Hi everyone,
The main idea with the community is that freewill and ethics will be the principal focus. So people will have the freewill to do what they desire on their own plot that they own (within ethical respect of their neighbours). Also, that on community land we want to have a standard of treatment of others, animals and the land. We have talked about having a vegetarian standard for community owned land (not privately owned lots). So, for example, we wouldn’t agist cattle to be raised for slaughter but we would consider running sheep for the purpose of wool production.
We imagine for this project that there will be opportunities to engage in a community, being able to earn an income for working for the ‘company’ and also to be able to just own a little piece of paradise on an immensely beautiful and diverse property.
We are still open to more people getting involved so feel free to mention this to anyone who has been attracted to the project. Particuarly cash investors could be important at this time.
- Interest will range between 6-9% (7.5% is likely)
- Loan structure is quite flexible and there is also the potential for the loan to include the costs to setup income streams on the property e.g.. firewood collection, cropping
- The setup of a company and trust that’s suitable for the bank is important
- The bank wont be looking for any fees until they are fairly confident that the loan application would be approved
- Outcome should be achieved within 1-2 weeks
So what we are doing at the moment is drafting a financial plan to find out how the company could afford the loan repayments. We see three potential income streams at this point:
- Agistment of grazing animals
- Firewood collection and sale
- The setup of a cash crop owned by the company eg garlic, turmeric, market garden
So far we have found that with a combination of the above incomes, the company itself will easily be able to service the loan repayments. This means that in the case of an investor wanting to pull out of the project, the rest of us would be covered as far as the loan is concerned.
At this point we are talking about a share, which equates to a ‘lot’ of land with a title, to be priced at $100,000, and to attract cash investors, we could offer a share price for $80,000 cash upfront. This means that there will be an automatic capital gain on the price of the lot once the title has been changed (an investor putting in $160,000 upfront would eventually own 2 shares, and could later sell one of their shares for $100,000). The price of a title will be fixed and increased in value in accordance with inflation (This area is still being worked out). This is something we need to discuss as a group and also with the bank.
Here are links to as much info as we have at this point that is relevant.
Link to property ‘Blackbutt’
NSW Legislation for a Rural Landsharing Communities
http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au
Community Land Trust (possible framework)
Organisation with the focus on helping to set up communities
http://www.sustainable-communities.org.au
Exempt building codes 😉 (for living on the property before the Rural Landsharing Community is set up)
http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au
Trust and company information (very basic)
http://www.yourinvestmentpropertymag.com.au
http://www.investors.asn.au
Enjoy reading, Sorcha
By: alain
