Good morning friends.

Life will be changing for the Jerabek household for a while. Saturdays will be busy and finances a whole lot tighter. I thought you'd like to know why (maybe you don't). It will affect things here - whether I'll ever get to a MOB herf (will have to miss the September one because of all this), how many cigars I buy in the future, etc...

For 25 years I've been married. For the first eight year we rented. Then, since becoming a pastor, we have lived in parsonages - church owned homes. Pastors in the LCMS don't get rich, but they're able to take care of their families. When they live in a parsonage, as the church provides a home and pays for utilities, the pastor's salary is commensurately lower.

Since we don't have our own home and the idea of where will live when we retire has nagged at us as we approach that magical number of 5-0. So, we've been looking for a way to build up some equity (and possibly get some land in order to take my boys hunting). So, we've been looking for some property for the last 4 years or so. Last November it really hit home that we need something of our own when on opening day of deer season we arrived at the place were I thought we were allowed to hunt and the owner comes up to tell us, "I said you could hunt bow season, but not gun." Not his fault, I simply misheard him when he gave me permission.

After much searching for the last few years and a little Divine guidance and help, we found a piece of property on which we're closing this next week.

It 80 acres of partially wooded property with an 1970s mobile home and a 34X58 pole barn/shed (I can store the pop-up in it and save the winter storage fees), and all this for less than $78k. Yes, that's less than $1000 an acer. There is also well, septic, electric, all on the property already. While the mobile home isn't anyplace we'd move into to live, it will work for deer camp and as a get away shack till we're rich enough to put something else up on the property. Oh yeah, a creek runs through the 80 acres as well (yeah, this is a lucky find) and it is about 50% wooded.

Thankfully, we had inherited 15K from a death in the family (which precipitated the search to begin with) so that we had a down payment and closing costs.

So, that means we'll have to tighten belts around here and watch expenses. Thankfully, at present we have no other debt, including no car loans (hopefully the cars we have will last for at least the next 5 or more years), s that helps. But, non-necessary expenditures will be pared back as we need to be able to make monthly payments from a salary that is specifically set with NO mortage or rental payment in mind.

I am a little concerned about that. We cannot have any emergencies for the next 30 years. :-)

Anyway, my next few Saturdays will be spent heading 2+ hours up north to do some work on the mobile home to make it habitable, and to get ourselves situated so the boys can have a successful deer hunt by scouting with deer cams and putting up some deer blinds/stands.

Don't know that it will happen yet, but there is lots of other wild game there that may be hunted in the future. I know there are grouse, rabbits, and other critters there, and am waiting to see, but hopefully turkeys too.

Anyway, I've never been a property owner before, and am seriously nervous about it (too old to be trying new things). Am concerned about how things will go as we have a new and tighter budget. Praying that nothing on that old mobile home goes wrong. Wondering if property ownership is a good idea. But 80 acres for less than $1000 an acre was too good to pass up.

Anyway, if someone ever wants to get away to the north woods of Wisconsin with many lakes around for fishing and with literally thousands of acres of national, state, and county forests within 10 minutes - let me know. I'd be glad to loan the place to those who might be interested in a getaway.

Keep us in your prayers, for this is all new to us - exciting and terrifying at the same time - never been in debt for such an amount before.

Peace of the Lord be with you.
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That's great Todd!
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Exciting news... Good for you!

First home(usually that includes first large debt) always provides a bit of anxiety, but it will work out....you obviously have your ducks in a row....

Added bonus, there has NEVER been a better time to finance a home.....

Congrats!
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Todd... I am praising the Lord for you and your opportunity to build equity. We were in your shoes until ten years ago when we got the chance to buy a home. It will be a good investment for you, I'm sure. Worth the sacrifices...

Don't go lacking on cigars, though. Many of us would be happy to make sure you have plenty of smokes. :-)

Blessings on you and your family.
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Congratulations, Todd!!! :-)
The place sound awesome. You guys are going to enjoy it immensely.
I wouldn't get my hopes up too high on the "nothing going wrong with that old mobile home". Keep the trees cleared away, set tons of mouse traps, and make sure you drain all the water real well, and you shouldn't have to fix too many pipes every spring.
Camps are a lot of work, but you and the boys have lots of hands. You'll all do just fine. :-)
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Financing $70K may not be a big think in the grand scheme of expenses, but it is a ton of money to us.. Yes, this is a great time to finance property - and hopefully we now have a place where we can build a home in the future - when the time comes.
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Thanks, Joe. Please don't do something foolish in the cigar category. I have enough to last me a while if I don't buy or receive any.

I am more covetous of your prayers and well-wishes.

Thanks Scott. I have no expectations of nothing going wrong. In fact, I expect problems in a mobile home this age. I am just praying that my expectations are not realized.

Yes, a few hands make little work Although, a ton of ignorance makes for extra bills to be paid to those with know-how.

Peace of the Lord be with you.
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Congrats bro!! :-)
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Congrats Todd! :-)
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Congrats you are now a land baron.:-)

Prayers for the Lord to continue to sustain you and your family.
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Sounds great. Be a good steward of the land, manage it well, and it will give you pleasure and rewards, and you can look at a job well done for the next generations. Remarkable things can be done to make your property suitable for your needs if it is generally on its way already.
Good luck, and best wishes.
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Todd thats awesome news. Congrats money well spent for the piece of mind after you retire.
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Terrific news, Todd.
Great news for you and your family.
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Nice Todd! Best of luck to you and your family.
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Congratulations! It sounds like a wonderful piece of property. :-)
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Congratulations!
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Sounds awesome! That's a beautiful part of the world up there! Congrats!!
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Congrats on the purchase brother. Sounds like a great buy on a great place. I know you know that the Lord will take care of you. I will keep you and the family in my thoughts and prayers on your journey as a land owner.
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I'm sure you and the boys are already pretty handy. Being a homeowner makes you a lot more handy. I was raised by a Dad who was a carpenter and a mechanic and learned all the other trades on my own or through career choices.
At a time, I had six houses and had to do all the fixing all the time. The fact that I could do absolutely everything is why I could make the money part of it "go". If I had to pay someone to do stuff, I'd have lost my ass.
They call that "sweat equity". :-)
There is so much information out there now that you shouldn't have to be unprepared, and shouldn't suffer a lot of cost fixing things. You can talk to all kinds of guys who have camps and find out what they do to protect them and winterize them.
Trailers are really tough when it comes to fixing stuff, so it's best to keep them from breaking.
You and the boys are going to have a good time, and you're going to learn a lot of good stuff. It's an incredible opportunity and a fortunate blessing.
Don't dread the inevitable. Embrace it.
Peace of the Lord be with you, especially when you go to camp. :-)
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Todd, I'm very envious. A little slice of heaven here on Earth. I hope you create many wondrful family memories there! :-)
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