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Boarding vs. Owning Property
Topic Started: Jan 21 2009, 11:45 AM (630 Views)
Witchy
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Shorten Homes in Dickson City, PA has some truly amazing modulars. My friend and I just walked through a bunch of them the other day when we had nothing to do. I would buy one in a heartbeat after seeing how nice they were.

You could have your house up in a matter of weeks... ;)
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FlashGordon
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Witchy
Jan 25 2009, 01:36 PM
Shorten Homes in Dickson City, PA has some truly amazing modulars. My friend and I just walked through a bunch of them the other day when we had nothing to do. I would buy one in a heartbeat after seeing how nice they were.

You could have your house up in a matter of weeks... ;)
Hey Witchy thanks so much for the recommendation!!! A modular is something we've been talking about for a few years, actually.... I will have to google Shorten and get some info.
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jleegriffith
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My family always had a farm and growing up I worked 7 days a week on the farm taking care of our horses, the boarders horses and the layups from the track. It was a lot of work. My mom runs a boarding business and I honestly thought there is no way I want my horses at home.

Then I got married and started boarding..wow what a nightmare! Even at the best barn it is hard to justify some of the corners that get cut. Then I leased a facility which worked well but lots of work and the same as owning your own place but you are not building any equity there.

We decided to buy 11 acres. Most of the land around our area has double wide houses or trailers of some sort on them and we wanted a house. My husband is military so there is always a chance we will have to pick up and move and the house is what has the most value.

We found a gorgeous 11 acre piece with a beautiful house. The farm I leased was 7 min away. We moved in and lived here about a year before we started thinking about a barn. I got to see the lay of the land and plan out my facility. We then started pricing out barns and I happened to see a barn on craigslist that was modular. I bought the 12 stall 36x72 foot barn for $36k with mats and all the extras included. I had to pay to have it shipped and put up but still well under $100k.

We had some fence done by the Amish but the majority we did with horseguard and put it up ourselves. I built the barn to make horse care easy. Hubby and I have ful-time jobs so we don't want to spend hours in the barn. My stalls have dutch doors on the back and open right into the paddocks. We built small sacrifice paddocks on each side of the barn and then a layout where we can open up gates from the sacrifice paddocks into the fields. It ensures 24x7 turnout but they are off the fields if the weather is bad.

The hard stuff:
We can't afford help so it's 1 hr in the morning and about an hour at night of work. It seriously cuts into my riding time to the point I have to just feed and then ride and leave the chorses until after I am done riding to make sure I am riding as many as I can (I get paid to ride).

Very costly- the little things you don't think of. Fencing, manure pits, tractors and implements required, drags for ring and fields and storage for hay/grain/etc.

Disposal of manure- we can't really spread it too little land.

No ring b/c they are way to expensive to build. Yes, I am saving up but that means less riding when the ground is frozen or wet.

Have to get your own jumps

Sick horses that require extra care

Pluses:
Watching your horses from the back window. For me not having to sit at the barn and wait for potential buyers to show up. If they show up then I am here but I am not waiting for anybody at the barn which is just wonderful. I can have my own barn cats :yes: Taking care of the horses the way I want to and knowing their every move. It is comforting to know the quality of care is top notch. I have had two seriously injured horses that are requiring lots of extra stuff but I am home and am able to do the stall rest myself and hand walk them and not worry about what is going on with them.

One other thing to consider is how it will affect your marriage. Sound silly but it is very hard on marriages. My husband is wonderful but he has a very stressful job and the farm is a lot of work. He sometimes resents having to come home and work on the farm or do horse stuff. He does love the horses but it takes a lot of time and effort to keep a small farm looking nice. Fence is constantly breaking, fields need to be dragged and just so so much more. Not to mention it is big step financially to take on a large property. The projects seem to be endless. You have to have a good marriage and open communication. I would not take on this project without knowing my husband is supportive of my dreams and shares the same outlook.
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FlashGordon
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jleegriffith
Jan 25 2009, 02:36 PM


One other thing to consider is how it will affect your marriage. Sound silly but it is very hard on marriages. My husband is wonderful but he has a very stressful job and the farm is a lot of work. He sometimes resents having to come home and work on the farm or do horse stuff. He does love the horses but it takes a lot of time and effort to keep a small farm looking nice. Fence is constantly breaking, fields need to be dragged and just so so much more. Not to mention it is big step financially to take on a large property. The projects seem to be endless. You have to have a good marriage and open communication. I would not take on this project without knowing my husband is supportive of my dreams and shares the same outlook.
Hey JL thanks so much for the feedback. I think you brought up an important point and one hubby and I need to discuss THOROUGHLY! When we met he was living on a large horsey property, acting as caretaker and he LOVED it.... but that was his full-time job. Now he has a typical office job and if we had a farm it would mean piling "farm stuff" on top of his regular job.

My biggest hold up, mentally at least, is that I don't want hubby or Little FG to resent it. I know kids and hubbies both who have done the farm thing cause their wives wanted to, and they were not so happy doing it.

I guess that is why I really want to find something close to the 'burbs at least, so that it is convenient for Little FG to get to school, friends, etc. and for hubby to get to work. I don't think I could bring myself to move them faaaar out into the country
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mercury1
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Everyone is bringing up excellent points! I agree that the hardest things would be the fact that the work is NEVER done, the bills will keep coming and coming and coming (just like regular home ownership..but a larger scale), not being able to have even one day away without planning and worry, and just being tired sometimes which you have to ignore.

It can be tough on the marriage. It will take some adjusting until you both figure out what the routine will be and what feels fair to both of you. It's some major teamwork no doubt! The hardest part in this area would be when the hubby feels he's helping a lot just so you can go 'play' (aka: finally ride). It's that fairness thing again;)

Overall it's worth it and neither of us would have it any other way. I think you should go for it. Sounds like you're ready, just don't rush into moving the animals home right away b/c that part takes time to get right.
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