Win A 200-Year Old Bed & Breakfast for $125 (and 200 Words)

S

SifuPhil

R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
Location
Pennsylvania, USA
This item is making the rounds of a lot of places in the last week - I came across it in one of my writer's newsletters.

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MAINE INN IS YOURS FOR $125 AND 200-WORD WINNING ESSAY

This historic inn was built in 1805, is located on 9 acres along with a barn and a guest house and has been operated by its current owner (who also won it in an essay contest for $100) for 22 years.

Story on CNN Money

I'm thinking of entering this contest but there are a few "too good to be true" items knocking around in my head ...


  • The owner states the current value of the property as $900,000, yet a search on a local realtor site shows that it is for sale for $635,000.
  • The owner anticipates receiving 7,500 entries from around the world, which would give her her claimed value. To be fair, she also claims to have invested over $500,000 in the property during her ownership.
  • She claims she will read each entry (7,500!?!) and will forward 20 of the best to a non-partial jury of two people to make the final decision.
  • She claims that if she does not receive 7,500 entries she will return all monies and the contest will be void.

Now I'm not concerned with coming up with 200 words that are persuasive - I'm a long-time B.S.er, so no problem there. :rolleyes:

What I AM concerned about is things like transfer fees (~$4,000 in Maine for this property), taxes and any hidden structural problems (this place is over 200 years old - it HAS to be maintenance intensive). She claims that the winner will also receive $20,000 as "seed money", so that might go for taxes and such.

But she's also taking all the food and booze, so there's THAT expense as well.

Then you have the staff - she has 9 or 10 people working there - do they stay? Do you pay?

You also have to agree to run the B&B for at least a year. My idea was, if I were to win, I'd run it for a year, sell it, and then move onto a nice little yacht somewhere warmer. ;)

I've never been in the hospitality business, which I think would be a drawback here, and I'm not crazy about the idea of spending 70+ hours a week listening to people complain and cleaning toilets.

Would you enter contest like this?
 

Only if I were looking for an investment and were up to task for this type of responsibility, not for someone looking for a quick turnover.

One thing though, the seller could make a pretty penny whether they get all the entries or not. The can take that entry money and make a quick turn over in interest or some other investment before having to send it back to the poor saps or lucky soul if they don't get their desired number of entries. :D
 
Hmmmm, I might give it a shot. $125 isn't much money at all these days. I think they would easily get 7500 entries. maybe many more. Of course you only have a 1 in 7500 or worse chance of winning, but that's a lot better odds than the power ball.
 
rkunsaw said:
Hmmmm, I might give it a shot. $125 isn't much money at all these days. I think they would easily get 7500 entries. maybe many more. Of course you only have a 1 in 7500 or worse chance of winning, but that's a lot better odds than the power ball.
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That's a good way of looking at it.

I know what will happen - I'll procrastinate until the day before the deadline, then I'll type a crappy entry and overnight it. :rolleyes:
 
Interesting concept, but something doesn't seem right with it. Before I'd consider investing I'd want to scrutinize the P&L-while the online reviews seem fairly positive, I can't help but think that if it's profitable it would quickly sell at it's $635,000 asking price.
A hospitality business requires a high level of customer service, and as an owner one would have to live and breathe that business. It's 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Toss in the occasional wedding or other large event that has to go off without a single hitch and it's can quickly become a nightmare.
For someone that knows, understands and loves the business it could be a good investment. For someone that doesn't know what they're doing it could easily be a quick way to financial ruin.

It could easily be the most expensive $125 ever spent.
 
DoItMyself said:
Interesting concept, but something doesn't seem right with it. Before I'd consider investing I'd want to scrutinize the P&L-while the online reviews seem fairly positive, I can't help but think that if it's profitable it would quickly sell at it's $635,000 asking price.
A hospitality business requires a high level of customer service, and as an owner one would have to live and breathe that business. It's 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Toss in the occasional wedding or other large event that has to go off without a single hitch and it's can quickly become a nightmare.
For someone that knows, understands and loves the business it could be a good investment. For someone that doesn't know what they're doing it could easily be a quick way to financial ruin.

It could easily be the most expensive $125 ever spent.
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Very true.

I'm currently reviewing a few questionably-ethical-but-legal options, such as, if I win the place I'll just stop advertising, take the phone off the hook and lock the front door. At the end of the year I can truthfully say that I had no customers. :cool:
 
If something looks too good to be true, then it generally is! I would not waste the money Phil, if this is genuine and not a scam,then she will just stick a pin in the stories with eyes closed to pick a winner.
 
I believe it can be legit, I don't know if it is or isn't, they've had these kinds of auctions in the past around the country, but, you better know all the details, check all the boxes and be ready for all that comes with the deal. It's one thing when you enter one of these contest just for the house, you have a general idea of what you're in for, but, this is more than just purchasing a piece of property, you are going to have all kinds of legal issues surrounding this deal that you will have to hash out that are far beyond just dealing with home ownership.

What are the stipulations here, do you need to sign something saying you are going to actually make a go of the business, at least for a period of time and so forth, keep on the present staff, who are you going to have oversee the property if you are required to hold onto it for a while? BTW, It sounds like holding onto it may be a required part of the deal, why else would you need to pour your heart out about why you want the property to begin with.

Sure, it could be a great deal if one has an idea about what they are getting into ahead of time. Checks and balances, read the fine print.

Wish I'd always followed that advice in the past. :(
 
AprilT said:
... Wish I'd always followed that advice in the past. :(
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You and me both, sister!

Turns out that the owners before this lady had enlisted the help and advice of the Maine Attorney General to make sure that everything they did in the contest was legal, and that the A.G. had to approve of the judges for the contest and the escrow agents involved. They had bought the property in the late 60's, I believe, for $40,000! The place was a wreck and they spent a lot of time, money and effort bringing it up to snuff. Then the current owner added more time and money.

I would think that whomever wins the contest this time around might expect to do more of the same.

What bothers me is that all the "fine print" you're talking about is NOT mentioned this time around. "Pig in a poke" is a term that is coming to mind ...
 

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