In 2016, Mark Lemoine came home from work and told his wife Karla Lemoine he wanted to quit his job and buy a campground.
There was a lot on the line: Mark made $200,000 per year working for the Michigan state government, and Karla was a stay-at-home mom. Two of their four children were in college. Both were lifelong campers, but they’d never owned a business.
Swayed by the promise of adventure, Karla agreed. Within six months, they found a franchised Kampgrounds of America site for sale in Benton Harbor, Michigan, a rural lake town nestled between Grand Rapids and Chicago.
The Lemoines put their house on the market, withdrew all their savings and “sold everything we owned to buy the campground” for $1.6 million, Mark says.
That wasn’t their only expense: Since buying the campground, they’ve spent another $1.5 million on renovations, and annual upkeep costs up to $700,000 a year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.
All those investments are paying off. The campground is now worth $6 million, a recent Kampgrounds of America valuation found. It brought in $1.2 million in revenue last year, enough for the Lemoines to pay themselves a combined $150,000 in salary.
They’re still $50,000 shy of their previous annual household income, but say they plan to keep running the campground for a simple reason: They’re happier.
“We saw the wear and tear of working for corporate America on Mark and on our family dynamics,” Karla says. “Now, owning our business, we’re the bosses. We create and manage stress. For us, it’s a healthier lifestyle.”
Here’s how they manage their finances now, and those of the campground.
Using all their resources
When Mark and Karla first decided to buy the campground — officially called the Coloma/St. Joseph KOA Holiday site — they were five years away from paying off their house in Rockford, Michigan. That meant they had to get creative to find their $1.6 million.
They sold their car, and made $1,500 selling their things in a garage sale. They…
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