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ThuderingWind

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Per suggestion, since there is not a "New User" specific section on the forum...........
I am Thundering Wind. DW and I are a military family. I served for 15 years, getting out in 1995 during the Clinton reduction. She was a reservist then but called up for the war and was asked to stay on Active Duty.
We are reaching her Mandatory Removal Date (Federal law forces retirement at certain points if one is not selected for the next promotion in this case Brigadier General). So we want to get back to our families if at all possible. With the current job market, her skill set, and education, she will more than like take over the operation of ancillary services at a 100 bed hospital.
We thought that having a B & B would gives us some flexibility in living and giving me a job. Financing is the hardest obstacle thus far because we can't include her hospital income or our retirement savings (an older, special Federal IRA-type program).
We have found another Inn that only has three rooms but also includes a large local-fare & wares shop. I have run a retail store before and the price is only 399950 including the inventory. This maybe the place for us even though the larger Inn is really the type we want and only 6 blocks from her hospital.
 
Welcome!
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:welcome: and good luck! If you have not done so already, you should find an aspiring innkeepers course and take it, preferably one in your own state since they know local stuff that can be helpful to you. They can teach you a lot about the hard work ahead of you, the negatives you haven't thought of, as well as the positives, and cover government requirements for your state and area, and how to run the business with less stress.
There are also some good books out there you should study, like Running a Bed and Breakfast For Dummies. It's available in both paperback and Kindle editions, and it's a great place to start.
Once you get that under your belt, we can discuss doilies ;-)
(inside joke)
 
If you tell the State, we may be able to help with rules if someone here is from there. Regardless, welcome. May all work out the way it is supposed to. Good luck to you both.
 
Welcome! Ditto what the others have said. It sounds like the smaller place might actually be better since DW has a full time job, being a single innkeeper can be overwhelming and more hours than you can imagine.
Good luck!
 
Oddly, we just watched part of a show last night where one partner runs the business (a farm that sells products they make on site) and the other partner has a FT job and stays away until the weekends. The person with the FT job doesn't take seriously the work of the one who runs the farm. A pat statement of, 'How hard can that be?' ran thru the show.
We've heard it on here as well. One partner at the inn, one working FT and the 'working' partner thinking the 'at home' partner is lolling around during the day because, 'How hard can that be? How long can that possibly take? Do you have to spend that much?'
So, you really need to discuss this. And when spouse wants to go away on vacation how do you say, 'Sorry, we have guests that week?' Or if spouse has a particularly rough week (whichever spouse) is the other one going to sympathize or roll eyes? 'Oh you think THAT was tough, let me tell you about...'.
Glad you mentioned the info about the military retirement plans not being available to you for reinvestment. We have looked at doing this a couple of times in order to get some big bucks to do renovation work. We just never got around to it.
 
Oddly, we just watched part of a show last night where one partner runs the business (a farm that sells products they make on site) and the other partner has a FT job and stays away until the weekends. The person with the FT job doesn't take seriously the work of the one who runs the farm. A pat statement of, 'How hard can that be?' ran thru the show.
We've heard it on here as well. One partner at the inn, one working FT and the 'working' partner thinking the 'at home' partner is lolling around during the day because, 'How hard can that be? How long can that possibly take? Do you have to spend that much?'
So, you really need to discuss this. And when spouse wants to go away on vacation how do you say, 'Sorry, we have guests that week?' Or if spouse has a particularly rough week (whichever spouse) is the other one going to sympathize or roll eyes? 'Oh you think THAT was tough, let me tell you about...'.
Glad you mentioned the info about the military retirement plans not being available to you for reinvestment. We have looked at doing this a couple of times in order to get some big bucks to do renovation work. We just never got around to it..
If you have the Thrift Saving Plan, it can be used as it is an IRA of a sort. Ours is not. Think of them as locked CDs that you can't touch until maturity date.
I have been a stay-at-home spouse for many years taking care of the house, shopping, cooking, some cleaning, home-schooled one child, etc.....I think we have the different lives issue worked out.
 
Oddly, we just watched part of a show last night where one partner runs the business (a farm that sells products they make on site) and the other partner has a FT job and stays away until the weekends. The person with the FT job doesn't take seriously the work of the one who runs the farm. A pat statement of, 'How hard can that be?' ran thru the show.
We've heard it on here as well. One partner at the inn, one working FT and the 'working' partner thinking the 'at home' partner is lolling around during the day because, 'How hard can that be? How long can that possibly take? Do you have to spend that much?'
So, you really need to discuss this. And when spouse wants to go away on vacation how do you say, 'Sorry, we have guests that week?' Or if spouse has a particularly rough week (whichever spouse) is the other one going to sympathize or roll eyes? 'Oh you think THAT was tough, let me tell you about...'.
Glad you mentioned the info about the military retirement plans not being available to you for reinvestment. We have looked at doing this a couple of times in order to get some big bucks to do renovation work. We just never got around to it..
If you have the Thrift Saving Plan, it can be used as it is an IRA of a sort. Ours is not. Think of them as locked CDs that you can't touch until maturity date.
I have been a stay-at-home spouse for many years taking care of the house, shopping, cooking, some cleaning, home-schooled one child, etc.....I think we have the different lives issue worked out.
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ThuderingWind said:
I have been a stay-at-home spouse for many years taking care of the house, shopping, cooking, some cleaning, home-schooled one child, etc.....I think we have the different lives issue worked out.
But, now you will not be a 'stay at home' you will be working. Guests will be taking your time and energy. Guests' demands may or may not come first for you. Guests are not like a couple of kids who you can banish to their rooms or tell, 'Go out and play,' when they get on your nerves. That part is different. However, you obviously have been married for a long time and have figured out how each other works!
We have retirement plans from private companies, not the gov. DH was not career military so he has no pension from them other than his disabled vet bennies. It's too bad you can't touch the money (on the one hand) and good that they're safely tucked away for their intended purpose (on the other)>
 
In what area of the country are you looking? There are many, many available in our neck of the woods and I know of a finance guy who is finding $$ for innkeepers where others cannot.
 
In what area of the country are you looking? There are many, many available in our neck of the woods and I know of a finance guy who is finding $$ for innkeepers where others cannot..
Eastern half og the US Midwest. MI, Il, IN, OH, KY, TN, MO. Indianapolis, IN is the center of our search due to family ties (our grandchildren are there, my elderly in-laws, etc)
 
Welcome! It sounds like you are doing your homework before jumping into inn keeping...Good for you! As owners/innkeepers (chief-cook, bottle-washer, maintenance person, book-keeper, host(ess)) for 24 years at the 3-room B+B in our home, both DH and I agree that 3-4 accommodations are the max for 2 people to manage if you want to have any kind of quality of life. Neither of us work outside of the home, although we do volunteer work and both have small pensions to help carry the load.
This business, as others have said, can totally consume you if you are trying to do all the work alone, especially if your DW will not be available during the week. Bigger is not always better and will not always give you more profit. Just sayin'.
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In what area of the country are you looking? There are many, many available in our neck of the woods and I know of a finance guy who is finding $$ for innkeepers where others cannot..
Eastern half og the US Midwest. MI, Il, IN, OH, KY, TN, MO. Indianapolis, IN is the center of our search due to family ties (our grandchildren are there, my elderly in-laws, etc)
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ThuderingWind said:
Eastern half og the US Midwest. MI, Il, IN, OH, KY, TN, MO. Indianapolis, IN is the center of our search due to family ties (our grandchildren are there, my elderly in-laws, etc)
Hi Thunderingwind!
Welcome!!!
 
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