A Day in the (Resort) Life

I've been tempted to do this for years but never could justify the time. Now I realize that I still really don't have the time, but, my day to day routine is just too...…..interesting...…... to NOT take the time. If for no other reasons than to give the kids something to laugh at in my old age.

So here's the short story. In 2011, we bought a property with four small cabins on it for our family's enjoyment. As we renovated them, random people started showing up wanting to rent them. After counting the number of times we could have rented them to guests, we decided "We may as well be in the resort business". Like anything else in life, one thing leads to the next. In our case, one thing "necessitates" the next. In our case, the "necessity" was a pool! So in 2012, we bought a pool...…... It came with another resort property connected to it comprising a house and seven more cabins! Along the way, we expanded on the first set of cabins by purchasing an adjacent 3 bedroom house which we thought would be our home. And it was, for at least a year when demand for a multi-bedroom cabin began to over-ride the need for a place to call home!

Our "Home" became a guest cabin in 2012. All was great until 2014 when we decided that cabins alone weren't enough of a challenge so we moved into the arena of Treehouse Building. Our treehouse adventure also took us into the Campground and RV park business. (Like that was a big surprise) Our home became a Fifth Wheel camper for the next two years as treehouses sprung up around our little corner of the Ozark mountains. More on that later.

Finally, in early 2016, a lakefront resort was added to the ever growing collection of cabins and pools and adventures. This move brought with it an array of new challenges such as a marina, boat rentals, marine gas sales, tackle shop and more. The most challenging of the Lake Adventure was learning how to answer the fishermen who naturally, however incorrectly, assumed I certainly must know where every single fishing hotspot in the lake would be on any given day!

So, that's our story...…. up until today. The thing is that as of today, the whole process is still growing. Where and how? Well, we have an idea because we are currently negotiating a couple of deals that will certainly expand our "Resort Adventure".

You may be wondering how this is all possible or perhaps how you could even make this a reality. It's not as complicated as it may seem. It's actually easier that you probably believe. Even from a financing and business point of view, the process is remarkably within reach. All four of our current resorts were either "No Money Down" type of deals or very close to it. (And we're not that smart! so nearly anyone can do it) In fact, here's a teaser link that I figured out along the way.  How to Get Your House for Free!

So..... Back to today. My intention is to begin to "journal" my daily "Resort Life" or "Resort Adventure" experiences. Holding nothing back. It will be the Good, Bad and Ugly of the business.