Krystina Szabo

Greetings from Danville, Virginia!  We are a little ways from Asheville, but we have a couple hundred acres, horses and other critters, as well as a couple and baby who live in a home on the farm.  I have my own home.  There is another old farmhouse, which will be available shortly.  Please send me a moosage if you would like to talk.  You sound like wonderful people, and this is a farm just beginning to get going--the greenhouse, the commercial garden, etc. for this winter's contract with the farm to table restaurant, etc.  We are looking for partners, not renters or laborers.  Friends who will stand up and help one another.  Hope to hear from you soon.  Krystina

Sent you a moosage. You sound like a wonderful family.

Thanks for the Moosage! Found your thread. Sounds like you really love living the good life! There have been many wonderful people interested in my 200 acre farm, and hopefully it will become an even more sustainable place very soon. New people will bring great things to this farm, and all will thrive. I have been blessed to start a lot of great Permies connections, and plan to set up the ability for people to come visit us and stay in the near future!! A guy from Ohio and a couple from Illinois with a toddler are coming in the next two weeks to stay--the house has two bedrooms (3 soon.) Hopefully, we shall have more room soon, the other (vacant) house will be fixed up in better shape... It will be great to have you come out after a little while, when they are settled down a bit. I went to the Intentional Communities in the Louisa, VA area, and they are wonderful places--you should check them out. Such great people, and that is kind of what we are trying to do here. We should keep in touch! My 200 acres is getting an infusion of intellect and ability, and we will be welcoming visitors and friends as they come this way.... hope to see you as you journey!!!

Best of wishes to you, akdeniz. I hope you add to this thread on Permies, as I am following you to see how you do. I hope you have the best of luck with goats!! And it would be good to keep in touch...

Hi! I have a 200 acre farm in southen Virginia. Not interested in selling, but would love to have a goat project/business as part of the community we are creating. Over 50 acres of extremely thick pastureland, lots of rain, not much wintertime. Lots of forest as well. 90 foot greenhouse. YUMMY SWEETWATER wells with 55 gal/minute and 45 gal/minute, as well as my own well and creeks and a pond. But I see you are in CA. I wish you luck, and would be happy to converse with you anytime about goats, land, etc. Any friend of Goats is a friend of Mine!

Hello! I have a farm in southern Virginia, and have been working to create a community here. Not really looking for temporary people, but if you need a place to stay overnight/for a short while, would be glad to have you visit. Interested in learning and sharing, new ideas and ancient ones. Have horses, a few cattle, 200 acres, poultry, dogs, and a cat. Working towards a well-structured group of people, some of whom will live on-site, with different skillsets--a community of people who support one another and are in turn supported. Not so much focused on the money, but I have lots of land and infrastructure, etc. to share--as long as we are all GIVERS it can work. NO TAKERS WANTED. "The more you Give, the more you Get," my mama always told me. (Actually, she said SHARE.) Anyway, wishing you the best. You look like wonderful people!

Hello Ray: Tell us more about yourself. I have a farm in southern Virginia, and although I am looking for people with a specific skill set, would like to know more about you and where you are coming from (intellectually, not just "Texas!") Mark seems to have had trouble getting through to you, so I kinda started getting worried. Hope all is well and we hear from you soon. Krystina

Anthony: Refer back to your first post, which wanted a contract that could evict someone with virtually no notice. I took a stand and said that I believe this is unethical, and that both parties need to have the opportunity to back out gracefully and with notification. Then there was the backlash about how terrible it would be to not have a long-term contract. Well, 30 days was/is, I believe, the absolute minimum notification one should give, and I offered it equally to both lessor and lessee. That is not to dissuade people from making longer-term contracts, or those that have a definitive ending.
I was surprised to find out you decided to go contract-less. I have also done this numerous times, under wildly different circumstances--although there was always (supposedly) verbal agreement. Because I am the kind of person who will NOT go back on my word/verbal contract, this ALWAYS puts me at a disadvantage. Thus, others can crap on me and I still feel it is necessary to let them continue for the rest of the year/ whatever, even if they do not pay rent OR provide any barter/in-kind help OR even pay on the electric bill (their legal responsibility, but I own the property.) So where does that leave ME? That was just about length of stay, repayment for rent, and bill paying. Howzabout all the myriad ways people can steal and destroy property and poach and drop the ball, etc?
Everyone is in love with my opportunity, too. Hello to all y'all who contact me from all over the world! Agree we all want to be part of something greater, etc. So your exciting advertisement precludes the need for agreement? Because I have learned that a "contract" is just a way to show one another that you understand and that you agree, in case you forget about things later on because you were so thrilled by the "exciting possibility." "Contract" ought NEVER be a way to disadvantage another person, or to pin another person down to any unfair technicality. There should never be any "fine print" or "gotcha." That's soooooo not the point. Less hurt feelings, more stability and security. Any contract ought to HELP the personal connection.
Am I somehow the only one who thinks this? Because NOT having a contract doesn't prevent hurt feelings, insecurity, and bad things happening--even if the other person is indeed a wonderful, excited, "vetted" person who buys into your "exciting possibility." BTW, if all you have is a "possibility," then you might really let other people down, and maybe they need a contract to protect THEMSELVES. (not FROM you, but WITH you, together, justincase-ies...you never know what crisis may happen to you or to them, and an "exit plan"--(thanks B.B. from a wonderful Egalitarian Community which has LOTS of contractual stuff--for that discussion!!) is just part of Good Planning Together. Cuz Stuff Happens. Even to All Good People.
Compassion, people.

Well, a month-to-month lease is the standard here in southern Virginia, both in the city and in the country: nobody around me has an annual lease--it's all month-to-month, or even WEEKLY (in which they just pay TWICE as much for the same home.) I don't know where you are. Thus, the only difference is that, for a home that I would rent anyway for money, the person would have the opportunity to participate to defer rent costs. This helps people with less cash flow or with skills or the determination to live in the country. It gives people a chance to own pets, free board for their horse, etc. and also gives them an opportunity to engage in a profit-based farm venture with us, as a job/entrepreneur. I think if you are from California or New York, perhaps this is anathema to you. But if you know about living in a more rural area, it's a pretty sweet deal. There is NO other place, even a trailer on 500 acres, that will allow you to own a cat or dog or horse or goat. Maybe chickens or a garden, but not an indoor German Shepherd.
I don't want to rent to someone who does not care, then turn around and "get some farm help" with that same money. I'd rather barter with someone who loves and lives on and protects the land, and who is not going to just come and go with no roots. On what planet can you just "get some farm help" who are responsible, capable, caring people, and live down the street? Those are the people I'd want to rent to and share the farm with, anyway!! I'd be happy to sign a 6-month or 1-year lease, but that requires more downpayment from the renter, more proof of income/renter insurance/credit standing, and some people cannot put the electric bill in their name due to circumstances and the very high deposit. These are problems I have had. As well as people who are unhappy and just "ride out" the lease but don't want to be there. THAT is what would be standard through a rental agency.
We are also considering a corporation, where people can buy into shares of ownership. However, that would cost people money. Hard to get around that. I'm just a barter kinda person, and building community is a good thing in my book. I was working hard to find that sweet spot. Once again, I responded to the post with a concrete answer. Anyone else have a concrete answer?

How about a month-to-month lease agreement, with 30-day notice given by either party? I believe it is unethical to kick people out with less notice than that, barring some heinous illegal activity. If you make the rent worth $X, then you can also have an agreement within the lease (or orally) that a person could work for you at $Y per hour up to the number of hours equal to $X. For example: A home is worth $400/month. (remember, there are 4.3 weeks in a month...) At $10/hour (skilled labor), that person would have to work 40 hours in that month to pay for rent. The work would be at your discretion and times, of course. THEN: you could just get rid of them if they don't work. OR--if something happens and they choose just to rent, they can work offsite and at least you get rent, until you find a new person, THEN you can give them their 30 days' notice. If they feel you are not doing right by them, they can leave when they give you 30 days' notice--which gives you time to find someone else. This is to their advantage, as you can give them BOTH a good job reference and a good renter's reference, as they gave you appropriate notice for both ending work and moving. That is what I have come up with, after being screwed too many times by work-live barter situations. This is clear, and tells people exactly what their work is worth, too. So everyone feels validated. What do you guys think?