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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Real Estate and Landlording => Topic started by: Off the Wheel on October 22, 2017, 10:00:27 AM

Title: A B&B and FIRE?
Post by: Off the Wheel on October 22, 2017, 10:00:27 AM
Hi everyone!

If this has been asked before, please send me in the right direction. The search turned up empty.

While I'm about 10 years from FIRE, if my husband gets on board and nothing goes horribly awry, so I've been thinking about mid and long term plans.

The current situation: two properties in a very (very) HCOL area. One 1-bedroom condo, currently rented out and making a (small) profit. One 2-bedroom townhouse, where we currently live, and which costs us $2100/month in fixed costs. At current market evaluations, we could sell both and conservatively make about $525K after fees. There's no real room for us to move 'up' in terms of real estate in our current city, as detached homes go for $1.5M+.

Our current vision is to move to a lower cost of living area, and buy something mortgage free. Currently, we both have jobs that tie us to our city, but my career is very flexible with work anywhere, as well as freelance and remote opportunities. My husband has just switched careers, and in the next 2-3 years will have similar opportunities. We both make a good salary doing what we do.

However, the left field option is this. I have a dream of a homestead. I love to bake, and bake bread, and garden, and want to raise chickens and goats. We've recently gotten into hunting, I want to learn fish, and I'm spending next weekend making soap and candles for gifts. This is motivated by a desire to feel more connected to my environment, and less beholden to consumerist infrastructure. It's not about saving money particularly. My husband loves to cook, and is the most amazing cook I've ever met. He makes me feasts, and we host dinner parties that are coveted invitations. I LOVE our dinner parties. I also love hosting guests, though admittedly have yet to properly turn our second bedroom into much beyond a junk room! Maybe that's the first step. :)

While we could get a small piece of land and a small house in our desired area mortgage-free right now, what if we went slightly bigger - in terms of land and house - and used it as a business as well? We could rent out rooms in high season as a B&B, even potentially host weddings if my dream of barn and estate come to me. We could host community dinners once a month, and easily charge $40+ a plate. We could also make hot sauce and jam and soaps and all the rest, and sell for a pittance.

The other piece of the puzzle is family. I plan to be in the city for at least a handful more years because we want to have kids soon, and my support network is local. I don't yet know how a kid or two will impact my FIRE calculations, so kids could either speed up or push back the rural dream.

My question is this - I KNOW the above isn't a sure-fire way to make money. In fact, it may just offset some of the costs of getting more space - and doing the gardening and everything else. But it sounds so lovely. Does anyone have experience with similar endeavours? Is this just a foolish city-person's dream?

Something like this would be the B&B goal (just turning that in-law suite into 2 units, as well as potentially converting the garage or adding another out building) - https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Single-Family/18770130/7268-Thelmita-Pl-Sooke-British-Columbia-V9Z0J5
Title: Re: A B&B and FIRE?
Post by: FiveSigmas on October 22, 2017, 02:12:27 PM
Hi OTW.

If you haven't already, you should check out the Frugalwoods blog (http://www.frugalwoods.com/). They just made the transition from HCoL city to a homestead B&B and have lots of material documenting their journey.
Title: Re: A B&B and FIRE?
Post by: Off the Wheel on October 22, 2017, 03:54:32 PM
Hi OTW.

If you haven't already, you should check out the Frugalwoods blog (http://www.frugalwoods.com/). They just made the transition from HCoL city to a homestead B&B and have lots of material documenting their journey.

Thank you! I will check it out.
Title: Re: A B&B and FIRE?
Post by: SwordGuy on October 22, 2017, 05:05:31 PM
My son's sister-in-law and her husband run a B&B.  It's a lot of work.  The whole family in that town gets drafted to help out.

He refers (bitterly) to the place as "The House of Work."

Think it thru carefully.
Title: Re: A B&B and FIRE?
Post by: Off the Wheel on October 22, 2017, 06:17:27 PM
My son's sister-in-law and her husband run a B&B.  It's a lot of work.  The whole family in that town gets drafted to help out.

He refers (bitterly) to the place as "The House of Work."

Think it thru carefully.

That's what I've heard. How large is theirs? My intention would be to merely have a slightly larger than we need house, with a good layout that there's division between the 1-2 other bedrooms. It wouldn't be to serve as real revenue stream, just a bit of extra cash. I'd want the FI that we could have as many (or as few!) guests when we chose to.
Title: Re: A B&B and FIRE?
Post by: SwordGuy on October 22, 2017, 07:22:27 PM
They have an old Victorian mansion.   So it's pretty big.