For several years, some friends and I have been batting around the idea of clubbing together and buying a great big manor house in the country. For example, if there were ten of us:
£595,000 each would buy us
http://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/31016311?search_identifier=ae0f6c85292abc3d69349c5274112101 £250,000 each would buy us
http://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/33077492?search_identifier=ae0f6c85292abc3d69349c5274112101£125,000 each would buy us
http://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/29629604?search_identifier=ae0f6c85292abc3d69349c5274112101Leaving aside the many difficulties of living with other people, the main problem is not raising the necessary capital. The problem is what to live on once we get there. We are mostly young professionals based in London, so while desperate to escape London property prices we do need to be able to work and couldn't do our current jobs in the middle of the Yorkshire countryside. I and one friend have been talking fairly seriously about getting into holiday cottages, turning it into a shooting estate, renting one wing out as a period film location, etc. We'd all be happy to turn the estate into a part time job according to our particular talents, but it's difficult to run serious numbers as to how much we could make from things like holiday cottages, turning it into a shooting estate, renting it out as a film location, etc. I'd like to get a bit more of a serious business plan together to see if it could work.
To keep it simple and fairly comparable to our current lifestyles, let's say we need to earn £20,000 per person per year (no rent, but increased heating costs and petrol costs from living in the country plus a bit extra to feel secure in case of bad years). So we need to earn £200,000 per year from the house/land to make this workable.
Is this realistic, and how might it be done?
EDIT: Just so you know, we're not looking to do this immediately, so the houses above are just examples. Maybe in the next five to ten years, depending on how keen everyone else currently on board is when I show them real numbers. I think I'm quite aware of the sacrifices involved, but everyone else has not necessarily considered what it would really be like to live somewhere like that. This is why I want to turn it into a plan, not just a pipe dream.