The relationship between Chris and Roxanna Harwood was headed in a typical direction by 2017.
They were signing a lease on a home in Loveland, Colorado, after having met through common acquaintances, living together in a group setting, overcoming distance, and moving for work and school.
A lot more important things were about to happen, but not in the typical sense that couples do.
Chris learned that his father intended to sell the Wheels Motel in Greybull, Wyoming, the family company, in the weeks after they moved.
Chris had spent a large portion of his childhood there, so he had some relationship to the place, but he had no plans to return. As a child, I did not particularly appreciate it.
There is a lot of work involved,” he explains. And we did not go anywhere. We did not ever go on vacation. We spent the entire year here.
Even However, Chris had already explored the prospect of purchasing the motel from Roxanna because he knew his father could not manage it indefinitely.
She did not seem really interested at the time. However, Roxanna had started her first actual 9–5 desk job doing marketing for a chiropractic practice after working for a chocolatier and at a bar. She detested it.
According to her, “it was more like seven to seven.” That made me physically ill. I needed to acquire fluids at the hospital. I was unable to hold anything down. “This is not working for you,” my body was telling me.
According to Roxanna, “I was like, ‘Hold the phone,'” when the couple got the call regarding the motel. “We are moving, even though we just had our housewarming party.”
“I knew in my gut, I knew in my heart, that this was going to be my path,” she recalls, despite having vague memories of Greybull because she had only been there once.
According to them, Chris and Roxanna, who are currently 38 and 31 years old, respectively, paid $483,000 for the motel in 2017 and used Chris’ funds as a down payment. (This figure could not be independently verified by CNBC Make It.)
Since then, they have married, had a 4-year-old son named Ronan, and have steadily grown the Wheels into a profitable company. They claim to have paid off the motel’s mortgage in 2020.
By August of 2024, the motel is expected to earn approximately $412,000 this year. The couple has paid themselves about $115,500 so far. That places them on course to earn almost $174,000 a year.
In 2024, the motel is anticipated to make $81,000 in total.
Roxanna has no regrets regarding the couple’s move, despite the fact that the lifestyle can be a little slow and the workload is substantial.
She claims, “I freaking love it here, but it took a long time to get used to the small town life.” “It truly is like my own little haven.”
We were starting from the ground up
Roxanna bakes banana bread and blueberry muffins every day, and the Wheels Motel offers free Wi-Fi and 22 rooms.
Located in the Bighorn Basin, it is roughly 100 miles from the closest highway, 100 miles from Yellowstone National Park’s east gate, and roughly two hours’ drive from Billings, Montana, the closest city
. There are roughly 2,000 people living in Greybull, the town where it is situated.
In the 1990s, Chris’ father bought the motel from his parents, relocated the family to one of the buildings, and started running and growing the establishment. Chris was therefore aware of the type of labor required by the motel.
“I spent most of my childhood here either building the motel or cleaning rooms,” he recalls.
Chris initially discovered the value of saving money during his four years in the Navy following high school graduation. According to him, “they had a number of different programs for saving portions of your paycheck, which is, I would argue, a big secret.”
“Taking money out of your hands and putting it somewhere you can not touch it is a big secret to our financial success.”
Before returning to Wyoming to resume his education, initially at a community college and later at the University of Wyoming, Chris accepted a position with the aerospace communications company Harris.
By that time, he had met Roxanna, who joined Chris in Laramie while he completed his graphic design degree the next year after earning a sociology degree with a business minor from Colorado State in 2015.
As soon as they purchased the motel, they would put all they had learned to work. The roof of one of the buildings needed to be replaced. A new sign was required for the motel.
The water heaters were not working. It was time to replace the carpets. A new review method was required by the motel. The dryers and washers were broken.
According to Chris, “we were starting from the ground up.” He calculates that over the first two years of renovation, the couple spent over $100,000.
A ‘Monday through Sunday’ job
Even after everything was operational, the Harwoods’ task was far from done. After all, Chris and Roxanna are the only full-time staff members at the motel, which is open seven days a week.
“Monday through Sunday, the alarm goes off at 5:30,” Roxanna explains. “Someone needs to get out of bed and turn off the coffee.”
A timer controls the two carafes that are available to visitors. The previous evening, the muffins and banana bread were prepared.
After that, their 4-year-old son Ronan needs to be fed, clothed, and prepared for the day. He attends preschool in the fall.
While Chris and Roxanna start cleaning rooms and checking guests out at the front desk, Johnny spends the summer with Chris’s grandmother, who moved in last year.
The duo may clean ten to fifteen rooms each morning during their busiest summer months. However, Chris notes that focusing on a single task is not always simple.
“I have to come all the way back up here if I have to make a reservation over the phone while I am cleaning a bathroom,” he says.
“I have to return to the front desk if someone rings the doorbell. If someone spots me in the parking lot, I have to talk to them and answer their inquiries.
It takes a team to tackle rooms. Chris takes care of bathroom cleaning, while Roxanna handles linens and surfaces. Chris’s father, who resides on the property, helps out with bed making and sweeping. The folding is mostly done by Grandma.
Around noon or one of the clock in the afternoon, Chris prepares lunch for the whole family, and then they all have a group break. “That is kind of our weekend if we can get two or three hours a day in the middle of the day,” Chris explains.
And often, we just attempt to get some rest. We attempt to relax and snooze as personal pastimes because the doorbell starts to ring around three or four o’clock.
Check-ins, food, and an early bedtime are the next priorities. The motel has an open-door policy even though the office officially closes at 9 p.m. One of the Harwoods frequently checks someone in at two in the morning.
The motel also requires work beyond daily duties; for example, someone must take care of the ice maker if it malfunctions or the water main breaks. Chris and Roxanna personally endeavor to keep expenses as low as possible.
About 70% of the motel’s façade was painted by hand last year; the remaining portion was completed by professionals.
How they spend their money
The success of the motel has a direct impact on the Harwoods’ personal wealth. When they can, they essentially pay themselves as needed. This implies that they do not take much care of themselves when things are tight.
Chris explains, “We were paying ourselves almost nothing when we first started the motel.”
The same is true for 2022, when Yellowstone’s reserves were severely impacted by a partial but widely reported closure.
The motel’s expenses, such as those for repairs, supplies, and utilities, among other things, sometimes surpass its income in years like 2023. The couple only paid themselves $44,000 last year.
Things are looking better this year, with fewer repairs than anticipated. “We have demonstrated profitability with the motel for maybe two or three years,” Chris explains. “So, that will be very important to us.”
In August 2024, the couple spent their money as follows.
- Household:Â $1,982 on routine expenses
- Food:Â $1,522 on groceries and dining out
- Camper:Â $1,296 on expenses related to a camper they purchased this year
- Insurance:Â $1,054 on auto, health, homeowners, life and camper policies
- Discretionary:Â $1,046 on health and wellness, clothing and entertainment expenses
- Savings and investments: $800 into Roxanna’s Acorns account; Chris makes larger ad hoc deposits into other accounts
- Unexpected expenses:Â $333 on auto parts and a trip to the vet
- Phones and Wi-Fi:Â $333
- Subscriptions and memberships:Â $289 in monthly Amazon, Hulu, Lovevery, Microsoft, Patreon and YouTube charges
- Gas:Â $157
The majority of Americans will notice that housing is a significant item that is absent from that budget. According to the couple, the mortgage they took out while purchasing the property took several years to pay off.
The couple does not have to pay rent or a mortgage because the motel has been paid off and the family is living in a house attached to the property. While utilities are included in business expenses, the Harwoods pay for their own Wi-Fi.
However, because it can be difficult to purchase products in their area of the country, daily household expenses do have a tendency to mount up.
“If I need something for Ronan and I do not have time to go to Billings, which I typically don’t, I use Amazon,” Roxanna adds, despite their best efforts to shop locally.
A paid-off 1995 Ford F-150, a 2022 BMW X5 M50i that they intend to pay off by the end of the year, and a camper that they purchased this year for $25,000 in cash are the couple’s three cars.
According to Roxanna, the latter was a huge purchase for a family that often feels cooped up.
“The Jayco camper was very significant to me since it allows us to disconnect from the motel and depart,” she explains.
“Neither phones nor doorbells are present. Being in nature, barefoot, and on the ground is incredibly important to me when I am in the mountains.
I’m really proud of us
Though they are not yet certain what that looks like, Chris and Roxanna are saving for the future.
Chris states that his weekly goal is to invest roughly $300 in the stock and cryptocurrency markets, with larger investments being made on occasion when additional funds become available from the motel’s earnings.
The couple claims to have invested a total of roughly $206,700 in bitcoin exchanges and brokerage accounts. By the time he becomes 50, Chris intends to have that sum above $2 million, and he may then decide to leave the Wheels.
He believes the couple could live comfortably on that amount, plus the proceeds from the sale of the motel and its two connected residences.
“We often discuss the possibility of selling and moving, but we find it difficult to envision where we would go and what we would do once we get there,” Chris adds.
“There are times when I question whether this is the type of business that we should simply save to pass on to my son so that he will have something in the future.”
The motel still has a lot of work to do in the interim.
Chris states, “I do not see us growing the motel beyond the number of rooms we offer, but I do see us updating and renovating everything and maybe adding more amenities online.”
“I want to put in thermal rooms. I would like to install a theater, perhaps. We will eventually enlarge the playground.
Renovating the motel has given Roxanna the opportunity to contribute to the revitalization of a tiny town that seemed to be trapped in a time capsule that was thirty years old.
She painted a painting in the town and serves as secretary of the Chamber of Commerce in Greybull. Making it more of a destination and “not just a pass-through town” is the aim, she says.
Regarding the initial choice to move here, Roxanna has no regrets. Looking back on everything, she adds, “I am really proud of us and I am really happy we did what we did.
” Sometimes it is difficult to keep things in perspective and acknowledge how far we have come. Now, this place is just awesome.
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