Thinking of a change in career......

Hello peeps, it's been a while! Iceman has been busy elsewhere, but now back where I belong

I have an odd question....for a friend....for 4....

I have "a friend" that is considering throwing in life in the UK and moving to Europe with his wife and 2 friends. The idea is to buy a B&B/small hotel in a resort that is good for skiing and also summer hols too.

They would rather keep away from just buying a chalet and renting out to guests and using as a second home, more of a full move to Europe (yes, they are aware of new Brexit requirements - but lets put all of that to one side at the minute).

Few questions to anyone who may be able to provide some info:

1. Where on earth do we find businesses for sale. Our friend Google has found some websites, but there's not much out there.

2. One of the interested parties seems to think that they could rent a property off a owner and then sublet during the winter months to paying guests. Basically, rather than buying a property yourself, rent from someone instead. Does this kind of thing exist?

This is still in the early stages at the minute, wont be looking to buy anything for 18 months - 2 years, however the planning may take that long in itself.

Any thoughts - please dont mention the brexit implications etc at the minute. They want to focus on looking at what is out there and whether it is within budget

Icy

Iceman wrote:Hello peeps, it's been a while! Iceman has been busy elsewhere, but now back where I belong

Iceman wrote:I have "a friend" that is considering throwing in life in the UK

Well, right now is not a good time to be looking at a career change to ski or travel... but a couple of years hence it might be.

Iceman wrote:and moving to Europe with his wife and 2 friends.

A sound plan might be for your "friend", his wife and their friends to start a business together before moving abroad just to see how they work together. A friend of mine (no, really) cooked up a cunning plan with his then friends (also neighbours, so they knew each other quite well - or thought they did), it all went horribly wrong and they ended up moving to another country just to escape...

Iceman wrote:1. Where on earth do we find businesses for sale.

We? Surely you mean "they"? Anyway, "their" best plan is probably to pick a location first and then spend enough time there to get to know who's who at the tourist office, which families own the biggest chunks of land, whose toes they may tread on, etc... and what might be coming up for sale.

Local businesses for local people, is very likely something you'll encounter and - with the current circumstances nothing less than catastrophic for many locals - that could be a big influence.

Iceman wrote:Basically, rather than buying a property yourself, rent from someone instead. Does this kind of thing exist?

Yes, a lot of the independent / smaller chalet operators work this way. I have the impression this works fine for a "lifestyle" approach (if your main objective is to be in the mountains) but margins will be tight. I can put you in touch with a few people who have "been there and done that", albeit pre B and C words so more benign circs.

On the plus side, there is likely to be a good supply of properties available to rent this way. The down side, of course, is that they'll be available due to the previous tenants going bust or down-sizing.

Iceman wrote:however the planning may take that long in itself.

Very likely, although a positive is that many aspects that are - right now - either uncertain or complicated, should be clearer in the long-term.

Wish your friends luck with it though!

Has your friend tried Googling with a search string in the local language targeted at the region / country of interest? Hotel zu verkaufen site:ch returns lots of hits for hotels for sale in Switzerland, https://www.immoscout24.ch/de/buero-gewerbe-industrie/kaufen/land-schweiz-fl?pn=2&pty=42 lists 141 properties several of which are in ski resorts. Unfortunately, many of them are in need of renovation and some have too few rooms to be economically viable.

The hotel business and the hospitality industry in general is heavily regulated so you will have to get to grips with lots of laws and regulations https://ftp.hotelleriesuisse.ch/de/pub/services/recht_l-gav_n/rechtsfragen_a-z.htm / https://www.gastrosuisse.ch/angebot/recht-gesetz/rechtliche-fragen-im-betrieb/ You will probably also need a licence https://www.wirtepatent.ch/de/wallis-133.html

Providing the lease allows it I can't see any reason why you couldn't sublet a property, the accommodation sector is also heavily regulated https://docplayer.org/69094459-Die-regulierung-in-der-beherbergungswirtschaft.html

Also bear in mind that there are restrictions on the acquisition of property in Switzerland by persons from abroad https://www.bj.admin.ch/bj/en/home/wirtschaft/grundstueckerwerb.html and that you will need to obtain residence permits.

Obviously this only applies to Switzerland, but I expect that challenges you will face when buying and operating a hospitality business in one of the neighbouring counties will be similar or even more onerous. Switzerland is generally regarded as being a business-friendly country.

Admin wrote:

Iceman wrote:1. Where on earth do we find businesses for sale.

We? Surely you mean "they"?

Great spot Boss