As all of you who are also interested in having a few acres of land have surely noticed, the real estate prices in BC have gone through the roof and, for many, are simply unaffordable. What can be done? As in the case of many other things, the more you buy the less you pay per item. So our basic idea if that, lets say 30 acres of beautiful land is for sale for $345,000 and we can find 3 interested parties and work out personal and legal issues (See the legal information below) suddenly you can get 10 acres of beautiful land for $115,000 each!
This is not a communal innitiative- the main, and perhaps the only common objective is to be able to afford the land. Having said that, we are social and community orientated people and we are open and interested in some form of communal interaction over time and by consent, whether it is an occasional potluck or the building of a communal workshop....
Legal Information
There are a few different ways to legaly fomalize this ideal:
Subdividing the land: a standard procedure that takes some time and money, but would yeild completely separeated land titles for all purposes. The catch here is that you need to own the land in order to subdivide it. This can be overcome by buying the land as tenents in common and signing a private legal agreement that proclaims the intent to subdivide the land within a set period of time. Another option might be to have a legal agreement with the sellers of the land that allows us to do the subdivision prior to buying the land from them (with the buying parties paying for it).
Tenents in Common: a standard way of owning property together. Percentage of ownership can be defined, shares can be resold and transfered. The downside to this is mortgage issues as all parties involved must sign off on any mortgage to buy a share of the land.
Location
We are interested in land preferably on Vancouver Island, specifically the Comox Valley. Having said that, we are open to may locations, such as Gulf Islands, the Okanagan, the Kootenys or anywhere else that would meet our needs.
Timeframe
We are somewhat flexible with our time frame. Our intention is to thoroughly explore this idea during the next six months. We feel mostly "ready" and are just looking for the right opportunity/people to help bring this together.
A Bit About Us
We are a young family of three: Guy, Sarah and our two year old daughter, Aia. We have been blessed to live and travel throughout the world for many years and we are now ready to create a home for ourselves. Our backgrounds are rich and diverse- Guy has a variety of experience and skills, from goat shepherding, cheese making, construction, carving and woodworking, teaching math, and most recently, stay-at-home father. Sarah has a background in childcare and is currently passionately immersed in her work as a birth and postpartum doula and a childbirth educator. She has experience building natural homes from cob, and some farming skills. And, she can cook a wicked curry for the potlucks! We both play music and speak a few languages. We raise our daughter at home and imagine that we will homeschool her. We look forward to having more children in the future.
Our vision is to have a minimum of 2-3 acres of land where we can build ourselves a small home, have a garden for our own use, raise some goats for milk, chickens for eggs and meat, and maybe a donkey or two, for fun. Basically homesteading. We live a low impact life, meaning we keep things pretty simple. We like to be creative, or to barter in order to meet our needs, and while we certainly have no problem with working for our living, we want that work to be as close to possible to our actual needs- so growing our food, to reduce the amount of work we need to do away from the home.
We are quite social people and enjoy the company of others. We would love to have like minded neighbors, although thats not essential to sharing the purchase of land.
Contact
We invite input and ideas of all kinds. If you have experiences of this sort, or knowledge that is related to buying land in this manor, we'd love to hear about it. Leave us a comment, or for in depth information, please contact us by email: girokincanada[at]gmail.com
18 comments:
I think this is a great idea. As I do not wish to live on the land on the permanent basis, my interest is 'if there is an existing farm business' that I can operate and the other party get to live in the house and their portion of land and free to enjoy the property in whatever manner they please.
I am interested in Fraser Valley area. I think both parties will prosper over time and get to enjoy what they like best.
This sounds great, it is what I would wish to do as well. We live in Nelson presently, we really love to Kootenays the Slocan Valley in particular. Have you checked out any of the properties around here lately? A bit more affordable by 2 or 3, still expensive. I feel the same way, I would like to be able to afford land but not create an intentional community, though I like getting together on occasion and helping out whenever. I just want my plot and to raise my boys with forest and a big garden.
Let me know if anything interests you around Nelson!
From,
Erin
To Erin
Hi, we have been looking into Salmo ,it looks good, it is cheep, do you know why?
Slocan Valley is also good. We checked it a bit.
We would love any info u have a bout the area. And a bit info about you.
You welcome to contact us and forward any links to properties.
girokincanada@gmail.com
All the best
Guy and Sarah
iam presently looking for land myself,i live in the beasley/Blewitt area just outside of nelson.I run my own algae buisness all over canada and iam very intrested in growing my own food and have lots of connections all over canada with organic farms etc.I love the slocan valley area alot and the kaslo area also.Iam looking for a good amount of acres,i ahve found a few cool spots and have some friends who are selling there land in valley to move closer to Nelson.
John hi
if you are into buying land together you are welcome to contact us . Slocan and kaslo are deffenetly potential places for us.
Thanx Guy and Sarah
Hi Guys! Great job! I think this is becoming more of a real alternative for people. I think many people are on the same wave. I am part of a group of 7 (3 couples and a friend) who are wanting to do the same and are unsure of the legal hoops you have to jump thru. It would be great to have a conversation sometime and talk about the ideas/hurdles you've came across. :o)
much love,
Sommer
I am particularly interested in approaching this as a way to afford land rather than a way to create an intentional community. I spent 6 months in Kaslo this past winter/summer and found that the people living there were open and interested in anyone willing to share their skills and interests. It is also of course in a gorgeous area of the world.
Jess
Hello my name is Sarah too. We are a homeschooling family from Vancouver, looking for a different lifestyle. We are also interested in buying land with another family. We are fond of the Lumby/Cherryville area which is close to Vernon. We really want good growing conditions and that area is prime for growing a variety of things. We are open to other areas as well. We also like the idea of having community without the whole intentional commune idea. We are quite social and would love to have other kids close by for our two to play with. We like the idea of having animals, particularly goats, chickens, maybe a horse someday...
Maybe we could meet sometime....
Blessings.
Sarah
We have land for sale in N Alberta If you would be interested. It is mostly still undeveloped. Great for growing crops and farming. We have 320 acres and there is lots of building sites. We are close to Peace River and 2-1/2 hours away from Grande Prairie. It is very private here and we are surrounded by crown land. We are only 3 miles from the small community of Dixonville where they have a school and small community store and post office. If you are interested please contact us at arsimpson1@hotmail.com.
Al & Rejane Simpson
We are a senior couple, 54 and 67, farming and creating artwork professionally in Minnesota, who need to return to BC to obtain affordable health care after living in the US since 1994. We are definitely interested, but are one year out from actually returning, as we're not quite done renovating our farmstead and the market here for selling our farm has collapsed. The Cowichan Valley is our first choice, as we have lots of connections in Victoria and it's not too far away. Our sons are just starting college so will be in and out. We travel for long periods from time to time, so would love to develop a farm-sitting, house-sitting relationship with people to enable us all to travel in turn. We've been thinking along the same lines as you, about finding people to buy land with, then subdividing, but I'd also considered doing a common area, like a village green, since farming often takes many hands. Strata-titling an area like that can be tricky, though, so I can respect any contrary opinion of that you might hold. We have 2 broodmares and a work horse, do organic veggies and bedding plants from seed, and are just starting chickens. Not to mention pets... Nice to know we aren't alone in considering this idea! Let us know if you're still seriously interested and 2011 isn't too far away for you.
Hi I happened across this site looking for the same thing I believe we all are I would love to go back to a simple life I was raised on a farm as a child My sister and brother are interested as well My daughter and grandson live in vernon I like everyones comments I am facing the same roadblocks regarding finance I think that this could be a great solution for everyone Alice
We are currently looking at land in Coombs near Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island. We would consider land partners who have at least $180,000 to buy a half share in land (buy the land outright together) or who are interested in renting / leasing land long term. We have a 3 year old, 6 year old and homeschool and are interested in building a natural home and growing our own food. The 12.5 acres raw land under consideration is partially cleared and has a creek and a pond and will likely be listed for around 380,000 soon (early July 2010). Contact me at coastalrevelations@gmail.com if you want to talk about this soon.
We are a couple interested in purchasing land in the Comox Valley. There are a few large sections of land available here and we will be speaking to a bank soon to find out about financing. Our goal is to purchase land within a year, preferably at the beginning of summer. Have you looked into whether it is possible to do a mock survey for a subdivision at purchase, then only subdivide when someone would like to sell their peice of land? That might allow us to defer the cost until needed. If you are still interested in purchasing land let us know.
Hi - i just emailed you but wanted to ask, if you have found something and are sharing your land with someone, would you be willing to share your agreement with us? leaving out any personal info, names, etc of course. We are in the early stages of looking for land partners, researching agreements, etc. if you can help, great!
PS: to add to our description, we are off grid and generate our own power and water - fortunate.
We are KSA Land Solutions providing land service in karnataka state if u would have interest to buy lands u can contact us
we are providing land service in karnataka satate u can contact me at ksalandsolution@gmail.com
Well I may have something you should see, It is a website for a company that sells land all over Canada.
They have been doing it for decades.
I only recommend them because they are how I bought my land a couple years ago.
They post new listings at the beginning of each month and the good ones go quick.
Now the best thing is if you are not rich you can make a deposit usually $5 -6 thousand depending on the piece, and make payments to them or buy outright.
Anyway check this site as a inexpensive way to find some land, not always the best locations, I waited a couple years for the right one to show up. I bought 53+ acres pavement to the property and 70 km from a city (PG) for $60 thousand plus taxes.
www.dignam.com or search Dignam land.
Hope that works for you
Perry
Hi Sarah and Guy,
I know it's been years since you were on the hunt for a piece of land on Vancouver Island (I partly hope you found it ...but I partly hope you're still on the hunt) because my boyfriend, puppy, and I are looking for the same thing: Eco-conscious neighbours who are looking for a sense of community, elevated life, and peace within the green space around them. We would be interested in possibly building a cob or dirt-bag building home eventually, as well as live off our own garden. Maybe you're a neighbour who would like to share or trade crops too? :)
It is essential for us to be very near to the ocean and preferably in a surfable area.
We travel often throughout the year (because my boyfriend's family is from Germany and we have business in Toronto), so we would also be interested in sharing the same land (as well as our '83 pop-top Ford Campervan) with someone or a couple wanting to coordinate times when they want to travel there throughout the year. Maybe you are something of a freebird like us? We like to be flexible, and fortunately since we are both freelancers, this is possible.
It would be nice to hear an update on your adventures!
Best,
Kimberly
kimberdean@gmail.com
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