After 26 years of guests, Yellowknife bed and breakfast owner ready to sell. But it’s not so easy | CBC News

After 26 years of accommodating guests from across the world, Faith Embleton says she and her husband Ken are ready to sell their bed and breakfast. 

They’ve actually been ready for more than five years. 

Embleton said in that time, they’ve had many people interested in buying Embleton House — and came so close years ago that she even packed her bags.

“I’ve packed up three times since then,” she said. “Each time, they can’t get the money.” 

Embleton said lenders have been asking for a 75 per cent down payment for someone to buy the place and live in it. 

There’s also the option for someone to purchase and not live onsite for a 50 per cent down payment, but she says this isn’t a good option as the owners of a bed and breakfast should be there. 

“You would be an absentee business owner and you need to be a present business owner,” she said. 

Embleton said there’s currently a couple looking into purchasing the property — but after so many false alarms, she isn’t getting her hopes up.

A massive down payment

Embleton said she doesn’t understand why the down payment would need to be so high, as the business is profitable. 

“I just don’t get it,” she said. 

Prosper N.W.T. is the territory’s business economic development organization.

Embleton said they’re one of the lenders, along with several banks, that have required a 75 per cent down payment on her property for financing.

Embleton said she had documents from Prosper N.W.T. outlining that requirement. CBC hasn’t viewed these documents. 

In a written statement, Leslie Dragon, a spokesperson for Prosper N.W.T., wrote: “While we aren’t able to share information with regard to specific clients, we are not aware of any issues surrounding the general sale or financing of bed and breakfasts.”

She wrote that Prosper N.W.T. has offered debt financing to businesses in the accommodation and food services sector, which includes bed and breakfasts. 

Dragon wrote that operational policies require a minimum down payment of 10 per cent. 

“But the final amount for any business, including a bed and breakfast or a mixed-use property, really varies based on a number of factors, including the ability to generate cash flow.”

Dragon wrote that assessments are conducted on a case-by-case basis, taking into account things like credit history, cash flow, equity and net worth, collateral and industry and economic factors affecting the business.

Eben Viens is the owner of The B&B Team, an inn consultants and broker located in the northeastern U.S. that has done work in Atlantic Canada. He said the range for down payments is usually around 20 to at highest 40 per cent and that 75 per cent is almost unheard of.

“Generally speaking, again, a property maybe … was underperforming from a financial perspective. The cash flow wasn’t there to support, you know, the price with the typical 20 per cent down payment,” he said. 

But he said taking a few years to sell isn’t uncommon for bed and breakfast owners, with two years being about the average and some taking as long as 10 years to sell. 

“There are other markets we’ve worked with clients in the past that have been very clear about, you know, being motivated by a particular price. And they’re willing to hold out sometimes for up to 10 years to await that buyer who’s willing to pay that higher price,” he said. 

Embleton says she is hoping to sell soon, since she is 75 and her husband Ken is 80.

“The problem is, what my husband would say, there’s less sand in the hourglass and we’re aging,” she said. 

Embleton says she is selling the bed and breakfast at its appraised value of $1.25 million, something she says she wouldn’t take less than. 

“This is really an investment that we made with our time that’s going to hopefully pay off,” she said.  

What is the future of professional bed and breakfasts? 

Americans Glenn and Sandi Edgemon have been visiting Yellowknife since the 1990’s. 

They live in Washington State, but make regular journeys to the N.W.T. to enjoy the fishing, northern landscape and community.

“We’ve been up there once in the winter too, and experienced –40 C, so when it gets to then –10 C, it feels warm. We actually took our coats off then. But it’s just a great community,” Sandi said.

The couple now always stay at Embleton House and have become close with Faith and Ken. 

“We feel like we’re family now. And so it’s like coming to visit on vacation, visiting a family,” Sandi said. 

Glenn added: “We call back and forth throughout the year now. It’s not just a place to stay up there.”

For Embleton, she thinks future bed and breakfast owners will face challenges with increased competition from Airbnb and VRBO, but she says those don’t offer the same professional services.

She said Embleton House has won awards and she hopes it continues to offer that level of service. 

“I hope whoever takes it over takes pride in ownership and takes pride in running it,” she said. 

Once the place is sold, Embleton says she and Ken plan to travel to Japan to visit some old guests who stayed with them and then likely move to Alberta to be closer to family. 

But for now those plans are on hold. For their guests who have become like family, watching the Embletons struggle to sell has also been difficult. 

“I’ve watched their struggles here trying to sell the place with amazement, like what’s going on here? They have a fully booked business, all the time, and they cannot move this property,” Glenn said.

“And I feel for them because they’ve run it, and they’ve been there their whole lives, too. It’s just baffles me that they’ve had this much trouble.”