40 Acre Farm or Gold/Silver?

We found beautiful farm property bank owned with old house, new pole barn and old barn. 40acres surrounded by state land, rural town....about a 4 hour drive from our home. No mortgage cash deal.

Unless you are farmers and know how to farm this seems risky, particularly the size.  If it's only 2 of you how much land do you need?  Also, if it's far away from town, can you be self sufficient?  While running to the woods/farm initially struck me as the way to go I quickly realized I didn't have the skills or really the desire to try and be 100% self sufficient.  I took the approach that being in a suburb with a garden (not to far from a middle sized city) was a better option. When/If TSHTF, you want to be isolated enough to avoid major looting/riots, but close enough to still be able to buy things (potentially  black market).  If you are out in the middle of nowhere you really have to do it all. 

I want to pay off our 8k credit card debt, my husband says no - just make minimum payments.

That variable rate interest, you probably should pay them off unless you just plan on defaulting.

Part of me wants to buy all Gold/Silver.....we have about 10k in pms now.

I would buy more gold/silver or some other productive assets.  Do you have a garden (tools, books, fertilizer, seeds, SFG stuff, etc)? Have you bought everyday supplies that might become scarce?  Barter goods?  Few months food? Water storage?  All these type of things you might want to consider.

In my life I bought a year or two supply of things I knew I would need in the future anyway: everyday household goods, clothing, gloves, tools.  Then I stocked up on some food and then started on bigger things: heat, water, electric (solar).

My .02. (soon to be worth much more if old copper pennies). :-)

Romans,

It seems to me that just making minimum credit card payments is a risky strategy.  Unless you believe a total collapse is imminent I would definately pay those off first. It is a great way to effectively make risk free double digit returns on 8K which is hard to do right now.

How much is the farm going for?  Do you have to take out a loan?  How far is it from Detroit?  Can you and your husband "farm" that large of a space?  What other uses for the property can you envision?  Is there a well?  Is there sewage?  What is the condition of the home?  Etc.....

As for what you should do???  What are your current conditions?

Your CC bill is an issue unless as someone before stated, you plan on defaulting.  If you do plan to default then don't worry about it.  If you don't, pay it off over a 3-6 month period to keep some cash flow going.  

PM's:  Buy as much as you can but be smart.  Figure your cash on hand, cash outflow over the next 90 days, cash inflow along those dates as well and then figure what you can afford.  If the farm is a total of $45k (which would make ZERO sense to me obviously, as nothing is "free"), you could buy all of the above with the cash on hand.  

Anyway, gotta go as my child is on my bottom:-)

cheers!~

We can buy the property for about 40K, so NO mortgage, taxes are low ($700 year),the house needs some work, the old barn needs work, it's not too rural, close to a nice town.  It has a well, some apple trees, old grape vines etc.

We have three kids, a 6ft boy who works like a man...and two younger girls. I think we could learn to farm? My grandparents were farmers in Nebraska, isn't genetics at play here?   IDK Totally self-sufficient, sounds extreme to me....I wish.  But realistically I still go to Starbucks every morning :)

I'm most confused about the CC comments...no way do we plan on defaulting.  I guess I'm just concerned that if things go bad soon...I'd rather have the money in cash/pms or even land.  Why pay it off if the bank might fail anyway?  We have good income and no money worries rt now...if we had to, like jacked up rates suddenly, we could scrape to pay it off in a few months.  So why pay off debts? We have a mortgage too...

Our home is well supplied, just does not feel safe right off freeway, so close to major city.  We don't have neighbor/friend groups to turn to...in our circle all the people we know will probably turn to us.  Part of me feels like it's our job to prepare for a lot of people, NO one we know thinks ANYTHING is that bad.  And we live in Michigan for goodness sake!  They just keep waiting for the miraculous jobs to start hiring and then the housing market will recover and we can all go to Disney for Easter....thank God my husband sees the light.

You also want to have cash on hand in the event the currency doesn't collapse, but some other emergency arises like a bank holiday.  Until something else takes the throne, cash is still king.

Oh yeh, pay off the CC.  They are raking you over the coals with every payment of obscenely high interest rates.

Doug

Something doesn't sound right here.  Hardly any decent farm property goes for only $1000/acre with good soil, water, buildings on it, and proximity to a decent town.  Any contamination of the water or soil?  Is it in a flood plain area?  What town is it in (I'm in Michigan too)?  Also, on properties like that, the tax is probably capped.  Depending upon how long the property had been held by the previous owner, you may find your taxes skyrocketing once you buy it and the taxes are uncapped.  Something doesn't seem right.  Also, you'll have to make a significant capital expenditure to be able to farm that land.

I'd buy off the credit card.  Why pay that high interest rate.  I'd also add to my PMs.  $10K worth is not a lot.

Romans,

Much depends on your particular situation.

How do you feel about farming? You indicated that you might be inclined to farm. I am biased toward agriculture because if/when TSHTF food may be as good as gold to barter. If it's not, then at worst you won't go hungry. I have only four acres and have been growing food for only a year+, but I love it. The food tastes better (maybe only in my mind) and I really, really enjoy my little hobby farm. If you feel you can successfully engage in agriculture, the security IMHO is unmatched. However, as rhare pointed out above, there is a risk if agriculture is not for you. As far as the size of your prospective property, having too much land shouldn't be a problem; cultivate what you need and let the rest lie fallow.

What is your emploment status/forecast? This point is relevant to your credit card situation. If your income is reliable, I would let the credit card debt ride a while and pay down what you can after making your preps if the interest isn't outrageous. I had a similar dilemna, until I realized that my interest on about 10k, was only 8% (good for a CC balance) and I would rather have the security of PM's than a zero balance to Visa, so I upped my PMs and am working down my balance.  If TSHTF, credit card default would be the least of your worries. If it doesn't and your income remains secure, then pay as you go and all is well because you've done your preps.

What is your feeling about the depth of the crisis ahead? If you feel it's really going to get real bad real soon, then bug out and hunker down. I don't think it will be that bad that soon but who knows? Dr M says "Better a year early than a day late". Likewise I'd rather be over-prepared than under-prepared. But that must be your personal assessment.

Everbody has different comfort levels and different tolerances for different situations. All of the above advice is sound but different from what I found works for me. Right now, my big discomfort is having a mortgage with the inherent risk of default in a crisis economy. The thought of having 40 acres of agricultural land with no mortgage strikes me as being very advantageous. If TSHTF you'll have a great lifeboat. If not you'll have a great lifestyle. But that's just me.

I hope I (we at CM.com) have been helpful. Good luck.

Love you Earthwise!

I have the same opinion about the credit card....I really don't care about the interest, it's not high and I'm more interested in buying more stuff. 

I really think we are interested in farming!  Not so big, maybe 10-15acres to start.  We are city folk but have a 60x80 garden.  We are city folk but read Countryside Small Stock Journal cover to cover...we are city folk but keep 7 hens (illegally cause we are in the village) -we have four acres and so far no neighbor complaints. 

Our problem is we really feel like Something Wicked This Way Comes....and soon.  And our little piece of heaven does not feel safe in a bad scenario, no matter how many guns you have, we are still just afamily of five.

We can't just bug out because our business is thriving, which is a MIRACLE in Michigan.  So we are very nervous about the WHEN to leave.  We are afraid to buy a place Up-North...only to get there and find it looted.

AO -  It's the real deal!  Good soil, new pole barn, old barn, house is pretty rough.  The bank has owned it since 2008, farmland up North is very reasonable....it's all the cabins that are still priced way to high.

Romans,

I agree with Earthwise. IMHO the S#@!  has hit the fan and owning a farm free and clear sounds like a good long term investment strategy. Be sure to do your due diligence on the land. Check with the townspeople and find out the history, etc.

It will take probably more time than you think to learn to farm and to get things the way you want them. Better to start early!

Coop

Romans12.2

You say you're only 40 miles from Detroit. How do you feel about Canada? I know someone (somewhat personally) whom is looking for a business partner/co-owner on an organic farm that includes a educational aspect in a beautiful area just north of Kinston Ontario.

I've met the woman a few times and my best friend did some WOOFing there last year. She's a wonderful soul and I would jump on this opportunity right now if I had the cash.

Check it out for yourself at http://www.goodworkcanada.ca/greenjobs.php?id=10379

Cheers and best of luck to whatever path you choose.
r.