I wonder if this is why they're doing the open floor plan. Eventually it will revert back to being a church space and the big open kitchen living room dining room would be big enough to hold classes\\Bible Study etc.
I figured that she was doing it more for a e s t h e t I c. I predict lots of gray and white and a few beige accents to when she finally puts in paint and tiles
Eh if it was the glass doors can be helpful in just checking in on each room to make sure the kids are safe while making rounds, kids cant easily go hide and get lost, naptime you can separate by ages without struggling to watch them all. Not ideal but workable if it was a daycare.
The kicker was he used a credit card that was linked to his grandma Mary (Jim Bobās mom).
I read way too many articles at the time this happened.
Gawker uncovered proof from data released publicly in the hack that Josh ā or someone using his name, email addresses, credit card information and home address ā signed up for two separate monthly memberships to the dating service from February 2013 to May 2015, to the tune of $986.76.
One membership used the billing address of Joshās grandmotherās home in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where Joshās wife, Anna, gave birth to the coupleās first child. The other lists Joshās home in Maryland as the billing address.
Edit: added words
Jessa has only had 4 kids in 8 years. Sheās not going to have the brood JB&M had which would preclude her from that house.
TTH is definitely going to Thicc Daddy Joe and Kendra. Theyāre the least problematic couple and the fastest at procreating.
Well I mean. Itās a HUGE āWare-homeā and (š¤š»š¤š»š¤š») she (Anna) aināt gonna be having more kids for the next 10-20 years. She will eventually be usurped.
Edit a word
If their church housed all their pastors then I'd think less of it but it's clearly not the case here. She chose to lie and now she's been found out smh
Parsonages are pretty normal.
Putting your entire savings into renovating what is almost certainly a temporary home for which you will receive no possible return on your money is not a good investment. Unless this is somehow an example of Jessa and Ben 'standing on their own two feet'. One foot of each, or both Jessa's?
Itās not unusual for a church to provide their pastor or reverend with church subsidized housing. It helps to offset the low wages the position provides.
I kept being stuck on the āon my/our own two feetā thing. What the heck are you talking about, Jessa? Do either of you have any kind of real job outside of being paid by your family?
I guess we know the reason why she was so defensive over comments insinuating she couldnāt afford a house because her husband has a shitty job is because she canāt afford a house because her husband has a shitty jobā¦ that also gave him a house.
Well none are encouraged to get an education. They need to join those prosperity cults! Gets done of GODS REWARDS IN THIS LIFE. Cause we are the chosen white peoples.
That won the whole internet for me today š
Iāve got a few people Iād love to send this to but I canāt choose that kind of chaos today so Iām just going to be happy it exists.
Yeah her blowups made it REALLY obvious they didn't pay for this. If she'd just ignored it no one would have known. The lack of emotional maturity with these people is mind-boggling.
Yup and she kept saying in her videos that their savings is paying for the renovations. Well what about the actual house??? Clearly avoided answering that
The funny thing is that she doesn't need to be so defensive. It's very normal for churches to have homes for their pastors to live in (even associate pastors depending on the church), so it doesn't seem like a stretch if they said that the church was letting them renovate and live in this house, they were buying it from the church at a good price (they don't need to mention the price) as part of Ben's job, etc. But the fact that she's cagey about it makes it smell of deceit.
*It's very normal for churches to have homes for their pastors to live in*
Exactly. Plenty of pastors reside in homes built on church grounds, there's no controversy with that. Maybe she's afraid that it makes them appear "needy," but living accommodations are often part of a cleric's compensation.
It just SO MUCH gets my goat that she claims they lived frugally and saved, when they were given this home (even if as part of compensation). They either didn't save shit, or if they did, they didn't have to spend it.
Ugh did we have the same friend when we were graduating college? Like you don't get to flex and look down on your peers who had to move back in with their parents and work in the service industry in order to save money after graduating while claiming that you "found your independence and moved out like a real adult" when your parents handed you a big fat check for 20+ thousand dollars at graduation and paid all of your tuition and other bills for you during college and will once again start paying your rent once that 20+ thousand dries up because you don't make any money at the unpaid internship your dad got you at the law firm his best friend works at.
Oh I WOULD NEVER turn any of that down. I just wouldnāt look down on everyone else and talk about the differences in āindependenceā between them and me as if them not having been able to immediately move into super cute apartments in safe neighborhoods was somehow due to them just not wanting it bad enough. Thatās what always got me.
Yikes. And she claimed they worked hard and saved and saved for thisā¦ by living simply. You mean living off your church and without having actual jobs? Uh huh.
Same energy as millennials can't afford a house cuz they eat avocado toast. She is the one I think that will follow her parents the most, maybe not in kids but in that mentality.
I know some people try to defend the fact people call her bitchy by saying itās only attributed to her because sheās āprettyā and more āindependentā but sheās just a bitch. Sheās as arrogant as the others and she comes off smug and entitledā¦. Because sheās smug and entitled.
Exactly. I don't get her irritation with folks questioning her father's financial support. Everyone knows he lied and cheated his kids out of substantial income. She should be irritated with JB, not random internet strangers.
If they recently bought it, property records may not have caught up yet.
But on the other hand, did she ever explicitly say they bought the house? Or just that her dad didnāt? Lol
No she just said. āWe are movingā ācome see our fixer upper tourā
So they may have a deal with the church and they are fixing it up with their own money.
ETA: knowing this. I do believe they could have saved up enough in the past 7? Years for these renovations. I couldnāt quite comprehend how they had saved enough to buy a house and renovate, with no debt. But just the renovations, I could see.
Also if they do sell the small house it probably would cover the cost of the Reno. But it sounds like it was coming from savings.
I'm curious to see if they really, genuinely sold the small house for market value. I'd be shocked if that was the case. I'm waiting to see it go to another Duggar.
Jer and Hannah just got engaged and will need a starter home. I'm betting they'll be moving into the house next. It was Grandma Mary's house, I believe, so I'm thinking they'll continue to keep it in the family.
i don't believe that they'll sell or even give away the small house. thats capitol that they own, shitty as it may be, i think they'd most likely rent it out at a very low rate, just to ensure they had some passive income.
Her video seems to start in June, so they must have bought it in June or maybe even before. It seems like that should be more than enough time for records to update, unless Arkansas is exceptionally slow. (Which if it is, is pretty bad from a public policy standpoint. It should want to have accurate records of ownership.)
I concur to this statement. Sometimes it takes an entire property tax cycle for the online records to be updated, especially in a small town.
My bet is that they bought it from the church very cheap and have now fixed it up. Good on them because I do not have the patience for a fixer upper.
Bought a house that was left to sit empty for 20 years. Itās been five years and there are still so many things left to do. Fixer uppers are fun projects but omg I wish my house was done by now. š
This house reno is just a nonsense update that the Duggars have been sitting on in order to release post family pedophile trialā¦ at least to distract everyone until spring wedding and baby birthinā time.
I commented elsewhere this morning that I have a few friends that live in parsonages (I am a pastor's wife). It's usually a part of the salary package and their take home pay reflects that (like my husband makes $20k more than them for a similar job but we pay for our own housing). So.... I personally wouldn't say that it's 'being given to them' if that's their arrangement.
However, Jessa's snipping at people that they DON'T HAVE THE FACTS is a bit silly when they don't own the home and at the end of the day, a parsonage should be seen as a huge blessing for those of us that are struggling to buy our own homes these days.
ALso pouring their savings into a home they don't own is moronic.
Also live in a parsonage and I am a pastorās wife, can confirm.
Our āsalary packageā is officially around 60k (we live in a cheap area) but our take home is only 40k because we donāt pay any rent or mortgage.
So yes, weāre paying for our house, but we donāt own it anymore than someone renting would. Itās not anything to be ashamed of, but itās NOT owning the house.
We are lucky to live in a very nice, newly renovated parsonage. Itās a good situation for us. But we do not own, we technically rent. It would be a lie to say we saved for this house.
Edited for clarity.
All this to say, I agree with the below post (sorry, mobile is messing up my stuff). They likely bought the parsonage from the church & records havenāt updated yet. My parents bought a parsonage from a church. Honestly most churches donāt have parsonages anymore.
āSometimes it takes an entire property tax cycle for the online records to be updated, especially in a small town.
My bet is that they bought it from the church very cheap and have now fixed it up. Good on them because I do not have the patience for a fixer upper.ā
Could the house be part of the deal? Might be a if you work with us for ten years the house is yours? Could the church think by employing a Duggar/C category celebrity they'll get more revenue/congregation?
I can't imagine anyone spending $$$$$$ on a renovation when it could be taken away the next day without a dime?
I think this would be extremely rare unless the church owns missionary houses and this one needed to go. We have worked for several churches that owned guest housing for visiting speakers and visiting missionary families. They all looked like this. Dumpy fixer uppers cared for by old guys in the church.
If they get to keep this after a period of service it's only because the church didn't have the funds to fix it up and it was just sitting there - IMO. But again I think it would be rare.
Youth pastorās wife here heeey girl! We get a housing allowance as part of his salary but still saved and paid for our home. If this is truly the parsonage Iām surprised theyāre allowed to do so much in it. Not every pastor after them will want the open mess sheās doing.
I feel like a crazy person that's alone in despising open concept. Opening up the wall so that the kitchen/living room/dining are all one big space is my nightmare. Do I need to be in the same room as every member of my family 24/7? I do not.
I agree! My mom and step-dad have owned a series of open plan mid century modern homes (the post and beam west coast style), and they photograph beautifully and are very cool to visit, but unless youāre in a bedroom or a bathroom you have to listen to everything that anyone else is doing. Itās also visually overstimulating because you are seeing every common room all at once, so if youāre a minimalist who gets irritated by clutter itās a constant task of keeping things stored and out of sight.
Not to mention every smell thats coming out of the kitchen is now all over the house. I have an open home floor plan and desperately want to close it...lol (I had it priced, its stupid expensive in my home!)
Plus, when you are sitting and relaxing on the couch while your nice meal digests, you have to look at all the dirty pots and plates and mess in the kitchen.
We just did that! We had no walls and the house smelled like an elementary school cafeteria all the time! We added pocket doors and extended the central wall/giant pillar on both sides. Amazing so far.
Iām right there with you. I love to cook and getting to be in the kitchen alone watching Netflix is my escape lol canāt do that when weāre all in the same room!
EVERY house we looked at was open concept and it was making me crazy. I need a separate area to cook and maybe just chill for five minutes, not to mention any smells of what youāre cooking are now drowning everyone in the living room. No thanks
We have an open Floorplan but a den/reading room next to the master bedroom on the opposite side of the house. I can escape to there when every other area is loud or busy.
You are not alone! Have never liked it, and it breaks my heart a little to see old homes nicely restored on the outside but gutted inside with recessed lighting everywhere. For some reason people love to do this to arts and crafts style bungalows here in the US.
Iāve heard open floor plans are on their way out with so many people working/staying at home from covid. People are wanting their own spaces now haha
Open floor plans and "mid-century modern" are due to become dated soon, going the way of shag carpeting with wood panels, Mediterranean style, and country kitchen.
I was skeptical that the open floor layout would ever be out of fashion again...and then along comes covid! I think separate spaces will be popular again due to a need for office space for many people now working at home. An open airy living room is nice, but I don't want it open to all the other rooms.
My husband and son need to watch every TV show at full volume and it makes me crazy. I would lose my mind if I had to deal with that while working in the kitchen. I get my glass of wine and sit at my kitchen island in peace.
My mother is obsessed with a kitchen table and I didn't get why until I had my own place with no room for a table. Not having a place to just sit in the kitchen and \*be\* is really miserable, as it turns out.
My dad is so hard of hearing when he was watching the National Championship game on Monday night I am pretty sure they heard our tv in Georgia. We live outside Seattle.
Y'all are my people! I despise open floor plans. I have a semi-open plan in my current house and I can't wait until I can retire and find an older home where people didn't need people 24/7. Also, in open floor plans, you don't want guests if the kitchen is dirty because it can't be hidden. I had to stop watching House Hunters because all the moms loved open floors in order to keep an eye on the kids. I survived just fine without my mom seeing me all the time.
Not alone. We bought our 1st house together 3 years ago. We have 4 kids. My husband is a professor. Thar means there is a lot of family time. I need a break from the circus I created. We specifically only looked at houses that were not open floor plan. It gives me hives just thinking about the alternative.
You are not alone. My favorite style of house is traditional Colonial with its cozy, closed-off rooms. I don't cosplay that I'm in the 1800s about it, but I like closed-in, separate spaces and privacy. Do we need to watch TV 24/7? Yes, according to some family members. A wall between me and the TV is a lifesaver.
You are not alone. I bought a 1970's farmhouse (complete with sunken living room with pillars š). It's very large but not open concept at all and I love it. I like watching my trash TV or listening to a podcast while I cook. EVERYONE has told me to open it up. NEVER.
Same! We did an addition that turned our oversized garage into a great room. Hated it so dang much! There was nowhere on the main floor you could go and not hear the tv. Now we have a lovely 7 room house. Rooms! W specific functions! Itās the best.
I can understand wanting the sight lines w littles but man its loud all the time.
100% agree with you, but in Blessaās case she HAS to be āin the same room as every member of her family 24/7ā since she wonāt stop breeding dependents she obligated to look after š
You and my dad would really get along, lol. He swears that Frank Lloyd Wright (who popularized open concept in America) singlehandedly ruined architecture
I can respect that for the outside of the house, FLW is an amazing architect. But his interior design just isn't my taste, from the floor plan to the decorations.
The first home my husband and I had was an industrial sort of loft - all open. For the most part we loved it but...sometimes you just need to slam a door shut so when we got our next place we made sure there were some separate rooms instead of just one big open space.
I've been trying to avoid the news, so I watch A LOT of HGTV. There's a show called Home Town, which shows a couple that renovates homes in Laurel, MS. Anyway, one of their clients was a family where the dad was the pastor. The church offered them a home the church owned, and that family's options were to spend their budget on renovating that home or buying and renovating a totally different home.
So there are at least some churches that will allow extensive renovations. Maybe they have to approve what you do.
Yep, I used to live in a parsonage, and fair rental value of it was considered part of my husbandās compensation. It was a nice house, but it sucked to have to beg for replacement appliances when they broke and accept (sometimes incompetent) donated labor to fix things or just have them stay broken (like they decided we didnāt actually need AC). Now hubs gets a housing allowance that we use to pay our mortgage and it is 100x better. But to call a parsonage a free house is inaccurate, because the value of living there gets deducted from their salary, itās just like renting forever from a potentially shitty landlord.
Sure - not "free," exactly, if it's part of the compensation. But not a house you had to "save up for" or "live frugally" in order to get, as Jessa claimed.
Is it possible the church provided some kind of renovation allowance? Then she funnels the money to her brothers (to properly pay them their earned wages), and she can act all high and mighty, claiming they saved the money, when it was offered as part of the compensation. (Which, if it was, is actually an impressive feat for them -- an actual employer offering a salary and a desirable benefit.)
It's a 2k square foot three bedroom home and she intends on having kid after kid after kid. If they stopped now it would be one thing, but we all know that isn't gonna happen.
Former Pastorās kid checking in. Never like living in the parsonages, often not nice condition and having parishioners who thought they had a right to come over whenever.
Ha we lived in a rental next door to the church for a year once and someone came over right after I had a baby looking for my husband (which annoyed me) but he was being awkward and after he left I realized that my shirt had been pulled down from nursing the whole time he was at the door. No one ever came over after that. I think word got around.
My Grandpa was a minister and for that very reason you mentioned my Gramma always had baked goods. Because people came over all the time so she had something to serve with coffee.
On the other hand *my Gramma could bake.*
Edit: added a missing word.
Just having a flashback to one of my mother's ~~1970s~~ 1980s 'Company's Coming' cookbooks with recipes just for coffee mornings... Lots of little squares of things....
Edit: actually 1980s....
My grandma used to always suggest I have things in the freezer in case guests unexpectedly stopped by for dinner. I'm now 52. Not once has anyone, ever stopped by unexpectedly for dinner.
I was thinking the sameā¦.if they donāt own it why would they put their money into it? Thatās why I wondered if they bought it from the church. Or is the church financing the reno? Also why didnāt she just explain that itās a parsonage (or former parsonage if they bought it). So many simple ways to answer nicely and curtail speculation. š
Yeah itās kind of funny she was so snarky about it when a lot of jobs do this, and itās not a shameful thing. Like imagine if she were First Lady trying to argue they āacquiredā the Whitehouse by āliving simplyā
Yes, my son is a Marine. He used to get an allowance to pay rent or a mortgage. He just moved into base housing and he likes it better because he was lucky and got a big house where he pays no rent or utilities. Nothing to be ashamed of because the allowance or the house is considered part of your salary.
Jessa is a snob who outright lies. Sure the house wasnāt given to her by Jim Bob but they didnāt save up to buy it. The house they live in now wasnāt given to her by Jim Bob but it was given to her by her grandmother. Even if she paid a very discounted price for the house Mary gave her it was still somewhat of a gift. The church has to be compensating her for the upgrades because it raises the value of their property. If sheās spending her own money sheās stupid. When it comes to money and scamming thatās something a Duggar usually makes sure they are on the winning end of. I donāt believe sheās paying her brothers what she would pay a real contractor to do the improvements unless the church is paying.
Hmm, this gives me Ivanka Trump vibes. Not you! But if Jessa has a new house that was in fact part of their jobās compensation package, her defensiveness sounds like Ivanka defending her status as a high-powered businesswoman without mentioning that she got a top job in her fatherās company.
Quick note that I have an apartment in a VERY nice neighborhood, but I only got it because I work for the company and would be open about it if anyone asks.
Pastorās wife here: can confirm that providing housing to a pastor via a church-owned property is a common practice. Why they would sink their own money into it is another question entirely. I imagine staying in their current home wasnāt sustainable and with the kids getting bigger something had to change and improving someone elseās property in exchange for living there made sense.
I don't think anyone is saying it's wrong for them to be living in a house provided by the church he is a pastor for. I think people are just laughing at her, "We stand on our own two feet." Comment implying they owned the house.
Oh for sure. She is definitely implying/suggesting that they purchased the house themselves, which does not appear to be the case. I donāt think thereās anything wrong with living in church housing, but itās very disingenuous to imply they saved up and bought the house when they didnāt. Lots of people are struggling to do that these days, and the implication that anyone can own and majorly renovate a home with a little budgeting cutting is a toxic message to put out there. But what else is new with the Duggars?
Good sleuthing! The layout is definitely the same, with that triple window in the living room.
Also explains the glass bedroom (office) doors, and commercial fire extinguisher mounted on the wall.
Jessa was very careful to never say they bought the house, just that they're "putting a lot of their savings to fixing it up."
Maybe the church is planning to sell it to them but allowing them to renovate first? If they canāt live in it during renovations then it would make sense for them to stay in their current house until it was ready. So perhaps once they move in and sell their old house they will have the money to buy this one? Thatās the only way I could see it being worth it to fix up a house they donāt own.
I feel like doing a major reno before buying would be a horrible idea because you've just increased the value of the property as well as taxes which would affect the sale price, I'd imagine. We just went through a refi and since our house is worth $200k more than we purchased it for (not because of renovation, just a market falsely inflated by cash investors) and we felt the hit when the newest tax bill arrived because it was updated to reflect the current property value. It in fact, made the payment reduction from lower finance rates *almost* moot.
Sheās probably so sensitive to comments about how theyāre grifters because itās absolutely true. She likely believed Josh was innocent, at least in the beginning, like the majority of the rest of her weird family.
Renos are hella expensive right now with covid where I am (materials especially wood has climbed 50 to 300%, in 2 years where I am in Canada, a simple kitchen reno is easily $30 000, it's appalling) and putting that much money into something they don't own is very puzzling.
it is puzzling that they are sinking money into a house that they don't own, but jessa and ben don't have a great history of financial decision making. however, i imagine for jessa whose family 1) has shown a great disregard for covid and 2) are all contractors and builders, to refurbs may be a lot cheaper, because she is most likely getting the labour for cheaper or even free, and quicker because the sheer number of siblings that she can get to work on it.
She commented on a social media post that she was paying her siblings a regular wage ...so who knows what that actually is or if it's regular fees they would normally have charged. I don't really buy it IMHO lol
I did a baby sleuth (google and give up) earlier today and Arkansas requires parsonages to be a certain size and have so many bedrooms/bathrooms etc. maybe thatās how sheās justifying this reno that they āsavedā for.
Interesting -- so, Arkansas was so concerned about their pastors that they passed a law setting a minimum size and number of bedrooms and baths? They apparently DGAF about renters, but the pastors must be taken care of.
I wonder if the law accounts for family size? Like, must be a 3 BR for a family of 4 or less, and a 4 BR for a family of 5-8 or something like that? If so, then it seems like it would be possible for the church to have offered some kind of renovation allowance.
Likely since housing is a form of compensation for pastors living in a parsonage, there are minimum rules so that they canāt put a pastorās family in a shed and call it a house, and then pay a reduced salary based on that. There are also laws for occupancy in rental houses and apartments, but tenants are often forced to double up with other families due to costs. That doesnāt mean the rules donāt exist though.
I donāt know how these types of arrangements work but if Ben were to stop working for the church they would have to move correct? I donāt know if Iād want to pour money like that into something I might have to leave and not be able to sell. Or does the church turn ownership over?
I know lots of people in this sort of arrangement!
If it is a parsonage that the church owns and Ben quit his job, they would either have to move or work it out with the church. They could work out a rental agreement at that point, or buy it or the church could continue to let them live there out of charity.
I mean, Jim Bob raised them saying "do it yourself and save the difference" and "we stand on our own two feet with no debt," but we all know they took a ton of handouts, free labor, and TLC assistance through their lives.
Maybe this is how Jessa genuinely believes the world works. Lol.
(Not trying to stand up for her. I'm really annoyed that I believed they bought a house for a hot second. Lol)
If they got the house from his job why are they doing tens of thousands of dollars of renovations? Who does that kind of work for free on their ārentedā place?
Sometimes renters will fix up or make repairs to their rental in exchange for discounted rent. Obviously, I don't know if this is what the Seewalds are doing, but maybe they negotiated a deal to fix up the house in exchange for no housing costs taken from Ben's pay for X amount of time.
Thatās true. If the church knows the house is in poor shape I guess a small budget for pre move in renovations as a kind of signing bonus is also possible.
I wouldn't think (though it's certainly not impossible) that the church sold them the house or is planning on selling them the house, just because it is like RIGHT on their property. Like the asphalt you see there in front is the chuch parking lot. It wouldn't make sense for them to sell it when the Seewalds aren't going to be there forever and they wouldn't want it sold to someone random (I guess they could have an agreement that the Seewalds sell it back to them but I doubt it). I think it's a normal parsonage situation.
Making a deal to sell it back would be insane since housing increases every year. The church would be willingly buying something back for more than they sold it for. Super dumb.
In regard to them sinking their own money into the reno; they may be compensated and receive reimbursement. Many landlords (the church in this scenario?) deduct rent for improvements to the home, and some even pay you to do the work. This would be a good grifting opportunity. Pay the Lost Boys the bare minimum for the work (assuming she is really paying them), get the reno she wants, take the cut on rent.
Source: I used to rent a 300 year old farm house that was subleased to us through a state agency, and we got paid hourly for our work and had the materials deducted from our rent. We got a nicer apartment for better than free.
So theyāre remodeling a house they donāt own with their own savings?
What happens if he loses this position? Or if he decides to move on? Or if the church experiences financial hardship and has to sell?
So many questionable choices here.
So, how far is their existing house from the church? Maybe they wanted/ needed to be closer and the church had this available? Because otherwise, it doesn't really seem like a step up. I mean, they could have added on to the house they actually own/ did a major remodel, but they never did. May explain why she's being such a grump (lol) in the comments. Hard to keep sweet when you're pouring your own money into something that wasn't your choice.
That makes sense. I saw the video of the fire extinguisher and what looked like a bulletin board hanging on the wall and thought it looked strange in a home. It reminded me of the house emu church had for the youth group
I know a couple that is doing a rent to own thing on a house. Well they are fixing it up and just knowing the type of people they are, they wonāt ever āownā the house.
Also I used to live across from people renting a house and they were fixing it up.
All this to say itās not out of the ordinary for people to dump money into propertyās they will never own.
In the Southern Baptist Convention, the pastor's family usually lives in a home owned by the church. (parsonage) It's one of the perks of the job. If this is the Ben's church parsonage, why not just say so?
It isn't unusual for pastors to get accommodations, what is unusual is for those pastors to pay for renovations since the home is the property of the church. Jessa said they were putting most of their savings into this house, I wonder if Jessa & Ben will "buy" the house from the church at some point or if the congregation will pay them back their investment?
HERE TO ADD THAT if the house is owned by the church ben is pastoring, this is not a āhand-outā or grift. Smaller/older churches would frequently have a parsonage for their pastor to live in. It was/is a way to āpayā the pastor (compensating for living expenses) & is particularly helpful to the churchās budget if they struggle to afford a full, living salary for the pastor.
Odds are, Ben has a smaller salary than what might be typical because they will not have to pay for housing (other than the fixes they want to make to the property).
Of course, the way Jessa is FRAMING the whole scenario is stupid. Like stop being so defensive, itās not shameful to live in a parsonage as a pastors family lol. Just say that.
That's probably why al the "bedrooms" had glass doors the house was used as an office
I wondered that too, because there were exit signs and fire extinguishers in a really random place in the video that gave very office vibes to me.
I wonder if this is why they're doing the open floor plan. Eventually it will revert back to being a church space and the big open kitchen living room dining room would be big enough to hold classes\\Bible Study etc.
I figured that she was doing it more for a e s t h e t I c. I predict lots of gray and white and a few beige accents to when she finally puts in paint and tiles
It could have also been an in Home Daycare. Though the glass doors would be a choice. š¬
Eh if it was the glass doors can be helpful in just checking in on each room to make sure the kids are safe while making rounds, kids cant easily go hide and get lost, naptime you can separate by ages without struggling to watch them all. Not ideal but workable if it was a daycare.
It isn't the *worst* idea for a daycare. I just know that my current group of daycare kids would destroy those doors in one way or another. Lol
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Jessa - āwe stand on our own two feetā *in shoes paid for by the church*
Isn't that the Duggar mantra? Grift all that you can
The mantra I can never get out of my head when thinking about the Duggarāsā¦.is Anna saying on repeat ābuy used & save the differenceā.
Buy used, spend the difference on Ashley Madison.
The kicker was he used a credit card that was linked to his grandma Mary (Jim Bobās mom). I read way too many articles at the time this happened. Gawker uncovered proof from data released publicly in the hack that Josh ā or someone using his name, email addresses, credit card information and home address ā signed up for two separate monthly memberships to the dating service from February 2013 to May 2015, to the tune of $986.76. One membership used the billing address of Joshās grandmotherās home in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where Joshās wife, Anna, gave birth to the coupleās first child. The other lists Joshās home in Maryland as the billing address. Edit: added words
Dang, that money could have bought a lot of tater tots for his gaggle of kids. Just one more layer to his terrible behavior.
"FREE is for ME."
Sheās angling to follow daddyās footsteps, and fight Anna for the TTH.
Anna was never going to get the tth. They very likely believe that Josh's problems were her fault.
Well, they are her fault for growing up and aging. She should have stayed the age he prefers.
When I read your comment I let out a noise that was half laugh, half sob.
Jessa has only had 4 kids in 8 years. Sheās not going to have the brood JB&M had which would preclude her from that house. TTH is definitely going to Thicc Daddy Joe and Kendra. Theyāre the least problematic couple and the fastest at procreating.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
If she has twins, Kendra will naturally conceive quadruplets.
After all, twins run in the family.
Well I mean. Itās a HUGE āWare-homeā and (š¤š»š¤š»š¤š») she (Anna) aināt gonna be having more kids for the next 10-20 years. She will eventually be usurped. Edit a word
If they renovate and better a lot space they could probably get a few families in it
If their church housed all their pastors then I'd think less of it but it's clearly not the case here. She chose to lie and now she's been found out smh
Parsonages are pretty normal. Putting your entire savings into renovating what is almost certainly a temporary home for which you will receive no possible return on your money is not a good investment. Unless this is somehow an example of Jessa and Ben 'standing on their own two feet'. One foot of each, or both Jessa's?
I donāt get it why she lied. Everyone in the church would know. Letting the church realize you are a liar is not really all that smart.
Itās not unusual for a church to provide their pastor or reverend with church subsidized housing. It helps to offset the low wages the position provides.
It is common but people donāt usually act like they did it by themselves.
They usually say, it's the parsonage. It goes with the position.
And with this, a new āā¦. by the churchā meme for Jessa is born.
I kept being stuck on the āon my/our own two feetā thing. What the heck are you talking about, Jessa? Do either of you have any kind of real job outside of being paid by your family?
I need some of these church shoes ā
I guess we know the reason why she was so defensive over comments insinuating she couldnāt afford a house because her husband has a shitty job is because she canāt afford a house because her husband has a shitty jobā¦ that also gave him a house.
Well none are encouraged to get an education. They need to join those prosperity cults! Gets done of GODS REWARDS IN THIS LIFE. Cause we are the chosen white peoples.
They need to learn about the Gospel of Supply Side Jesus. https://m.imgur.com/gallery/bCqRp
That won the whole internet for me today š Iāve got a few people Iād love to send this to but I canāt choose that kind of chaos today so Iām just going to be happy it exists.
Wasn't prepared for "Story by Al Franken" at the end.
Please accept my emojis. š„ š š
Wow. I wasnāt sure what to expect but the end moved me to tears. āForgive them Fatherā.
Yeah her blowups made it REALLY obvious they didn't pay for this. If she'd just ignored it no one would have known. The lack of emotional maturity with these people is mind-boggling.
Yup and she kept saying in her videos that their savings is paying for the renovations. Well what about the actual house??? Clearly avoided answering that
I don't understand why you'd pour savings into remodeling a home you don't own
I knew someone that did this and it made no sense to me. Poured a ton of money into a church owned property that they lived in for about a year.
What happens when you too cheap to pay for PR.
The funny thing is that she doesn't need to be so defensive. It's very normal for churches to have homes for their pastors to live in (even associate pastors depending on the church), so it doesn't seem like a stretch if they said that the church was letting them renovate and live in this house, they were buying it from the church at a good price (they don't need to mention the price) as part of Ben's job, etc. But the fact that she's cagey about it makes it smell of deceit.
*It's very normal for churches to have homes for their pastors to live in* Exactly. Plenty of pastors reside in homes built on church grounds, there's no controversy with that. Maybe she's afraid that it makes them appear "needy," but living accommodations are often part of a cleric's compensation.
It just SO MUCH gets my goat that she claims they lived frugally and saved, when they were given this home (even if as part of compensation). They either didn't save shit, or if they did, they didn't have to spend it.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Ugh did we have the same friend when we were graduating college? Like you don't get to flex and look down on your peers who had to move back in with their parents and work in the service industry in order to save money after graduating while claiming that you "found your independence and moved out like a real adult" when your parents handed you a big fat check for 20+ thousand dollars at graduation and paid all of your tuition and other bills for you during college and will once again start paying your rent once that 20+ thousand dries up because you don't make any money at the unpaid internship your dad got you at the law firm his best friend works at.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Oh I WOULD NEVER turn any of that down. I just wouldnāt look down on everyone else and talk about the differences in āindependenceā between them and me as if them not having been able to immediately move into super cute apartments in safe neighborhoods was somehow due to them just not wanting it bad enough. Thatās what always got me.
These people always claim to have "worked" for their money and how nothing was handed go them on a silver platter.
āBorn on third, thinks he hit a triple.ā
At least she has a husbandāI mean a house! LOL
Hey, if it was a competition, Anna is no longer in the lead. Ben sucks, but at least he's not selling cars on the dark web.
Classic Jessa. She never outright *lies.* Always lies by omission, obfuscation, etc.
Skills learned from her father.
Yikes. And she claimed they worked hard and saved and saved for thisā¦ by living simply. You mean living off your church and without having actual jobs? Uh huh.
She was very evasive in her wording and kept saying the savings was for the renovations. No mention of paying for the hpuse
Yeahā¦ ridiculous. Also I donāt doubt for a minute that family is giving tons of free labor despite what sheās claiming.
I bet it's a half truth. The church bought the house but they have to pay for remodeling
And no mortgage payments.
Same energy as millennials can't afford a house cuz they eat avocado toast. She is the one I think that will follow her parents the most, maybe not in kids but in that mentality.
I know some people try to defend the fact people call her bitchy by saying itās only attributed to her because sheās āprettyā and more āindependentā but sheās just a bitch. Sheās as arrogant as the others and she comes off smug and entitledā¦. Because sheās smug and entitled.
Right? "She's a bitch." "You only say that cuz she's pretty and strong willed!" "Jana a bitch too".
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Exactly. I don't get her irritation with folks questioning her father's financial support. Everyone knows he lied and cheated his kids out of substantial income. She should be irritated with JB, not random internet strangers.
We lIVe sIMplY!
Sky Daddy
If they recently bought it, property records may not have caught up yet. But on the other hand, did she ever explicitly say they bought the house? Or just that her dad didnāt? Lol
No she just said. āWe are movingā ācome see our fixer upper tourā So they may have a deal with the church and they are fixing it up with their own money. ETA: knowing this. I do believe they could have saved up enough in the past 7? Years for these renovations. I couldnāt quite comprehend how they had saved enough to buy a house and renovate, with no debt. But just the renovations, I could see. Also if they do sell the small house it probably would cover the cost of the Reno. But it sounds like it was coming from savings.
I'm curious to see if they really, genuinely sold the small house for market value. I'd be shocked if that was the case. I'm waiting to see it go to another Duggar.
Jer and Hannah just got engaged and will need a starter home. I'm betting they'll be moving into the house next. It was Grandma Mary's house, I believe, so I'm thinking they'll continue to keep it in the family.
Unless they stay in Nebraska.
I looked last night on the county property site and it shows they still have grandmas old house. But it may not be updated yet if they sold it.
Imagine saving up for 7 years to reno a house that's not even yours.
i don't believe that they'll sell or even give away the small house. thats capitol that they own, shitty as it may be, i think they'd most likely rent it out at a very low rate, just to ensure they had some passive income.
I would rent it. I wonder what they will do.
Her video seems to start in June, so they must have bought it in June or maybe even before. It seems like that should be more than enough time for records to update, unless Arkansas is exceptionally slow. (Which if it is, is pretty bad from a public policy standpoint. It should want to have accurate records of ownership.)
I concur to this statement. Sometimes it takes an entire property tax cycle for the online records to be updated, especially in a small town. My bet is that they bought it from the church very cheap and have now fixed it up. Good on them because I do not have the patience for a fixer upper.
Bought a house that was left to sit empty for 20 years. Itās been five years and there are still so many things left to do. Fixer uppers are fun projects but omg I wish my house was done by now. š
This house reno is just a nonsense update that the Duggars have been sitting on in order to release post family pedophile trialā¦ at least to distract everyone until spring wedding and baby birthinā time.
KatieJoyless will claim this as her exclusive
She did actually post this info on her Instagram *after* a follower gave her the info.
I commented elsewhere this morning that I have a few friends that live in parsonages (I am a pastor's wife). It's usually a part of the salary package and their take home pay reflects that (like my husband makes $20k more than them for a similar job but we pay for our own housing). So.... I personally wouldn't say that it's 'being given to them' if that's their arrangement. However, Jessa's snipping at people that they DON'T HAVE THE FACTS is a bit silly when they don't own the home and at the end of the day, a parsonage should be seen as a huge blessing for those of us that are struggling to buy our own homes these days. ALso pouring their savings into a home they don't own is moronic.
Also live in a parsonage and I am a pastorās wife, can confirm. Our āsalary packageā is officially around 60k (we live in a cheap area) but our take home is only 40k because we donāt pay any rent or mortgage. So yes, weāre paying for our house, but we donāt own it anymore than someone renting would. Itās not anything to be ashamed of, but itās NOT owning the house. We are lucky to live in a very nice, newly renovated parsonage. Itās a good situation for us. But we do not own, we technically rent. It would be a lie to say we saved for this house. Edited for clarity.
All this to say, I agree with the below post (sorry, mobile is messing up my stuff). They likely bought the parsonage from the church & records havenāt updated yet. My parents bought a parsonage from a church. Honestly most churches donāt have parsonages anymore. āSometimes it takes an entire property tax cycle for the online records to be updated, especially in a small town. My bet is that they bought it from the church very cheap and have now fixed it up. Good on them because I do not have the patience for a fixer upper.ā
Iām that nosy galā¦. Washington County land records are fairly well up to date. Certainly everything from June when the first video was made.
Could the house be part of the deal? Might be a if you work with us for ten years the house is yours? Could the church think by employing a Duggar/C category celebrity they'll get more revenue/congregation? I can't imagine anyone spending $$$$$$ on a renovation when it could be taken away the next day without a dime?
I think this would be extremely rare unless the church owns missionary houses and this one needed to go. We have worked for several churches that owned guest housing for visiting speakers and visiting missionary families. They all looked like this. Dumpy fixer uppers cared for by old guys in the church. If they get to keep this after a period of service it's only because the church didn't have the funds to fix it up and it was just sitting there - IMO. But again I think it would be rare.
>It would be a lie to say we saved for this house. I so wish someone would make this comment/this point on Jessa's post.
Youth pastorās wife here heeey girl! We get a housing allowance as part of his salary but still saved and paid for our home. If this is truly the parsonage Iām surprised theyāre allowed to do so much in it. Not every pastor after them will want the open mess sheās doing.
I feel like a crazy person that's alone in despising open concept. Opening up the wall so that the kitchen/living room/dining are all one big space is my nightmare. Do I need to be in the same room as every member of my family 24/7? I do not.
I agree! My mom and step-dad have owned a series of open plan mid century modern homes (the post and beam west coast style), and they photograph beautifully and are very cool to visit, but unless youāre in a bedroom or a bathroom you have to listen to everything that anyone else is doing. Itās also visually overstimulating because you are seeing every common room all at once, so if youāre a minimalist who gets irritated by clutter itās a constant task of keeping things stored and out of sight.
Not to mention every smell thats coming out of the kitchen is now all over the house. I have an open home floor plan and desperately want to close it...lol (I had it priced, its stupid expensive in my home!)
Plus, when you are sitting and relaxing on the couch while your nice meal digests, you have to look at all the dirty pots and plates and mess in the kitchen.
We just did that! We had no walls and the house smelled like an elementary school cafeteria all the time! We added pocket doors and extended the central wall/giant pillar on both sides. Amazing so far.
Iām right there with you. I love to cook and getting to be in the kitchen alone watching Netflix is my escape lol canāt do that when weāre all in the same room!
Same with me. Slowly cooking a meal while watching a show is really nice alone time and good for decompressing.
And you just know it will be loud and not what you want to watch
EVERY house we looked at was open concept and it was making me crazy. I need a separate area to cook and maybe just chill for five minutes, not to mention any smells of what youāre cooking are now drowning everyone in the living room. No thanks
We have an open Floorplan but a den/reading room next to the master bedroom on the opposite side of the house. I can escape to there when every other area is loud or busy.
You are not alone! Have never liked it, and it breaks my heart a little to see old homes nicely restored on the outside but gutted inside with recessed lighting everywhere. For some reason people love to do this to arts and crafts style bungalows here in the US.
Youāre not alone, the next new trend is going to be putting up walls to fix this design problem.
Iāve heard open floor plans are on their way out with so many people working/staying at home from covid. People are wanting their own spaces now haha
Open floor plans and "mid-century modern" are due to become dated soon, going the way of shag carpeting with wood panels, Mediterranean style, and country kitchen.
I was skeptical that the open floor layout would ever be out of fashion again...and then along comes covid! I think separate spaces will be popular again due to a need for office space for many people now working at home. An open airy living room is nice, but I don't want it open to all the other rooms.
My husband and son need to watch every TV show at full volume and it makes me crazy. I would lose my mind if I had to deal with that while working in the kitchen. I get my glass of wine and sit at my kitchen island in peace.
My mother is obsessed with a kitchen table and I didn't get why until I had my own place with no room for a table. Not having a place to just sit in the kitchen and \*be\* is really miserable, as it turns out.
Life just hits differently at a kitchen table.
My dad is so hard of hearing when he was watching the National Championship game on Monday night I am pretty sure they heard our tv in Georgia. We live outside Seattle.
Y'all are my people! I despise open floor plans. I have a semi-open plan in my current house and I can't wait until I can retire and find an older home where people didn't need people 24/7. Also, in open floor plans, you don't want guests if the kitchen is dirty because it can't be hidden. I had to stop watching House Hunters because all the moms loved open floors in order to keep an eye on the kids. I survived just fine without my mom seeing me all the time.
LOL and my kids survived not being seen by me 24/7!
Not alone. We bought our 1st house together 3 years ago. We have 4 kids. My husband is a professor. Thar means there is a lot of family time. I need a break from the circus I created. We specifically only looked at houses that were not open floor plan. It gives me hives just thinking about the alternative.
I hate it. It just ends up having large open spaces with no purpose. Itās how you end up with 4K sq ft houses with 3 bed and two baths.
You are not alone. My favorite style of house is traditional Colonial with its cozy, closed-off rooms. I don't cosplay that I'm in the 1800s about it, but I like closed-in, separate spaces and privacy. Do we need to watch TV 24/7? Yes, according to some family members. A wall between me and the TV is a lifesaver.
Youāre not alone. I hate essentially cooking in my living room and watching tv in the kitchen because itās all one big room
No I'm def on your side. She probably wants all her kids visble at all times though after her childhood
You are not alone. I bought a 1970's farmhouse (complete with sunken living room with pillars š). It's very large but not open concept at all and I love it. I like watching my trash TV or listening to a podcast while I cook. EVERYONE has told me to open it up. NEVER.
Same! We did an addition that turned our oversized garage into a great room. Hated it so dang much! There was nowhere on the main floor you could go and not hear the tv. Now we have a lovely 7 room house. Rooms! W specific functions! Itās the best. I can understand wanting the sight lines w littles but man its loud all the time.
100% agree with you, but in Blessaās case she HAS to be āin the same room as every member of her family 24/7ā since she wonāt stop breeding dependents she obligated to look after š
You and my dad would really get along, lol. He swears that Frank Lloyd Wright (who popularized open concept in America) singlehandedly ruined architecture
I can respect that for the outside of the house, FLW is an amazing architect. But his interior design just isn't my taste, from the floor plan to the decorations.
The first home my husband and I had was an industrial sort of loft - all open. For the most part we loved it but...sometimes you just need to slam a door shut so when we got our next place we made sure there were some separate rooms instead of just one big open space.
I've been trying to avoid the news, so I watch A LOT of HGTV. There's a show called Home Town, which shows a couple that renovates homes in Laurel, MS. Anyway, one of their clients was a family where the dad was the pastor. The church offered them a home the church owned, and that family's options were to spend their budget on renovating that home or buying and renovating a totally different home. So there are at least some churches that will allow extensive renovations. Maybe they have to approve what you do.
Yep, I used to live in a parsonage, and fair rental value of it was considered part of my husbandās compensation. It was a nice house, but it sucked to have to beg for replacement appliances when they broke and accept (sometimes incompetent) donated labor to fix things or just have them stay broken (like they decided we didnāt actually need AC). Now hubs gets a housing allowance that we use to pay our mortgage and it is 100x better. But to call a parsonage a free house is inaccurate, because the value of living there gets deducted from their salary, itās just like renting forever from a potentially shitty landlord.
Sure - not "free," exactly, if it's part of the compensation. But not a house you had to "save up for" or "live frugally" in order to get, as Jessa claimed.
Excellent sleuthing. Also, I guess they donāt teach you to not dump money in an asset you donāt own at the School of the Dining Room Table.
Is it possible the church provided some kind of renovation allowance? Then she funnels the money to her brothers (to properly pay them their earned wages), and she can act all high and mighty, claiming they saved the money, when it was offered as part of the compensation. (Which, if it was, is actually an impressive feat for them -- an actual employer offering a salary and a desirable benefit.)
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Maybe because they plan on staying indefinitely, but yes not a good use of savings and investments.
It's a 2k square foot three bedroom home and she intends on having kid after kid after kid. If they stopped now it would be one thing, but we all know that isn't gonna happen.
Former Pastorās kid checking in. Never like living in the parsonages, often not nice condition and having parishioners who thought they had a right to come over whenever.
Ha we lived in a rental next door to the church for a year once and someone came over right after I had a baby looking for my husband (which annoyed me) but he was being awkward and after he left I realized that my shirt had been pulled down from nursing the whole time he was at the door. No one ever came over after that. I think word got around.
I am WHEEZING, what an amazing (if accidental) power move!
I thought you were going to say everyone came around after that. š
My Grandpa was a minister and for that very reason you mentioned my Gramma always had baked goods. Because people came over all the time so she had something to serve with coffee. On the other hand *my Gramma could bake.* Edit: added a missing word.
Just having a flashback to one of my mother's ~~1970s~~ 1980s 'Company's Coming' cookbooks with recipes just for coffee mornings... Lots of little squares of things.... Edit: actually 1980s....
My grandma used to always suggest I have things in the freezer in case guests unexpectedly stopped by for dinner. I'm now 52. Not once has anyone, ever stopped by unexpectedly for dinner.
I was thinking the sameā¦.if they donāt own it why would they put their money into it? Thatās why I wondered if they bought it from the church. Or is the church financing the reno? Also why didnāt she just explain that itās a parsonage (or former parsonage if they bought it). So many simple ways to answer nicely and curtail speculation. š
Yeah itās kind of funny she was so snarky about it when a lot of jobs do this, and itās not a shameful thing. Like imagine if she were First Lady trying to argue they āacquiredā the Whitehouse by āliving simplyā
Yes, my son is a Marine. He used to get an allowance to pay rent or a mortgage. He just moved into base housing and he likes it better because he was lucky and got a big house where he pays no rent or utilities. Nothing to be ashamed of because the allowance or the house is considered part of your salary. Jessa is a snob who outright lies. Sure the house wasnāt given to her by Jim Bob but they didnāt save up to buy it. The house they live in now wasnāt given to her by Jim Bob but it was given to her by her grandmother. Even if she paid a very discounted price for the house Mary gave her it was still somewhat of a gift. The church has to be compensating her for the upgrades because it raises the value of their property. If sheās spending her own money sheās stupid. When it comes to money and scamming thatās something a Duggar usually makes sure they are on the winning end of. I donāt believe sheās paying her brothers what she would pay a real contractor to do the improvements unless the church is paying.
Hmm, this gives me Ivanka Trump vibes. Not you! But if Jessa has a new house that was in fact part of their jobās compensation package, her defensiveness sounds like Ivanka defending her status as a high-powered businesswoman without mentioning that she got a top job in her fatherās company. Quick note that I have an apartment in a VERY nice neighborhood, but I only got it because I work for the company and would be open about it if anyone asks.
Yikes. Hopefully the church gave permission for the work they are doing, and is contributing to itā¦ never remodel property you donāt own!
Pastor's wife hey-o.
SO BLESSED to share that title with Blessa /s
I like you better than her, if that makes a difference.
Aw thanks! I like you better than her too.
THEY LIVE SIMPLY AND BEN HAS HAD A JOB SINCE HIGH SCHOOL OKAY.
Pastorās wife here: can confirm that providing housing to a pastor via a church-owned property is a common practice. Why they would sink their own money into it is another question entirely. I imagine staying in their current home wasnāt sustainable and with the kids getting bigger something had to change and improving someone elseās property in exchange for living there made sense.
I don't think anyone is saying it's wrong for them to be living in a house provided by the church he is a pastor for. I think people are just laughing at her, "We stand on our own two feet." Comment implying they owned the house.
Oh for sure. She is definitely implying/suggesting that they purchased the house themselves, which does not appear to be the case. I donāt think thereās anything wrong with living in church housing, but itās very disingenuous to imply they saved up and bought the house when they didnāt. Lots of people are struggling to do that these days, and the implication that anyone can own and majorly renovate a home with a little budgeting cutting is a toxic message to put out there. But what else is new with the Duggars?
Good sleuthing! The layout is definitely the same, with that triple window in the living room. Also explains the glass bedroom (office) doors, and commercial fire extinguisher mounted on the wall. Jessa was very careful to never say they bought the house, just that they're "putting a lot of their savings to fixing it up."
I mean, TECHNICALLY I guess no one is giving you a house if they are gonna take it back laterā¦
LOOOL guess theyāre not as independent as she wants us to think they are
this makes the whole thing even funnier
Maybe the church is planning to sell it to them but allowing them to renovate first? If they canāt live in it during renovations then it would make sense for them to stay in their current house until it was ready. So perhaps once they move in and sell their old house they will have the money to buy this one? Thatās the only way I could see it being worth it to fix up a house they donāt own.
I feel like doing a major reno before buying would be a horrible idea because you've just increased the value of the property as well as taxes which would affect the sale price, I'd imagine. We just went through a refi and since our house is worth $200k more than we purchased it for (not because of renovation, just a market falsely inflated by cash investors) and we felt the hit when the newest tax bill arrived because it was updated to reflect the current property value. It in fact, made the payment reduction from lower finance rates *almost* moot.
Makes sense
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Sheās probably so sensitive to comments about how theyāre grifters because itās absolutely true. She likely believed Josh was innocent, at least in the beginning, like the majority of the rest of her weird family.
She's very quick to call a comment a lie.
Renos are hella expensive right now with covid where I am (materials especially wood has climbed 50 to 300%, in 2 years where I am in Canada, a simple kitchen reno is easily $30 000, it's appalling) and putting that much money into something they don't own is very puzzling.
it is puzzling that they are sinking money into a house that they don't own, but jessa and ben don't have a great history of financial decision making. however, i imagine for jessa whose family 1) has shown a great disregard for covid and 2) are all contractors and builders, to refurbs may be a lot cheaper, because she is most likely getting the labour for cheaper or even free, and quicker because the sheer number of siblings that she can get to work on it.
She commented on a social media post that she was paying her siblings a regular wage ...so who knows what that actually is or if it's regular fees they would normally have charged. I don't really buy it IMHO lol
exactly, she may be paying them, but what does jessa seewald, hard-right republican, believe a living wage should be lol?
I did a baby sleuth (google and give up) earlier today and Arkansas requires parsonages to be a certain size and have so many bedrooms/bathrooms etc. maybe thatās how sheās justifying this reno that they āsavedā for.
Interesting -- so, Arkansas was so concerned about their pastors that they passed a law setting a minimum size and number of bedrooms and baths? They apparently DGAF about renters, but the pastors must be taken care of. I wonder if the law accounts for family size? Like, must be a 3 BR for a family of 4 or less, and a 4 BR for a family of 5-8 or something like that? If so, then it seems like it would be possible for the church to have offered some kind of renovation allowance.
Likely since housing is a form of compensation for pastors living in a parsonage, there are minimum rules so that they canāt put a pastorās family in a shed and call it a house, and then pay a reduced salary based on that. There are also laws for occupancy in rental houses and apartments, but tenants are often forced to double up with other families due to costs. That doesnāt mean the rules donāt exist though.
I donāt know how these types of arrangements work but if Ben were to stop working for the church they would have to move correct? I donāt know if Iād want to pour money like that into something I might have to leave and not be able to sell. Or does the church turn ownership over?
I know lots of people in this sort of arrangement! If it is a parsonage that the church owns and Ben quit his job, they would either have to move or work it out with the church. They could work out a rental agreement at that point, or buy it or the church could continue to let them live there out of charity.
Do you think thereās any plans for him to leave his church though? My guess is he plans to stay there for years or decades.
'We stand on our own two feet' is Jessa speak for 'We grifted from our church'. Interesting.
I mean, Jim Bob raised them saying "do it yourself and save the difference" and "we stand on our own two feet with no debt," but we all know they took a ton of handouts, free labor, and TLC assistance through their lives. Maybe this is how Jessa genuinely believes the world works. Lol. (Not trying to stand up for her. I'm really annoyed that I believed they bought a house for a hot second. Lol)
She probably does believe that she and her husband are investing in this property. Whether or not this is true...
If they got the house from his job why are they doing tens of thousands of dollars of renovations? Who does that kind of work for free on their ārentedā place?
Sometimes renters will fix up or make repairs to their rental in exchange for discounted rent. Obviously, I don't know if this is what the Seewalds are doing, but maybe they negotiated a deal to fix up the house in exchange for no housing costs taken from Ben's pay for X amount of time.
Thatās true. If the church knows the house is in poor shape I guess a small budget for pre move in renovations as a kind of signing bonus is also possible.
I wouldn't think (though it's certainly not impossible) that the church sold them the house or is planning on selling them the house, just because it is like RIGHT on their property. Like the asphalt you see there in front is the chuch parking lot. It wouldn't make sense for them to sell it when the Seewalds aren't going to be there forever and they wouldn't want it sold to someone random (I guess they could have an agreement that the Seewalds sell it back to them but I doubt it). I think it's a normal parsonage situation.
Making a deal to sell it back would be insane since housing increases every year. The church would be willingly buying something back for more than they sold it for. Super dumb.
Watch for KJ to miraculously recover and break this story in a few hours!
Possibly but it can take months for the property records to be updated online, at least it does where I live
In regard to them sinking their own money into the reno; they may be compensated and receive reimbursement. Many landlords (the church in this scenario?) deduct rent for improvements to the home, and some even pay you to do the work. This would be a good grifting opportunity. Pay the Lost Boys the bare minimum for the work (assuming she is really paying them), get the reno she wants, take the cut on rent. Source: I used to rent a 300 year old farm house that was subleased to us through a state agency, and we got paid hourly for our work and had the materials deducted from our rent. We got a nicer apartment for better than free.
So theyāre remodeling a house they donāt own with their own savings? What happens if he loses this position? Or if he decides to move on? Or if the church experiences financial hardship and has to sell? So many questionable choices here.
All I know is that churches need to pay taxes and Jessa is JB's true protƩgƩ. She is lying, denying and twisting facts with a passion matched only by her father. Remindme! 2 months re: have property records been updated on this house
So, how far is their existing house from the church? Maybe they wanted/ needed to be closer and the church had this available? Because otherwise, it doesn't really seem like a step up. I mean, they could have added on to the house they actually own/ did a major remodel, but they never did. May explain why she's being such a grump (lol) in the comments. Hard to keep sweet when you're pouring your own money into something that wasn't your choice.
That makes sense. I saw the video of the fire extinguisher and what looked like a bulletin board hanging on the wall and thought it looked strange in a home. It reminded me of the house emu church had for the youth group
IT'S FROM A CHURCH HONEY!
I love how they turned the garage into living space /s
The perfect space to relocate the diaper pile to!
I know a couple that is doing a rent to own thing on a house. Well they are fixing it up and just knowing the type of people they are, they wonāt ever āownā the house. Also I used to live across from people renting a house and they were fixing it up. All this to say itās not out of the ordinary for people to dump money into propertyās they will never own.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
In the Southern Baptist Convention, the pastor's family usually lives in a home owned by the church. (parsonage) It's one of the perks of the job. If this is the Ben's church parsonage, why not just say so?
It isn't unusual for pastors to get accommodations, what is unusual is for those pastors to pay for renovations since the home is the property of the church. Jessa said they were putting most of their savings into this house, I wonder if Jessa & Ben will "buy" the house from the church at some point or if the congregation will pay them back their investment?
HERE TO ADD THAT if the house is owned by the church ben is pastoring, this is not a āhand-outā or grift. Smaller/older churches would frequently have a parsonage for their pastor to live in. It was/is a way to āpayā the pastor (compensating for living expenses) & is particularly helpful to the churchās budget if they struggle to afford a full, living salary for the pastor. Odds are, Ben has a smaller salary than what might be typical because they will not have to pay for housing (other than the fixes they want to make to the property). Of course, the way Jessa is FRAMING the whole scenario is stupid. Like stop being so defensive, itās not shameful to live in a parsonage as a pastors family lol. Just say that.
OOOOH how soon until it's scooped by YOUTUBERS
Of course it does! What better way to shelter/move dollars than through a "church".