I NEED A BUYER!!!!!!!!!!

[mrbstephens]

Hello everyone! My DH and I are getting ready to make an offer on a 3 acre parcel where we would build a modest sized home. Finances will be tight and my DH is the money maker so I can stay home with the children. I'm wondering what would be the best, fastest and easiest way to make money off the land. We've considered clearing half of it and renting it to a farmer or for someone with horses perhaps? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[patandchickens]

Hm, I don't generally think of land as something that makes money (at least not on a short-term low-investment sense), it is just something to HAVE...

...but, even though it won't make you *much*, I would suggest that by far your best bets are to either rent some to a crop farmer if the land is already cleared/arable; if it's rough meadow, see if you can find someone to "rent" it to for their livestock (NOT horses, see below) although I put rent in quotes because unless there is existing fencing the best you may be able to do is a 'for free' arrangment, but it will help you clear the land more easily yourself later; or if the soil is suitable, put "outdoor storage available" signs up for people who may want to pay a nominal amount to store boats, rvs, construction stuff, etc. Note that the latter should be cleared with your insurance company if any, and needs a contract that a lawyer has looked at vis-a-vis liability for damage/theft/injury.

I DO NOT suggest even thinking about renting the land to someone with horses. For one thing, horses take much more expensive fencing than anything else; for another, there are waaaaaay more ways for it to snowball into COSTING you money, if any of a zillion various things happen to the horses while on your property (contract or no contract); and finally, a large percentage of horse owners seeking land-rental-self-care situations are um extremely difficult to deal with, with furthermore a higher rate of disappearing in the middle of the night without having paid for the last three months but *with* various stuff of *yours* than you'd see with any of the other abovementioned rental situations. I say this as a horseperson btw

There are other things you can do, but not with open-but-not-immediately-farmable land and not with low investment and not on a short time horizon. So beyond renting to a farmer or RV owners I would suggest not digging a bigger hole, and just worry about cutting expenses rather than *making* money from the land per se.

If you can write clearly and take the time to learn the ways of the world, you can make bits of money writing for small magazines and such, that might be something to consider.

GOod luck, have fun, good luck with the property,

Pat

 

[Wifezilla]

You mentioned clearing. Can you sell the lumber?
Are you near a town? RV Storage?
How much can you easily convert to garden? Use what you need and sell the surplus at a farmer's market?
In a scenic area? Camping spots?

 

[ksalvagno]

I have to agree with Pat. You really don't want to rent the land for livestock. Also, I wouldn't want campers or anything on the property either. If someone gets hurt, they can sue you. So you would need farm insurance that would cover accidents and such. Believe me, it is expensive.

Wifezilla mentioned a garden and that would probably be your best way to go. You may find a farmer to raise a crop on your land if it is cleared but one or two acres or even all three acres is not considered much to a farmer and they probably wouldn't be interested. We had 5 acres and only 2 of it was fenced in so we tried to find someone who would be interested in doing hay on the rest. No one was interested in that little of acreage.

Don't want to discourage you but you do need to be careful who/what you allow on your property so you don't end up being sued for some reason. Economy is bad and people can get desperate.

 

[patandchickens]

For next year, you could consider pick-your-own pumpkins. You'd probably have to pay someone to plow/disc the land for you though, so it would depend on how much that'd cost (totally depends on your area and situation and luck). Then plant pumpkins, broadcast white clover seed between the pumpkin plants, and ignore til Fall.

Pat

 

[Wifezilla]

That's a good idea. Pumpkin patches do really well here in Colorado. One local pumpkin farm has been in business since the 30's. When the original owners passed, it went to a foundation that practices "beyond organic" farming.

As for disking...do you really need to do that? I had a horribly weedy patch and I just layed down cardboard, covered it in duck compost and then only dug up and loosened the place where I put the pumpkin seeds. The weeds that snuck through the cardboard and compost got smothered by the pumpkin.

Granted, I am doing this on a small scale. But if you don't have the time/money/friends to help you plow it, smother and cover may be an option.

 

[freemotion]

Someone posted a link (that I cannot find right now) to a website where the guy sells instructions for setting up a business of selling plants that you grow from cuttings. It fascinated me, since his business is all done in his normal-sized backyard with no greenhouse, just some beds for his mother plants, an area for a large pile of stuff that he makes his potting mix from, and a large area in front to set up rows of pots come selling time in the spring.

It is quite a system. There is enough free info on the site to get up and running if you are already a gardener. He has videos, too, that are very helpful. You have plenty of time left this year to get set up for spring, and you won't have to deal with other people on your property every day as you would if you leased it to someone for horses or livestock (NOOOOO!!!! Aaaaaaagh! So many who are looking for this type of situation neglect their animals. And don't pay their bills. And leave you with the headaches of animals breaking fences, no water tubs filled, no food given when the pasture dries up, etc. Not worth it.) If you rent the land to a farmer, you may end up with lots of chemicals on your land that you don't want. And the rent will likely just pay the taxes, not much more.

The plant system will net you several thousand dollars and only a few busy weeks of dealing with customers. Anyone know what I am talking about? Maybe the link was on the sister site, TEG.

 

[mrbstephens]

Pick your own anything is very popular here. People really like visiting farm animals here too. I'm thinking of pick your own organic produce. The only organic pick your own here is strawberries. There's plenty of pick your own blueberries/raspberries/blackberries/apples/peaches and pumpkins here, but NOT organic. There is one farm that does pick your own tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant but again NOT organic. I really enjoyed picking the tomatoes, but wished that they were organic.

I really like the idea of doing the educational workshops and fairs. I know how to can and could teach that to a group. I know how to propagate and grow plants. I know how to spin fiber (but not a pro). I know how to raise chickens.

I imagine a homesteading fair with demonstrations on how to live self sustainably with items for sale too. For example, raising livestock, growing fruits and veggies, spinning fiber, raising honey bees, food preserving, maple syruping..........

All of these things would not be immediate as the property would have to be cleared in order to grow. The equipment,truck,boat storage is a good option as well as selling the wood from the trees.

I guess I could always provide child care services, but not crazy about the idea.......

 

[mrbstephens]

Someone posted a link (that I cannot find right now) to a website where the guy sells instructions for setting up a business of selling plants that you grow from cuttings. It fascinated me, since his business is all done in his normal-sized backyard with no greenhouse, just some beds for his mother plants, an area for a large pile of stuff that he makes his potting mix from, and a large area in front to set up rows of pots come selling time in the spring.

It is quite a system. There is enough free info on the site to get up and running if you are already a gardener. He has videos, too, that are very helpful. You have plenty of time left this year to get set up for spring, and you won't have to deal with other people on your property every day as you would if you leased it to someone for horses or livestock (NOOOOO!!!! Aaaaaaagh! So many who are looking for this type of situation neglect their animals. And don't pay their bills. And leave you with the headaches of animals breaking fences, no water tubs filled, no food given when the pasture dries up, etc. Not worth it.) If you rent the land to a farmer, you may end up with lots of chemicals on your land that you don't want. And the rent will likely just pay the taxes, not much more.

The plant system will net you several thousand dollars and only a few busy weeks of dealing with customers. Anyone know what I am talking about? Maybe the link was on the sister site, TEG.

I love this idea!!!

 

[2dream]

Free, Is this who you were talking about?

http://www.freeplants.com/