Archive for the 'Buying an Inn or B&B' Category

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If you are interested in owning a bed and breakfast or inn in Vermont, perhaps you’ve wondered how to have your business be certified as a ‘Green Hotel’. Green Hotels in the Green Mountain State is a wonderful program providing assistance to innkeepers looking to reduce their environmental impact and to satisfy and attract customers looking for environmentally conscientious lodging. With Vermont being one of the “greenest” destinations, it only makes sense that inns and b&bs look to join the growing trend.

In their own words,
“A Green Hotel is any Vermont lodging establishment that solidifies its commitment to environmental excellence by achieving a set of environmental standards. Although each property achieves these standards uniquely, each conducts an environmental opportunity assessment, adopts environmentally preferable practices, and develops an environmental management plan that guides its efforts to continually reduce the environmental consequences of its operations. This statewide voluntary, environmental technical assistance and business recognition program, part of the Vermont Business Environmental Partnership, is designed to promote and recognize the work of Vermont lodgers who demonstrate daily that environmental and economic goals can be achieved simultaneously.”

There are two levels of participation with the program: the first is as an Environmental Partner, meaning the business adopts a core environmental standard using new and existing initiatives, and the second is as a Green Hotel in the Green Mountain State, which requires a higher level of commitment to pollution prevention and exemplary environmental stewardship.  More information is on their “Becoming a Green Hotel” page.

While you look at lodging properties in Vermont, consider the benefits of joining the Green Hotels in the Green Mountain state program for the benefits it will provide your business with, the peace of mind it will bring to your customers and the positive impact it will have on our beautiful state.

The Churchill House Inn, located in Brandon, VT, was honored by the State of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources for it’s “demonstrated commitment to preserving Vermont’s environment” and bestowed upon it the title of Brandon’s first green hotel. This property, which is for sale, can be purchased alone or with the Premier Vermont Touring Company as well.

With a plethora of year-round attractions just miles from this property, there will never be a shortage of activities, not to mention hiking, skiing and biking, for guests to experience. The property has been updated by it’s current owners who have installed modern heat and purchased new beds for the eight guest rooms, as well as replaced the roof, water heaters and windows.

There is an organic garden on the property where many of the vegetables and herbs used for the inn’s meals are grown. I also hear they also have a stellar pancake recipe (available here) which was featured in Gourmet Magazine!

This is a truly wonderful business and property. If you have any questions, please contact Christine and John. They would be happy to hear from you!

The Heart of the Village Inn in Shelburne, Vermont is a gorgeous Queen Anne Victorian built in 1886. Occupied by only two families until the mid 1990′s, it was converted into a 9 room inn in 1996. The carriage barn, built in 1887, was also converted into guest rooms at the same time. Much of the origial building is still intact (doors, slate roof) and many original features in both the main house and the carriage house were updated to preserve the historic value and beauty of the property. You can read more about the history of the inn here.

The Heart of the Village Inn is in a perfect location for those looking to be near many Vermont attractions. Additionally, it is a short drive from downtown Burlington and Burlington’s International Airport. Shelburne itself has a lovely downtown location with many specialty shops.

The Inn is currently for sale and can be purchased either as a business or as a private residence. Contact Christine and John if you have any questions about this property.

To learn more about the Inn, visit their website, www.heartofthevillage.com.

According to Kenneth Harney, writing for Reality Times, “doom and gloom economists” are finally acknowledging a turnaround in the housing market. In early February, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com Mark Zandi announced that “the bottom of the housing downturn is in sight for the nation” and the Wall Street Journal used the headline “For some, it’s finally time to dive into the housing market”.

While they aren’t ignoring the huge problems with the economy still affecting the housing market, such as unemployment rates, low household consumption rates, and banks continuing to borrow money from the government, they are hopeful for some reasons we’ve covered before. The encouragingly low mortgage rates, decreasing prices and attractive tax incentives are opening the market for more people with decent credit to become home owners.

Read Kenneth’s full article here.

As you may have heard, the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (otherwise knows as ’780 billion dollars’) was signed by the President on Feb. 17th, 2009. Approximately 35% of this bill is intended for tax credits, which is especially good news if you are a new homeowner or are looking to buy in 2009.

The knowledgeable staff writers of Fred Peet’s Real Estate Update have created an easy-to-understand summary of the plan’s provisions relevant to home owners or potential buyers. In the article titled Details of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, they cover the following topics:

• Home Buyer Tax Credit
• FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Loan Limits
• Neighborhood Stabilization
• Low Income Housing Grants
• Tax-Exempt Housing Bonds
• Energy Efficient Housing Tax Credits and Grants
• Transportation Investments
• Broadband Deployment

You can read the full bill here or you can visit the more reader-friendly site www.recovery.gov. If you are considering purchasing a home in the near future, these are important provisions to become familiar with. The article in Real Estate Update is a succinct and helpful introduction; use it to your advantage!

As you are contemplating opening a B&B or Inn in Vermont and are searching for the perfect location, you may still have some questions that need to be addressed. While online resources are plentiful, here are some books recommended by the Wine and Hospitality Network (a group you may be interested in joining one day!).

• How to Open a Financially Successful Bed & Breakfast or Small Hotel by Lora Aduser and Douglas Brown inlcludes a CD-ROM that has all the forms you will need for your new business and walks you through each detail necessary from the acquisition of your property to marketing ideas. This book not only gives direction but also give examples which you may choose to follow or just use for ideas. All around a very thorough and useful text focusing on profitability.
• Complete Idiot’s Guide to Running a Bed and Breakfast by Susannah Craig and Park Davis gives you a ‘Day in the Life’ of an average owner – helping you know what to expect -  as well as direction on how to successfully use a website for promoting your business.
• Opening and Operating a Bed & Breakfast in the 21st Century: Your Step-By-Step Guide to Inn Keeping Success with Professional Online Marketing Strategies by Amelia Painter is decribed as a “reality check” for those looking to start inn keeping as well as a useful resource for those who already are in the business. Special attention is paid marketing techniques on the Internet.
• Start and Run a Profitable Bed & Breakfast by Monica and Richard Taylor covers both the positive and negative aspects of the business. As inn keepers themselves, they didn’t want others to be “blissfully unaware” as they were when entering the business. Some reviews suggest that this book may be a bit out of date, but still a valid resource.

You are always welcome to contact us with questions as well, however we hope these resources may be a great starting point for your initial interest.

Did you know that two-thirds of Americans reported having some degree of entrepreneurial intentions according to a 2006 Yahoo Inc. poll? How can you, looking to buy or open and inn or bed and breakfast in Vermont, distinguish your business from others? In order for one to set themselves ahead and ensure success, being prepared right from the beginning is an absolute necessity says Mike Handelsman, general manager of www.BizBuySell.com.  He offers expert advice for those looking to purchase a business for the first time in “Jump-starting the dream: How to successfully buy a small business”.

In his article, Handelsman outlines four “critical factors” for first time buyers: Use online resources, Be savvy in dealing with sellers, Follow through with due diligence and Embrace lifestyle changes.  For each factor, he offers managable techniques and gives examples as to how each factor can positively affect not only the buyers experience, but also the success of their future business.

To access the full article, and valuable advice, click here.

Perhaps for a long time you have have wondered what it would be like to own an inn or bed and breakfast in Vermont. You have decided it is time to cash out of the city and retire from your hectic urban existence. The kids are gone, and you and your spouse would like to do something different together in a more bucolic setting. Perhaps you have been coming to Vermont for years on family vacations, are familiar with a certain part of our magical landscape, and have always dreamed of owning a piece of it.  Excellent! There are a number of questions you will need to answer as you begin to hone in on a list of lodging properties you might wish to purchase.

What are your goals? Are you looking for a lifestyle or a business, or a little of both?  What types of knowledge or skill sets are you bringing with you? The garden-to-table food business is getting a lot of press lately -  perhaps a restaurant is in your future as well. Will you hire people to help you, or will you do it all yourselves?  What shape are your finances in and will you have enough money to carry you through slow periods in the business?  How much is enough? Will you need or want to borrow money, and from whom? We can help you answer all these questions and more.

There are many kinds of Vermont hospitality properties on the market,  and some are not profitable. Unless your background is in finance or you have worked in the industry, you would be well advised to work with a  Vermont Inn broker like Vermont Lodging Properties, before you start touring inns. We can request and analyze financial documents and do a proper business analysis to determine a property’s current worth, in order to help you make a reasonable offer and not overpay. We can save you a lot of time, frustration, and money before you leave home.

Give us a call before you start this exciting and challenging journey toward becoming innkeepers. We have gone through all the steps ourselves as former owners of the historic 22-room Swift House Inn in Middlebury, Vermont.  We operated this successful, award-winning, four diamond inn and restaurant for 18 years and can offer great insight into the process. Let our knowledge and experience lead you to a successful and positive realization of your goals!

Look for future posts in this series covering such topics as: Procuring Loans; Vermont B and Bs vs. Full Service Inns; Management Styles;  Restaurants, Weddings and Events;  Location: Rural or In Town Properties; Motels etc.