Group purchase of land for RV community

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highdesertranger said:
1.  whose name is this property going to be in?  what happens if they decide they want to sell out?
2.  what about zoning ordinances?  you try to put a large number of people on a smallish size lot and the county will be paying a visit.
3.  lets face reality socialism doesn't work unless it is forced upon people.  as soon as some people figure out that they do not have to contribute,  they won't.

well there is three,  there are many more.  highdesertranger

1.  Do you think you could put the property under a business like an organic farm, or RV park?  We would have to contact a lawyer for the details if someone wanted to sell their share.  Have some sort of contract drawn up.  Or like another member said pay annual dues instead of purchasing outright.
2. Having 20 people living on 10 acres in Oregon you think would be a problem?  In the suburbs of Philly there are mobile home parks with 100 mobile homes on 10 acres.
3. I think, with the right group of people, we would work together and nothing would have to be forced on anyone.  No one forces Bob to help people at RTR's do installations in their vehicles or put on seminars.

Not saying you are not correct.  Just curious.  Thanks.
 
wagoneer said:
Hey HDR I like #3 as it rings true to me and my sweety

You and your sweetie do not work together to get things done?  Any sweetie I had always cleaned the bathroom and I did the rest of the house.  Everything else always fell into place.  Never forced a GF into anything...
 
ghost said:
Could you please name the top 3?

The first thing that comes to my mind is a time that I had a tree service with one other guy , people always seems to think the other has it easier or better off .
I didall the setting of appointments and talking to the customers and drawing up buissness finding all of our customers , we used some of his equipment and I gave him half of everything we made , we argued over money at least every other day , everytime you think you got everything settled something would come up in conversation about how they think they deserve a higher percentage of the profits , this was with one guy, I can't imagine trying to get along with 25 different personalitys.
I would do it but Everything would be in a contract , Also I would try to keep it simple as possible , you would share the land and not be obligated to share anything else , everybody provides there own electric and rain collection systems , 
The rules for generator usage hours would be in the contract.
The land would be divided into 25 camp sites if there where 25 people and there would be a section allocated for sharing or communal group area.
 
Insurance.  Any venture must be insured.  What if someones dog got in a fight with; Another dog, farm animals, bit someone, got hit, raided someones food storage ~~~ Not to mention if a guest shows up, gets drunk and hurts himself.  Lawsuit.  

Water.  Well?  Storage tank?  Gardening use?

Sewage.  I can install a septic and pipes, but permits and materials are expensive.  

Then there are the EPA laws.  One person dumps oil on the ground, and the environmental paperwork starts.  

If everyone acts like it is RTR, it will begin smelling very quickly.  

It would need to be set up like a business, with shares issued and rents charged.  Costs assessed, all county laws followed.  An existing RV park would be the best platform to start off of.
 
GotSmart said:
Insurance.  Any venture must be insured.  What if someones dog got in a fight with; Another dog, farm animals, bit someone, got hit, raided someones food storage ~~~ Not to mention if a guest shows up, gets drunk and hurts himself.  Lawsuit.  

Water.  Well?  Storage tank?  Gardening use?

Sewage.  I can install a septic and pipes, but permits and materials are expensive.  

Then there are the EPA laws.  One person dumps oil on the ground, and the environmental paperwork starts.  

If everyone acts like it is RTR, it will begin smelling very quickly.  

It would need to be set up like a business, with shares issued and rents charged.  Costs assessed, all county laws followed.  An existing RV park would be the best platform to start off of.


Great info!  Thanks!
 
What if we got 20 people together all interested in this type of community and each bought our our acre, out of a 20 acre parcel, in our own name?  That would take care of anyone wanting to sell-out and and legal issues from other members?  We could all still help each other and have a community type atmosphere.  I think finding the right people is key.  Obviously you don't want to live with 19 a-holes surrounding you and I don't think that would be the case ...
 
2 words
Escapees Co-ops

They're already set up and all you have to do is join and buy a lot from someone moving out , then.........................................................
 
Initial costs

Land.  Depending on where, $10,000 to 200,000 (and up) for 40 acres  Some places perhaps 400K for an existing RV park site off a gravel road. 

Permits.  IF POSSIBLE.  Up to the cost of the land.  Many places will say no to this proposal.  

Materials.  Depending on the size of the project, up to 10 times the cost of the land.


It all depends on LOCATION.  

LOCATION:  Summer living?  Winter living?  Access to roads that will not wash out? Not in a flood plain or high danger fire area. 

Now try to find 20 people willing to invest.

You are looking at a lot of work finding possible locations, before you start making financial plans.  

Get a cost in mind, and use Google to see what you can find in real estate in the likely states.  That should take a while.  :D  

I am searching on a place where I can build three small underground houses for my children and myself.  I will be the boss, so 90% of the personality headaches will be avoided.
 
ghost said:
What if we got 20 people together all interested in this type of community and each bought our our acre, out of a 20 acre parcel, in our own name?  That would take care of anyone wanting to sell-out and and legal issues from other members?  We could all still help each other and have a community type atmosphere.  I think finding the right people is key.  Obviously you don't want to live with 19 a-holes surrounding you and I don't think that would be the case ...

Water and sewer. That is the big cost.
 
now that is a much better idea only problem with that is in the rural west(Oregon included) you can't buy 1 acre lots there are minimums, this was just discussed on another thread, most common minimum is 40 acres. if you were to go to a small town you could do small lots. but I will tell you this right now, trying to do this in a small town will create a lot of friction with the locals no matter how cool you are. then if you start in with carbon footprint, save the world stuff, sh*t is going to hit the fan. I travel the American west and have been around many small towns. they know me be name and my truck in several. in small towns the old saying "when in rome do as the romans" rings out very true. just saying. highdesertranger
 
This sounds very intriguing but I have some questions.

1 What is Bob's take on this idea
2. How much would be the buy-in? What would be expected of people besides money?
3 We are nomads do we really want to be tied down.
4. Many of us are very low income. How are we going to include those who can't afford to put in money or skills.
 
There is quite a bit of history on communes and why they did or didn't work - nothing really new here. One of the main ones is that being self sustaining is a 15 hour a day job - definitely not for people with relaxing on their mind. When people figure out that their work is resulting in very little reward (compared to a paid job) they quickly lose interest.
Self sustaining living is much more feasible when it's just a family doing it, but there's nothing romantic about getting up at five when the snow is ass deep to feed animals and clean barns.
I prefer a model more like slab city (without the trash). Just a big area where a limited number could park and be as social or solitary as they choose, but since there would have to be some sort of upkeep fee, why would that be better than free boondocking on public land?
 
What you would have in effect is a HOA for people who hate HOA's. A list of rules and regulations for people who hate being ruled or regulated. How would you enforce the rules? Say a few people don't like going to the dump, so their space is trashed. Some will put more effort into the coop than others, this will soon cause hard feelings. You are opening yourself up to be considered to be worst than trailer trash by the community you settled near. As it is now, you don't like the people you are camped with, you break camp and go elsewhere. So now you have property and you don't want to leave, you want THEM to leave.

I would like to have property overlooking this camp, just for entertainment purposes.

There are groups like the Excapees who own parks. Why not just join them?
 
I heard there are a few land owners willing to "rent to own" small portions (like from $150 per month) on up of land to individuals in parts of northern AZ (near Williams comes to mind). Not sure if it's true but I'm going to look into it. I'd like to establish residency here, get DL, tags and CCW and while I travel always have a place to fall back on and making affordable monthly payments from my pension would not break the bank. Rather then a group buy a few or more people could "rent to own" an acre or 2+ next to each other for something to stay on a few months out of the year. Interest would bite but would be worth it for me. Anyone have valid info on this.....has anyone bought land this way?
 
ghost said:
Hey all!  

I was wondering if any of you ever considered getting together - say 20-30 people - from this forum and purchasing a nice 5-10 acre parcel of land somewhere out west and all chipping in on it?  We could all park our RV's etc. on the land.  We would all have different skills and help each other in different ways.  One person could buy a sweet solar set up, another few could chip in and have a well dug.  Just a passing thought.  The best part is we would have a little community (family) off grid on our own private land to call home base.  

Peace,

Matt

Isn't that kind of what the Slabs is (without owning the land)?  -- Spiff
 
Spaceman Spiff said:
Isn't that kind of what the Slabs is (without owning the land)?  -- Spiff

Not like the Slabs in Cali because this would be private owned land in Oregon.  If the land was in-line with zoning laws no one can f with you.  The gov. can clear the Slabs in a matter of days if they wanted to.  Plus,  I'm talking about a self sustaining community, not a shit-hole out in SoCal with  no water and meth heads everywhere stealing your gear.
 
IanC said:
There is quite a bit of history on communes and why they did or didn't work - nothing really new here. One of the main ones is that being self sustaining is a 15 hour a day job - definitely not for people with relaxing on their mind. When people figure out that their work is resulting in very little reward (compared to a paid job) they quickly lose interest.
Self sustaining living is much more feasible when it's just a family doing it, but there's nothing romantic about getting up at five when the snow is ass deep to feed animals and clean barns.
I prefer a  model more like slab city (without the trash). Just a big area where a limited number could park and be as social or solitary as they choose, but since there would have to be some sort of upkeep fee, why would that be better than free boondocking on public land?

There is no snow ass deep i the part of the PNW we are looking at.  They average 5 in. per year.  We would not have animals all over the place.  We would drive to the market for food.  Just a small garden maybe.  Off grid for power and water, but not for food.
 
True American thinking and this being a dream, at 68 been thought about for 50 years at least. Not until you try it and either succeed or fail will you know the answer. I think about people like you who were like me in so any ways. so my heart goes out to you.
 

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