Homesteading elders seek young couple to share land for a few years and eventually you buy us out.

My partner and I have been homesteading for 25 years in the beautiful Methow Valley (north central Washington).   We built an Earthship (3000 s/f), grow much of our own food organically, and have numerous outbuildings etc.   Unfortunately our kids don't want to have a rural life here, so we have to work out a different plan for sharing what we have built with the next generation of homesteading enthusiasts.   We are 70 and 57 years old and no longer have the energy to do all the work homesteading takes.   We leave for the winter (november thru march) and our son has been staying at our place for the last few years but this will be his last winter here.   We have lived a simple life and our only real asset is our home so we will have to gradually sell it to the next generation but are willing to make that a doable process for the right candidates.....   If this sounds like something of interest to you, send us a note and we can start a conversation of possibility.

I will try to attach a photo, but am technically challenged so please be patient.

May joy and blessings come your way.  

ps. we have many local friends who have similar opportunities to ours if you are anti-earthship or don't care for the thought of sharing the land with us for a few years..... but you will probably have to have access to capital to buy them out in a more normal financing set up.

Oh my goodness this sounds exactly like what my husband and I have been looking for!

We are a couple that have been trying to get our credit  score up so that we can get our first place but we have no help as our families are poor, and it's been very hard, even tho we have no bills but student loans now. It has been our dream if having an off grid permaculture farm for so many years. We basically make all our own stuff and have jobs that could be done over the net.

We are 42 and 45 and very interested in earth ship and strawbale respectively and are currently in North bend Washington. We would love to start a discussion with you.

Thank you. --afira and grizz

I'm intrigued - my husband and I are 26 and 27 and are looking to make our next move to our forever home, but have been holding off due to accruing enough money for a sizable down payment on some land. We also have an 18 month old son and intent to try for baby #2 spring 2017.

Could we perhaps discuss this more via email or PM?

Hi Michelle........ The Twisp Washington area is a great place to live, great folks in that area... We are also experienced homesteaders..... and we love that area... We have a few questions that might help us and others feel out the situation that you are offering... (1) how many acres do you own...?  (2) what are your water sources...?  (3) any fruit trees established ..?  (4) what would you guess the value of your homestead  to be..? and (5) would you need to receive large chucks of money (like a down payment), or what would you need to receive per month, over the years of paying you for it....?  and what % of interest if you are carrying the loan...?
 You see these are very practical questions, that any person interested might need to know to look into it further...... because if you needed say, $45,000 down and it turned out the monthly payments for say, 20 years was over $1,000 a month.... those requirements would eliminate ourselves..... but a smaller down and smaller monthly payment might work for low income people like ourselves...   Here I our posting .. looking for land to share..

Hello there,
We are looking for a long term (permanent) Land Sharing Situation in the Western States, (West of the Rockies) or in Southwestern British Columbia..... We have the skills and means to build a homestead from bare land... We have a small, steady life-long income.... so we can be on the land, not working away to earn a living.
We are looking for property to share that has a strong, clean year-round creek or strong Natural Spring, lake , ponds... in other words, abundant water. But not too rainy (less than 45" annual) ....we do love the sun! Privacy, some trees, shrubs, some meadow or pasture..... and at least a 100 day growing season.
I am a Natural Builder of many types of buildings; underground Earth Lodges, log Cabins, Stone Houses, Tree Houses, Hobbit Homes, Thatched Huts using wattle & daub, Cob, Straw Bales, Adobe, slip straw, Board & Batten, hand hewn logs, hand split shakes, etc. I am also a very Handy Man, Being able to fix or repair just about anything needed on a secluded Homestead.
My wife is a passionate food grower, having managed market gardens and small community gardens.... but prefers subsistence gardening. She is a cheese maker, goat herdress, greenhouse grower, hugelkulturist, budding permaculturist, plant person and homeopathic practitioner. We have been growing and raising about 90% of our own food for many years. We are really into both self-reliance and interdependence with like-spirited folks.

We are Devoted to living Simply on the Earth. We are committed to Enhancing the Web of Life, wherever we live. We are Being the Change that we would like to see in the World. And we enjoy teaching and sharing our knowledge and experience with others who are on the path such as interns and apprentices. We have lived with, and shared land with other people for many years so we have developed good communication and cooperation skills. We would like to plant fruit trees and bushes, put in a big garden, build a small Hobbit house, build a small goat barn..... and root ourselves At Home, on a piece of Beautiful land with you, being good friends and helpful Neighbors. If you might want to share your property with us.... as long term caretakers, please contact us. Buying land together with some similarly- focused folks might also be an option for us.
Email: sunnybabaspirit at yahoo.com
 

I guess more information would be helpful, so I will attempt to answer some here:

Our place:

10 acres, on a year round creek.   Not farm land but southern exposure benches and hillside with a mix of old growth pine, aspens, riparian area and shrub steppe.

Water source, well, 107' plenty of water for our needs.

On the grid with solar potential if someone wants to make that investment.

half acre apx. established deep bed organic garden (25 years of soil building)

a dozen fruit trees in need of good pruning and care (not our forte').

Earthship 3000+ s/f,  carport with root cellar, chicken coop and garden outbuildings, old barn on creek that was our home while first building earthship.   Noone has lived there for a few years so it needs some work, but is a potential second living unit.

Our place is only 1 mile off the valley floor with paved road access that is maintained by county.   Our driveway is dirt and steep, but 4 season if kept clear of snow in winter.

Currently our homes market value is around $400k.   We would be willing to work with the right folks in making purchasing land overtime possible, especially if we are sharing it with you as part time residents during april-november.   You would have to come up with some kind of down payment, substantial enough to guarantee long term commitment and caring for the land and improvements.... But we are truly interested in passing the batan of what we have built to young people who have the energy, attitude and vision to take it to the next level of wonderfulness......

If you are thinking of farming commercially, this land is not the right place, but there is valley floor farm land close by which could probably be rented for a fair price within a couple of miles.

Still interested?   you can email me at gracefully2100@gmail.com

Like I said earlier we know MANY elder homesteaders in our area looking for either outright selling their places and/or open to a more creative gradual turnover like us.   I would be willing to attempt coordinating hook ups, in this regard for serious inquiries.  (none of these are officially for sale at this time, it is just that our generation is finding it more difficult to keep up with the homesteading chores and maintenance and have realized that we need to do some adapting to prepare for our final decades of life, taking the realities of aging and the global economic and climate challenges into account.)

Rock on friends!!!

Thank you so much for the additional information Michelle, it sounds heavenly!! Unfortunately it seems to be a bit out of my price range, but I'm certainly open to talking with others that are in a similar scenario.

I don't want to ask you to jump through hoops to coordinate that though, are they just listed in local papers and such?

There are no listings, they are friends and acquaintances.   Send me info about you and what you are looking for.   I will start compiling a list of situations wanted and share that with our 'tribe' who are seeking extending their ability to stay on their land by including new 'partners'.

Hello, my name is Cass and my husband Travis and I have been searching for ways and opportunities to become homesteaders. He is ex military and I am a retired nurse.  We are looking for quiet peaceful locations where we can enjoy life and work to make it what we want..we are both in our early 40's and would love to speak to you about this opportunity..thank you..785.541.1481 or cwohler2017@gmail.com