ANDY: you had me laughing out loud and everybody else is sleeping here when you mentioned your wife thought you were an IDIOT 15 years ago. how can an unemployed guy at 49 afford to buy an 80 acre farm with a house on it she says?
160 acre farm with a house. That's really twice as bad. One time she told my banker at closing "this is the last time I sign a mortgage!". At the next one he looked a little perplexed and asked her if she was ok with this. She says "I give up" and signed another one. Of course how you do it is risk your home.
good for you for taking the HUGE FIRST STEP!! also happy to see it worked out and with your past and your sense of humor i don't have a doubt you could do most anything that you wanted to.
As I was stewing over whether to take the leap, I remembered I was a custom hay baler, and they aren't known for being prosperous. I was trying to be a developer, and they are usually known as being prosperous. And the guy I met in a courtroom said it was easy. I borrowed enough money to make payments on the development loan for one year and proceeds from sales were making payments within three months. It turns out people liked buying land for their farmettes from a real farmer driving a beat up old truck. It also helped that I was willing finance a sale with a $1,500 down payment. Within two years I had picked out another 160 acres to develop but my wife took a new tactic. "You're going to keep this up until you bankrupt us". It would have been easy.
SPEAKING OF DOING ANYTHING. let's talk about your wife's CABOOSE or was that your idea. some of us say hell he's got a CABOOSE on his 160 acres so what. others that have moved fairly heavy items start thinking WTF how did he move that and why in the world would he. ok i have to ask and hope it hasn't been mentioned before cause i don't have all of your thread memorized. WHAT'S THE STORY ON THE CABOOSE whether it's your wife's or yours?
We were watching TV one night when there was a report that railroads were going to cease using the caboose. I turned to her and said "If we're going to buy one, now's the time!" "Were we going to buy one?" "I hadn't thought about it until just now". We looked around and found two for sale in Stillwater for $7,000 each. This was about October. I called Santa Fe and they had 30 or more in their yard in Topeka for $3,500 each delivered anywhere on their system which included Terlton siding. But every one had damage and you had to inspect at their yard prior to purchase. While I was contemplating that the guy from Stillwater called and offered me both for $7,000. It was close to the end of the year and I suspect he only had an option to buy and re-sell. I offered him $3,500 for one and that day I became a real man. My own caboose. It cost another $1,000 for delivery by a house mover (65,000#, 30 tonnes), and another $500 for ballast, ties, and rail. I thought $5,000 for a 9x40 storage building with a unique ambience was a reasonable deal. How did you get yours?
Now, all that being said, the caboose probably needs to be sold before we sell the farm. A caboose is not for everyone. It would make a great guest house, or model train layout room, or game room. Play cards with your mates and listen to Johnny Cash while a little motor gently rocks it. My best idea was to outfit it as a motor home and rent it out for trips through the Rockies for rich people who like trains. Private car-ish.
i won't expect an answer today since it supposed to be a rest day and your SUN day, but it looks like you are up so feel free to say if you have time or want to.
also nice work on picking up all that FREE property in your area!
Do you rebuild them?
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