Everywhere I look the ominous clouds of change are threatening life as we know it.  Spiritual and physical pollution cover the planet.  Families are disintegrating and our agricutural base is almost completely eroded. We are foreign oil dependent and burdened by taxes that are used for frivolous expenditures.  Petty crime has all but immoboilized the justice system while the larger crimes go unpunished  by a system that favors  whoever can afford to hire the best lawyers.  Do I sound disenchanted?  You bet I am and I'm looking for an escape.

So, some months ago I began looking for cheap land on which I might retire and lead a simple self sustaining life-style by growing and hunting my own foods while being completely oblivious to keeping up with the materialistic lifestyle of others.  My prime quest was to find affordable land that would be out of the mainstreams of materialism and still support self-sustainment.  At the same time, being partly greedy, my quest was to find land that could be used before and after I retire to generate income while increasing in value (investment growth) for my future generations.  

Well, I just returned from an area in Mexico which meets all of the above requirements.  Life there is the same as it was in the 50s and in some ways the way it was in the early 1900s.  This area is in the Sierra Madre mountains of northern Sonora, Mexico near the little town of Huachinera.  And affordable???  The 16K acres that I looked at as shown in the attached photos (the El Chimbarosa and El Salto Ranches) is priced at $24 USD/acre for a total of $384K!!!  Other examples of affordibility include labor for keeping fences mended  $5/day,  three meals and room in local hacienda - $20/day, housing construction (adobe or log cabin) - $25/ sq. ft., taxes on 16K acres - $500/year.  And investment growth???  The land is scenic, remote, and beautiful which is ideal for a eco/adventure tourism center.  The land is rich in native grasses and will support 400 animal units for cow/calf operations.  The land is also heavily timbered in places and, according to a U.S. logging company, will currently yield approximately $100K in cut pine.  The property has numerous springs and the Bavispe River with good trout fishing runs along the eastern side of the ranches.  The flora of the ranches include pine, sycamore, white oak, cedar,  fox tail grasses and grama grasses while the fauna of the ranches include deer, bear, mountain lion, turkey, grouse, American & Mexican Eagles, and many species of hawks and other birds.  There also numerous unexplored ancient Indian dwellings in the cliffs, caves, and canyons throughout the ranches.  There is also a 6K ft. dirt runway for small aircraft at Huachinera.

All of the above features afford the ranches with unlimited potential for different uses. They can be used for cow/calf operations, retirement tracts, hunting leases, or as an eco/adventure tourism center with horseback riding, prospecting, hiking/camping, archaeology tours, cycling, 4-wheeling, hang-gliding, fishing, canoeing, bird watching, etc.

Now for the negative parts.... Although Huachinera shows on Mexico road maps to be only about 250 miles southwest of Juarez across the Chihuahuan desert and the continental divide, only about half of that route is paved. The rest of the route must be by 4 wheel drive SUV or pickup.  So, to drive to Huachinera in a car from Juarez,  I had to detour northwest at Janos to Agua Prieta across from Douglas AZ, and then turn south to Moctezuma and then east to Huachinera... a distance of over 500 miles rather than 250.   However, if the Mexican government were to pave the road from Janos southwest across the mountains to Huachinera, it would open up that entire area to tourism from Texas and New Mexico.  I also understand that there is another dirt road (not shown on a map) that is also accessible only by 4 wheel drive SUVs and pickups, that goes from Nuevo Casas Grandes which is south of Janos to Huachinera. If either of these two roads were paved, tourism would boom in the Huachinera area ... and with NAFTA improving the economy of Mexico, that time may be near. The time may be ripe now for investing in this area.  In the meantime, investors in this area can enjoy it's untapped splendors  before it is spoiled by tourism.  If you have been to Yosemite National Park recently, you know what I mean.

Also, the road from Huachinera to the El Chimberosa ranch is currently very rough and is accessible only by 4 wheel drive SUV or pickup.  When I went there on Oct.31, the road from El Chimberosa to the adjoining El Salto ranch was still not completed and we had to ride in on horseback.  However, by the time you read this, the road should be completed and be accessible by vehicle.

And for those who have heard the old stories about the Mexican government confiscating properties in years past, this ended during the redistribution of lands from the rich to the poor years ago.  There have been some cases recently of properties in the restricted areas along the coastlines being questioned as to ownership. These cases, however,  are currently under review and appear to have occurred due to the long term lease conditions of the restricted zones, rather than outright buy of properties in the unrestricted zones as are the above described ranches.  Also, title insurance is available from Stewart Title (no relation to the writer) for purchase of unrestricted zone properties which confirms the faith of US business in the stability of the Mexican Government.     

In summary, for those who are adventursome and not faint of heart,  the ranches described above (or similar ones in that area) would make an ideal place for retirement while carrying out what ever it is that the investors decide to do with the land. Or, if a investor didn't want to retire there, they could visit  periodically to escape from the U.S. rat race, or just stay in the US and let their investment grow.  If this sounds attactive, you may be interested in one of the following proposals:

(1)I have made contact with a serious investor, Wes Kalter, currently living in Colorado who is heading up one proposed venture to turn the ranches into a commercial cow/calf operation. Wes wants to be a principal shareholder and will bring $250K to $300K to the venture with 4 or 5 other shareholders making up the balance.  The candidate ranches (16K acres) are priced at $384K ($24/acre). Wes is proposing an additional upfront investment of $200K more in cash or monthly commitals for operating capital to stock and improve the ranches for a total investment of approximately $550k to $600K. So, if you want to join this proposed venture, you will need to invest $55k to $60K for each 10% interest. If you would like to contact Wes regarding this proposed venture give him a call at (970) 490-6139 or email him at BAHorseman@aol.com.

(2)An alternative to the above proposed venture is for 10 people to band together and buy the ranches for the asking price of $384k ($38k each) and then decide what to do with the land and put up additional funding accordingly after the land is purchased. Although I personally lean towards this #2 proposal rather than the #1 proposal, I will probably join whichever proposal is the first to materialize and make a earnest money offer on the acquisition. There are several people interested in this #2 proposal and if you are interested in this one, give me a call at 817-777-1487 or 817-645-9302 or email me at country123@hotmail.com.

In either of the above two proposals, we would ideally form a Mexican Corporation which would provide the group with preferential treatment from the Mexican government. We can do this while we are looking at the above candidate  ranches (or other similar ones) or wait until after we have put down earnest money on the selected ranches...  It makes no difference.  The realtor/owners do say, however, that if we decide to buy the above candidate ranches and put down earnest money, they could help us set-up the corporation for around $2500, because they know the proper people to cut corners in Mexico. If we decide, however, to form the corporation first without their assistance and look at various ranches for sale by other owners, the corporation fee could run around $5,000.

Obviously, no one likes to buy a pig in a poke and if you are interested in the above venture, you will want to look at the ranches to see what you are buying.  Please be advised, however, that the realtor/owners  live two days travel time from the ranches and must have some way to discourage the "sight-seers" from wasting their time.  They, therefore, charge a "show-fee" of $1000 per visit to the ranch to show the properties.  It would therefore behoove you to join with others and share in the $1000 show-fee (e.g., four people would owe $250 each rather than the $1000 each if they went separate).  Let me know if you want to do this and I will arrange it with the realtor/owners.  And yes, if we decide to buy the ranches, the show-fees are deducted from the sell price .

So, take a look at the photos attached to this report and if you like what you see and read, give Wes Kalter or me a call and lets talk.  It makes no difference to me as to which way I get my foot in the door on this venture. I just know that I can't afford the whole enchilada on my own, but I can dip into my 401K in Jan. 2000 to contribute up to $40K with others to help this venture materialize. Drop Wes Kalter or me a line and lets talk.

Respectfully,

David Stewart

country123@hotmail.com

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