This company is for sale! Bryan found it in the paper nearly 3 weeks ago now (beginning of Sept). We contacted our realtor and went out to see the operation. It has a prime location as it is just off hwy#21, north of Wye Rd and south of the Anthony Henday. It is a nice property of 20 acres. The 1600 sq ft house has been partially renovated 6 - 8 yrs ago and boasts a very large dining eat-in kitchen. The kennels are extremely clean and in, overall, good condition. The buildings are aching for an overhaul and if it is to be brought up to the standards of the newer operations that sit within similar distances around Edmonton, one can expect to spend a min of $50,000.00.
The next issue is that the listing claims the operation has a license for 100 dogs and 60 RV storage units. A quick visit to the county proved slightly alarming as I was informed that Bero Kennels has a license for only 50 dogs, NOT 100 and the license for RV storage is for only 30 units, NOT 60! Also, the license is strictly for RVs, not boat, cars, trailers (which they have stored there now). A call was promptly made to my realtor. One would think that a person listing such a property would be honest about the licenses. What? Do they think that an interested party is just going to believe them? If they did, I can guarantee you the purchaser would win a suit against them in a court of law for fraudulent representation! And they have the gall to ask 1.1million?! At least be up front and honest. The word on the market is that it is not worth more than $800,000.00. This is, of course, much too rich for our blood.
I think the problem the owners are having is that they have poured their entire lives into this business but they are well into their late 70s and the gentleman has been in a wheelchair for the past 6 yrs leaving the lion's share of the work to the woman. She is tired, understandably. He is having much difficulty coming to terms with the parting of his business while she is eager to extract herself from the exhaustion she is trapped within. Can't say that I blame her. They are also refusing to produce financials on the company. Hmmmm. Curiouser and curiouser. If you don't have the financials to support your asking price of $1.1million, you may find yourself forced to lower your asking price. No one in their right mind is going to fork over that much money without proof of earnings. We suspect that, due to their age and poor health, it has been several years since the business has been operating at full tilt and the financials would not be favorable to the asking price.
Our realtor made a call to the listing agent to discuss the discrepancies. The listing agent was none too happy to learn that his clients had not been forthcoming with him. Apparently, they were confronted and the threat to take the property off the market was made. The wife insisted it remain listed and says she will consider any 'reasonable' offer. I ask you, how does a person decide what is 'reasonable' if they cannot see the financials? Old world thinking. What's a purchaser to do? Whatever....like I said, too rich for our blood. But,...a girl can dream, no? Maybe we'll just put an offer in to see what happens. We truly have nothing to loose.
