[cars_willkillyou]

Any members on here from South or Central American countries? Its a goal of mine to own a small farm some day, and in the last few years, ive been working towards that goal. Now, Im not trying to buy now, or even in the next year, but it has occurred to me that theres plenty of undeveloped, fertile land, for probably a lot less than in the USA.

In the meantime, I'm probably going to buying 5 acres or so in the north florida region by august of 2013, provided the world doesnt end, and just add the payments to my "rent" money every month. funny thing is, i live in south florida right now. to rent a piece of crap efficiency in a horrible, crowded spot of town (@ $800), is about the same price as a the 5 acre lots ive been looking at ($250-$350/month), plus average rent/utilities in gainesville ($400-$500/month).

Im moving back to gainesville in august to work in a warehouse, driving a fork lift for about $12/hr, with a guaranteed 40hrs/wk, and often an additional 10-20 hours of OT at time and a half ($18/hr). Im finishing up college this summer, and ive been paying my way through an AA degree for the last 6 years with part time jobs that dont pay shit. I grew up in the gainesville area, and ive been in south florida for the past 4 years. I hated it the entire time ive been here, and every time I think im starting to appreciate it, something happens to make me hate it more than ever before. So a return to normalcy, if you will, is going to be quite nice. Plus, most of my closest friends and family live in the area.

So there's a lot of benefits to moving back, but what i dont want to happen is falling back into old routines of simple living and easy spending. I want to take advantage of that increase in wages, by investing it into something sound, like real estate. I figure, 5 acres, once cleared, is a pretty decent size to plant pine trees, so that by the time the land is paid off, the pines are matured and can be used first, to provide lumber for a small house i can build on the property, and secondly, sell the surplus to lumber yards or something along those lines.

The only stitch in my plan is consistency. I ask myself, "Self, can you really stand to be living in the same area you grew up in 15 years from now?" I'll be 40 years old by then. But, provided I resist any temptation to start a family, something ive never wanted for myself, nor do i ever want for myself, at 40 years old, I'll outright own my land. If I'm not working at the same warehouse, by then I should be working at a golf course or some sports facility, as a grounds keeper (Im going to school for Turf Management).

I dont know, Im rambling. Maybe I should be posting this as a blog somewhere. I dont know. I guess the reason I felt compelled to post here is because of the international gathering that these forums host, and mostly intelligent posters, that I'd like to get feedback from. Anyone else out there aspiring to own land/farm/ranch/etc? Or is this a forum full of in-debt renters?

[Pookie]

I think you'd get a better response here.

[gast30]

think the same
i don't want to start a family
more focused of letting go
the simple life

a farm would be fun
thought alot in alternatives way, green world
so 'everyone' has a benefit from

live day by day
and i know people like to work together for a better future
there is soo much invested in it
people worked hard
for those things are clear and simple

you are doing good
and thinking long term

sometimes you don't have to take it too seriously
family and friends will be always there

and you can make new friends and get to know other family's

stay in love

[!@#$%!]

i do but will answer tomorrow
hang in there

[ann ashtray]

Sign, sign everywhere a sign....

[Keeping It Simple]

No offence, but I'm not a fan of landowners. I see them as selfish, arrogant bastards who suffer a god complex.

[cars_willkillyou]

Originally Posted by Pookie

I think you'd get a better response here.

if you're joking, thats hilarious. if not, then i need to work on how i present my opinions through writing. I did mention the part about my reason for posting here has to do with seeking opinions of intelligent posters, yes?

[cars_willkillyou]

Originally Posted by gast30

think the same
i don't want to start a family
more focused of letting go
the simple life

a farm would be fun
thought alot in alternatives way, green world
so 'everyone' has a benefit from

live day by day
and i know people like to work together for a better future
there is soo much invested in it
people worked hard
for those things are clear and simple

you are doing good
and thinking long term

sometimes you don't have to take it too seriously
family and friends will be always there

and you can make new friends and get to know other family's

stay in love

Thanks.

[gast30]

remeber they where selling islands some time ago
around 100 million $ then

if i want to buy things i would make moves
for the maintainance to produce art


need some egoism, for my dreams
this ofcourse have not to weight on people who need to have a sleep place/ living place

don't know for myself

ultra modern
who is going to help me with that
wait for new materials to be found from space

to far dreaming or ???
who knows what the future
will bring

[gast30]

time to forget this future dreaming

and need to move on
with what i got at the moment

[gast30]

i think the price of land depends on different factors
don't know who really is specialized in these things

[!@#$%!]

FUCKIT, i have a bourbon hangover, which isn't nice at all.

i am renter but im not in debt. i prefer to rent because i don't know where i'll be living next year and buying a place ties you up.

having said that, i have access through my wife to some family land and we have a cabin there, which we are slowly building as a getaway place. we actually lived in it for like a year. living in the sticks was a bitch, but we survived. camping is nice, but if your camping trip goes on forever you'll discover some hard facts, such as: nature is fucking boring and horrible, people are more interesting than trees, and cows shit a lot. i'm a city person and i like it that way.

if you wanna be smart with your money read up on personal finance before coming up with a cockamamie land scheme (i love those 2 words paired, "cockamamie" and "scheme." cliché, i know).

if you don't wanna get tangled up in worksheets and money-tracking software and shit like that i suggest reading elizabeth warren's "all your worth" which is a very simple method for increasing your net worth while having fun.

i've studied a lot of personal finance books in the past 2 or 3 years and hers is by far the best system for the general public, unless you're looking into "early retirement extreme" such as this: http://earlyretirementextreme.com/ <- that is a good place to start if you wanna live off the land etc. the reason is cuz he sets you up to quit work in 5 years. but it requires a certain ascetic temperament to do it, which i totally lack.

anyway the first thing you need to do is amass a good emergency fund, 6 or 12 months of living expenses in your bank account, so that if you run out of a job or something you don't end up eating cat food. even with inflation being higher than the savings interest rate, which means your money is shrinking every day, it's best to have savings than not to have them.

to read more about the use and building of emergency funds and living on cash you can read dave ramsey's "total money makeover," which is a very annoying book full of religious propaganda but actually has some great ideas about the horrible suckiness of debt, how to live on cash, and other good shit. so read *with a fat fucking fistful of salt* but read it anyway.

anyway after you have your 1-year emergency fund or whatever the easiest thing to do is open a roth IRA and start putting money in it and if you have more than $5K/yr to invest you can look at another investment vehicle, depending on your job, etc.

"investing" in land speculation is not an easy thing. first of all land isn't liquid, which means it's not easy to cash out in an emergency, like if you get in a motorcycle accident and need your spine replaced. or a less tragic scenario: you wanna start your turf-management business and need capital but it takes 2 years to sell your land and collect your money. second, unless you have knowledge and expertise of real estate trends you might buy some piece of shit toxic dump right under a powerplant chimney. and then who will you sell to? so don't get into a business you don't know. if on the other hand you have expertise raising hogs by all means go at it and turn profit into bacon. but don't be a dolt and get in a business you know nothing about, that's how fuckers end up with nothing. it's better to invest in a business you know, like your own profession.

anyway, you still need a place to stash extra money and grow your net worth. prolly the easiest investment to manage would be an index fund. it's what warren buffett recommends. http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/...edge-fund-bet/ you can maybe look at low-cost vanguard index funds for that.

but anyway start by building up your savings, else all is blah blah blah.

best wishes. now i need some fucking sleep.

[gast30]

for some kinda reason
i think i'm never going to be rich
and i'm not in the mood to get rich when i'm 60 years
no way

i know this envy of humans
it's unbelievably terrible

you know when you want to drink a glass of water is almost a crime
even if there is an ocean to drink

get sick of it
and that is not my idea of enjoying life

just don't want to get insain from money
it should help me forward
not stress my life or others peoples lifes

[gast30]

that is the finacial part how i think about it
yeah it's needed when you want to buy land

[gast30]

what i'm talking about is things from the old world

[gast30]

there are now retirement homes
for the oldworld
they should be thankfull
everyone grows old
it's the most normal thing

[gast30]

retirementhomes was the investments of the last years

[gast30]

can calculate and alternate on that for house prices
and then see what happens to land prices
can be really good for people who want to buy land

[gast30]

and so everyone is happy
and everyone can move on

[gast30]

is this not a good idea?