Purchasing land together with other like-minded folks can be a win-win. By pooling resources, individuals can access a potentially larger or more valuable property. By sharing the ongoing responsibilities of the mortgage payment (assuming the land was financed), the group may be more resilient against issues and obstacles into the future.
But, buying land together also creates challenges in terms of seeking financing. We have a guide that will help. Our Collaborative Land Purchasing and Financing Guide is a great place to start exploring opportunities and the legal contingencies that go with them. For example, groups of unrelated persons can apply together, as a single entity, for an FSA Farm Ownership Loan. This is a powerful opportunity as a FSA Farm Ownership loan is a key way many individuals and married couples finance land for a farm operation. There’s no reason groups of unrelated persons can’t also take advantage of this powerful loan opportunity. Read the first Chapter of the Collaborative Land Purchasing and Financing Guide for all the details on how to navigate the FSA Farm Ownership loan process as a group of unrelated persons.
FSA loans aren’t the only option, and the second chapter of our Collaborative Land Purchasing and Financing Guide, titled Raising Money in Community outlines other avenues to seek financing for a collective farm ownership process. Read it to explore the legal contingencies and considerations around crowdfunding, offering equity, gifts, and more. We also know that stories can help bring boring legal content to life, so we dedicated our third chapter to a longer, hypothetical story that explores the relationship between 4 people who work together on receiving an FSA Farm Ownership loan. Read it for inspiration and ideas as to how you and your colleagues can access land together.
