Is it all worth it??

[TinaSwarr]

You see we do not currently live on the farm we live a mile down the road, the farm is 42 acres and in a living will suppose to go to us eventually, according to the paperwork that we were given it will cost us less than it would to buy a single family home in the area... as of right now the house we live in can be sold and we should see a profit of at least half of the price of the farm.......but as of now we both work fulltime plus take care of the farm father in law is 94 and really can not help out much. we are not young either (46 and 52). we are both tired and often exhausted, we do think about giving it up and walking away, then those little things come up like sitting outside on a saturday evening and watching the sun go down over the fields, or seeing the grandkids out in the garden enjoying themselves and learning at the same time,... I guess what I am looking for is hope that some day it will all work out and be worth it. because as of right now we feel like we are working our lives away...

 

[FireTigeris]

It has a house? you can always make fixing it a futire generations problem if the house is nice and has normal amenities. (central A/C or Heat, water power, tv stations)

 

[TinaSwarr]

it has a livable house, but father in law sees no reason to fix things anymore, we have put a roof and furnace into the place in the last two years, that is what makes it tough we feel like we are keeping 2 places going......but we can not stand around and watch things fall apart when we may be the ones having to fix it in the future.... I think the constant exhaustion sometimes really wears me down.

 

[FireTigeris]

Been there, done that-

I feel your pain, I was 20-23 when this was happening to me.

I picked the older house and had it remolded, living there with chickens now.

The other house isn't mine anymore- the market is better for a ready to move in house then a fixer upper-

Remember just because you own 42 acres doesn't mean you need to 'work' 42 acres.

You could always subdivide the larger property later and sell off pieces if you wanted, or in some states the state will buy it for 'wildlife' or whatever.

 

[KBlue]

If I remember correctly the Burearu of Land Management has a program that if you commit a minimum of 40 acres "back to the wild" you will get reimbursed for the lost productivity of the land. Since you have 42 acres, keep the two surrounding the home as your yard and put the other 40 in the BLM program. Win win.

 

[TinaSwarr]

hubby likes the field work, he says the time spent on the tractor is his alone time, we are thinking about selling off the developments rights though, meaning we could never sell to a developer or even build a second house on the property.

 

[FireTigeris]

I have a son now and I wouldn't just for that reason, your kids may want to 'buy' half of it later from you for a house and a large play yard and to be closer to ya'll. I'd put up a 'guest house' (the legal minimum to be a house later a large shed that could be added to or converted later) first then sell off the remaining rights

 

[Mattemma]

It is worth it.As the population grows the value of land will increse.

My MIL (along with siblings) got land from the parents.All the siblings sold off their land to live easy.MIL saved her land and rented.Siblings now have no money,and they are very jealous of MIL who still has all her land and monthly money.Plus the value of the land increased.

My mom is leaving her place to me.I will rent it out since I do not ever want to live in the city,but maybe one day my kids might.

 

[dewey]

The majority of my sacrifices have been with an eye on the future for my kids and/or grand kids... so if sacrificing for something is worth it to you strictly for their sake alone (even though you may never personally see the benefit) you can't go wrong.

Otherwise, maybe a new agreement could be made where you receive the property now and can live there, taking care of your FIL. That way you could sell your place and concentrate efforts on the farm.

 

[TinaSwarr]

Thank ypu all for listening to my rant yesterday, it was just one of those days that everything was overwhelming, I am back on track now and I know everything will work out in the end... This is a small family farm that's been in the family for many generations and was about to end in auction, we are trying our hardest to not let this happen...