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Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater

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Re: Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater

#541
post #410

i quit my software job and bought 20 acres of undeveloped farmland. then i got a job on a framing crew so i could learn to build my own house. built a polebarn on the land so far. and getting ready to dig a foundation probably next year. its been the most exciting fulfilling adventure of my life so far. just got first harvest last month.

My friends and I always joke about quitting our software jobs to go work on a farm when things get rough. We're obviously just joking (things are never that bad). But you actually did it and living the meme. Kudos!

things may or may not get worse. but if they do get worse it will be too late to switch. lots of skills are needed to succeed, skills that you just dont get exposure to if you arent living the lifestyle. for example ive learned some blacksmithing and carpentry skills, and ive built and fixed cars throughout my life. always had a garden when i lived in the city etc. ive wanted to do this for the last 5 years or so.

Re: Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater

#542

i quit my software job and bought 20 acres of undeveloped farmland. then i got a job on a framing crew so i could learn to build my own house. built a polebarn on the land so far. and getting ready to dig a foundation probably next year. its been the most exciting fulfilling adventure of my life so far. just got first harvest last month.

I live on >100 acres and maintain a software job. Spend all day in front of a computer and all night in the dirt. Only thing we grow is a 1/2 acre garden. We stick to live stock. I much prefer watching pigs, chickens and cows grow. Feels so much more real.

right on. im actually trying to start a small boutique web development business as well. there arent many people doing that here. i moved from the bay area to idaho.

id like to write software in the winter and farm in the summer.

Re: Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater

#543

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in a software job now, have some land, and I'm considering doing the same. Would you be willing to talk about your journey? I'd happily come help sometime too!

sure. im on instagram https://www.instagram.com/l_eonine/

[deleted]

Re: Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater

#544

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in a software job now, have some land, and I'm considering doing the same. Would you be willing to talk about your journey? I'd happily come help sometime too!

sure. im on instagram https://www.instagram.com/l_eonine/

Very cool. Sadly I don’t use any Facebook products so I don’t have an account there, but I’d happily email you!

Re: Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater

#545
post #534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does the effort pay off compared to a “normal job”? I get the fulfillment aspect, but is it cost effective for the labor? To give an example, I can buy a few pounds of potatoes for $5, and I cannot possibly see how I could do better than that myself.

right now the payoff isnt very good. we got 4000$ for the harvest. but the overhead is small and once i get greehouses in i think i will do well. still have more market research to do, and see what grows best in the spring and fall. i have some special sauce planned to grow in the winter. i think it will be hard to not make good money if i can produce in the winter. but i dont know yet. i just bought it at the beginn…

Thank you for the comment and I wish you luck. Yeah, I remember organic carrots were hip among past engineers a few years ago. I’d imagine it’s pretty hard to figure out profit projections without lots of years of data. I think apprenticeship is the only way to get going, and you seemed to have done that.

Do you feel like you are “working” in a traditional sense? I myself think I will have some sustenance-level farming as a hobby but I don’t think I would commit to doing it as job; I’d probably do a bakery before then ;)

Re: Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater

#546
post #545

Earlier quoted context omitted.

right now the payoff isnt very good. we got 4000$ for the harvest. but the overhead is small and once i get greehouses in i think i will do well. still have more market research to do, and see what grows best in the spring and fall. i have some special sauce planned to grow in the winter. i think it will be hard to not make good money if i can produce in the winter. but i dont know yet. i just bought it at the beginn…

Thank you for the comment and I wish you luck. Yeah, I remember organic carrots were hip among past engineers a few years ago. I’d imagine it’s pretty hard to figure out profit projections without lots of years of data. I think apprenticeship is the only way to get going, and you seemed to have done that. Do you feel like you are “working” in a traditional sense? I myself think I will have some sustenance-level farmi…

no it isnt like work at all. its very much like founding a startup (i did that and failed, because of poor personal life decisions). i have a vision and i am executing on it.

what i have going for me are the next to zero operating cost and the fact i am hardworking and i learn fast.

however this is not my only iron in the fire, i am starting a small web development consultancy and seeing if that takes. and im also framing houses right now. its all about acquiring the skills i need to make this work. even if that means im not making very much yet.

its an entire shift in lifestyle. different problems and challenges than you get in the city. throwing money at the problem isnt always the optimal solution here (for me), its much better to be able to do stuff yourself. then you dont have to make as much because you dont have to pay anyone to do anything for you. i can fix or build just about anything. eventually.

if i keep my overhead down, its all profit.

Re: Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater

#547
post #520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only person this reflects on is you. My life has done nothing but improve since getting married.

> My life has done nothing but improve since getting married. Presumably you wouldn't both mention her participation and dismiss her presence in the same breath... Not sure what you're trying to say about this reflecting on me, it's just an amusing contradiction. I think it reflects well on my sense of humor.

Why are you assuming that my wife tells me what to do?

Re: Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater

#548
post #547

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My life has done nothing but improve since getting married. Presumably you wouldn't both mention her participation and dismiss her presence in the same breath... Not sure what you're trying to say about this reflecting on me, it's just an amusing contradiction. I think it reflects well on my sense of humor.

Why are you assuming that my wife tells me what to do?

> Why are you assuming that my wife tells me what to do?

Why are you failing so hard at seeing your choice of wording through a humorous lens?

As written, your statement reads like "there's nobody around, and as a result, nobody is here to tell me what to do."

In the same breath you mention there being someone else around, but apparently your wife doesn't count as somebody.

It's funny, and judging from the +27 of my comment illustrating the amusing self-contradiction, I'm not alone in finding the humor.

Re: Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater

#549

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’ve been saying there’s a pending crash for the last five years. I’ve expected it too. The only thing that happens is soon as the market gets skittish, the fed prints money. They seem to be so scared of a recession, or maybe, the poets that be are so leveraged up themselves, that they will do whatever it takes to prevent a crash. My thought is, don’t be so leveraged that you’re the first to collapse when things g…

Try for the past 10 years. 2011 was a big recovery year and people were still screaming about a "double dip recession" coming.

20 years of continuous growth in Australia, with economists predicting a bubble burst every year. I believe we've had 2 quarters over those 20 years that didn't see growth.

Re: Lumber crash leads to 'blowout' sales as prices crater

#550
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

who has all this money to spend? everywhere everything is so expensive. i make a ton, and this doesn't add up. nothing about home prices seems to add up.

As someone with two realtors in my family, my understanding is most people are living beyond their means and don’t actually have the money. But the rates are low and loans are being handed out like hot cakes. People are carelessly and knowingly going into negative equity right now and will have a big wake up call once this market stabilizes, they’re going to be stuck for quite some time. Some of these people are even…

I'm unsure if that passes the litmus test.

In Australia, we had a royal comission into banking a few years ago, and the outcome was much tighter rules on lending, equity from assets, etc. We also don't allow people to invest in their own or family property from their superannuation (retirement fund). Yet our market has grown and grown, rising 17% or so in the last 12 months and almost 7% this quarter.

Yes we have a very low interest rate currently, however the median wage to house price gap is growing bigger daily. Yet the demand still far outpaces supply.

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