Howdy Friends,

Literally just walked through the door from a fun weekend with friends at our favorite spot and realized I needed to get my blog post up! #goals. Since we just came from our cabin I wanted to give a little insight on our Island Park situation and the power of positive thinking and affirmations.

Back story-

Kelsi’s Grandpa owned a 1950’s log cabin on Island Park reservoir and that’s where they have been doing their family reunion ever since they can remember (the beginning of time, F-O-R-E-V-E-R). Back in the 80’s Kelsi’s parents bought into the cabin and became a part owners along with a few siblings. Fast forward to 2016. A young, handsome, ambitious realtor (me for those wondering) came across a beautiful cabin DIRECTLY across the street from the Kesler cabin! Us and a few other siblings jumped on the opportunity to own a piece of paradise. We call this cabin “Pinehurst”. Fast forward to winter of 2020 a slightly older (still handsome) realtor caught wind of a cabin coming up for sale DIRECTLY next door to the cabin purchased in 2016. All 7 siblings and spouses bought this cabin (which is one that is currently for rent here). We call this cabin “Pineview”. The dream was realized. Now everyone had a piece of our Idaho paradise. There was still 1 major problem…. due to the potency and sheer rapid reproduction of the Keslers we still couldn’t fit in the 3 small cabins. This forced us to rent a large cabin and split up sleeping arrangements during the Kesler reunion which wasn’t ideal.

Quick breakdown- 1950’s cabin: Maybe 1,000 sq ft with a couple beds in the attic, and 1 bathroom. Cabin Purchased in 2016 PineHurst: 2 bedrooms a bunk room and 2 bathrooms. Cabin purchased in 2020 PineView: 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms.

As you can see with 7 siblings, Parents, and more kids then we can count, we needed a better solution.

This is where the power of “talking things into existence” comes in. For years Kelsi’s brother Landon and I would sit on the dock and talk about the opportunity to purchase the existing 1950’s Kesler cabin and what that would look like for the family. How we would want to add onto the cabin to make it more comfortable and fit the entire family. For years we dreamed and schemed. If there is one thing I have learned recently it’s that timing is everything. After years of speaking our goals into existence, the opportunity presented itself to purchase the original cabin. We jumped on it. Due to the age of the original cabin our contractor thought it would be best to start with a new slate. Although, it was hard to see the old cabin be torn down, we knew that what was in store would be worth it. The new cabin that now stands in it’s stead has 5 bedrooms each with their own attached bathroom, a large kitchen and dining area, and enough space to entertain the whole family! We look forward to many many family and friend gatherings.

Now to the nitty gritty. How do we make it all work? It’s pretty simple really. And all goes back to timing. With each cabin purchase we would meet as a family, discuss the financials of the purchase, and each family would have the equal opportunity to buy into the cabin. The first cabin purchase 5 families were involved. The second cabin purchased all 8 families were involved, and on the last cabin 4 families were involved. Again, just comes back to timing for each family and what they have going on at that time. The great thing is that every family has ownership in at least 1 of the cabins.

A few things that have helped us make it work.

1- Equality. Everything has to be equal (especially finances). Everything from the down payment to the toilet paper is always split equally among owners.

2- Time. Kelsi’s brother Jordan every year puts together a rotating calendar for each of the 3 cabins. During “your allotted time” you have first dibs to that cabin. Say you want to head up for the weekend and it’s someone else’s allotted time? We just reach out to that person and see if they are using it, if not we use it. It’s easy.

3- Expectations. When you use the cabin you leave it better than you found it. Easy.

4- Usage. The bottom line is that some people are going to use the cabin more than others. That is life. For example, Landon has 10 kids… that was their decision (I think). It was also their decision to become cabin owners knowing that they probably won’t have the free time as much as others.

5- Compromise. Whenever making decisions on purchases/upgrades we always talk about them and agree to them.

I guess my takeaway from this weeks blog post is- ‘Dream Big’. Talk your dreams into existence. If you want something bad enough you will do whatever it takes to make it happen. If there is something holding you back from accomplishing your dreams, talk about it. What can you do to change the situation? What can you do to reach your goals? Game plan, and execute.

With all this being said, the co buying experience might not be the best situation for your family. Proceed with caution. 🙂

Have a SMOOOOOOOOOOTH week.

Love,

Cabe