contemplating relocating to the isle of wight

oaktree · Joined: 08 Aug 2010 Posts: 2

Hello all,
I am contemplating relocating to the isle of wight with my family (wife and 2 daughters 5 and 3). We are from the Netherlands but have lived on Guernsey for the past 7 years. In this time we have operated a seasonal hotel quite succesfully -26 rooms and self catering cottages-, mainly concentrating on the continental market ie dutch german swiss and french holidaymakers along with the loyal UK holidaymakers and business guests. We do not own this hotel and find living in a rather small 3 bedroomed flat a bit small with our family, especially since it has no private garden and is located within the actual hotel.
Property is very expensive on Guernsey (open market would be about £ 1.000.000 for a simple house) and we would like to rent or buy a house on the isle of wight, or take over a small Bed & Breakfast operation (with about 14 rooms) and a seperate house.
I am hoping to bring about £ 150.000 - £ 250.000 which I hope can secure a mortgage on a modest house or can be used as a downpayment on buying a business or taking over the leasehold of a business preferably within the accommodation trade since I have my contacts there and it would be quite simple I hope to transfer a succesful niche from one island to the other. Ideally I would then look for a location where the BB can run as a BB, with eateries nearby to keap the operation simple, but good nature nearby / cycling paths would be beneficial. I would secure 2nd income by taking on a role alongside the BB.
I am hoping someone can offer some advice + would like advice on which schools are nice for children and which areas are good to live.
Thank you for any advice, much appreciated,
Kind regards,
Oaktree (I wish to stay anonymous at this stage)
PS. as a further background apart from being a hoteldirector i also have an msc in business economics so a role in any sort of business could also be interesting.
PS. I am a member of round table, so if any members of this club see this post, how is life on the island ?

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Wight Portal · Joined: 17 Sep 2009 Posts: 316 Location: Carisbrooke

I don't think £250,000 will get you 14 bedrooms here either.
Even if you were to get the bank to match you pound for pound you'll struggle.

For example coming up for auction is a 7 bedroom, 4 reception and a few basement rooms Victorian place in Shanklin. It has planning permission to be turned into flats and extended and the price guide is £525,000 to £575,000.
That would be right up your street, but the initial investment would put you deeply in the red, before you even started trading.

Stick the term Isle of Wight Estate Agents in Google and have a look at our prices. You'll see they're not much different from your own.

oaktree · Joined: 08 Aug 2010 Posts: 2

Dear Wight Portal,
Thanks for your reply, much appreciated.
What about leasehold businesses is there anything going in
that area that you know of ?
Kind regards,
Oaktree

Wight Portal · Joined: 17 Sep 2009 Posts: 316 Location: Carisbrooke

The only leases I've seen, and like I said do a Google search, are for shops and if you read my post on here about that subject, you'll learn that that's not a pretty picture either.

Guest houses and hotels here are either sold on as a going concern, in which case they are profitable businesses and top prices are asked for. Or the owner is in financial trouble. The unfortunates in this situation want the top price but also a quick sale before the bank takes over.

Although in recession, property prices are still high due to the boom time when everyone mortgaged themselves up to the hilt. The nightmare of negative equity isn't happening thankfully, but prices haven't plummeted as predicted either. The majority of people who are selling are willing to sit and wait until they get their selling price.

£250,000 10 years ago would of got you what you want or very near to it. In the property market of today, that's a mere drop in the ocean.