I've got an idea, wondering how to best do it.

Motorcycle Mike

Motorcycle Mike

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I've got a bunch of hobbies that involve needing land, but I work in the city and don't want to commute daily.

So I've been talking with some buddies with similar interests and some disposable income and we have been talking about buying land together.

We are thinking of buying a parcel of land somewhere, say 100 acres that is mixed bush/cleared-land and use it for hunting, target shooting, dirt-biking/atving, snowmobiling, camping, etc..

What we were thinking is sharing the cost between say 5 to maximum 10 people to buy the land, equal ownership, and agree upon a charter or set of rules to manage the property... i.e. working together to multi-use the land (keep dirtbiking away from the hunting area, for example) -- all based on votes from the owners.

What would be the best way to set this up? Would the best way, although a bit of a cost, be to set up an incorporated company with shares to buy the land parcel? That way each share-holder/owner would be a board member with a vote, and every one's liability would be limited to their investment in the company. Also, their shares could be sold if they wanted out to a 3rd party or divided up among the remaining shareholders.
 
As most of your uses seem transient, I wonder if a hunt camp like setup could work? Lease the land off of some giant lumber company. It is more flexible, and as it has been done for ages, there should be lots of paperwork and people familiar with how to run a group successfully. Normally the lease rates are roughly the property tax on the land, so you would have the same yearly costs as your original idea without the large upfront investment.
 
GreyGhost said:
As most of your uses seem transient, I wonder if a hunt camp like setup could work? Lease the land off of some giant lumber company. It is more flexible, and as it has been done for ages, there should be lots of paperwork and people familiar with how to run a group successfully. Normally the lease rates are roughly the property tax on the land, so you would have the same yearly costs as your original idea without the large upfront investment.
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That is an idea I haven't thought of, but I am not sure if it would suit our purposes.

For one, we don't want to have to go too far to enjoy the land... so maximum 2 hours from the GTA, which rules out a lot of lumber company land.

Second, while the nature of the ownership will by and large be transitory and temporary, there would be nothing stopping us from jointly deciding on more permanent additions to improve the usability of the land such as planting a shared trailer / building a simple cabin, installing an outhouse, clearing some riding trails, etc..
 
Diesel said:
That is an idea I haven't thought of, but I am not sure if it would suit our purposes.

For one, we don't want to have to go too far to enjoy the land... so maximum 2 hours from the GTA, which rules out a lot of lumber company land.

Second, while the nature of the ownership will by and large be transitory and temporary, there would be nothing stopping us from jointly deciding on more permanent additions to improve the usability of the land such as planting a shared trailer / building a simple cabin, installing an outhouse, clearing some riding trails, etc..
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I can't offer any help for closer to toronto, but buildings/outhouses/trails all seem to be acceptable/expected to the landlords in the hunt camp scenario.
 
I have dreamed of doing this with a few buddies, but I don't have enough buddies. Lol.

I would like to have a property to build an off grid container house and dirt bike riding.

I wish you the best.
 
Your biggest issue will be having X buddies agree on the same vision for the future and how to split profits. Each one will have their own priorities and each one will think they did more than the others.

one of my buddies bought 70 acres in Oro for 600k. It had empty land, and trees in a 30/70 split. There is hunting on the land as well as yo can atv or ride as there are trails built with years of use. There is also maple trees which create some profit and came with a house which can be used.

other buddy bought a small parcel of land near Barry's Bay with his buddies. They each had their issues to sift through and as the guys wanted out, they were bought out by one guy and now he runs the entire thing 100% as he was the only one to move forward with it.

you need a good real estate lawyer to draft up a contract! a CLEAR business plan or plan for the future, and be prepared to lose your buddies. because money and friends don't mix well often.

or do as my buddy I QC, buy small land somewhere and then keep buying adjacent properties as they come up...but that takes longer.
 
Sounds like cluster****. Communes were tried in the '60's. Didn't take. Ever heard of Chuck Manson? Only way forward is with iron clad legal documents and fists of fury. If women involved put spiritual advisor on retainer.
 
mimico_polak said:
Your biggest issue will be having X buddies agree on the same vision for the future and how to split profits. Each one will have their own priorities and each one will think they did more than the others.

one of my buddies bought 70 acres in Oro for 600k. It had empty land, and trees in a 30/70 split. There is hunting on the land as well as yo can atv or ride as there are trails built with years of use. There is also maple trees which create some profit and came with a house which can be used.

other buddy bought a small parcel of land near Barry's Bay with his buddies. They each had their issues to sift through and as the guys wanted out, they were bought out by one guy and now he runs the entire thing 100% as he was the only one to move forward with it.

you need a good real estate lawyer to draft up a contract! a CLEAR business plan or plan for the future, and be prepared to lose your buddies. because money and friends don't mix well often.

or do as my buddy I QC, buy small land somewhere and then keep buying adjacent properties as they come up...but that takes longer.
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^^^^ Pretty much exactly that. The moment someone will disagree with others, the entire thing will become a disaster, and hopefully one person will have enough money to buy out others at that moment.
 
As people have said partners suck, you will never get 5 people to agree on anything, I have had up to 8 partners and as low as 1....I now have none and will never have partners again..as soon as some dorks wife wants a new kitchen and he wants his money back it will get even worse...here's the lesson...you want to play you gotta pay. Do it yourself or forget it if you can't afford it
 
N3WMAN said:
Sounds like a good way to lose some friends.

Anyone I know who has ever been in business with a partner has sworn to never do it again.
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Agreed, never do business with friends you don't want to lose
 
Some rural communities can be nepotistic or have good old boys networks. They are also into getting more sophisticated with regards to building permits and zoning changes. Changes you may want to make down the road may not be OK. Timber, mineral and water rights can be a nightmare.

Take the above problems and multiply by the number of partners.

If you aren't a resident you don't get to vote in local elections so they don't give a rat's rear about your problem (But don't forget to pay your taxes).

If I was interested I would look at future government planning and where they are planning population shifts ie new highways. Where is the 427 extention going to lead? these things are planned decades ahead of growth. Major developers are already banking land.

If the partnership splits up it would be better to be at the oasis instead of parked on a dune.
 
RockerGuy said:
Agreed, never do business with friends you don't want to lose
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Yep. I have many coworkers that used to all be buds until they tried to do side businesses together to earn some extra scratch and now they all hate each other.
 
unL33T said:
Yep. I have many coworkers that used to all be buds until they tried to do side businesses together to earn some extra scratch and now they all hate each other.
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Everyone goes into the business/partnership with the best of intentions typically...just with time some lose interest, and some just think their contribution is more than what the rest of the group thinks. And that's how the financial problems start b/w friends. Same as being roommates with friends...I've very rarely seen the friendship outlast the roommate arrangement. The only time I see it work is they stop being roommates BEFORE nerves fray to the point of no return.
 
Here's how you do it.

1. Approach A&E, Discovery, TLC, etc and request that they film your antics and shenanigans for their networks.
2. Be all 'duck dynasty meets pawn stars meets storage wars, Canada edition'
3. ???
4. Profit.
 
RockerGuy said:
Agreed, never do business with friends you don't want to lose
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No truer words spoken. I bought a house as an investment with a friend of mine. He stood beside me as I got married and was a great friend. Then his GF started making waves. Long story short He bowed out of of what he had invested and I now own the place outright. Not what I wanted but business is business and he let pu**y cloud his judgment.

Lives back in his parents basement :)
 
sounds like a great idea, however it will eventually lead to murder-fo-hire, blackmail, and other ugly illegal activites, and eventually end up being made into an episode of Law and Order.

you can never have equal votes. Someone will want something so bad, eventually they will kill for it.

btw, I might want to invest in this. dont worry though. i wont kill you.
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