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Thank you Chris for your explanation of that comment and the heads up. It'smeFred, it is definitely not for everyone. Cathy, thank you so much for sharing your personal experience, it's defiantly given me something to think about. I am a real estate broker and land developer. My last project was a 93 unit, single family homes in a cookie cutter type development. I built the very thing I hate. I want to do something totally different next time. I will give this much thought and really appreciate all the comments and suggestions.
In upstate South Carolina, I have over 100 acres of land surrounded by hundreds of untouched acreage. The land is mostly wooded with a stream, medium size pond, and gentle topography. There is abundant wildlife and great soil with a mild climate for a long growing season. I would like to sell or leases shares of this land to individuals or families who will make this property their home and will work the land and be a part of a community of like-minded individuals. I am in the beginning stages of this project but wanted to put out some feelers to see if there is any interest. This would be a cost effective way to own land without a large initial investment.
There's a guy in Swain county with lots of mountain land trying to do the same thing, not sure how successful he's been, but I know there is demand for it with the right conditions. I myself was considering this before I purchased acreage in KY.
You may want to get this done sooner than later because it appears land is getting cheaper as housing is getting more expensive. More people doing cash purchases (suburban preppers, wall st leaving the stock market, retirees, young guys like me). Post it in:
1. iwanna newspaper (local paper for carolina)
2. craigslist
3. landwatch.com which is where I found my properties
Good land like you have with Water and a roof is the basis of forming a community.
I wish this were in NH.... I'ld like to see it up close. However i am not interested in owning land.. The idea is just insane to me. I have a deeper ideology of old native ways... land is there to use..... owning any makes no sense to me.
Living on land is something humans have no choice but to do, and so it is a Right, but an unspoken Right, and one that is broken by private ownership of land all the time....
And that makes no sense to me either......
The deep south is way to hot and muggy to suit me too. But i would still like to look sometime.
In a way I see it as like working at a big B&B which I have done as Mr. Fix It....
I did every job there was just about except for cook and clean up guest rooms.
I did every other thing from trail rides to garden, cut fire wood groom and track x-c trails and run the rental shop, plus old const , new const and anything between.
Hi Chris, Thank you for the reply. I look at all the lake and golf course communities as a model for this. Most folks cant afford their own golf course, lake, pools, manicured gardens.... so they buy a home in a development and pay monthly dues to enjoy the benefits mentioned above. This could work the same way only instead of the golf course you get hunting grounds, fishing lake, community gardens, practical energy efficient homes, and a self sustainable community with like minded people.
Ordinary planned communities are not trying to sell a philosophy. They're simply looking for people who want pools, golf courses, etc. But the sorts of communities you're proposing always demand obedience to the rulers and prohibit any contrary beliefs. The sorts of people who are drawn to these are seldom peoople who have either the money or future income to support them. Individualists do not want communes or societies that meddle in their financial affairs. Individualists do not wish to share either property or private information.
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Originally Posted by bethany1776
I'd like to see a democratic, secular community with a high tolerance for various religions, races, and the such.
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Originally Posted by bethany1776
Any ideas on why they don't work? What do you believe is the downfall of these type of communities?
These communities already exist; they're called big cities. They're secular and oh-so loving of undesirables and minorities who are unwanted in rural areas. A real community is always racially homogenous and religions have a fair degree of compatibility. For example, I'm comfortable with many Christian and pagan sects but I don't want any Moslems. The latter just don't fit into my life.
I'm not trying to be anonymous; I just don't care to open my life to a "community" and its rulers.
When so-called anarchists took ove Zaragoza during the Spanish Civil War they decreed that money was forbidden; anyone found with it was executed.
Stay in the city; you've found your home. Set up community gardens in the ghetto and rejoice in your diversity. You're neither needed nor desired in rural areas. Keep in mind that we have both guns and ropes. If TEOTWAWKI comes you don't want to experience them first hand.
Such communities do exist though, as others have pointed out, they tend to either be extremely strict religious sects or they tend to have an overt political ideology. There are dozens of hippy style self sufficient communes where people own their own plots but where community property (mills and what not) are collectively owned and everyone has to take turns working at or maintaining community property. This doesn't really appeal to me and I doubt it will appeal to many here but here is a list in case anyone is interested.
Such communities do exist though, as others have pointed out, they tend to either be extremely strict religious sects or they tend to have an overt political ideology. There are dozens of hippy style self sufficient communes where people own their own plots but where community property (mills and what not) are collectively owned and everyone has to take turns working at or maintaining community property. This doesn't really appeal to me and I doubt it will appeal to many here but here is a list in case anyone is interested.
I wish this were in NH.... I'ld like to see it up close. However i am not interested in owning land.. The idea is just insane to me. I have a deeper ideology of old native ways... land is there to use..... owning any makes no sense to me.
Living on land is something humans have no choice but to do, and so it is a Right, but an unspoken Right, and one that is broken by private ownership of land all the time....
And that makes no sense to me either......
The deep south is way to hot and muggy to suit me too. But i would still like to look sometime.
In a way I see it as like working at a big B&B which I have done as Mr. Fix It....
I did every job there was just about except for cook and clean up guest rooms.
I did every other thing from trail rides to garden, cut fire wood groom and track x-c trails and run the rental shop, plus old const , new const and anything between.
I worked so much it felt like I lived there.
Interesting point on land-ownership, though I don't agree. But working someone's land could be beneficial for someone like you because you don't have to worry about it since you don't own it, but in practical ways it will still be a chunk of land for practical purpose.
Before we bought our 33 acres in Aroostook County, Maine, we had looked at several parcels of much larger acreages. The land was situated in such a way that 3-4 owners could each buy a parcel (including us) and have easy accress to the parcel of land. The whole idea was to reduce the cost per buyer, as much larger parcels go for less per acre (in general).
However, if we had been successful in doing that (and many people are, via subdivision), there would have been no strings attached. The buyers would do as they pleased: build, not build, build later, use it as a camp, live on it full-time in a big house, park a camper on it, garden, keep chickens and goats, or just leave it wooded and let the trees grow. We didn't care...after all, if you have 20-30 acres to yourself, what difference does it make what another land owner does, if they also have that amount of acreage? We have neighbors now at our Maine place, who do as they wish.
The problem comes with the "like-minded" part. We had enough problems finding buyers for cut-up land parcels as it was, without expecting them to be "like-minded". So we ditched the whole idea, and settled on a smaller parcel, at a higher cost per acre. Fortunately, we had the funds to do this. Surprise of surprises...two of our neighbors actually are "like-minded" in many ways, and I think we'll get along fine with them.
Interesting point on land-ownership, though I don't agree. But working someone's land could be beneficial for someone like you because you don't have to worry about it since you don't own it, but in practical ways it will still be a chunk of land for practical purpose.
I already do...... I rent
before
during
But when i die i can't take any of it with me.........
This place was stripped of soil too. Once this was a fair grounds and so everything was stripped. I made the soil to cover an area now apx 100x 60 and another area maybe 25 x 40.
A planned community of this type could work, but it would require a little change of execution than a typical commune style. As a developer, you understand that certain infrastructure and services are necessary in any successful subdivision, so if you put those in place and "hired" the necessary staff for critical functions then the rest of your idea may work. Particularly if you also owned or had relatively exclusive rights to the additional amenities/land you listed.
So, you'd subdivide your property in reasonable-sized housing lots; put in at least the main roads and major utiltities (could even be a community resource); establish the community gardens and fishing/boating docks; build an inn, clinic, hunting lodge, community center, school, workshops, etc complete with staff housing... and then "hire" staff dedicated to running those functions. I say "hire" because the candidates would be expected to do those specific jobs for the community in exchange for their cabin and land use, or purchasing a turn-key operation, etc. That way there isn't any "job sharing" expectations to work out and no "fair shares" to argue about but all the core functions of the community still get done and members of the community have rights to certain exclusive amenities (just like the lake and golf course communities).
You'd still need to have appropriate covenants and contracts in place, but you'd probably have much better success attracting the sorts of people you'd need to make a functioning hamlet if you offered, say, an innkeeper the use of land and cabin with the option to earn the inn via work and lease agreement.
ETA: this is somewhat a modern take on serfdom/indentured servitude, but instead of all the "profits" going to the lord of the manor, it would be distributed amongst the community share holders.
Last edited by MissingAll4Seasons; 01-08-2013 at 07:10 PM..
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