Join me in buying a small college in Vermont!

 I want to buy a small college in southwest Vermont later this summer or fall. I think this $3-5M 80-bedroom 11-building 370-acre property is actually an achievable goal for a few co-buyers with a few months to organize, unlike the $10-20M 400-bedroom 22-building 155-acre property I was previously fantasizing about on a timeline of weeks.

 

Here's what I want out of this:

• A long term place to live that I can put effort into improving that I don't have to abandon every year or three as leases expire
• A large group of people to engage in projects and activities with
• A big wood and metal workshop for home improvement and art and other projects
• A small high tech fabrication space for hobby projects or production prototyping
• A large garden or small farm, producing at least enough vegetables that they can be a frequent feature in our meals
• An activity space for acro / circus / flow / etc
• An outdoor space suitable for 50-500 person camping festivals

In the name of transparency, and also to convey that this isn't "just an idea", I will disclose that I have $100k and $5k/mo to put toward making this happen. My best plausible case for financing, which will take some networking and finagling to achieve, would be something like $500k down and $20k/mo. Five people at my level of investment could do it, with $5k/mo left over to cover utilities, maintenance, and starting to improve the property.

 

Here's a rough concept of what I'm looking for from interested people, although everything is negotiable in between these discrete steps, as well as beyond them:

1. Co-buyers. You will vaguely match my up front and ongoing investment, have a comparable level of ownership and control of the project, and be named on the financing documents. You would have exclusive use of some private rooms for residence, and some control over one of the five residence buildings, such as guiding resident criteria to fill a building with carpenters, vegans, cyclists, acrobats, pet-owners, coders, or some other demographic sharing your passion(s)
2. Co-owners. You will invest less, perhaps $20k up front and $1k/mo, with a proportional level of ownership and control of the project but without being named on the financing documents. You would have exclusive use of a private room for residence.
3. Residents. You will live with us and pay below-market rent, have a private room for residence and access to all or most of the common spaces. You will have a voice in community meetings, but not a vote in binding organization decisions.
4. Comets. Like the romantic kind, but for love of the property and/or community instead of a person. You want to support the project and plan to visit us occasionally, for community or projects or hiking or biking or otherwise. When you visit, you will have access to the common spaces and facilities and a private place to sleep when possible.

Everyone involved will have some responsibility for keeping the space running smoothly as well as making it better in the long term. This might present as some sort of "chore"-like system, as well as some expectation to occasionally participate in larger scale community improvement projects. At some point this is likely to include a literal barn raising.

 

The legal organization of the project is up for discussion among the co-buyers. We might want to be individually named on the deed, or form one or more corporate entities to own the property and manage its use, or something else. There are many potential avenues available toward various goals, which the group of co-buyers can narrow down once we are joined in purpose.

 

If you want to be involved, get in touch. As of the writing of this post I have lined up one of each of the four categories described above. A few more co-buyers or a bunch more co-owners will be necessary to make the idea work at all, and many more residents and comets are welcome.