Category — LAND

Huge demand from new prepping movement

And those rapid gains may intensify in 2012 even if farm income levels off as a new generation of Preppers secure their future against economic and social collapse. (more…)

Brandt: punters will be "slammed"

Commodities Trader Peter Brandt sees lower oil prices; bubble in grains, farmland

Brandt is a technical trader, poring over charts and patterns to spot potential breakouts and breakdowns. Nowadays he’s bearish on corn and other grains, along with farmland, oil and natural gas.

“When you look at those markets, I think we’re at prices that are unsustainable.” said Brandt, who also writes a popular Internet blog about trading commodities and stocks. Read Peter Brandt’s blog.

Gold is one of the few commodities Brandt is staying long on. He also said the U.S. stock market is attractively valued, and warns of a “huge bubble” forming in Treasurys and other fixed-income investments once U.S. interest rates rise.

1. Natural gas is a bust (more…)

So you’ve decided to buy some land and build an off-grid home. Good luck.

If you are in the United States, chances are strong you will succeed. In the UK and Canada you will be beset by beauracracy and even if you triumph over the system, there are plenty other traps for the unwary. Here is a checklist of simple ways to stay on top and out of trouble.

Time is money
Unless you are going for a second home, building your off-grid place is no quick route to home ownership and it takes an average of about two years from finding a plot to moving in, so make sure you factor in the cost of renting or paying the mortgage on your existing home over this period. Half of this time is likely to be spent securing the relevant permissions and finding contractors.

Beware of false economies

1.  Rain
Without water, life is impossible.  Always buy land with a water source, if you can afford it.  If not, make sure you catch the rainwater.
There’s a reason you can buy land in the west Texas desert for next to nothing.  The reason is that it doesn’t have a water source.  A water source doesn’t have to be a river or stream.  It doesn’t even have to be groundwater.  It can be rainwater, provided that the rainwater source is steady and reliable. (more…)

BOSTON, March 19 (Reuters) – As a teenager in Wisconsin, Perry Vieth spent his summers baling hay in a neighbor’s field. Four decades later, Vieth is farming again. This time, however, the former fixed-income trader owns the land.

“At the end of 2006, I took a look at the markets, didn’t like what was on the horizon and decided to move into hard assets,” Vieth says.

He isn’t the only one betting on the farm these days.

During the last several years, investors have taken notice of the swelling prices and hearty returns that come with productive farms. Individuals and funds are increasingly seeing farmland as an ideal hard asset class.

Farmland generates not only regular income but also capital appreciation and can be used as a hedge against inflation. Another benefit: farmland returns tend to be immune to stock or bond fluctuations, making it a good diversification tool.

“A lot of people like to say ‘It’s gold with a coupon,’” says Chris Erickson, managing director at HighQuest Partners, an agribusiness consulting firm. (more…)

No zoning issues in the next galaxy...yet

Whether your interest is just in the journey or buying cheap land on another planet, the Final Frontier is the ultimate test of any off-grid survival systems – no chance to add an extra solar panel when you’re light years from home. (more…)

Go East for good quality land

Europeans looking for their off-grid bug-out location could consider Hungary and Romania – farmland prices there are still very low.

In neigbouring Austria a growing army of farmers are buying land in the two relatively poor former members of the Eastern bloc.  At the moment they have the market pretty well to themselves. (more…)

Making tea for the installer is not enough

So you decided to buy land and build a home yourself.  You dream of a valley, water from a natural spring, a small wood with old Oaks.  But there are also some practical things to consider if you plan to build in a remote setting.

Beyond the end of the pavement and the web of water, sewer and electrical lines, land is significantly less expensive. That lower land cost is offset by the cost of utilities. It’s important idea to understand your utility needs before signing a land purchase agreement.

Water and Septic

Water and sewer present as much of a challenge as electricity. (more…)

Small wonder that interest in off-grid living is at an all-time high.

Millions of homeless, but the bonuses keep on coming

Four million homeowners have already lost the roof over their heads; 3.3 million others are in or near foreclosure, and more than 11 million borrowers are underwater by $700 billion. Of course the market will recover at some point in the future….but when?

If you have a dead-end job and a mortgage on a property which is worth considerably less than you paid for it, the temptation to hand back the keys will be pretty immense. Unless you have kids in the middle of schooling, or an ailing parent to look after, it would seem to make a lot of sense to find some cheap land in a nice community of like-minded people, and forge yourself a new life.  You can start the process by registering on LandBuddy, our free service. (more…)