innkeepers' conference. They are usually not state-specific.
Best of luck to you.
Hello Lynne!
At this point we are looking pretty much everywhere since we are on a tight budget. I have a three year old and seven month old, so the older one will just be starting school when we move. My sister is in PA also but we are hoping to go a little warmer. Thank you for the response and the advice.
Georgina
 
also it depends on what kind of work you do ie my neighbour with 5 bed B&B is also an accountant - she can do this from home on a flexible basis and the extra money she earns means she can employ a chamber maid and not be cleaning toilets every day ie accounting hour £40 an hour - chamber maid £6 an hour - do 8 hours a week and its much more than you would pay a chamber maid!.
Thanks for the response. I do make artisan chocolates and wedding cakes so would be able to do that from home like I do now.
 
@Madeleine: Primarily it is email contact. They love to send out the bulk emails with listings, but then trying to get specific info on anything is much harder. We have been using bedandbreakfast.com, bbonline.com and bedandbreakfastforsale.com to try and find listings on our own, but it is hard to tell what is active, and again, can't get any info beyond the MLS. I will look into finding a broker instead. I do intend to keep working during at least the first year of operation to support the business and us, so is one year still necessary? My income should be enough to fully cover the mortgage/loan, with possibly a little left over. I know more is better, but we don't have a ton of cash on hand and I don't want to get caught in the cycle of waiting to have enough. We are looking at taking classes, I just want to know that whoever we take the class from is legit, so we aren't handing money over to be told "it's hard" or, even worse, "it's sunshine and you'll be a millionaire"
@Joey: Thanks for the info, I had not thought of that.
@EmptyNest: yes, doing lots of reading through the archives. We do have money for a down payment, just trying to figure out how much we realistically need over that (aside from a lot). Thanks for the tip of the seminar. That is not too far from us. We are not sure where we will end up, and definitely do not want to stay in NOVA (hate the 2 hours commute each way) but have seen some nicer areas south of us, so would a state run seminar still be beneficial or do they tend to be very state specific? Either way, we will probably go since we just need to start already.
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm sure these questions have been asked a million times on this forum, but I'm a bit overwhelmed just figuring out where to start..
Working while owning an inn- excellent idea on paper. Have you sketched it out in operation?
You go off to work for 8-10 hours while partner does all the innkeeping. You maybe have to travel for work or would like to go on vacation. How does that gibe with partner's schedule? Do you want to do all the inn stuff on your 'days off' and when you come home at night? Does your partner wish he HAD a 'day off'? How do you resolve these things?
If your job can pay the mortgage you may be able to get a residential loan rather than a commercial one. Will your job cover everything, tho? (Mortgage is probably the biggest expense so good that it's covered.)
After your first year you're still not where you need to be to have the biz cover all your expenses, what happens then? Are you grouchy you have to keep job? Is partner sick of doing everything on his own?
With 6-8 rooms partner is going to need help. Can you afford to hire someone to clean rooms and do laundry and take care of the maintenance?
(There are 2 of us here and we can be really swamped if our housekeeper calls out sick. We might have planned to 'do something' that day and now we're in the trenches cleaning.)
.
Yes, I know it will be very difficult (we also have two small children). Fortunately we have both spent most of our lives working in restaurants so we are masochistic workaholics :) I appreciate the questions as it does give us something to talk about and get settled beforehand. We have talked about needing to hire help, a mother's helper at bare minimum. My salary likely will not cover more than the mortgage unless we get a great deal.
The main thing for us is that, regardless of whether we buy a b&b or not, we will be working 60-80 hour weeks on the good weeks. At least this way we are close to our kids and can see the throughout the day while working. As it is now, I only work 44hrs a week but there are many days they are asleep when I leave and asleep when I come home. In spite of the hours and hard work, I think this will be a better life for us.
 
@Madeleine: Primarily it is email contact. They love to send out the bulk emails with listings, but then trying to get specific info on anything is much harder. We have been using bedandbreakfast.com, bbonline.com and bedandbreakfastforsale.com to try and find listings on our own, but it is hard to tell what is active, and again, can't get any info beyond the MLS. I will look into finding a broker instead. I do intend to keep working during at least the first year of operation to support the business and us, so is one year still necessary? My income should be enough to fully cover the mortgage/loan, with possibly a little left over. I know more is better, but we don't have a ton of cash on hand and I don't want to get caught in the cycle of waiting to have enough. We are looking at taking classes, I just want to know that whoever we take the class from is legit, so we aren't handing money over to be told "it's hard" or, even worse, "it's sunshine and you'll be a millionaire"
@Joey: Thanks for the info, I had not thought of that.
@EmptyNest: yes, doing lots of reading through the archives. We do have money for a down payment, just trying to figure out how much we realistically need over that (aside from a lot). Thanks for the tip of the seminar. That is not too far from us. We are not sure where we will end up, and definitely do not want to stay in NOVA (hate the 2 hours commute each way) but have seen some nicer areas south of us, so would a state run seminar still be beneficial or do they tend to be very state specific? Either way, we will probably go since we just need to start already.
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm sure these questions have been asked a million times on this forum, but I'm a bit overwhelmed just figuring out where to start..
Working while owning an inn- excellent idea on paper. Have you sketched it out in operation?
You go off to work for 8-10 hours while partner does all the innkeeping. You maybe have to travel for work or would like to go on vacation. How does that gibe with partner's schedule? Do you want to do all the inn stuff on your 'days off' and when you come home at night? Does your partner wish he HAD a 'day off'? How do you resolve these things?
If your job can pay the mortgage you may be able to get a residential loan rather than a commercial one. Will your job cover everything, tho? (Mortgage is probably the biggest expense so good that it's covered.)
After your first year you're still not where you need to be to have the biz cover all your expenses, what happens then? Are you grouchy you have to keep job? Is partner sick of doing everything on his own?
With 6-8 rooms partner is going to need help. Can you afford to hire someone to clean rooms and do laundry and take care of the maintenance?
(There are 2 of us here and we can be really swamped if our housekeeper calls out sick. We might have planned to 'do something' that day and now we're in the trenches cleaning.)
.
Yes, I know it will be very difficult (we also have two small children). Fortunately we have both spent most of our lives working in restaurants so we are masochistic workaholics :) I appreciate the questions as it does give us something to talk about and get settled beforehand. We have talked about needing to hire help, a mother's helper at bare minimum. My salary likely will not cover more than the mortgage unless we get a great deal.
The main thing for us is that, regardless of whether we buy a b&b or not, we will be working 60-80 hour weeks on the good weeks. At least this way we are close to our kids and can see the throughout the day while working. As it is now, I only work 44hrs a week but there are many days they are asleep when I leave and asleep when I come home. In spite of the hours and hard work, I think this will be a better life for us.
.
I wish you well. I worked graveyard shift top raise mine with my cockamamie ideas so I understand your reasoning. You will also have your "staff" in training. Just take the time to let them help until they learn it. Kids love to help - it makes them feel important. Running a vac is easy enough for a little one. We had a tank vac and the youngest was proud to do the living room at 3. By 6 he was "folding" towels. And I did not refold - he eventually got good at it. A redo makes them feel inadequate - practice makes perfect.
 
Sachi - have you considered Lancaster County, PA? There are many for sale here and a lot of tourism (11million+ per year). Do you have kids in school?
Call or e-mail me any time. I'm happy to help. We moved to Lancaster from NOVA. Don't miss that commute or traffic, either! I do miss Wegman's and Whole Foods, though. However, there are enough farmers' markets around to more than make up for it.
For funding, contact Rick Newman at InnFinancing.com. He's the guy who knows who has $$ to lend. I also know several of the regional hospitality agents/brokers/consultants, too. They're very busy this time of year, so maybe that's why you're having trouble getting a return call.
Do attend an 'aspiring' innkeepers' conference. They are usually not state-specific.
Best of luck to you.
Hello Lynne!
At this point we are looking pretty much everywhere since we are on a tight budget. I have a three year old and seven month old, so the older one will just be starting school when we move. My sister is in PA also but we are hoping to go a little warmer. Thank you for the response and the advice.
Georgina
.
You need to keep your kids in mind for this life style. This is not an easy life style for young kids.Trust me I know, I have two also. Kids can't be kids and live in a Bed and Breakfast. We finally realized this and bought the house across from our Bed and Breakfast. They needed a place to run and play and enjoy their childhood and not bother the paying guests. Guests leave their crazy life behind for weekends to get away from their kids. The last thing they want to hear are kids. Something to really think about when choosing a property. You might want to go with cabins or cottages style B & B's
good luck!
 
Georgina,
In my search for a B&B (starting in 2006), I was looking for 3 things - affordable real estate; good tourism to support my endeavor and good schools. What I found most interesting was that often the last two criteria were mutually exclusive - the good tourism places had not so great public schools and those with good public schools didn't have the tourists. I used a website called schoolsmatter.com to research the schools. I found the best of all 3 here in Lancaster.
 
Okay so little by little we learn more. YOUNG CHILDREN and a B&B don't mix. It is not fair to them. I will say it upfront, and then the "You are so mean on this forum daggers thrust my direction."
I am being honest, as someone who had/has children in a B&B, and one who had a tonsillectomy last Thursday and I am trying to clean rooms and deal with guests currently. It is NOT EASY, not ADVISABLE, and definitely NOT FUN.
 
Okay so little by little we learn more. YOUNG CHILDREN and a B&B don't mix. It is not fair to them. I will say it upfront, and then the "You are so mean on this forum daggers thrust my direction."
I am being honest, as someone who had/has children in a B&B, and one who had a tonsillectomy last Thursday and I am trying to clean rooms and deal with guests currently. It is NOT EASY, not ADVISABLE, and definitely NOT FUN..
I agree with JB. THough I never had to deal with children in the B & B. I have been on it from the other side as a guest at a B & B with Kids in residence. Not a good thing unless you have a property where you are totally separate from guests, ie: cottages or personal home on or near the property. It just doesn't work. And some I know who have tried it....sold after a year. Sorry.
 
Our property is for sale and we are in the Asheville (30 miles) area.
Great for weddings, potential restaurant, and plenty of space.
Please contact me - 949-322-2866
Just recently listed within the last week. Would love to have you come for a tour.
 
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