Mortgages for Guest Houses / Bamp;B / Small Hotels? -

I am working on realising my lifetime ambition to run a small guest house in the West Country. I currently work as a self employed business consultant for the licensed economy so could be based from anywhere in the UK to continue this. I have 2 houses with mortgages (equity of about ��80k) so although not a good time to sell, it is a good time to buy, being able to take advantage of lower prices and also to make sure that completion takes place before the start of the 2010 season. Does anyone have any advice on how to make this happen without finding 30% cash deposits?No offence - but if you do not have any experience or professional advice to offer please do not respond!

Hello PatI m not sure how you can make this happen without a 30% deposit. I ve just gone through my latest copy of Bed and Breakfast News, for which I write a regular column, but there are no adverts for ways to finance your guest house.As you ve been running a business, it s possibly worth talking to your bank business manager to find out the best way of doing this. They should be able to advise you on a business mortgage. We looked into this a few years ago when we were considering increasing our property portfolio.The other people to sound out about this are your local Business Link. They have a wealth of information on sources of finance other than the obvious choices.You may be able to use the equity from your properties as a deposit but that would mean remortgaging them as well.Make sure that you will have enough hours in the day to run your B B as well as your consultancy. From 0700 to 1200/1300, depending on the size of your guest house, you ll be tied up on the premises. Afternoons are split between cash and carry runs and guests checking in and, if you re lucky, you ll have the evenings off but you need to be available to take booking enquiries.Good luck!Rosemary