“There are two ways to invest in cash flowing assets [like a farm]: you can invest time or money (or both)."

Here is the story of how we bought our 16-acre farm and transformed it into multiple streams of passive income!

You might be thinking, "How can a farm become a source of financial freedom?"

Well, let me take you through the exciting and innovative ways we've turned our rural property into a powerhouse of income without trading time-for-money.

Author's Note: bookmark this page! I will be writing frequent updates as we continue to renovate and monetize our 16-acre farm in Leavenworth, Kansas.

When my husband Ben and I first had the idea to buy a rural farm in the Midwest, we had no clue what it would take to make that happen.

As avid fans of Robert Kiyosaki, we knew the best way to buy real estate is as an investment property, not just a home to live in. We had succeeded at this twice already -- first in our Portland home which we renovated to create a separate rental unit that paid half our mortgage, and later at our home in Florida.

But a farm would be taking this idea to a whole new level! Farms are typically time-intensive and VERY expensive.

Because of my background as the owner of a wedding business, which we sold to move to Florida, I wanted to own a wedding venue.

That was Plan #1 for cash flow: find a farm that had a home we could live in and a wedding venue on site. So we started searching for barn wedding venues in the Midwest to be near Ben's family.

As I teach inside The Passive Income Pathway, there are two ways to invest in cash flowing assets: you can invest time or money (or both).

We quickly found that there were no turnkey farm wedding venues in our price range ($500k), even in the historically inexpensive Midwest. We found one property that was already cash flowing as a Bed-and-Breakfast but we were quickly out-bid by someone with a cash offer.

So we expanded our parameters a bit and looked for properties that required rehab or renovation to make them into what we wanted. Both of us have prior experience in property renovations so this would play to our strengths and reduce our liabilities and costs.

And in a tiny military town 45 minutes outside Kansas City, we found what we were looking for.

With every episode of Fierce Feminine Finance, I like to empower you with a POWERFUL free resource that goes with the episode which you can implement right away to create some of the same results, if not better, in your financial strategy.

This week, since we are talking about how to buy land and turn it into multiple streams of passive income, I put together an Ultimate Guide To Fund Your Fortune Without Risking Your Own Savings or Personal Credit so you know the best ways to find funding for your land investment.

After going through this free guide you will be able to choose a strategy that will help you buy cash flowing real estate and earn passive income while living the lifestyle you're currently dreaming about.

You can download it right away by clicking here or on the photo above 👆

With that said, here are 3 steps we followed to buy a 100-year-old farm and turn it into passive income! 👊

The farm had previously belonged to a family of settlers who came across to Kansas in a Conestoga wagon. They built the farmhouse from a kit advertised in the Sears/Roebuck catalog, and built the two-story barn sometime afterwards.

Because we bought a 100-year-old farm that needed renovation and had never been a wedding venue or AirBnb before, here is what we did to start earning money passively from Day One:

Get a 14-day free trial to Laptop Lifestyle Funnels, the software I use to run our farm and book weddings/events in an automated (passive) way!

Step #1: Renting the Field to a Farmer

When we purchased the property, many neighbors stopped by unannounced to welcome us to the area. Among these were several farmers and cow ranchers who made various offers to rent our field to grow cash crops.

After some research, we decided that although corn would be farm more profitable, the deadly chemicals most farmers used and the ugly appearance of a corn field after harvest would be damaging to the other cash flowing ideas we had for the farm.

We opted instead to rent 12 acres to a local cow rancher who uses it to grow hay for his cattle.

By renting the land to a local farmer, we not only support the local community but also generate passive income from the hay production. It's a win-win scenario that requires zero effort on our part, yet yields regular returns of a few hundred dollars at harvest time, plus the added benefit of a beautiful hay field year round.

Step #2: Renovating The Smokehouse Into A She Shed Event Space

Our initial quotes from contractors to renovate the 2-story barn were in the millions of dollars; not something we could afford out of pocket.

So the next step was to create proof-of-concept and generate cash flow as a wedding venue so we could approach investors with the barn renovation project.

We started by turning the farm's old smokehouse, with a bit of love and creativity, into a charming She Shed that we rented out for ceremonies, coworking and local events or meetings.

Renovating existing structures on the property not only added value but also put us on the map (quite literally! Google maps needed a structure to add us to their list).

This project was more than I could tackle on my own, so I hired a local handyman to renovate the smokehouse for me.

Now, a wedding or event venue is decidedly NOT a passive income stream, unless you use the strategy I teach inside The Passive Income Pathway.

Following the principle I teach my clients, I began to bring in clients and bookings for the She Shed immediately, ranging between $250 - $3,000 each.

Pro Tip: Are there spaces on your property that, with a little reimagining, you could use to find unique ways to cater to local needs?

Step #3: Renovating the 100-Year-Old Farmhouse for Short Term Rentals

Turning the farmhouse into a short-term rental space was the largest (and most expensive) project and is still ongoing.

When we started, the property had not been lived in for several years, had no working plumbing, knob-and-tube electricity (the 2nd floor had never been wired for outlets at all) and was uninhabitable.

It cost us many late nights and hours on the weekend, and $45k in renovations, to make the house livable. At that point, we moved into the upstairs of the home and began to rent the lower floor for retreats and on Airbnb to help fund the remainder of the project.

A few things that helped us complete the project to where it is today:

1. Putting all renovation expenses on a credit card

When you know how to use it, a credit card isn't debt: it's leverage. We pay off the card each month (this is where having a proper budget is vital before you try this) and used points accumulated on the card to buy Home Depot gift cards, essentially getting a few hundred dollars off our renovation purchases the following month.

2. Using a proper budget & plan to make the property pay for itself

While we still consider the mortgage a household expense (since we're living AND working there) the rest of the expenses of the property are now being paid for by the property itself.

We did this by creating a budget and income projection called a pro forma to make smart investment decisions about how to move forward with the property. Breaking the project up into stages, with each stage creating a cash flowing asset that paid for the next stage.

3. Thinking like investors (not hustlers)

Most people who buy a farm end up working the farm themselves. By building strategic partnerships with local vendors, farmers, ranchers, gardeners, etc., we have been able to form collaborations that create a win-win scenario for both parties.

The result?

We own the farm and other people work it. We don't employ them. They earn a profit share of what they produce using our land, and we earn rental fees or profit share, too. This is a strategy I call being a Deal Savvy Diva and I teach it inside my new book From Hustler to InvestHER now available here.

In Summary

So far we have invested $45k of our own cash into the farm and gotten a return of $10k in passive income in the first year, while still under construction. Our hope is that this will double in the next year, and I will make updates to this blog as things change (so make sure you bookmark this page!)

I hope this gives you an idea of how a long-term project like this can be possible for YOU...even if you don't have millions of dollars to invest in a turnkey cash flowing asset.

Anyone who tries to tell you that this type of investing is easy and requires zero work, is either scamming you or too inexperienced to know what they're doing.

There is nothing passive about creating these assets from scratch. Once it's built however, with the right people and systems in place it will become just one more asset in our portfolio that pays us passively every single month.

If you have the funds, you can also buy a turnkey property, as we tried to do. Those require very little work to make them passive, and can be a great option if you are able to afford it.

Are you ready to explore unconventional avenues for passive income? Whether you have a farm, a property, or simply an idea waiting to bloom, there are endless possibilities.