Moratorium

After much prayer and consideration, we decided not to move forward with the bed and breakfast at this time. Although we have a financially reasonable business plan, along with some really fantastic ideas, at this point in time it seems we do not have the resources needed to complete our dream.

The house is still up on the market, but for now we just hope that since we are not able to purchase it that it falls into the hands of someone who will take very good care of it.

In the meantime, we will go on with our lives and continue to work towards one day owning a bed and breakfast.

Thanks to everyone that has been stopping by and sending us your words of encouragement!

In a Financial Rut

We heard back from the bank this week, and it didn't look like good news for us. It wasn't our credit, but only our low incomes that is keeping us from obtaining the loan we need. They said if we sold our current home it would definitely help, but that we would still be looking at only getting a mortgage on the new property, then still having to find the money to start up the business pretty much on our own. We could try for a Patriot Express loan since Chris was in the military for five years, but even then we might not qualify based on our current income.

So, we will see what happens. We know we don't make a lot of money, but we live within our means and work hard every day and know that we could make this business a success if given the opportunity. We may go forward with our fundraising projects prior to purchasing the property, if it means having money for a down payment to better qualify for it.

Thanks for sticking with us through this process, and we hope to have better news soon!

Loan Day is fast approaching!

We are finally able to apply for a loan! It took a lot of hard work to get the business plan done, but it is now completed (and pretty darn great if you ask me!). The house is still up on the market, and the wonderful agent we have been working with has kept us updated on the status just in case. I know she really cares about what we are doing, and even plans to book her daughter's wedding with us in May if we can obtain the property! It is such a wonderful opportunity and we hope that everything goes well for us as we apply for the loan.

While I had considered posting some of the business plan, I think that it might not be as interesting to all of you. So instead I'll just give you a few highlights:
- We will have two large suites, with king size beds and private baths
- The common area includes kitchen access 24/7, a sunporch, a deck with beautiful views of Fontenelle Forest, and a living room with a cozy fireplace
- We will be comparably priced with other lodging options in the area but will include a feature that no one else has - an eco-friendly environment!

Doesn't it just sound great? :) As soon as we get approval for the loan(s), we will place a bid on the home and start working on all the paperwork needed to get this rolling. We will also be purchasing our own web domain and transferring all of this blog material to a full website! Very exciting times for us.

Thanks for keeping updated, and check back again soon to see our progress!

One step back, two steps forward

As with every masterpiece, our business plan is still making slow but steady progress! However, it is taking longer than expected, especially with Chris' company deciding they need to send him out to their plant in Kentucky to help move inventory to their plant here in Omaha.

With that in mind, and knowing how tight money is this time of year for just about everyone, we have decided to postpone our fundraising contest until further notice. This will give us time to finish up the business plan and begin the work of applying for a small business loan, not to mention take a breather to spend time with family during this holiday season. :)

However, we still plan to continue moving ahead as strong as possible, so that we can have The Boulevard Bed and Breakfast up and running by March or April! We can't wait to host our first guest, and especially can't wait to host our first wedding! We know it will be a breathtaking experience for everyone involved.

In the meantime, we hope you will still continue to visit regularly to check on our progress, and that you will prepare to start on the bidding contests! With so many great options to choose from, it's up to you to decide which would be the best gift for yourself or someone you love!

Plus, we still have items on eBay and Etsy to choose from!

Happy Holidays!

As is common this time of year, things have gotten a little "crazy busy" as we like to call it! Thus, our project has been pushed back one additional week as we work hard to get the business plan ready to go and move in on applying for the business loan.

In the meantime, we have made very exciting steps forward with the portions of the business plan that we have finished, and are looking forward to opening The Boulevard Bed and Breakfast! The home that we plan to purchase is still available, and we have visited several times to make sure we have everything laid out correctly for the remodeling that needs to be done to convert it into a comfortable bed and breakfast. We have also come up with a few more great ideas, such as adding a quiet log cabin in the back side of the lot that can be used by guests during the spring, summer and fall! It will be tucked into the more private edge of the property, about 2 acres back from the main house. That addition won't be ready for quite some time, as we need to work on the main property first, but is still a fun and exciting perk to look forward to!

We have also lined up our web host and will register our domain name soon, meaning all of these blogs will be transferred to a single website! That will happen shortly after we finish our exciting bidding contests.

Please keep checking back on our progress! As we mentioned, the contest has now been moved back one week, to start on Friday, Dec. 12th and go until Sunday Dec. 21st. Thanks!

Updates on our Project

Things are still going well as we work towards purchasing the property that we will create The Boulevard Bed and Breakfast on! We are about halfway done with our business plan (which I hope to post parts of here at some point, so keep your eyes peeled), and have increased our knowledge and research substantially with a visit to the Whispering Pines Bed and Breakfast in Nebraska City. There we met with a lovely lady named Jeanna, who is the president of the Nebraska Association of Bed and Breakfasts (NABB). She was more than willing to take time to meet with us and discuss how our plans were coming along and answer questions about what it is like to be an innkeeper.

We left more excited than ever to be working towards entering such a wonderful hospitality industry! Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to answer our questions, including Jeanna!

As you may have noticed, we've added pictures of the home we'd like to convert into The Boulevard Bed and Breakfast! Now you can get some ideas going before we post our eBay contests. :) Unfortunately, eBay doesn't let us post items for longer than 10 days, so we won't be able to officially start the contests until Friday, December 5th. They will run until Saturday, December 14th. Exciting stuff! Soon I will add in some fun little mini surveys that you can participate in on each of the package pages so that you can all participate even if you aren't bidding!

In the meantime, however, we've decided to sell as much as we can on eBay to try to get some extra money together to help us get prepared to make such a large investment. So, on each page at the bottom you'll find a nice little box like this:


All you need to do is click to see what we have available for sale, and feel free to buy! If you'd rather, we have also recently added donation buttons on our FAQ page. :) In the meantime, please pass on this blog to all your family and friends and anyone who you know who might be interested! We'd like to generate as much support as we can, whether monetarily or in the form of prayers and hugs!

Thanks for stopping by!

On A Mission To Create The Boulevard Bed and Breakfast

Welcome to our series of blogs to provide more information about The Boulevard Bed and Breakfast! We are Jess and Chris, two twenty-somethings currently residing in Bellevue Nebraska, which is just outside of Omaha.

We have had a dream for several years now of owning our own bed and breakfast. Recently, we discovered that a nearby property that we had admired from afar was up on the market - and knew it would be the perfect home to begin our bed and breakfast in.

The catch? As twenty-somethings from lower middle class backgrounds, we currently do not have access to the kind of funding it takes to purchase the property that the home resides on.

We do have the following elements in our favor:
- Good credit standing
- We own our current home
- We own our vehicles
- We have tremendous amounts of work ethic and faith

However:
- We have a low combined income
- We've only lived in our current home for 1.5 years, making it hard to get further financing and meaning we may lose money if we try to sell
- Our vehicles aren't really worth much
- Work ethic and faith cannot be used as a down payment on a $225k property

Thus, we prayed for inspiration, and at 2:30am on a warm Tuesday morning, Jess was struck with the inspiration to start the contests that you will find listed here.

We realize that not everyone likes to bid on Ebay, or will have the money to participate, but we hope if nothing else you will pass on this blog to others who may be able to help. Additionally, if the bids are successful, we will also be adding an additional blog page with information on how to pre-book a room at The Boulevard Bed & Breakfast for a special introductory rate to help us begin making The Boulevard Bed & Breakfast a popular destination for guests from all over the world! If all goes smoothly we hope to be able to have the main floor suite available as early as January 2009!

To help make your navigation through our blogs easier, to the right of every page you will find links to each of the other pages, as well as a way to subscribe to each page so that you can stay informed should we add any updates or pictures or should someone leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by and becoming a part of The Boulevard Bed & Breakfast!

**JUST ADDED 11-7-08: A picture of the outside of the property that we would like to turn into The Boulevard Bed and Breakfast can be found as our profile picture!!