# city in NB selling lots for $1.00



## lonewolf :) (Sep 13, 2016)

City in NB selling lots for $1.00 with free sewer & water hook up to increase population.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

If you mean MacAdam NB, it is less a city and more of a village. 

The census population was 1,151, where the mayor estimates growth to have pushed this to 1,250. The lots are aimed at helping move towards the 1,300 goal. https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/mcadam-offers-deal-to-bring-people-back-to-n-b-village-1.4190601

If that fits, get your bid in quick as there's sixteen lots that were in the original offer with no mention of how many are left that I have found.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/got-1...operty-in-this-lakeside-n-b-village-1.4190388


One has two years to build a house up to 1,200 square feet.


Cheers


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Wonderful. But New Brunswick is a province with huge problems. Declining industry. High taxes. Young people and families moving away-taking with them a huge amount of direct and indirect Provincial tax revenue. Health care costs increasing at a faster rate compared to the economy because the population is aging at an increasing rate.

There is a reason why lots are going for $1.


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

ian said:


> Wonderful. But New Brunswick is a province with huge problems. Declining industry. High taxes. Young people and families moving away-taking with them a huge amount of direct and indirect Provincial tax revenue. Health care costs increasing at a faster rate compared to the economy because the population is aging at an increasing rate.
> 
> There is a reason why lots are going for $1.


Good point. Maybe people should plan to live in a province that does not have huge problems like the ones you state. That province is...umm..what's the name of that province..ahh...I know it's not any of the 10 main provinces, because they are all horribly in debt and their populations keep getting older, sicker and poorer, and it can't be a territory...well the name seems to escape me... I don't know why.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

ian said:


> Wonderful. But New Brunswick is a province with huge problems. Declining industry. High taxes. Young people and families moving away-taking with them a huge amount of direct and indirect Provincial tax revenue. Health care costs increasing at a faster rate compared to the economy because the population is aging at an increasing rate.
> 
> There is a reason why lots are going for $1.


....jeez...if that's the case, they'll be going for 50 cents here in NL soon.....


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

I believe they tried something similar in mundare Alberta. From what I recall, they didn’t sell a single one.


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## Mortgage u/w (Feb 6, 2014)

Provide jobs and They will come.

If no one is around, giving lots for free will still be a challenge.


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## Mookie (Feb 29, 2012)

Why all the negativity about $1.00 lots?

Look on the bright side - even with today's rising interest rates, after putting 5% down (to avoid CMHC insurance) the interest on your 95 cent mortgage would be quite affordable. Also, if the value goes up by just one dollar you will have doubled your money! :cocksure:


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Mortgage u/w said:


> Provide jobs and They will come.
> If no one is around, giving lots for free will still be a challenge.


Not sure jobs are a requirement as apparently the population of MacAdam was increasing *before* the $1 a lot scheme was introduced. The new folks from Ontario and Newfoundland don't sound like they moved for jobs but maybe the families from Texas did.

The Farmer's Daughter Country Market in Whycocomagh, Cape Breton had the job as the main requirement. After five years if all was still good, two acres of wooded land would be the employee's for the cost putting it into the employee's name. They went from no job applications to over three hundred thousand.

Of course this is even smaller a community with Whycocomagh having a population of four hundred.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newf...-s-daughter-cape-breton-immigration-1.4501746




Mookie said:


> Why all the negativity about $1.00 lots?


In my case it is from calling a population of fifteen hundred a "city". :biggrin:




Mookie said:


> ... Look on the bright side - even with today's rising interest rates, after putting 5% down (to avoid CMHC insurance) the interest on *your 95 cent mortgage* would be quite affordable ...


Question is whether one has enough spare cash to build the house in two years or less to keep the mortgage this low. :rolleyes2:



Cheers


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Nice homes for sale there for $50-$70 so why bother with a lot and all that hassle ?

It looks like it would be a fine place to live for retirees, but a lack of adequate healthcare would keep most retirees away.


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## doctrine (Sep 30, 2011)

In many places in Atlantic Canada, you can pick up properties for essentially free, or perhaps just by paying a small tax bill, directly from the local government. Of course, you have to find a job, but if you can work online or have a business online or otherwise have a way to earn income independent of the local economy, or are lucky enough to fit in somewhere, you can live a very high quality of life.


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## lonewolf :) (Sep 13, 2016)

Mookie said:


> Why all the negativity about $1.00 lots?
> 
> Look on the bright side - even with today's rising interest rates, after putting 5% down (to avoid CMHC insurance) the interest on your 95 cent mortgage would be quite affordable. Also, if the value goes up by just one dollar you will have doubled your money! :cocksure:


 Someone has to pay for the so called free sewer & water hookups. My guess increase in property tax for those already living there


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

From the “city” point of view, they take a vacant lot with very little value (read tax revenue) and get up to a 1200 sq ft home built on it creating jobs and much better tax revenues...in theory it looks great but, in most cases the politicians throw in all sorts of conditions that turn off people and it turns into a failed publicity stunt.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

When I mentioned to my doctor that we were thinking of moving up north, he told me quite a few of his retired patients had moved to rural areas or cottage country.

Isolation in the winter and a lack of healthcare had brought them back to the city. 

There are always good reasons for low priced real estate. I haven't met anyone yet who had no idea of the value of their property. In fact, most people overestimate it.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

sags said:


> I haven't met anyone yet who had no idea of the value of their property. In fact, most people overestimate it.


I think your second statement proves your first more so than the other way around.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Two years ago we considered moving to a smaller town. We ultimately decided against it for three reasons. No international airport close by, limited medical facilities, and of course no Costco.

Looking in the rear view mirror we are so glad that we did not. My spouse required specialized medical treatment and subsequent procedures that would have necessitated us travelling 500 kms one way many times over the course of the past eighteen months. We are thankful that we did not move.


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## Earl (Apr 5, 2016)

I would prefer to live in rural NB (but not too far from a mid-sized town) instead of here in southern ontario, but unfortunately there are no jobs for me there. I tried searching for a job in Fredericton, but there's nothing that matches my qualifications. But I can see myself retiring somewhere like that when I no longer need to work. It has many advantage over southern ontario especially if you like the outdoors. Figure out how to create jobs, and the population will grow.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Not sure why so many people are willing to look for jobs, yet unwilling to look for ways to develop passive income which allows them to live any lifestyle they’d want.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

They need money to live.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Exactly sags...

I started my passive income stream when I got injured, lost my income source, and faced several years of unemployment with no benefits or social safety net. I also didn’t have a lot of money saved up. 

I wasn’t able to “get a job”, or live off the public teet...the only solutions some people believe in, I had to go a different route.

I started small, only a little invested, sacrificed a lot, had sleepless nights as some investments dropped...but, in the end, I still remember the moment when I looked at the investments and realized they were generating more money in a day than I made in a month. I didn’t tend to check the investmetnvery often. 

Admittedly, I was very lucky with some of my investment choices but, had I never made them in the first place(and I probably never would have started without getting hurt), I’d not be where I am today. 

To quote Gretzky, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”.

Of course, you could continue on the look for a job course, but I personally don’t know anyone who got rich from chasing a paycheque or living off of social services...


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

You are right. We didn't get rich from working for 40 years but we did contribute to private pensions which now provide for a comfortable living.

As the old saying goes,... thems that works eats.


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## nathan79 (Feb 21, 2011)

If most people didn't have jobs the economy would collapse.

Passive income is a misnomer, unless it's collecting dividends or something that legitimately requires no work. Landlording is basically a job... not a fun one either. I can think of a lot of actual jobs I'd rather do than that.

Of course that takes money to begin with. When you're starting from zero... no savings, no credit, no one is gong to lend you money. The bills don't stop coming in because you decide not to get a job. If you can get a decent job, and still have money left after rent and other necessities... then you have options and you can start saving toward building passive income. That could take many years, though.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

I have multiple streams of income. I have a stock portfolio which pays dividends, I’ve got real estate that produces income for me and employment for others and I have a couple of companies which provide income without me. 

However, I started out just being a small business owner and grew the rest after I couldn’t work and nearly lost everything. It didn’t happen overnight, but it also didn’t take 40 years...and my “pension” is a lot more generous than even the public servants.


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## Longtimeago (Aug 8, 2018)

sags said:


> When I mentioned to my doctor that we were thinking of moving up north, he told me quite a few of his retired patients had moved to rural areas or cottage country.
> 
> Isolation in the winter and a lack of healthcare had brought them back to the city.
> 
> There are always good reasons for low priced real estate. I haven't met anyone yet who had no idea of the value of their property. In fact, most people overestimate it.


Those are people who did not do their own due diligence obviously sags. 'Up north' covers a lot of territory and even then, it only covers some territory. There are plenty of smaller towns that are not 'isolated' and 'lack healthcare'. If you look at the listing here: https://www.cbc.ca/news2/health/features/ratemyhospital/hospitalratings.html You will see that some of the top rated hospitals in all categories (teaching, small, medium and large communities) are somewhat surprising perhaps to some. For example, no hospital in the Toronto region makes the top 10 but the Perth and Smith Falls Hospital (medium community) does. There are plenty of small towns in that area who are obviously not 'lacking healthcare'. St. Josephs in London is the top hospital in Ontario and the next best in the listing for Ontario After Perth, is Wingham (small community). I had to look up Wingham to see where it is! Have you ever heard of it? Would you say anyone living within a half hour to an hour's drive of any of those 3 hospitals is 'lacking healthcare'?

Yes, people retire and move to somewhere that good healthcare is not very near, but that does not mean anyone who retires and moves 'to the country' has no choice in that regard. You can move to a more rural location AND have good healthcare, you just have to do your homework.


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## Longtimeago (Aug 8, 2018)

ian said:


> Two years ago we considered moving to a smaller town. We ultimately decided against it for three reasons. No international airport close by, limited medical facilities, and of course no Costco.
> 
> Looking in the rear view mirror we are so glad that we did not. My spouse required specialized medical treatment and subsequent procedures that would have necessitated us travelling 500 kms one way many times over the course of the past eighteen months. We are thankful that we did not move.


Ian, like sags, you are taking one isolated example and hanging your hat on it. As in my response to sags, that you can find one place that matches your description, does not mean that there are not other places that have all the criteria you want to have.

Talking about a place that required a 500km one way trip for medical treatment AS IF there were no alternative other than to live next door to the hospital is really pushing the limits don't you think? Why couldn't you live say 25 minutes drive from St. Joseph's in London, Ontario for example. That would still put you living in a small town, rural area and yet with access to top ranked doctors in most specialties. Or if the best choice was say St. Joseph's in Toronto (one of the top 5 hospitals in the world for Cancer treatment), you can still live in a small rural town within an hour of there.

As for airports and Costco, well they aren't any problem either. You may have decided not to move and you may be content to self-justify it for whatever reasons but the fact is, you could have moved without giving up anything that mattered to you IF you had wanted to and did the research to find the places that would meet your criteria. I see no reason to suggest to others or to try and discourage others from doing so, just because you chose not to.


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## Longtimeago (Aug 8, 2018)

nathan79 said:


> If most people didn't have jobs the economy would collapse.
> 
> Passive income is a misnomer, unless it's collecting dividends or something that legitimately requires no work. Landlording is basically a job... not a fun one either. I can think of a lot of actual jobs I'd rather do than that.
> 
> Of course that takes money to begin with. When you're starting from zero... no savings, no credit, no one is gong to lend you money. The bills don't stop coming in because you decide not to get a job. If you can get a decent job, and still have money left after rent and other necessities... then you have options and you can start saving toward building passive income. That could take many years, though.


Nathan, like most people, I generally spent more than I earned (meaning I had debts) up until I was 35. I had a 'decent job' as you call it and did have money left over and so as you say, I had 'options'. Long story short, I decided to start 'saving towards passive income.' 

Where I differ from your statement is in the 'That could take many years, though.' It too me 7 years from start to finish, finish being retired. I think some people can easily over estimate how difficult or how long it will take them to achieve financial independence and may well allow that to stop them from starting in the first place. In other forums and threads, I have seen people saying, 'oh yeah, but I don't want to give up enjoying life and travelling etc. for years while I work all the hours in the day and night to get to a retirement goal.' I gave up nothing in the 7 years it took me to achieve financial freedom. Still drove a nice car, still went out to nice restaurants, still ate steak, still took 3 vacations a year, etc.

There is only one absolute must for anyone who wants to build a passive income. You have to start.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Supply and demand.

I have to wonder what the take rate is for this offer. Clearly, there was a reason why the city made the offer. That in itself speaks volumes. They were trying to create demand where none existed. Getting a free patch of land is not such a big deal. The real issue is the capital investment required to build.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Trying to create demand where none existed?

Then I guess the population growth, people interviewed who are moving in without a nearby job or reference to running out of houses are all spin?


Cheers


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

The idea is to give away land to increase the tax base. Nothing complex. These small towns have empty lots, not generating any tax income. They give the land away, which wasn’t generating any income, put a clause in that you need to develop it in some manner within a certain time period (usually build a building) and suddenly your worthless land is now a tax income for the town. Plus the taxes are based on the land value plus improvements. If they walk away, you have an asset developed by someone else. No real way to lose, plus you gain cross Canada publicity for your otherwise unknown town.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

So if I want to take advantage of this, do I need to take a number and get at the back of a long line? I don't think so. And no doubt if I do not build within a certain time period the land reverts back to the city. Clearly they are not going to give me a piece of land for nothing, with no commitment to develop within a certain time frame.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Hard to say with all of sixteen lots being made available ... plus it likely does not fit the news cycle schedule to revisit the story at this point.

As for the conditions to confirm the village won't give you a piece of land for nothing, I'd suggest reading the stories linked to in post #2 as most of what you seem to be confused about is included in one or the other article.


If you choose to ignore the info that the village population is increasing after decades of decreasing before the land offer was made ... that is your choice.


Cheers


*PS*
Smaller number of lots and no job incuded likely means the interest is no where near the 300K+ applications the Farmer's Daughter Country Market received with their "work long enough for us then receive land" deal.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

The village could well be increasing in population as young adults move from the nearby family farms to buy homes.

My wife's parents owned a cattle/grain farm in Saskatchewan. As farms were passed from generation to generation, the parents often retired in the nearby town.

Many of the young adults didn't want to live isolated on the homestead so they lived in town as well. They drove out to the farm every day to work.

The farms have gotten much bigger and farm homes are much further apart than when she grew up. All their neighbors have moved to the town and commute to the farms.

Travel through rural Saskatchewan and you will see all kinds of empty farmhouses. They are often maintained only as rest stops during the work day.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Possibly ... the ones quoted were from Ontario and Newfoundland, with mention of three families from Texas so not all are locals. Another article talks about the village deciding to target retirement types as well as tourists.


Cheers


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Update on this story today from the mayor

Ken Stannix is a ret't RCAF officer from McAdam. Christopher Stannix ferry is named after his son


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