Gettin' out of Dodge

[Artisan]

The wife and I are thinking real hard about selling our home in California and heading to parts yet unknown. She is a very intelligent gal, she runs an office for a stock broker, very successful her boss is, ...-because of her-... he does all the lieing, she refuses to do it. Myself, 39 years as a plumbing contractor, few do it better. Fabricator, 4x4's, Quads, AutoCAD, Welder, BX25, log Splitter, etc, etc, I am a really good hand.

What are the chances of finding a profitable farm, something perhaps where an elderly couple want out, a place needing work, plenty of trees, 4 seasons and no one telling me I can't have chickens! HA! I KNOW I can make "something" work, what, well I guess we will know when we find it, were not going to find it staying here and paying this state anymore taxes and me trying to compete w/ every 20 dollar and hour contractor known to man, from every Continent on this planet, doing substandard work...it is sickening. Is there money in growing "X"??? I know nothing of Farming but I am a FAST learner, common sense is me. Heck I can take a job at a farm or two and learn then go buy perhaps.

We want out of the city, falling into a larger farm type of property whereas an existing owner needs help, honest help would be great but a deal like that is far fetched and probably just a dream.

Were thinking about loading the goods into 2-3 20' sea containers, or buying a dry van, and making a few trips with other trailers, boat, camper, work truck, FJ Cruiser, Ford f250 4x4 and buying a piece of land, very small for now, and seeing what is out there for us other than this POS melting pot of deplorable humanity called Southern California. Were both not from here, me Mass, She Oregon, we want out.

Anyone reading this been there, done that, have any words of wisdom?
Anyone have something for sale ? Any offers, Anyone want more info ?

Ya never know....no balz, no blue chips. :thumbsup:

 

[Cat_Driver]

Here ya go - Free land.....

Neb. Town Giving Away Land for Free - Beatrice hoping to generate tax revenue

Epilogue: Free land, building grants available in Beatrice, Louisville, elsewhere

 

[MadJack]

I know a Maine farmer who has been leasing his farm to a younger guy due to his heart ailments. Just evicted him because he wouldn't clean the place up, the 'poo' pit is overflowing and the guy hasn't paid rent in 3 months.

Find a farmer who can't farm because of his health, and offer to keep his farm going.

There are lots of abandon old farms (run down) in the northeast but you'd have to drive around, find them, then locate the current owner.

 

[MotorSeven]

I doubt anyone wants to give up a profitable farm. But, it is a buyers market and there are thousands of property's available at pre 2001 prices. Do your homework, pick and area that you like and target property for sale in that area until you find what you want.

Clean abundant water, low taxes, NO or very few CODES, level tillable land for growing stuff, adequate pasture for animals, enough standing hardwoods for wood heat.

I found all this in E. TN for about $1100 an ac in 2001(34ac) and 2005(67ac). We have a hundred acres and it is pure paradise to us.

 

[300UGUY]

You aren't going to get away from the scab contractors anywhere. Think about relocating into the snowbelt - a lot of folks retire south for the climate. Few retire north.

 

[blueriver]

Interesting ... excatly what one of my neighbors did. Told me the real estate market in California got him something like $750K for a little house and lot. He bought 40 acres here for $80K ... built a small nice home, shop and he's running a few cows, growing a garden and playing with his farm. And says he's collecting interest on the remaining money. His wife has a job at an attorney's office and he says life is good.

 

[EddieWalker]

Everything I've ever heard about farming is that it's a good way to lose money.

I'm from the SF Bay Area and realized that I didn't like living there anymore right around the year 2000. I was 35 and thought that my life was all about surviving, paying bills and saving enough money to escape to where I wanted to be.

My wife was from the city and didn't care for the idea of living out in the country, but wanted out of CA too. My first thought was Wyoming. I love the mountains and the outdoors. We took vacation and spent two weeks driving around the state. Going the the tourist spots and hanging out in some of the towns. We looked at houses and checked out the schools. I loved it, she freaked out. It was too much for her to deal with, and too big of a change.

Texas was my next state. I really liked the Hill Country area, but after spending a week there, we realized that it was going to be tough to find work. We started looking farther out and discovered Tyler. Once we saw how many jobs where available here, and how strong the economy was, and then how affordable housing is, we knew this is where we wanted to be.

Neither of us had jobs when we decided to move here, but we had plenty of time. Her daughter was in the 8th grade and we planned to moved when school got out so she could start High School here. My wife found a job with a title company before the move, so that was taken care of. I bought a fixer upper house for $30,000 and decided to flip that and see if I could make a living doing that.

The move was terrible. She wasn't much help and found something wrong with everything. I made three trips, but the worse was the one time she drove out here. She never adjusted and became home sick, I loved it and still do. The marriage ended a year after we moved here.

For me, it was the best thing I ever did. I no longer feel like my life is a struggle. It's a challenge, and being self employed means that it's up to me to feed myself. Being single means that I can only rely on myself to make sure I have enough money to live. So far, it's worked very well and seems to be getting better every year. I don't flip houses anymore, and after building a few spec houses, I don't do that either. Now I remodel and fix them. There is a huge demand for this, and it just seems to be growing.

If you do this, have a plan, but remain flexible to changing it. None of my plans have turned out how I thought they would, but my life has become better then it was there and better then I thought possible. I no longer sit around wishing that I was retired from a job that I didn't like so I could live out in the country and enjoy the outdoors every day. I live that life today!!!!

Research and research. Find a place with an economy that is doing good and where there are back up jobs in case you need to find something just to survive. I was charging ten bucks an hour when I started my handyman services. As my name grew, I raised my rates. That was quite a bit less then half of what I made in CA, but my bills where less and I was enjoying what I was doing. Every job led to other jobs, and now clients wait three to six months for me to get to them.

You only have one life, you can either live it or wish that you had.

Eddie

 

[TripleR]

I don't have any sage advice, just empathy. My brother lived in the SF bay area and worked for DOD after separation from the service. He retired early and moved to one of our farms here. He supplements his retirement working part time and his standard of living is much better here than in CA.

 

[murphy1244]

You only have one life, you can either live it or wish that you had...
No truer words have been spoken, As a cancer survivor I live each day like its the last. I have been truly blessed with a house we bought at a sheriffs sale last year and my likes and dislikes are very close to my wifes. So here I sit waiting for a delivery of my first big tractor. Ahhl ife is good.

 

[two_bit_score]

The wife and I are thinking real hard about selling our home in California and heading to parts yet unknown. She is a very intelligent gal, she runs an office for a stock broker, very successful her boss is, ...-because of her-... he does all the lieing, she refuses to do it. Myself, 39 years as a plumbing contractor, few do it better. Fabricator, 4x4's, Quads, AutoCAD, Welder, BX25, log Splitter, etc, etc, I am a really good hand.

What are the chances of finding a profitable farm, something perhaps where an elderly couple want out, a place needing work, plenty of trees, 4 seasons and no one telling me I can't have chickens! HA! I KNOW I can make "something" work, what, well I guess we will know when we find it, were not going to find it staying here and paying this state anymore taxes and me trying to compete w/ every 20 dollar and hour contractor known to man, from every Continent on this planet, doing substandard work...it is sickening. Is there money in growing "X"??? I know nothing of Farming but I am a FAST learner, common sense is me. Heck I can take a job at a farm or two and learn then go buy perhaps.

We want out of the city, falling into a larger farm type of property whereas an existing owner needs help, honest help would be great but a deal like that is far fetched and probably just a dream.

Were thinking about loading the goods into 2-3 20' sea containers, or buying a dry van, and making a few trips with other trailers, boat, camper, work truck, FJ Cruiser, Ford f250 4x4 and buying a piece of land, very small for now, and seeing what is out there for us other than this POS melting pot of deplorable humanity called Southern California. Were both not from here, me Mass, She Oregon, we want out.

Anyone reading this been there, done that, have any words of wisdom?
Anyone have something for sale ? Any offers, Anyone want more info ?

Ya never know....no balz, no blue chips. :thumbsup:

>>>>Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and USDA's National Agricultural Library, in partnership with the American Farm Bureau Federation, announced Thursday Start2farm.gov, a new online portal that helps to provide assistance for beginning farmers and ranchers. The portal includes links to training, financing, technical assistance and other support services specifically for beginning farmers and ranchers, as well as successful case studies about new and beginning farmers and ranchers.

"America's farmers and rural communities are vitally important to our nation's economy, producing the food, feed, fiber and fuel that continue to help us grow," said Vilsack. "USDA is working to provide opportunities for the next generation to get into agriculture in order to continue the record success of America's farmers and ranchers who are seeing record farm incomes and record exports. Start2Farm.gov will help us protect and sustain these successes, so that we continue to build an agriculture industry diverse and successful enough to attract the smartest, hardest-working young people in the nation."

Start2Farm.gov was funded via the NIFA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), program that funded the development of education, training, outreach and mentoring programs to enhance the sustainability of the next generation of America's farmers and ranchers. The program has been funded since fiscal year 2009. It was authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill with $75 million through FY12. In the first year of NIFA's Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, 3-year grants supported training for 5,000 beginning farmers and ranchers.<<<<<


USDA introduces start2farm.gov to support America?s future farmers and ranchers TSCRA News Update


Good luck!