Missed opportunities - man do I wish I had some serious money to invest...

[Guest Close Quarterbore]

My uncle is getting out of farming and he is looking at selling his 200 or so acre farm and I was talking with him about it... In my area, land costs nearly $200,000 for an acre of land (with NO house) but where he is located land is is more like $1,000/acre. More amazing is the fact that most of his neighbors are all getting older and they are all talking about selling as well...

Combined, these farms amount to somewhere between 1,000 and 1,300 acres of continuous land in the Finger Lakes Region of New York.

If my Uncle's estimates of $1,000/acre are correct, then for about $1.5M that tract of land could be turned into a theme park, resort, campground or ???

Lucky for me, I am flat broke and have all the work I need or want but man would I like to sell my house in the burbs of Philli PA and take the same money and buy 250 - 300 acres of land.

Too bad there is no industry in the area so you could get a job (of course, that is why land is so cheap)

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I believe Tony likes that area, Thats where he hides the bodies.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

They make wine up there--maybe you could start a winery! Or build a resort or a B&B. It's very beautiful country.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

I believe Tony likes that area, Thats where he hides the bodies.

.......................

[Guest Close Quarterbore]

I should have shared...

This is in Watkins Glen NY and the properties border the Wathins Glen State Park on one side and the Watkins Glen Race Track on the other. This would be one huge tract of undeveloped land...

They do make wine in the area so yea, that would be a possibility.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

How about an RV park? We stayed at Presidential Wilderness Resort in VA this summer (thanks to a kindly TS4Mer) and they have a big, beautiful RV park with lakes, swimming pools, activities. Pretty nice, and packed with RVs that represent some serious money.

[Carol C Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carol C]

Watkins Glen!!! Ah, those were the good old days. 7 of us packed into a VW bug driving from Pittsburgh to a music festival with only 3 bands on the roster. Wading through mud and walking 8 miles from our car to the venue site. Yep, the good old days! And yes, beautiful country when it's not raining cats and dogs!

So, who wants to invest and develop the Watkins Glen theme park for aging hippies? Between all of us on TS4Ms we could each kick in $1K to buy an acre of Uncle Quarterbore's ol' farm! Who's in?

[Guest Close Quarterbore]

Any chance you remember the Hog farm on the road on the way to the festival? That would be the farm!

It is actually a pretty sad story...

The farm was quite successful at one point with a huge stock of breeder hogs. Then, they got in a bad lot of feed that was contaminated with aflotixin (a fungus) that caused all the sows to abort their litters).

Once the Afotoxin got in the feed and the herd it caused all the sows to lose their litters and my Uncle lost his shirt and it put him basically out of business. They had an auction and sold off all the machinery, had to bury or burn most of the animals, and they ended up tearing down the barns to eliminate the taxes.

These days he does contract work in a couple of the barns and leases out the land to another operation that is growing corn in the fields. My uncle works in the salt factory now doing labor as he does not have the credit or money to get back into farming and it broke is spirit to see a huge business just fall apart.

Tha sad part is the law suites have still never been settled as this has been tied up in the courts for many years. Now, even if he got the money to start over, he just isn't ready to build it back to what it was.

[Carol C Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carol C]

Any chance you remember the Hog farm on the road on the way to the festival? That would be the farm!

It is actually a pretty sad story...

The farm was quite successful at one point with a huge stock of breeder hogs. Then, they got in a bad lot of feed that was contaminated with aflotixin (a fungus) that caused all the sows to abort their litters).

Once the Afotoxin got in the feed and the herd it caused all the sows to lose their litters and my Uncle lost his shirt and it put him basically out of business. They had an auction and sold off all the machinery, had to bury or burn most of the animals, and they ended up tearing down the barns to eliminate the taxes.

These days he does contract work in a couple of the barns and leases out the land to another operation that is growing corn in the fields. My uncle works in the salt factory now doing labor as he does not have the credit or money to get back into farming and it broke is spirit to see a huge business just fall apart.

Tha sad part is the law suites have still never been settled as this has been tied up in the courts for many years. Now, even if he got the money to start over, he just isn't ready to build it back to what it was.

Ken,

So sad, the plight of the American family farm. A thousand Willie Nelsons working 24/7 couldn't help turn back the clock on what was once a proud way to earn a decent living. Too bad really. Btw my hubby grew up on a family farm in Washington state, and he's got enough stories to fill a book. That way of life is disappearing, and it's a modern day tragedy, imo.

Hey, just looked at New York Times online and found an article about Finger Lakes wine country...what a coincidence, eh?

http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/09/2...&ref=tmagazine

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Ken, what a tragic story. That is so sad. I wish your uncle well in whatever the future holds, and I hope the lawsuits are settled soon so he can at least be comfortable.

[Hostelling Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hostelling]

leases out the land to another operation that is growing corn in the fields

So if he were to sub out a section for you to purchase it looks like the property does produce income, so there is your income until you find a developer who wants to build up the area.


Daniel

[RESORT2ME Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RESORT2ME]

... one huge tract of undeveloped land...

They do make wine in the area so yea, that would be a possibility.

Vines take WORK of 5 to 8 years to get a production going.


Maybe start a commune for forums folk????


This landscape project has to end soon. We might could drop by and help out by trimming vines.

[WazzuCougFan Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close WazzuCougFan]

We are farmers in Washington state, and the fuel prices (which also directly affect fertilizer prices) have caused many to give up. I think a lot of them had lots of money tied up in expensive equipment. We don't own much, but it's paid for. Why someone needs a $250,000 combine that is used two or three weeks out of the year is beyond me. Where our combines are concerned, on the other hand, we like to say "duct tape is your friend."

Many of the crops have been down in yields the past couple of years due to drought, particularly at crucial times. This was kind of a double whammy for those struggling to get by. Fortunately for us, but unfortunately for Australia--our major competitor for wheat--it is experiencing even tougher drought conditions. The worldwide shortage has resulted in our grain selling for higher prices than in many years. This has helped offset higher production costs.

Anyway, many areas of the country have strict rules on what can be done with land, especially when taking it out of farm use. You'd want to check with the local zoning agency before buying land with the expectation to develop it.

[mshatty Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close mshatty]

What this thread makes me wish is that I would have sold my shares of JDSU to bigfrank at $80 when he bought years ago. Instead I still hold this wonderful capital gains tax elimination stock at this time.

Sometimes, inaction can be as bad or worse than taking a wrong action.