Any Advice on getting a mortgage to buy a B&B please...

[footnote]

Partner and I are investigating possibility of buying a B&B.

B&B is a going concern - good reviews on TripAdvisor and so on.

I don't want to disclose the location or precise details as the hills have eyes and the walls have ears.

Asking price is just over £500k freehold with 5 en-suite letting rooms and owner's flat.

The property itself - if it wasn't a B&B, would probably sell anyway for around the £400-£500k mark.

We would be looking to sell up everything we have, put in £250k min - £300k max and borrow the rest.

I'm 50. Partner is 48.

The B&B would be our only income source.

We haven't seen the books yet and I wouldn't feel right asking if there was zero chance of getting a mortgage anyway for the £250k we would ideally borrow.

We're finding it difficult to filter through all the commercial mortgage adverts on Google to try and work out what is actually possible or whether - simply on the finances - borrowing wouldn't be possible.

Anyone with insight or knowledge in this business sector able to advise whether a loan is possible for that amount, what would be the likely terms and or repayments?

Any help/tips appreciated.

[Sarnie]

I wouldn't bother searching for "commercial lenders" I'd search for "Commercial Mortgage Broker".......you'll usually get a quicker succinct reply as to the viability of what you are proposing....

[MagicalTrevor]

Sarnie is unlikely to say anything to avoid the 'advertising' rules but I'd highly recommend to speaking to him (as a mortgage broker). Excellent service.

[Efbe]

get a standard mortgage on your current jobs?

[footnote]

Unfortunately we couldn't get a mortgage for that amount on our current freelance incomes - so it's definitely a case of having to go down the commercial route.

I'm fairly confident the B&B makes more than enough to cover the mortgage repayments and give a modest income - I'm speculating at a gross income range of £40k - £70k pa - could be more, but I'm calculating everything on the cautious/worst case scenarios.

What I don't want to do is do a viewing, ask to see the books, find out the books are fine and then discover that our ages or borrowing percentages/deposit disqualify us from going further.

I've been looking at mortgage calculators of £250k over a 15 year term giving mothly repayments of around £2k.

Ideally, we'd like a slightly longer term but obviously, normal retirement ages are an issue.

[Rangeroverover]

You are going to find this really really difficult, most B&B sales are on a normal resi mortgage if less than 9 rooms, I have a client with a house for sale with 50k rental income from the lodge/cottages asking price £1m, rental history for 7 years and unless the buyers have an income that stacks up no lenders will go near it

[SpeckledJim]

I suppose the lenders are extremely wary that having lent on the basis of 'reliable' B&B income, many new proprietors find that one of the following applies:

• They hate running B&B but like the house, so will stop B&B ing

• They love running a B&B but are rubbish at making any money at it

• They hate running a B&B AND are rubbish at making any money at it

[Efbe]

we really need more info, which isn't easy to give on an open forum. how far off the 250k would you be on a regular mortgage with your current salary?