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innshopper

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Hi Folks,
For the last few days, I've been working on a way to aggregate all of the inn for sale information I'm getting and make it available in a useful summary. Here's what I've come up with so far:
www.innshopper.com/inn-market-snapshot.aspx
If you have a minute, please take a look and let me know what you think. Is the data useful? Do you already get that same information from 10 other places? Am I missing the most important stuff? I have a few ideas for next steps but I'm hoping to get feedback first.
This is the only place I've made the link available so far, so I guess you could call it an INNspiring exclusive :)
Thanks,
Zach
 
Very nice.
For an innshopper what I immediately wanted to see after I saw the snapshot was "average tax" for each state. ie NH has the one of the highest property tax rates. Therefore very costly to live there. Re Inns in NH there are a ton of them under $750k as we looked extensively, so it might give a false sense that NH is out of reach for the average family buying an inn? $1.88M
The more I look at it the more misleading I think it is, not in a bad way, just as an assumption factor for those not in the know. Does that make sense? Average lot is 4.92 acres. Again, I have actually not stayed at a B&B with more than an acre or two in all my years staying at them. So would this mislead your prospective buyers? Innshoppers?
Just my 2 cents. Good work, good info.
 
Very nice.
For an innshopper what I immediately wanted to see after I saw the snapshot was "average tax" for each state. ie NH has the one of the highest property tax rates. Therefore very costly to live there. Re Inns in NH there are a ton of them under $750k as we looked extensively, so it might give a false sense that NH is out of reach for the average family buying an inn? $1.88M
The more I look at it the more misleading I think it is, not in a bad way, just as an assumption factor for those not in the know. Does that make sense? Average lot is 4.92 acres. Again, I have actually not stayed at a B&B with more than an acre or two in all my years staying at them. So would this mislead your prospective buyers? Innshoppers?
Just my 2 cents. Good work, good info..
Thanks JBJ
You are right about the lot size - most of the properties are less than 1 acre, but there are a few that are 50+ that skew things. Maye a distribution chart (like the one for year built) would help?
This is all very helpful for me.
 
I serve as Touristinformation Center for my City. When they get an e-mail asking for info about the city it is forwared to me. I am going to assume that perspective innkeepers would want to know pretty much the same info as someone looking to relocate. The top questions I get:
  • Taxes
  • Utility costs
  • weather
  • availability of services
 
i had to chuckle at this one ...
  • Average number of guest rooms is 8.0
  • Average number of guest bathrooms is 7.5
does one room have the dreaded 'half bath'? or in the world of statistics, does this mean half the inns have a bathroom for all guest rooms, half have one shared bath? i'm not a numbers person so what the numbers really mean don't jump out at me.
helpful info for those seeking to buy a place .... would be to note the current trends in guest expectation. a private bath is way up there ... i'm saying this in a non scientific way, just as an observer who ran a place with private and shared baths. even a bathroom next to the guestroom can doom a room to 'plague room' status
 
Where are you gathering your info? Are you actively seeking out info on properties for sale or are basing your list on what has been sent to you?
Why I ask...it would seem that TX is for sale. And yet, everyone on here says it always looks like ME is for sale.
I think I feel as JBJ does, it's not a good representation of the market because a couple of places throw it all out of whack. So, perhaps throwing out the very highest and very lowest data points before creating the chart would help.
So, the ranch with 5000 acres, doesn't skew everything toward 'huge' and the townhouse with no property doesn't skew it all toward 'postage stamp lots'.
It would also keep the 20 room inn from overshadowing the number of guestrooms and the 1 room place from making it look like an average of 4 rooms is usual.
In the case where you get a 'half room' round up or down as needed. So, like SS said, someone doesn't look at the chart and think that some B&B's only have half baths. (I liken that math to a question on a test I will never forget...If a school bus holds 40 occupants, how many school buses will be needed for the class trip if 250 students are going on the trip? No, the answer is NOT 6.25 buses...)
It might help to show a chart that has all of the properties by state that you compiled your stats from. And explain where you get your listings from. (ie- these are properties you represent, properties someone has told you about because they want to list them on your site, properties you have found on your own doing web searches, that sort of thing.)
I guess what I'm saying is the snapshot needs 'notes' to explain how you came up with those numbers.
 
i had to chuckle at this one ...
  • Average number of guest rooms is 8.0
  • Average number of guest bathrooms is 7.5
does one room have the dreaded 'half bath'? or in the world of statistics, does this mean half the inns have a bathroom for all guest rooms, half have one shared bath? i'm not a numbers person so what the numbers really mean don't jump out at me.
helpful info for those seeking to buy a place .... would be to note the current trends in guest expectation. a private bath is way up there ... i'm saying this in a non scientific way, just as an observer who ran a place with private and shared baths. even a bathroom next to the guestroom can doom a room to 'plague room' status.
Hi seashanty - It means that some of the inns for sale have shared bathrooms (but it looks like for the most part they are all private). It will look really funny when I start showing things like 7.28 bathrooms...
If I'm interpreting your response correctly, would it be helpful to say something like "80% of the available properties have a private bathroom for each guestroom, and 20% use at least one shared bath.."?
 
Where are you gathering your info? Are you actively seeking out info on properties for sale or are basing your list on what has been sent to you?
Why I ask...it would seem that TX is for sale. And yet, everyone on here says it always looks like ME is for sale.
I think I feel as JBJ does, it's not a good representation of the market because a couple of places throw it all out of whack. So, perhaps throwing out the very highest and very lowest data points before creating the chart would help.
So, the ranch with 5000 acres, doesn't skew everything toward 'huge' and the townhouse with no property doesn't skew it all toward 'postage stamp lots'.
It would also keep the 20 room inn from overshadowing the number of guestrooms and the 1 room place from making it look like an average of 4 rooms is usual.
In the case where you get a 'half room' round up or down as needed. So, like SS said, someone doesn't look at the chart and think that some B&B's only have half baths. (I liken that math to a question on a test I will never forget...If a school bus holds 40 occupants, how many school buses will be needed for the class trip if 250 students are going on the trip? No, the answer is NOT 6.25 buses...)
It might help to show a chart that has all of the properties by state that you compiled your stats from. And explain where you get your listings from. (ie- these are properties you represent, properties someone has told you about because they want to list them on your site, properties you have found on your own doing web searches, that sort of thing.)
I guess what I'm saying is the snapshot needs 'notes' to explain how you came up with those numbers..
Hi Bree - that makes a lot of sense, I'll add some notes. The properties are all listed on the site by either the owners or their broker. Their aren't any that I just added myself - although in most cases I sent the owner an invitation. I don't represent any of the properties.
It seems like for a lot of these stats the median is the way to go.
 
i had to chuckle at this one ...
  • Average number of guest rooms is 8.0
  • Average number of guest bathrooms is 7.5
does one room have the dreaded 'half bath'? or in the world of statistics, does this mean half the inns have a bathroom for all guest rooms, half have one shared bath? i'm not a numbers person so what the numbers really mean don't jump out at me.
helpful info for those seeking to buy a place .... would be to note the current trends in guest expectation. a private bath is way up there ... i'm saying this in a non scientific way, just as an observer who ran a place with private and shared baths. even a bathroom next to the guestroom can doom a room to 'plague room' status.
Hi seashanty - It means that some of the inns for sale have shared bathrooms (but it looks like for the most part they are all private). It will look really funny when I start showing things like 7.28 bathrooms...
If I'm interpreting your response correctly, would it be helpful to say something like "80% of the available properties have a private bathroom for each guestroom, and 20% use at least one shared bath.."?
.
Innshopper - I think using a % for private vs shared baths would be a better way to list this information.
When aspiring are seaching for a place, I think they have an idea of how large of a place they have in mind. So also think maybe subdividing the information by B&Bs and number of rooms: i.e. B&B's with 1-5 rooms & data, B&B's with 6-15, etc.
 
Where are you gathering your info? Are you actively seeking out info on properties for sale or are basing your list on what has been sent to you?
Why I ask...it would seem that TX is for sale. And yet, everyone on here says it always looks like ME is for sale.
I think I feel as JBJ does, it's not a good representation of the market because a couple of places throw it all out of whack. So, perhaps throwing out the very highest and very lowest data points before creating the chart would help.
So, the ranch with 5000 acres, doesn't skew everything toward 'huge' and the townhouse with no property doesn't skew it all toward 'postage stamp lots'.
It would also keep the 20 room inn from overshadowing the number of guestrooms and the 1 room place from making it look like an average of 4 rooms is usual.
In the case where you get a 'half room' round up or down as needed. So, like SS said, someone doesn't look at the chart and think that some B&B's only have half baths. (I liken that math to a question on a test I will never forget...If a school bus holds 40 occupants, how many school buses will be needed for the class trip if 250 students are going on the trip? No, the answer is NOT 6.25 buses...)
It might help to show a chart that has all of the properties by state that you compiled your stats from. And explain where you get your listings from. (ie- these are properties you represent, properties someone has told you about because they want to list them on your site, properties you have found on your own doing web searches, that sort of thing.)
I guess what I'm saying is the snapshot needs 'notes' to explain how you came up with those numbers..
Hi Bree - that makes a lot of sense, I'll add some notes. The properties are all listed on the site by either the owners or their broker. Their aren't any that I just added myself - although in most cases I sent the owner an invitation. I don't represent any of the properties.
It seems like for a lot of these stats the median is the way to go.
.
As you suggested earlier, a distribution graph may be a better move. Average or even median can be somewhat misleading if the curve is not bell shaped.
 
If any of you are curious, I've made a few changes since last week. Basically I've added distribution graphs and some more specific details. For example, New Hampshire still has an average price of $1.9M but I'm noting that the prices range from $529k to $4.4M. I left the bed/bath data as an average, but I'm also keeping track of what % of inns have private baths for each guestroom.
Thanks again for all the helpful comments - this is still far from perfect, but hopefully it's getting close to useful (or at least moderately interesting)
Here's the link again for those who don't feel like scrolling...
Inn Market Snapshot
 
If any of you are curious, I've made a few changes since last week. Basically I've added distribution graphs and some more specific details. For example, New Hampshire still has an average price of $1.9M but I'm noting that the prices range from $529k to $4.4M. I left the bed/bath data as an average, but I'm also keeping track of what % of inns have private baths for each guestroom.
Thanks again for all the helpful comments - this is still far from perfect, but hopefully it's getting close to useful (or at least moderately interesting)
Here's the link again for those who don't feel like scrolling...
Inn Market Snapshot.
I like the additional data. Still not thrilled with partial rooms, tho. A couple more charts to show the rooms with the same sort of talking points (<4 37%, 4-8 rooms 50%, that sort of thing.) Good that you put in the % of inns with private baths for each guest room. Also surprising that it is that low.
Nice that there are outgoing links to places for sale.
 
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