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Crazy Opportunity

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Ok, this is a long shot.  But, it’s one of those crazy Keep Austin Weird moments that must be shared.

Emily found an ad for a small farm caretaker couple.  Apparently, an Austin family wanted to have a farm, but didn’t want to give up their other activities to actually be farmers.  So they bought a 20 acre farm about an hour from here, and they work on the farm as they are able.  To compensate they hired a caretaker family to live in the farm house and run the farm in exchange for free housing, utilities, a $400 monthly stipend, and the opportunity to develop extra income from the farm.

The position came open, and we are meeting with them this weekend.

I say it’s a long shot because it’s so far away.  We’d have to rent out the house we just bought (which is possible but not my favorite idea).  My commute would be crazy long (I may be able to work from home), and the farm work would be tough to keep up with (Emily would be the primary).

But there are some positives.  Free housing and utilities for a couple years while we pay off debt would be amazing.  Our house would probably generate a net positive rental income.  And, since small scale farming is something we’ve talked about as a future goal, this could give us the chance to try it out and see if we like it, and learn a lot about it without taking the risk of buying a farm.

So anyway, I know it sounds crazy.  I don’t think it’s a high probability.  But it’s a weird opportunity that might just be perfect if we can work through the obstacles.

Just another day in our crazy world!


27 Comments

  • Reply Shoeaholicnomore |

    Wow! What an opportunity. There are lots of things to consider before you decide for sure. I will be interested to hear what you decide and why.

  • Reply Scooze |

    Well that is unexpected. I am not familiar with this type of bartering. What does taking care of a farm entail? What types of activities will you need to do? Do you have some of the skills? Will you need to learn anything to do this? How many hours a week do you think it will require of your time? I’m sure you’ll learn more when you meet with them. I’m sure we’ll all be interested to hear the details. Sounds like you’re waiting to hear more before you share.

    • Reply Adam |

      Yeah, it’s so early. We would be taking care of several kinds of livestock (but no slaughtering), and a 1/3 acre vegetable crop, and an orchard. We have some skills but will also be learning.

      Hours/week and other questions like that – just no idea yet. Will share when we find out more.

  • Reply DC - Kate |

    Hmmm, I grew up on a farm, and you really need to give this some thought. Taking care of livestock, a garden and holding down jobs is REALLY hard. REALLY. I can’t believe the crazy hours my parents used to work to keep everything going. There is always something that needs to be done. And, forget traveling. We rarely got to take even a short family vacation because finding someone else to feed the animals, clean the barns, weed the garden, move the sprinklers, etc. was difficult and expensive. I think a lot of people romanticize life on a small farm. My parents did until we lived it. Then my mom dubbed it “Purgatory”. After 8 years, it was enough.

    • Reply AshleyJ |

      Wow, that’s a really good point about the traveling….especially since we know that’s important to Adam and Emily during the holidays. Hey, sounds like there are a couple readers here with actual farming experience…..maybe Adam could do a little “market research” and gather more details from the readers as a way to gain additional info. Obviously the owners are trying to “sell” this idea, so they won’t necessarily be pointing out all the potential negatives. Also, why did the last couple leave? Too much work??? Curious if you could contact them as a reference and get their opinion??

    • Reply Adam |

      Yes, thanks for sharing this perspective. I think we got a feel for the time commitment with the farm visit, which we’ll write about shortly. There are some opportunities for a break since the work is shared between 3 families, but it’s still a lot.

  • Reply Mitz |

    Make sure you look into tax implications with this. The benefit you receive for free housing, etc. may be taxable as imputed income.

  • Reply ND Chic |

    There’s no such thing as a free lunch. You both would be taking on another job. You could forget going to your families’ houses for the holidays. Animals still have to be fed. A 1/3 acre garden is huge. That’s a lot of planting, weeding and harvesting. Gardening because you want to is one thing. Gardening because you have to isn’t half as much fun.

    I know I sound very negative but I grew up on a farm and there are parts of it that really suck. I love gardening now but would hate it if I had to weed as part of my job.

  • Reply Judi |

    If it pans out this would be a great opportunity/working experience. I grew up on a farm and it’s incredibly hard work but rewarding. A few things to consider

    1) if you rent out your house and aren’t living there it will be taxed as an income property and so make sure you would be able to rent it out for the cost of the mortgage+all taxes+small amount left over for emergency fund.

    2) for the travel make sure to ask the property owners there may be another option and often times neighbors will pitch in. My family would travel Easter and our neighbors family would travel Christmas so we would swap animal duties

    3) make sure to really research the care that the animals need. It’s great that you would get to do this risk free and that it would lower living cost, but I had to wake up at 3am to milk the cows and then shovel stalls before school. It is hard and you can’t take a single day off (no weekend sleeping in)

    That being said I love it. Good luck! My family has been farming the same land for over 100 years, and my parents did it while working other jobs. It is really hard but I plan on continuing when I get the land.

    • Reply Ashley |

      Ha! Judi’s comment (#3 – no sleeping in, ever!) just made me think…..hmmmm, maybe this would be good practice – not just for future farming enterprises – but also for when you become parents in the future???? lol! (Sorry – I’ve got 18 month old twins and NEVER get to “sleep in” so that totally resonated with me!) : )

  • Reply TPol |

    It sounds too much work. I do not think I would want to try it. You want to pay off debt fast but, do you really want to burn yourself out? I think this is an extreme…

  • Reply Mary |

    I think it’s a bad idea…you would basically be taking a second job on top of adding a long commute and then taking on a second job for which you have no skills. Then add to that the well issues on the current house plus taking care of your rental house if it needs work, not to mention the other rental properties! Yikes! That’s a lot of work if everything goes well but if any one item requires more work than normal, even for a small amount of time, it would set you over the edge. It sounds more like an idea on how to get rich quick. You just got a new job after losing the last one. I’d stay focused on trying to do a good job on your current job, and continue the aggressive payoff schedule. It will take some work to get the current bills under control (groceries, eating out, etc.) Spreading yourself too thin, not to mention your ADD issues, would just add stress. While it’s fun to dream about these other options, I think you need to stay focused on executing your current payoff schedule. Once you get your debts paid off, you can ponder these other ideas. Just be patient and stick to your plan and in 23 months, you can do something different. Good luck.

  • Reply Walnut |

    I grew up on a farm, which was my father’s main occupation, but my mom has always had a garden your size that she was able to hold together while working full time and raising a gaggle of kids. It’s a labor of love, but it is doable. Emily would probably not have much time to dedicate to her furniture business by the time you add in the animals/orchard.

    This is one of those opportunities where the opportunity could have been to purchase a small farm of your own and go all in. Just think – when you don’t have the debt and aren’t as reliant on the day jobs to meet cash flow needs, the crazy opportunity becomes an exercise in pursuing your dreams!

    I’m looking forward to seeing how this one shakes out.

  • Reply OC Budget |

    if you decide to take up on this opportunity, this blog will certainly be an even more interesting site to visit daily. I’ve always wanted to own a little plot of land to raise own crops/animals (rabbits, mainly)…. it’s all been just a daydream but this is an exciting opportunity for you and for us, readers, to follow!

  • Reply Joe |

    I think exploring the opportunity (including an on-site visit) seems like a great educational opportunity.

    Otherwise, offhand I’d say that the deal-killers would be:
    1. your commute
    2. your “extra time” for friends/family which it’s been clear are very important for you.
    3. timing with respect to disrupting a successful routine at a new job.
    4. unclear impact on future goals (starting a family, etc.).

    I may very well be under-estimating the financial positives here, so it will be quite interesting to hear more about what you decide!

    • Reply Adam |

      This is a pretty good summary. It’s a difficult decision. We’ll write more soon; we are taking our time to think through it.

  • Reply Jen from Boston |

    The long commute and taking care of the animals concern me. As others have said, would you be able to travel if you have to take care of animals? And how much would the long commute cost not only in time and energy, but in gas and wear and tear on the car?

  • Reply Den |

    It seems like a distraction from your goal of paying off debt and getting your financial house in order. I would talk to them, but maybe instead of this becoming your new full time gig, you could offer to fill in for the family that they choose – maybe a weekend here or there? That way you would still get the experience but not have to turn your life upside down?
    Good luck!

    • Reply Phaedra |

      That’s a great idea. Farms are a terrible amount of work. When animals are involved you cannot get away!!!!!

  • Reply Charlie @ Our Journey To Zero Debt |

    Wow, that is a crazy opportunity.

    Good luck with that. And I assume you don’t have kids?

  • Reply Cindy |

    Are you allowed to share your email address Adam? I’ve been following the blog since 2 people before you and have an idea for you to make extra income. It’s something I started in December and have already earned over $2500! If so please email me at cindyshernandez@yahoo.com

    • Reply Adam |

      Hi Cindy, please use info@1s0s.com to send the information to us. The email will go to the blog moderator, Jeffrey, and he will forward it to us.

  • Reply Sam |

    Hi Adam — I’ve been thinking about this for a few days. Mainly because I didn’t want to come across as one of the folks who dump on the internet! I would boil my comment down to this: as you consider taking this opportunity, please consider your decision making process and whether it is similar to the processes in the past that have led you into debt.

    I see a lot of ways this is a good idea, but I also see that something like this would leave you very little margin for other things (and therefore, similar to debt). Your job is new, and with any new job, I would expect that you still need to “build your brand” (some call this putting in your time, but I think that’s too negative). Would you have to forgo working late or travel because you need to be on the farm? That’s one example. I can think of others.

    Good luck!

So, what do you think ?