Reader Story: I Bought a Fire Station for My First Home
Published on - March 21st, 2010 (Modified on - March 23rd, 2010) (by J.D. Roth) This post is part of the new “reader stories” feature here at Get Rich Slowly. Some reader stories contain general “how I did X” advice, and others will be examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success — or failure. Today’s reader story is a little bit different; I wrote it after interviewing the subject.
For Your Money: The Missing Manual, I knew I wanted to include stories from average folks like you and me. As I wrote each chapter, I asked around to find one or two people I could interview for sidebars that would illustrate my points about happiness or travel or debt reduction.
Unfortunately, not every interview made it into the book. Out of the twenty stories I heard, maybe ten or twelve actually made it past editing. One of the interviews that got cut was with Jacob, a 25-year-old GRS reader from Kansas who, aside from the mortgage on his home (about which more in a moment), doesn’t use credit.
So today, I’m sharing a very expanded version of what I wrote for the book. I’ve gone through my notes about our e-mail and phone conversations, and have drafted a profile of Jacob. These are all his own words, though I’ve re-arranged the order to give a better narrative flow. I hope you like his story as much as I do!
Hey Twitter followers! Do you live without credit cards? Want to be in my book? Drop me a line!
My name is Jacob, and I saw you were looking for people who don’t use credit for an upcoming article. I’m 25 and I’ve made it this long with out ever having been given a line of credit. I don’t have a credit card or any other form of credit. I do have a debit card that comes out of my checking account so I am not completely archaic.
A brief rundown of my situation:
- Graduated college with a masters degree (~$16,000 in student loan debt)
- Bought a house (FHA loan) ($7,500 first time home buyers credit that I will begin paying back in 2010′s taxes)
- Bought an antique vehicle (not my primary mode of transportation)
- Refinanced my home loan less than a year after originally buying it
I’m employed full time and save fairly aggressively (at least I tend to think so). I actually own a fairly unique home; it’s an old fire station, and my antique vehicle is a 1966 fire truck. I know both of those are probably not the most responsible things to do financially but I felt that I could afford both even though I had just graduated from a state school and bought both within six months.
I hope that my email doesn’t come off as audacious or boastful. I was just offering up a very unique situation that I thought might interest you and your readers.
What’s it been like to live without credit cards?
It really hasn’t been all that difficult. I’m sure that I probably could have gotten a better rate on my home loan and my vehicle loan if I had a credit card and had built up a better credit rating. I’m sure that my credit score is lower than it would be had I been using a credit card for a few years.
I did run into a bit of trouble twice though when I was renting a car, but I’ve managed to rent hotel rooms (under 25 years old) and bought plane tickets with out any problems. Money has gotten pretty tight without having a line of credit to cover low times, but I’ve always lived below my means and cut way back when money was tight. Right now I have a healthy savings account that I am about to dip into to travel to Prague next summer for 2 weeks.
I’m actually fascinated by the fire station. Can I ask you more about that?
Sure. I’m really not shy about my situation. I live in Wichita, and a lot of people have heard about me at least in passing or at parties. It’s hard not to own a fire station and a fire truck and not be noticed! People are a lot less shy about asking those questions when it’s such a unique situation. Apparently its hard to gauge the market on antique fire truck and fire stations.
How much did the fire station cost?
Originally, the seller was asking $120,000, but after some negotiating I ended up paying $116,000 and got the three large window AC units (there is no central air) and several appliances. The home was only appraised at $115,000, so I had to cover the $1,000 difference at closing.
And you bought this right out of school?
Yeah. I was lucky to be able to afford a down payment right out of college. I was lucky to owe as little as I did with my masters degree. I worked 2-3 jobs every summer to be able to live and go to school without working during the semesters. One summer I worked 70+ hour weeks, and some of those days were 16 hour days between two jobs. I also had some help from my parents.
For my mortgage, I have an FHA loan, which only required 3.5% down. I know it probably wasn’t the most responsible thing, but I didn’t want to live with my parents and commute 30 minutes each way, and I didn’t want to rent and just lose that money each month. Was it the smartest choice I could have made? Maybe not, but it has been a lot of fun and it hasn’t set me back financially so far as I can tell yet!
My sister lived with me for a lot of the time I’ve had the fire station, and she has paid a little bit towards rent, which has helped me increase my savings.
When did you buy the fire station?
I bought the fire station two years ago this June. I’ve actually refinanced my mortgage since I purchased it: I dropped my loan from 5.875% down to 5.0%. It cost me a little bit in closing costs, but it reduced my monthly payment from $893 to $803. I pay an additional $100 each month towards principal, which is bringing down my loan quicker than I anticipated.
I bought my house right before the market went downhill fast. I bought it before the $8,000 tax rebate, but I did qualify for the $7,500 tax rebate that I will have to pay back. I used the rebate along with some saved money to pay off completely one of my high interest student loans. I traded a 10-year 6.8% student loan for a 15-year 0%-interest loan (rebate) from the government.
Why a fire station?
I bought the fire station because I was looking for a place of my own. I wanted lots of space where I could build things and have a small shop. I also like having extra storage because I’m a bit of a collector — I have trouble throwing things away. Plus I had plenty of room to buy and store an antique fire truck. (Granted, I wouldn’t have bought the truck if I didn’t have a fire station.)
And you have a fire truck?
Yes. About a year after I bought the Fire Station, I bought the fire truck that lives in the garage. The fire station was built in 1953. The fire truck is a 1966 Dodge and comes from a small town called Centralia, Kansas. My dad grew up in Centralia, and it was the fire truck in town when he was a kid. It only has 1600 miles on it, and at least 400 of them are mine.
The truck is probably the most irresponsible purchase I’ve made. I found it at an online auction. To buy it, I had to get a two-year loan at 9.75% through my home-town bank (where I’ve been a customer for a long time). The truck cost me $5500 after the auction fee.
What’s it like to live in a firehouse?
Living in the fire station has been a lot of fun. The garage is large enough to have friends over and have parties, and when we cook out we can open up the large doors and eat in there and still feel outside. The winters are a bit tough with the gas boiler. My gas bills in the winter have topped $350 on more than one occasion.
I’ve enjoyed having my own home:
- I have lots of space to plant vegetables in the summer and flowers in the fall.
- I recently bought raspberry and black berry plants so I will get some fruit in the years to come.
- I can do renovations if I feel like it and feel like I am getting something out if it.
- Recently I have also started brewing my own beer at home. I am about to bottle my first batch and we will see how it goes.
With my tax refund this year, I think I’m going to pay off the loan on my fire truck so I’ll be able to shift more money towards savings and put more of it towards my student loans. I debated using my tax refund to pay down my student loans since it would save me more in the long run, but having one less loan to worry about and being able to apply that money towards the student loans with the flexibility was much more appealing. (Also, it would allow me to begin saving for a possible engagement ring.)
J.D.’s note: I’m not a fire-engine sort of guy, but I have to say: I love this. I love the brick firehouse, and I love that Jacob went out of his way to find a fire engine. There’s nothing about this that isn’t awesome. It’s too bad his story didn’t make the final cut for my book, but I’m glad to be able to share the extended version here.
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This article is about Choices, Debt, House and Home, Reader Stories
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This is totally cool.
It sounds to me like Jacob was able to get everything he wanted with a minimum of irresponsible finance. He’s paying off debt, he’s saving, he has a stable job and he lives in an awesome, functional space. Doesn’t sound like he’s going anywhere. Well done, man!
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Dear Jacob and JD,
Student loans are CREDIT.
A 9.75% loan on a car is CREDIT.
It’s a blatant lie to say you “don’t use credit” except your mortgage. You are using credit every time you spend a dollar you could have used to pay back your existing student loan and auto loan debt.
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love the story Jacob,
It seems that you were taught at an early age that overindulging on credit and other material things is not smart and only leads to problems in the future. would love to see pictures of the fire home and truck. keep up the good work.
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I hope Jacob had a housing inspection prior to buying the 1953 station. I can’t imagine how much the asbestos removal will cost him if he were to try and sell and it were found. Neat story.
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Like a lot of people, I think the stuff about “not using credit” is disingenuous. It’s mildly interesting that he doesn’t use credit cards, but he’s still borrowed a lot of money. And credit is credit, whether it’s a car loan or a student loan or a mortgage or a line of credit or a card.
I use credit cards every day, but I don’t owe one cent to anyone. Not for my car, not for school, and not for my home. Everything I own, I’ve bought with cash. When I get a house, I’ll get a mortgage because it makes more financial sense. However, I find it strange to read somebody talking about living without credit and then detailing all the money he has to pay back.
On the flip side, I found it kind of funny how Tyler was almost apologetic about buying a firestation and a firetruck. Especially the truck, which cost less than my last car, never mind my current one, and is totally awesome. Granted it’s a frivolous purchase, but it doesn’t take a whole lot of thought to come up with $5500 I’ve spent on things I didn’t really need… camera + Rock Band drums + electric piano + 1-week vacation… done!
On the one hand, it might have made more financial sense to rent a bachelor apartment for a few years and build up a down payment, but if he’d done that he wouldn’t have had the chance to get the fire station. Somebody else would have bought it, and that would be that. There are some opportunities you have to jump at, and this is one. And at $116,000… I don’t know what rents or wages are like there, but to me that sounds like peanuts.
The one thing I wonder is if he couldn’t reduce his winter heating bills by closing off and only heating one section of his home, and buffing up the insulation in that area. I know I did that with just a normal house when I had oil heat.
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@Jesse
Don’t get excited about your student loan consolidation. What he means is that he took the rebate for the house from the government and paid his student loan with it.
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Aleks– Can’t comment on your site (and do not feel like emailing), but your latest (February) rantenspiel (I LOVE that word) is hilarious! And congrats on filling the IHG position.
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Jacob,
Some harsh comments, keep your chin up!
As a Wichita native, I’d love to meet you. Sounds like a cool, unique house. The fire truck is awesome, can’t put a price on some things. Some of these guys just can’t get over the math. I know how fire houses are built in this area, probably all brick,not sure what part of town you’re in from the photos, but I think you’ll be OK if you sell. For those of you in California, he could have bought a low end new home in the ‘burbs or a larger home in a less desirable part of town(the hood) for the same money. He still paid less than your down payment.
Lots of people would say I spent too much on my place in the country, but there are some things you just can’t put a price on. Hang in there brother!
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I want to to live somewhere interesting like this…
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@Erica –
You said – “I’d rather be free to move where the jobs and/or interesting people are.”
This is one of the most interesting stories JD or his staff has had recently. A lot better than reading about how to hire a maid
I guess those of us living in “flyover country” are just soooo boring.
@Jacob – have you tried renting out the fire truck for parties to make extra money? I bet some parents would love that for a kid’s birthday, even just an hour or so might get you a nice chunk of change.
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Until a few years ago I didn’t realize that a creditcard actually meant loaning money. Over here in Europe we practically only have debitcards, the only reason I use a creditcard is to buy from overseas. And then never for the credit(I always have the money on my bankaccount), but because that often is the only means of paying.
And that last fact amazed me. The idea that everyone in the US defaults to using creditcards, aka loaned money, is very strange. Loaned money is expensive money…
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That is totally awesome. I am a part time firefighter and I think that would be the best thing in the work. Less the emergency tones that is
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Jacob,
A very interesting home – congratulations.
Do you have a sketch or drawing of the layout and how you use each room?
Any words of caution or encouragement for someone considering a home that was originally conceived with another use in mind?
Thanks for your story.
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For all the naysayers and real estate experts out there, Jacob made a great buy on the fire station. Replacement value was estimated to be $250K, in 2002. The building is Prairie Style poured in place concrete ceiling and floor, walls are true brick over concrete block, with concrete and plaster interior. The exterior walls are 8″ thick. Interior floors are smooth concrete still in such excellent shape that we were advised not cover them. Construction so unique and substantial that the insurance underwriter said that the building could not be built today. Back in 1953, when the building was built, little expense was spared by the City of Wichita. This building was used as a tornado shelter by the surrounding neighborhood when it was an active station, a testament to it’s integrity.
We chose Jacob as the next owner. We had several offers from cash buyers at higher dollar figures. One wanted to use the building to store his Harley collection and one wanted to convert it to an auto repair facility. The Harley owner is a personal friend and laments not buying the station weekly. The building was never offered to the community at large, never listed with any real estate company and sold to Jacob within a month of offering it to a few friends. As for the price, go buy one, if you can find one in an urban setting. There have only been 6 fire stations sold by the city of Wichita in decades. My daughter and I bought two. We lived in the only two that remain occupied as residences, all the rest have been converted to commercial use. My daughter has since also sold her building and moved on to a more conventional home, but not too conventional. So Jacob is unique, 2 families out of 350,000 population, that live in a fire station, put a price on that! And the only one with a fire truck, 1 in 350,000, even better. Less than 100 in the entire USA. My wife and I have toured stations all over the country, find a nicer building for less, not a prayer. Part of the issue with Jacob’s low appraisal was finding a comparable for appraisal purposes, there weren’t and aren’t any. Sale price per square foot was less than $70. Build a true brick house for twice that, if you can find someone willing to do it. Find an existing structure that contains no structural wood, in six years I found two concrete framing 2X4′s that got stuck when the concrete was poured, both less than 4 foot long, it will never happen.
Jacob’s building is too unique to begin to describe. There are features that he hasn’t even discovered yet, the 6 years that we owned the building was like Christmas, each day brought a new discovery. How many reader control their own traffic light? Jacob does, or could. How many readers have their own secret tunnels, Jacob does. How many can host a party of 250, inside, with a swimming pool, Jacob can.
Jacob, you done good, we are glad that you bought the building, we are glad that you are enjoying it and glad that it went to somebody that appreciates the uniqueness. The positive comments are dead on, the negative comments are ill-informed.
Steve and Glenda
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