Hello! I think this is a truly wonderful idea. I've toyed around with similar ideas.
I currently own a home in a community, and I'm writing you this for whatever it is worth. My community is a nonprofit. My community has an elected B of D who are homeowners. My community has a community manager. We have about 2000 homeowners. What happened in the long run is that it turned into a dictatorship driven by greed. One person who was hired to be the comm mgr held all the proxy votes, because the homeowners were too lazy to take an active interest in the communal maintenance, the Board let him rampage around and supported his vendetta's against homeowners who spoke out, and life became positively miserable. A homeowner was nothing more than a way to make money for these characters. Really, not so different from what is going on in the larger community of the nation we live in. On top of that, they fraudulently doctored up the Restrictive Convenants by pulling the wool over the members/masses eyes, which gave them unlimited power over the bylaws that are now also being doctored up all the time to best suit their personal agendas. The community spirit deteriorated and lawsuits ensued. Clearly, starting a community is a great way to make a lot of money for yourself and the few on the top that you selected, by exploiting the members /masses if you can stave off the lawsuits. If you can guarantee that such sheistery as took place in my community is COMPLETELY IMPLAUSIBLE in your ideal situation, then you've got it made and you've got yourself a real sanctuary in a rapidly deteriorating world. I truly hope your community will be exactly as you describe it: a safe haven for likeminded people who care about each other and the land they live on. That's how it used to be in the USA. Remember, where there are people, there's greed and deception. Good luck! -MB On Jul 5, 2010, at 12:28 AM, Bobby Yates Emory wrote: > A group of us are trying to start a new community. Some of us are > libertarian and some are conservative. You are invited to join us. > > If you have any questions, please ask me. > > (One clarification - the game preserve mentioned is a game preserve > in the > sense of where we will go hunting, not in the sense of a fancy, > government > approved game preserve..) > > Freedom Ranch II > > In September of 2009, a group of people bought 500 acres of land in > beautiful, lush, green North East Texas. We converged on our new > home to > prepare a place of safety, a place of retreat from natural > disasters, a > place of security in times of recession or depression, and a place > of refuge > from civil unrest. We were to be a self sustaining community. We > planned to > grow our own healthy food, raise healthy meat, and drink our own > fresh milk. > Also, we encouraged individuals to have their own businesses. > Individuals > would build energy efficient off grid homes for themselves and their > families. We wanted minimal government interference in our lives. > We wanted > to be able to take care of ourselves, not rely on the government . > > After a long cold and record breaking rainy, wet winter, this project > imploded. The land that we had been told was securely in our > possession and > there was no possibility of us losing, turned out have a $500,000 > balloon > payment due near the end of September 2010. And the old management had > differences of opinion on how the leases were to be dispersed and > and the > land utilized. They could not come to an agreement. > > The old management is gone. The remaining project participants > decided to > try to salvage the project. We still have the same goals of > creating a self > sustaining community and place of safety in these troubled times, > but we > have learned from the mistakes made in the past . .We are > reorganizing under > new management. The new management will do its best to maintain > transparency > and openness in administering the business of the ranch and dealing > with the > leaseholders. The Ranch will be in the hands of a non-profit > corporation. > The corporation, and therefore the Ranch, will be run by the > leaseholders > through an elected board of directors. > > Although each individual will have complete autonomy over their own > lot, > there is plenty of acreage for community cooperative activities. > This will > be a working Ranch with hayfields, animals, food production, etc. > We hope to > generate enough income to employ some of our residents and pay for > whatever > is necessary to run a successful ranch. Our purpose is to allow us > to be > self sustaining. We are running the farm to be prepared for the > hard times > ahead with our own food . > > We need the ranch even more today than we did when it was > conceived. The > slow march of our country toward disaster has sped up to a jog. > Unemployment > is rising. Uncontrolled government spending and bailouts are > bankrupting our > government. High taxation, over regulation. Chemicals in our foods. > The > persecution of the small farmers. Poison in our water. Every day in > the news > there are reports of more intrusions by government into our personal > freedoms. And now there is an ecological disaster of monumental > proportions > in the gulf of Mexico. Toxic gas and oil are being released into the > atmosphere . Millions could potentially be evacuated from the coastal > region. Where will they go? FEMA camps? > > We are looking for new members for our community. We are looking > for people > who live their lives in a moral and ethical manner and are honest > in their > dealings with others. New members may buy and hold their lot for an > emergency or they may move here, settle, and help build the > community. We > are looking for people who will share our dream and we have a very > short > time to find them. We will lease up to 120 one acre lots with the > remaining > land to be used for ranching, forestry, and farming. > > We are selling 99 year leases on this Ranch for $5500 per acre. We > chose > leasing rather than outright sale because the legal complications > of leasing > are less involved. Leases would also have the benefit of reducing > taxes for > the leaseholders and being under the umbrella of the non profit. > > We have a balloon payment on the ranch due at the end of September. > We will > know for sure if we can save the ranch by then. We propose to > accept new > members into the community. Their checks will be deposited in an > escrow > account and held until we have the full amount to pay off the > mortgage on > the Ranch. In the event that we do not reach our goal, all your > money will > be returned to you. (A similar arrangement will be a made for money > orders, > silver, and gold.) > > There will be an application fee of $35 or so to pay the escrow fee > and for > a background check. > > This is mostly raw land right now. We have an almost complete > community > center built by the leaseholders. Work is at a standstill until the > mortgage > issue is resolved. No septic or water yet, but electricity has been > run to > the community center. On their leased land, each leaseholder will be > responsible for their own water, sewer, power, and access roads for > their > own property. Most people on the Ranch will probably want to live a > self > sustaining lifestyle and be going off grid, but if people want to > access the > area's power or water lines, both are available at the > leaseholder's own > expense. Or you could go in with neighbors who also want to be on > grid to > reduce costs. There is a rough gravel road to the community center. > The rest > of the roads are unimproved dirt roads or just tracks across the > pasture. > > The property is beautiful and lushly green with some large trees > and ponds . > This is not the arid Texas of the western movies. We have about 200 > acres of > open pasture and hayfields., about 50 acres of woodland with young > 15-20 > year old trees on it. We have a clear cut section of about 100 > acres that > needs ditching and pond digging - then we can use it as pasture or > lots for > leases. We also have about a 150 acre hunting preserve .We have wild > turkeys, deer, and hogs that will go a long way to feed the people > on the > ranch in hard times. The land is beautiful but it is not easy. > Building this > dream will be hard work. The soil is mostly clay with a rich > topsoil. The > gardens we have planted are doing beautifully. With a minimal > investment in > fencing supplies and wire we will be able to pasture a good herd of > cattle > on the property and harvest enough hay to feed them through the > winter. > > If you are interested in participating in this kind of intentional > community, we hope you will join us. To join now, contact Laura at > montemomma2...@yahoo.com. > > If you have questions or would like to discuss this, meet us at the > discussion group to get your questions answered and participate in the > exchange of ideas about how you would like to see this community work. > > http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/freedomranchII/ > > Laura Wilkins > > -- > Toward freedom, > > Bobby Yates Emory > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
