There comes a point in every big idea when you have to stop talking about what you want to build and start figuring out where you're actually going to build it.
For Neuro Spicy Collective, that means land. It is one part of the larger vision described in why we are building the Collective.
Our leadership has decided that, ideally, we want to find a property within about an hour of Portland, Oregon. We've spent a lot of time looking at different areas, but Columbia County has always stood out to us. There's something about the area that feels like it could be a natural fit for what we're trying to create.
So, naturally, we started looking.
And when I say we weren't really ready to start shopping for land, I mean we really weren't ready.
But then we found a property in Clatskanie.
It was 104 acres.
It had a waterfall.
It had two streams.
About 80 acres were timber, with another roughly 20 acres that had already been cleared.
In other words, it was pretty much the kind of property that makes you stop and say, "Okay...we need to at least look at this."
So we did.
Welcome to PF 80
Once we started seriously investigating the property, I quickly discovered that buying land isn't quite as simple as finding something beautiful on a real estate website and saying, "Yep, we'll take it."
Who knew?
I became intimately acquainted with Columbia County's PF 80 zoning regulations and started learning exactly what would be required to establish the Collective on property like this.
And I actually enjoyed the process.
There's something exciting about taking a vision that exists mostly in your head and starting to figure out what it would take to make it physically possible.
Of course, there was a small problem.
Actually, there were several problems.
The First Red Flags
Anyone familiar with Highway 30 between Scappoose and Clatskanie probably won't be shocked to hear that the front portion of the property had accumulated quite a collection of refuse and random stuff.
The house itself wasn't really in bad shape.
But as we started doing our due diligence and talking with the county, we discovered that things were considerably more complicated than they first appeared.
The owner hadn't obtained permits for the existing structures on the property.
We discovered that he had been operating an illegal campground.
And then there was the mortgage.
And the property taxes.
Neither had apparently been paid in years.
So, yeah.
There were some problems.
But we were still undaunted.
Because underneath all of that mess was an incredible piece of land that seemed to have enormous potential.
We decided to make an offer.
And Then Things Got Interesting
Our first offer was declined.
Okay. That's disappointing, but it happens.
Then, later, the owner changed his mind and accepted it.
Suddenly, the ball was back in our court.
And this is where our great land-buying adventure ran headfirst into the reality of financing.
I own property in Portland that I had planned to sell in order to help finance the purchase of the Clatskanie property.
Unfortunately, we didn't have the luxury of waiting around for that sale.
The owner was being sued, the county was coming after him, and there were already enough financial complications surrounding the property that we needed to move quickly.
So I started looking into a bridge loan.
If you've never heard of a bridge loan, let me save you some time: They're not exactly the kind of loan that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.
The basic idea, however, made sense for our situation. People use bridge financing to purchase a property before the money from another property becomes available. Then, after selling the first property, they refinance the bridge loan into a traditional mortgage.
I actually felt pretty good about the strategy once I understood how people were using it.
Unfortunately, understanding the strategy and getting approved for the loan are two very different things.
We were ultimately denied.
And just like that, our first real opportunity to find a home for Neuro Spicy Collective was over.
So...Now What?
Honestly?
We were disappointed.
How could we not be?
We had found this incredible piece of property, started imagining what could happen there, learned the zoning requirements, investigated the possibilities, made an offer, had that offer accepted, and then watched the whole thing fall apart because we couldn't get the financing lined up quickly enough.
But here's the thing I've learned about building something like Neuro Spicy Collective:
The first opportunity doesn't have to be the right opportunity.
Maybe that property wasn't meant to be ours.
But the experience taught us something incredibly valuable.
We're no longer just dreaming about finding land.
We know what we're looking for.
We know more about the zoning requirements.
We know more about the financial challenges.
We know more about what due diligence really means.
And we know that when the right property comes along, we're going to be much better prepared.
Building the Foundation While We Search
In the meantime, we're working on another part of the foundation — including learning how to farm before we buy the farm.
The business itself.
I've become a little obsessed with getting the website up and running, establishing our brand, figuring out how we're going to communicate what Neuro Spicy Collective is all about, and starting to build an online community around the idea.
And that's actually how this blog came to be.
During my research, I came across several TikTok creators who recommended documenting the process of building something from the ground up.
So that's what we're doing.
WHY WE'RE DOCUMENTING THIS
You're not reading this blog because we've already succeeded. You're reading it because we're trying.
We're figuring things out.
We're making plans.
We're making mistakes.
We're occasionally discovering that the plan we thought was brilliant yesterday may not be quite as brilliant today.
And hopefully, we're learning from all of it.
That's what I want this blog to become.
A record of the journey.
Not just the polished version at the end where everything worked out perfectly, but the messy middle where we're still trying to figure out exactly how we're going to get there.
We're Still Looking
The search for land isn't over.
We're still looking for that place within roughly an hour of Portland where Neuro Spicy Collective can begin turning its vision into something tangible.
Maybe the next property we find will be the one.
I don't know yet.
And that's okay.
Because for the first time, this isn't just an idea we're talking about.
We're actually building it.
So if you're reading these posts and you have advice, ideas, experience with land purchases, rural zoning, building a nonprofit or community organization, creating a social-media presence, or just some hard-earned wisdom you'd like to share, I'd love to hear from you.
We're learning as we go.
And if you're willing to come along for the ride, you're more than welcome.
Because this is just the beginning.
We're Building It, One Step at a Time
We don't know exactly where this journey will take us yet.
But we know we're moving forward.
This is just the beginning.
Keep it spicy!