Our Northwoods Cabin Journey (3 Viewers)

[Trihonda]

I'd be careful with the neighbor situation. I don't know how far away they are but I think you said they are year round dwellers. More and more permanent residents of bedroom communities are having to deal with 24/7 parties in their vicinity due to VRBO. Nobody wants to live nest to a rental house, me included. It is especially bad with multiple families or big groups at big houses. This kind of stuff can quickly sour a relationship with your neighbors.

The neighbors are the ones who have been pushing for my uncle (and us) to rent it out, clamoring about how much potential there is. The wife is a part time realtor, and knows the market. Our thoughts are to bring them in as partners (very Jr partners), and give them a small percent of the profits to be the emergency contacts, plow the driveway, etc.. The wife also knows a local cleaning crew who can take care of the hard part of the turnover process. But I do appreciate the concern and tips. We know the neighbors, but nobody is trusted unquestionably. That's a good thing to keep in mind.

I'm merely defending Senor Tony by pointing out that he's not the person who introduced politics to this thread.

Here's my issue. As I already stated, my post did NOT introduce politics into this thread. There was ZERO intentions of that. It wasn't even designed as a pro-police picture, it was simply the pic I have of the front of the cabin. I've even said I'd replace it when I get a better pic, to please the woke crowd, thus further proving my intentions. There was zero political (or police) discussion or mention of politics in anything I wrote (not even an innuendo), and it should be quite obvious to most that it wasn't intended as political.

If you happen to spend SO much time in the political section that you see political arguments in everything, then that's on YOU or Sr. Tony. I stay away from that section for this very reason.

And if Sr. Tony was offended, why the hell take the time to post and add political tripe to the otherwise non-political thread. Just move on. The same could be said about your insertions. Just move on and enjoy the cabin stuff, as that's what this thread was intending. If you don't enjoy the thread, fine, but don't troll it with a bunch of political crap. You guys are the ones making this political. If you feel strongly enough to debate this further, create your own thread in the politics section about this thread and the picture in my OP. But no more political debate in this thread!

Back to cabin life, please

 

[Trihonda]

On the flip side of this, I am a frequent lake house renter. Make sure you have all of your personal belongings stored away. Lock up and install video cameras in all your toy sheds. Make sure the refrigerator is clear after every guest. Nothing worse than renting a unit and having to fill the trash bin with all the leftover crap in the fridge. No, I'm not using the ketchup from your last renter.

Bunk beds. At least one bedroom as a bunk room.

This is good advice. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet. We intend to secure that with all our personalized stuff inside. That's also where I think we'd keep the internet router, AND camera hub. We purchased a Lorax camera system from Costco (8 wired cameras), and plan to install them to cover ALL entrances and portions of the exterior.

We plan to have a supply of bottled water, instant oatmeal, hot chocolate, granola bars in a welcome basket for each rental, along with a "info binder" that discusses the property, it's amenities, rules, etc.. Area attractions, trail maps, etc.. We also plan to have cute laminated (framed) signs around the house with friendly reminders of wifi passwords, house rules, etc...

 

[RainmanTrail]

The neighbors are the ones who have been pushing for my uncle (and us) to rent it out, clamoring about how much potential there is. The wife is a part time realtor, and knows the market. Our thoughts are to bring them in as partners (very Jr partners), and give them a small percent of the profits to be the emergency contacts, plow the driveway, etc.. The wife also knows a local cleaning crew who can take care of the hard part of the turnover process. But I do appreciate the concern and tips. We know the neighbors, but nobody is trusted unquestionably. That's a good thing to keep in mind.


Here's my issue. As I already stated, my post did NOT introduce politics into this thread. There was ZERO intentions of that. It wasn't even designed as a pro-police picture, it was simply the pic I have of the front of the cabin. I've even said I'd replace it when I get a better pic, to please the woke crowd, thus further proving my intentions. There was zero political (or police) discussion or mention of politics in anything I wrote (not even an innuendo), and it should be quite obvious to most that it wasn't intended as political.

If you happen to spend SO much time in the political section that you see political arguments in everything, then that's on YOU or Sr. Tony. I stay away from that section for this very reason.

And if Sr. Tony was offended, why the hell take the time to post and add political tripe to the otherwise non-political thread. Just move on. The same could be said about your insertions. Just move on and enjoy the cabin stuff, as that's what this thread was intending. If you don't enjoy the thread, fine, but don't troll it with a bunch of political crap. You guys are the ones making this political. If you feel strongly enough to debate this further, create your own thread in the politics section about this thread and the picture in my OP. But no more political debate in this thread!

Back to cabin life, please

Sorry, but that's bullshit. Again, I don't care what your politics are, and like I said, I still enjoy the thread either way. But don't sit here and pretend like there is nothing political about that photo. Perhaps it was unintentional or you somehow, in some way honestly had no idea that it could possibly be taken as such (cough, cough, ahem, bullshit) but don't try to turn this back around on others. YOU made it political with that photo, not the people who responded to it. Intentional or not.

 

[CptainCanuck]

On the flip side of this, I am a frequent lake house renter. Make sure you have all of your personal belongings stored away. Lock up and install video cameras in all your toy sheds. Make sure the refrigerator is clear after every guest. Nothing worse than renting a unit and having to fill the trash bin with all the leftover crap in the fridge. No, I'm not using the ketchup from your last renter.

Bunk beds. At least one bedroom as a bunk room.

100% this. We own a lake house in East Texas that we rent out, as well as spend ample amount of time in. We have 7 cameras around the property and I don't feel like that's even enough with the number of things we've caught already. We store our personal belongings (sheets, towels, etc) in totes that are in a locked area of the master bedroom and then have anything the renters are allowed to use always out.

Also as another per another persons comment earlier securing/fixing everything - also 100% that. Things get beat up - people don't have the same respect for rentals as you will. We (like Craig suggests) have a bunk room in our place - it's a kids room with video games and kid themed decor, yet people will rent the place and expect to put an adult on those top bunks...not just any adult, but overgrown adults... I've had to repair and reinforce all the furniture assuming people will be stupid.

Expect towels and sheets to get stained. Expect the laundry room to get abused. Make sure the rental window (check out to the next guest checking in) allows for 3-4 loads of laundry to be done by your cleaning service. Have you cleaning service empty and clean the fridge - and be very specific. We were vague the first time around to throw out food, and the cleaning service threw out everything in our spice cabinet, flour, etc. Now we're very specific on what to clean between renters.

But at the end of the day, it's great - we have a lake house we use 60-90 days/year and it's funded (and then some) by renters.

 

[Trihonda]

We discussed the idea of bunk beds, and this is the room that they’d fit into. Right now if we put two bunk beds into this room, it wouldn’t really increase our total sleeping count. Currently we have two queen beds in the room. Also, our rental target audience will be mostly adults in the winter, with snow mobile riders. So we have to consider these folks will use the place to hang out in the evenings and sleep, shower, then they head out all day.

We want to cater to their needs, provide activities to keep folks busy, but also set up systems to help prevent some of the common issues associated with snow mobilers.. we will set up clothing and helmet racks in the garage, glove and boot warmers too, in order to discourage wet dirty clothes from coming into the house.

 

[Jeff]

I'm seeing the location of MTTD is being moved! Just shoot me the room list so I can claim my dibs on one now.

Seriously though congrats on the purchase. It's really nice to see you getting a place that you can get away to with the family. Keep the outdoor pictures coming as it looks beautiful.

EPIC BACKWOODS MEETUP!!!!!!!!!!!!! Standing bedroom dibs!

 

[Trihonda]

EPIC BACKWOODS MEETUP!!!!!!!!!!!!! Standing bedroom dibs!

Oh trust me, I’d host it, if people wanted to drive … hours….

 

[CraigT78]

Oh trust me, I’d host it, if people wanted to drive … hours….

In.

 

[Jeff]

In.

Yep. Double dog drive 7 hours up Wisconsin in.

 

[CraigT78]

Yep. Double dog drive 7 hours up Wisconsin in.

I'll fly into Chicago and car pool

 

[Jeff]

I'll fly into Chicago and car pool

I'll pack the road sodas in the cooler. I figure 4 for me and 44 for you.

 

[CraigT78]

I'll pack the road sodas in the cooler. I figure 4 for me and 44 for you.

I'll make a MIX TAPE!!

 

[moose]

EPIC BACKWOODS MEETUP!!!!!!!!!!!!! Standing bedroom dibs!

Personally I'd request the bedroom where you can lie down.

 

[Taghkanic]

Re.: the tractor:

Tractors are in very short supply right now. I ordered a new, bigger Kubota in December and it still hasn’t arrived. We can’t even get a date when it will show up.

Every dealer has a massive backlog, especially in smaller “compact” models popular with non-farmers.

In short: Your uncle probably could get a very good price for his tractor if it is well-maintained and doesn’t have a zillion hours on it.

I would “pay the man his money,” because finding one at retail or even used is tough right now.

 

[Taghkanic]

P.S. As your posts tacitly recognize, living “the simple life” in the back country is not so simple. You need a ton of gear, (unless you can afford to pay people to do the work with their own equipment, which is very expensive… and then you spend a lot of frustrating time waiting for someone to show up. And do the work right.)

I’m on 250 acres here, at the end of a dead end road. I spend a ton of time just repairing and maintaining all the endless machinery and gear necessary to keep the place from devolving back into untamed wilderness. And that’s with most of the acreage in managed forest.

Not a day goes by without at least one trip to a hardware store, tractor supply store, AutoZone/NAPA, etc. Yesterday it was mice chewing through generator wires, today a faulty garage door opener, tomorrow finding the obscure hydraulic fluid for the log splitter, etc. etc.

If your uncle has all the gear needed to maintain the place, and has kept it in good working order, I would snap it up. And make him inventory all the lubricants and filters and sharpeners and other stuff each machine needs to keep running well.

 

[CraigT78]

P.S. As your posts tacitly recognize, living “the simple life” in the back country is not so simple. You need a ton of gear, (unless you can afford to pay people to do the work with their own equipment, which is very expensive… and then you spend a lot of frustrating time waiting for someone to show up. And do the work right.)

I’m on 250 acres here, at the end of a dead end road. I spend a ton of time just repairing and maintaining all the endless machinery and gear necessary to keep the place from devolving back into untamed wilderness. And that’s with most of the acreage in managed forest.

Not a day goes by without at least one trip to a hardware store, tractor supply store, AutoZone/NAPA, etc. Yesterday it was mice chewing through generator wires, today a faulty garage door opener, tomorrow finding the obscure hydraulic fluid for the log splitter, etc. etc.

If your uncle has all the gear needed to maintain the place, and has kept it in good working order, I would snap it up. And make him incentory all the lubricants and filters and sharpeners and other stuff each machine needs to keep running well.

You make owning a lake house sound.......fun?

Lol. This is why I pay someone every year to use theirs.

 

[Taghkanic]

Heh. I actually kind of enjoy it. I’d rather watch a bunch of YouTube chainsaw maintenance video than another bad Netflix series.

But I have realized that there will *never* be more than a 2-3 day stretch when everything is in order and nothing needs to be repaired or power-washed or mowed or chopped or loaded or sharpened or greased or cleaned or replaced. It never ends, so you have to either learn to take some satisfaction from it or not do it at all.

 

[Trihonda]

….and doesn’t have a zillion hours on it.

I would “pay the man his money,”

ya, it’s only got 400 hours on it….

And we were going to use our HELOC to pay for the 20% down payment, the extras and the furnishings.. well, we just got word our heloc was approved at Prime -1.25%. Or 3.125 APR. That’s crazy. So maybe we Can afford the tractor. our reg mortgage was approved at 3% I believe. It’s almost like free money!

 

[megarises]

Love the cabin! Love law enforcement. Even If I hated law enforcement I’d still love the cabin. Grats @Trihonda

 

[Taghkanic]

Stuff I find indispensable for my property maintenance:

* Tractor with bucket
* Ratchet Rake bucket attachment
* Mid-mount finish mower
* Brush hog
* Electric push mower
* Combo pole saw/hedge trimmer
* String trimmer
* Chain saw
* Sawzall (reciprocating saw)
* High-powered leaf blower
* Gutter attachment for blower
* Impact drill for concrete
* Table saw
* Band saw
* Circular saw
* Jigsaw
* Miter saw
* Vices (small & large)
* Palm sander
* Drill press
* ShopVac
* Roof rake
* Powerwasher
* Power drills galore
* Misc. shovels and rakes
* Propane torch/wand for burning weeds and lighting bonfires
* Winch and hitch on my pickup
* Basic trailer for dump runs and misc. chores like brush collectoon
* Sifter for tractor bucket (to sift out 1”+ rocks from soil, bank run, etc). Built this myself from wire and lumber
* 10,000,000 different drill bit and socket sets
* All the miscellaneous oils, fluids and tools for maintaining the above
* A ton of other stuff I’m forgetting at the moment

With the new tractor, if it ever arrives, I still be adding a grapple and digger attachments for the bucket. The grapple will be especially helpful in moving downed trees.

Note that in small equipment/hand tools I am a big, big fan of Dewalt “brushless” (battery powered) tools. These are the most reliable products I own, from drills to saws and more (e.g. portable lights).

The Dewalt batteries are expensive but mostly interchangeable. It is hugely useful not to worry about cords, and to be able to use these anywhere on the property.

 

[moose]

ya, it’s only got 400 hours on it….

And we were going to use our HELOC to pay for the 20% down payment, the extras and the furnishings.. well, we just got word our heloc was approved at Prime -0.125%. Or 3.125 APR. That’s crazy. So maybe we Can afford the tractor. our reg mortgage was approved at 3% I believe. It’s almost like free money!

FYP in case you thought you were getting a REALLY great rate. Definitely if you have steady employment, this is a great time to acquire debt.

 

[CptainCanuck]

Re.: the tractor:

Tractors are in very short supply right now. I ordered a new, bigger Kubota in December and it still hasn’t arrived. We can’t even get a date when it will show up.

Every dealer has a massive backlog, especially in smaller “compact” models popular with non-farmers.

In short: Your uncle probably could get a very good price for his tractor if it is well-maintained and doesn’t have a zillion hours on it.

I would “pay the man his money,” because finding one at retail or even used is tough right now.

Saw these on the drive to our Lakehouse today- Texas must be hoarding all your inventory

 

[Trihonda]

Got up north to spend a couple days taking stock of everything in the cabin, developing a shopping list, and getting a maintenance walk-thru with my uncle (hearing what all he plans to leave behind in the ways of tools and supplies). We also spent some time getting muddy on the ATV trails.

First let’s talk about a few of the major projects that occupy our thoughts. The lower level kitchenette. It’s complete garbage. The existing cabinets were bought through my uncles former son in law, who worked for some cabinet company. They are falling apart, and I’ve never seen such cabinet construction.. there are several sections of lowers that are 64” Wide, and are joined by cabinets that don’t even seem to have sides (and looked like there simply cut in half at the factory). Don’t get me wrong, they could look ok (aside from the doors that are coming apart), but they are hobbled together. My plan is to simply remove these entirely and find something else to use in the space. These cabinets will make good work benches in the garage or storage room.

our front running plan for this is to run the fridge along the far back 8’ wide wall, and buy cabinets to fill the remainder of the space. We’d also make a bar or something like it, for additional seating and hang out space. Check out our architectural rendering.

an alternative idea is to simply wall off the area and make a storage room…?

here’s the entire rec room (albeit cluttered With things my aunt is moving around).

we took a lot of measurements, including two of the lower bedrooms in order to purchase closet organizers. Taking stock of the upstairs bedrooms, we really like the wood log interior features, and the existing closets.

taking a moment to take in the scenery, here’s a view from the back deck

 

[Jeff]

taking a moment to take in the scenery, here’s a view from the back deck

View attachment 771960

This is about as perfect as it gets. You guys are so fortunate!

 

[BukNaked36]

Congratulations - the place looks awesome!

 

[TomC727]

Absolutely beautiful.

 

[Taghkanic]

View attachment 769903
Saw these on the drive to our Lakehouse today- Texas must be hoarding all your inventory

Bigger ag tractors seem less difficult to find right now than compact ones. (I could get a really huge tractor tomorrow, but it would be overkill for me.)

 

[DeeVee8]

Let’s talk about the existing family cabin. This was my uncles retirement dream. He built it 10 years ago, and spared no expense… well, actually he spent way more on everything that he needed, lol. There are a great number of small projects that have sat unfinished for years. Look up at the picture of the rear of the house, and you’ll notice the siding on the toy garage isn’t finished, and there are lots of projects like that….

Why are these projects unfinished? Well, my uncle is notorious for indecisiveness and being stubborn. He’d run into an issue, and just set the project back on the to-do list. He‘d start another project instead. So this went on for a bit, and the cabin suffered a major hurdle when my uncle lost one of his legs.. this made it nearly impossible for him to finish projects. We would come up and spend a few days here and there working on the property, but that just barely did enough to keep it maintained, much less addressing previously unfinished projects.

The property requires a significant investment in time and materials to bring it up to snuff. We simply weren’t willing to do that for a cabin that doesn’t belong to us. That brings us to our current situation. My uncle has teased with the idea of selling the cabin, BUT it’s his dream and he’s got a lot of emotion tied into the place. everytime we’d suggest buying, or he’d suggest selling, he’d always come back with “nah, I’ll never sell that place”, but then he’d also admit he has no way to keep up the maintenance on the place…. It’s a conundrum for sure. The longer he holds the place, the worse the condition gets, the less it’ll be worth.

Our up north neighbors are amazing, they live there full time and watch over the place when we are not there. The wife is also a realtor who says my uncle would make a killing renting the place out in the winter. My uncle would never allow renters in his place. He is a control freak, and wouldn’t want unknown people messing with his stuff.

here are some more pics of the property:

View attachment 766199View attachment 766200View attachment 766201View attachment 766202View attachment 766203View attachment 766204View attachment 766205View attachment 766206View attachment 766207

So you might guess by now, that we had decided to make a play to buy my uncles place. My aunt is already 1000% on board, but my uncle was a very tough nut to crack. He wanted to sell, he needed to sell, but it took numerous cookouts and dinner meetings before he finally 100% agreed to sell (with a handshake). He was very emotional, and we didn’t want to do anything to ruin the family dynamic. We are also involved in other negotiations for some of the many toys and implements he has on the property (covered in another post).

As of now, w have a signed offer and are working with a real estate Atty to complete the transaction. we were prequalified for financing, and are just waiting on final approval. We will close when the appraisal is done And the bank gives the final blessing. Guessing 45 days out.

there’s LOTs of work to do on the property, we have no idea how we will get the place ready for renting it out this winter, but we are gonna try.

Ill use this as a blog of sorts, posting the projects, and progress (before and after pics too). I may even seek advice on certain design aspects.. my wife already has me building a poker (gaming) table for the lower rec room..

@Trihonda Its been a long time since I was in the NW, but that looks like Minocqua.

 

[Trihonda]

@Trihonda Its been a long time since I was in the NW, but that looks like Minocqua.

It’s not too far from there. Very nice area, which is getting a lot of influx of big money donations to improve infrastructure and recreation areas. Due to a big bazillionaire who is from the area and has made a fortune. She’s reinvesting in the area bike trails, parks, etc.

 

[Trihonda]

Update:
My uncle decided to sell his Ranger UTV, which was really the only means he had for getting around the property. It makes me suspect he’s not planning to come up all that much? His health is continuing to decline as well. He’s just not taking care of his ”good” leg, which is how he lost his other leg.

We were negotiating the purchase of the tractor, and he was very reluctant to sell. We gave him some space (time), and he just agreed to sell it to us (along with ALL the implements (snow blower, box blade, rake, tiller, bucket, forks, etc). It’s a 2015 with 400 hrs. He paid 32k, just for the main unit (no implements) and I’ve heard many folks saying that used tractors like this are selling close to retail, just because of the availability issues). We agreed to pay $28,500, with everything included. So I feel this was a fair price. Plus, our neighbors really wanted to buy the tractor too, primarily for the giant snow thrower. I'm more than willing to lend it to them for snow removal, so long as they make a pass going out of our driveway, then again when they bring it back, lol…. Free driveway snow removal, yay!

We are heading back up this weekend to complete some minor fixes (and get in some MTBing and ATVing).

Looks like we are on track to close early to mid October. All the financing is approved, we are simply waiting on the property appraisal, which should be a no brainer considering the deal we are getting.