Major Life Change Alert!

In 3 days I'm driving my family 28 hours out west to look at a 3,000 acre ranch in the mountains. We're seriously considering buying it and moving there.

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Here's why:

- DFW doesn't offer enough to do outdoors

- An amazing investment opportunity (more on that later)

- This property is basically your own private national park, offering:

- Overlooks of a massive treed valley, all on the property, with a river running through it, full of trout. It's not just raw farmland.

- A 7,500 sqft home, 3 cabins, a 7,000 sqft lodge, full restaurant, two huge shops, a shouse (shop house) 3 shooting ranges, etc.

- 30 mins from 5 other major rivers

- World class fly fishing, bird, elk and deer hunting, mountain lions, etc

- 25 miles of trails for hiking or running, all on the fully fenced property!

- Not insanely cold (similar weather profile to Boise, ID)

- DFW is great for youth sports, and our kids play, but it's not a central focus and frankly, my kids aren't athletic. We mis the mountains.

- We want to reduce and simplify our lives. We want our kids to have REAL chores (feed the horses, etc). Not just "roll the trash out to the street."

- My general framework is "To have a better life, live more like they did 200 years ago." Work with your hands, eat real food, more time outdoors, etc.

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Cons?

1. It is insanely remote. The closest Costco is 75 mins away.

2. I'd have to raise some money to buy it (it costs 8 figures)

3. The closest "real" airport is 3 hours away.

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There are several towns of 5-20k people within 30 mins.

The school district has 160 kids total, but is highly rated. There's plenty of LDS church (our religion) members, however.

We may homeschool if we move.

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Why would it be a great investment?

There used to be a thriving short term rental and vacation biz on the property that shut down during covid and the owners moved away and never reopened.

The lodge has 6 suites. Those 6 plus the 3 cabins each command $300 - $1,000+ per night, plus add-ons like fly fishing, horseback riding, etc.

It's been empty ever since, but maintained by someone living onsite.

The land would cost 4 figures per acre, but there are hundreds of acres with world class scenic views that would command $40 - $100k/acre prices, especially if residents got access to all 3,000 acres as an amenity.

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Elk Creek Ranch (Colorado) pioneered this model:

1. Buy thousands of scenic acres
2. Sell a handful of homesites that offer all of the acreage as an amenity

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My 4 phase plan would be this:

1. Move out there and get our bearings.

2. Restart the vacation rental biz to get revenue flowing.

3. Parcel out 30-150 scenic lots and sell them over for time for 10-30x per acre what we paid, offering the whole ranch as an amenity.

4. Add an RV park overlooking the valley.

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We arrive this Friday night! Spring break is next week. These are my favorite pics.

Any questions? I'll report back.