What happens if one of the shareholders have financial problems? Am I at risk of losing my land?
Once you buy your shares, your piece of land has essentially nothing to with the other shareholders. Each one is independant and cannot be claimed by any other shareholder or their ceditors.
Can I get a bond for such a piece of land?
Unfortunately the banks do not give bonds for shareblocks at all so it would have to be a cash sale.
What happens if the main farm wants to sell?
The main farm is also just made up of shares, it is simply a bigger one, so if they want to sell, it would also be sold as a shares. The company (Wildegees PTY ltd) cannot be sold as a whole unless all shareholders want to sell their shares. Shareholders will have first option if any additonal shares become available for sale.
What happens to any income / debt the company may have?
The company has no debt an cannot create debt without the signatures of all shareholders. To keep things simple, the company will also not be used for trading, only for the management of levies, property taxes, road maintenence, borehole maintenence and fence maintenance. The contract will stipulate this in great detail.
How much will the levies be?
The levies are just to cover the property taxes and repairs on the borehole, water piping, communal fences and access roads so will be around R500 a month per shareholder. Unfortunately being off-grid doesn't come without expenses and certain things can be quite costly. Property taxes and fence repairs are minimal but boreholes and water piping can be expensive to fix if broken so all levies wil be kept in the company bank account for such instances. The roads also need to be scraped quite often due to rain and loose soil. If more money is needed than what is in the bank account, this will be covered by the main farm so shareholders will never need to "pay in" if for example, a borehole packs up and costs R150 000 to repair.
How much water will I have access to?
The borehole only has a certain capacity so shareholders cannot use unlimited water which then inhibits the availability for other shareholders. For this reason, each shareholder will have their own water tank with a water meter giving a set amount of water "free" every month and excess water usage charged at a minimal rate. This will encourage everyone to keep their piping in good condition, avoid leaks and save water. Your tank will be separated from the main line with a valve so if you do have a leak, only the tank capacity is wasted and can be refilled after the leak has been repaired so everyone else's water supply is not compromised and you are not held accountable for wasting an enormous amount of water.
What kind of house can I build?
You may build any kind of house that fits the Western Cape farm regulations. The most important is that it must be no bigger than 175m2 and must be single story. It must also have building plans drawn up by an architect and follow engineer requirements. Unfortunately these are the standard regulations for additonal farm houses in this area.
What does building cost in that area?
This obviously depends greatly on what kind of house you want. These days the options are endless and many offer an "instant solution" where you get a turnkey house, ready to move in. Most, however are rather costly. If you want a brick and mortar house using a builder, building costs in this area range between R20 000 and R25 000 per m2 which is very expensive. Riaan, has however built several houses on our previous farms as well as 2 houses in Stilbay so can provide a quote using concrete blocks for building at around half the going rate. This would allow you to leave the building project up to us and just move in when its done. So there are many options available.
What if the shareholders don't get along?
The other shareholders are just like any other neighbours. If you don't get along you can simply stay away from one another and don't need to have anything to do with one another, although it would be a real shame since the community concept is of great value. Ideally, shareholders must fit in with the dream and the concept and be likeminded.
What kind of people would fit in with this community?
We would really like to have like minded individuals for the best functioning community.
That would look something like this:
- Hard working and individuals who are keen to learn new skills and are not afraid of DIY projects.
- People who have a good income that can sustain them while living this lifestyle. This means they are not dependent on an income from the farm, giving them the freedom to experiment and play with income ideas.
- People who love the outdoors and the freedom but won't mind the noise of bikes, chainsaws, or earth moving equipment every now and then.
- People who homeschool their children (The closest school is about 25 km of sand road away)
- We love the idea of being self sustainable bacause it allows us to control what we eat and ensures that we have food that is clean, hormone and antibiotic free, etc. It is also very rewarding to provide for your family this way, but we don't do it because we think the world is going to end or because of conspiracy theories. We are just aware of how bulk food is produced and would prefer to have our own fresh produce.
- Creative thinkers that can help us build on the community aspect and on what we can offer the homesteading community.
What are the costs of living off grid?
Many people are under the illusion that living off grid is a way to escape money and the responsibilites that come with it but this is actually not true at all. Most often, it is actually much more expensive unfortunately.
- Water is not free - Boreholes cost around R400k to drill and around R100k to rig with pumps, solar panels, controllers, tanks, piping, etc. These things can still break and need repairs or replacement.
- You will need a good high range vehicle which will still need to be maintained. Sand roads result in more maintenance and repairs and long distances to town require more fuel.
- You will need an off grid electricity system which will need maintenance and repairs.
- Planting any crops requires seeds, fertiliser, structures, irrigation, eqipment and loads of man hours. How you do this depends on the costs involved.
- You cannot produce all the food you will eat unless you are willing to live off only the bare minimum. You will need a huge variety, and be ensured that everything grows according to plan just to get a bare minimum. You will also need to spend all your time growing and preparing food. Even if you manage to produce your own meat, veggies, fruit, dairy products, cleaning products, and eggs, you will probably still need things like oil, sugar, grains, flour, spices, salt, cosmetics, tools, equipment, supplies, animal and people medicines, animal supplementary feed, bottles or containers for preserving, luxuries, fuel, clothing, etc.
- On our option, property taxes, water, water equipment, communal fence repairs, and road maintenance is all included for a mere R500 a month but if buying your own farm elseware, this alone can run into many thousands of rands per month.
Don't let this put you off, it is all very much worth it but you do need to be prepared for what it involves else you will just end up struggling and getting despondent. This is an amazing choice of lifestyle that few people get the priviledge of experiencing in this day and age and results in an amazing sense of freedom and adventure. The skills you learn are endless and gives you an such a great feeling of accomplishment and confidence in yourself. To teach our kids these skills is an absolute game changer.