Open Harvest: A Proposal for Flavio
Open Harvest at [Development name]
A working farm and green space at the heart of your development, designed and run to help your homes sell.
We've talked through most of this already, so this is not a pitch, but a real proposal: something for you to say yes or no to. Here is the whole plan in one place: what the space becomes, how it is built and run, and how we work together.
If you say yes, I start now. I focus on building the farm, in step with your homes, so it is alive and growing while you sell. In return, I am asking for a steady, regular income to continue building on your land, so I can give this my full time.
I am committed to this farm either way, and I will keep working toward it as funding allows. But grant money is slow, and without a steady income I cannot work on it full time. That means it would move slowly, and may not be ready while you are selling. Your yes lets us start now. Together, we build something bigger than homes: a model for a new kind of development, where people live beside a working farm. One shared vision, that others will want to follow.
The plan for the land
About 6,000 m², designed as one landscape.
- ~4,000 m²: the farmThe you-pick garden. Seasonal crops people come to pick. The working heart of the place.
- ~2,000 m²: common groundPicnic tables under trees, covered areas for farm-to-table dinners, and the event spaces you are getting approved (yoga, ceramics, workshops). A place to spend time, not only to pick.
- A path around the whole propertyA green loop that makes the land feel like a small park, right next to the homes. It raises the appeal of every home that faces it: a calm, green space to walk, right at the door, something every buyer values.
My role
I run the farm (design, planting, pick days, maintenance, the events), so it works, and you don't have to manage it.
I will help design the green space with you, and maintain it as it grows: the growing and common areas, the event spaces, and especially the path. Not to replace your architects, but to be a design voice on the landscape. The way this place feels is what sells it.
What I bring
- A proven pilot program7 beds, 8 crops, 6 pick days, 120+ guests, almost no budget.
- A concept that helped get you approvedThe you-pick idea was part of the deck sent with your building request.
- A brand people knowFarmer Dan, a growing WhatsApp community, and a live store at openharvest.farm.
- The design eye and the handsTo make the farm, common ground and path work as one place.
Why it works
You already know this; it is here for the record. Research from the Urban Land Institute links farm amenities to faster sales, stronger interest from buyers, and higher prices. It does all this for far less than a pool or golf course. A farm will not sell a home on its own; price and location come first. That is why the path and common ground matter: they widen the appeal beyond people who like to garden.
What a working farm adds to nearby home values
The Urban Land Institute links a nearby farm or open space to a 15% to 30% rise in the value of the homes around it.
The vertical axis starts at 90, not 0, to show the difference clearly.
Source: Urban Land Institute, Agrihoods: Cultivating Best Practices (2018). The 15% to 30% range is for homes next to parks and open space, which ULI counts as including working farms. The +30% is from a real farm community (Prairie Crossing, Illinois).
How the money works
Here is who pays for what, kept simple.
What stays with your land. Some of what I build is permanent. It stays and adds real value to your property, even if one day I am not the one farming it:
- Healthy soil, built up over the seasons.
- Trees, bushes and other perennial plants.
- The walking path.
- The common ground.
These are a lasting improvement to your land. You are also building the store yourself.
What I bring, and take with me. Other things are my own equipment, not part of your property. If I ever leave, they leave with me, so they are not a permanent cost to you: the irrigation, the greenhouse, and the shade structure. I am also continuing to move forward with government funding to help cover the infrastructure costs.
My pay. You mentioned commissions on the homes. I am suggesting something simpler and clearer: a steady monthly payment while I design, build and run the place. To set a fair amount, we base it on a small share of what the homes are worth (shown below). But it is a plain monthly payment, not a commission on each sale. Because it reflects the value I help create, we want the same thing: your homes selling well.
After the homes are sold. My monthly payment stops, and what happens next is your choice.
- It ends there. Once the homes are built and the farm is running, my pay from you stops. The farm then supports itself on its own income: pick days, store, events.
- A small ongoing amount. While you still set the condomínio rules, we add a small monthly amount per home to help cover the farm's costs and care for the shared green space. This keeps the path and common ground maintained long after you have moved on.
The number, and why it is fair
The homes start at €300k, and some will sell for more. Taking €300k as a careful minimum, that is about €5.1M across all 17. The real total will likely be higher. I am asking for a monthly payment set at a small share of that value, spread over the roughly two years of building:
| Share of potential value | Monthly payment (~24 months) |
|---|---|
| 2% | ~€4,250 |
| 3% | ~€6,375 |
| 4% | ~€8,500 |
Illustrative, based on potential sales, since the homes are not sold yet. Real numbers follow the agreed price and timeline.
Why 2% is a fair place to start. A farm manager in Portugal earns about €2,000 to €2,400 a month. I am more than a farm manager: I design the whole landscape, build and run the farm, create the events, and build the brand that helps sell your homes. That is several jobs in one. And a real-estate agency charges 3% to 6% (usually about 5%) plus VAT, only to sell the homes. I'm asking for less and I'm creating a huge incentive for buyers. So 2% is a modest place to start, based on the homes' potential value.
It is a plain monthly payment, steady and predictable, easy for both of us to plan around. Not a commission that changes with each sale.
Timeline
A visible farm early, so buyers see it while the homes go up. Timings follow your build schedule.
While permits and foundations are underway
Agreement & design
Agree the structure, design the plan together, and meet the foundation about the grant. My payment begins here.
As homes start rising
Visible farm, fast
Beds, first crops, the path roughed in, signage. The site feels alive, without waiting on the grant.
As your show homes open
First pick days
I bring my community for the first pick days. Buyers see real families and real life on the land next door.
As the homes take shape
Common ground & fuller build-out
The store opens, the path is finished, and the farm-to-table area goes in.
As you sell through
Full operation
Pick days, store, dinners, workshops, the path as a daily amenity. The full place, still helping sell your last homes.
Three ways to structure it
Same landscape. The percentage rises with how much I take on to help sell the homes.
The farm
≈ 2%I design and run the you-pick farm and a simple green space. A unique amenity that already sets the development apart.
The place
≈ 3%I design the whole 6,000 m² as one landscape: path, common ground, farm-to-table area and event spaces together. A destination people photograph. A signature property.
The place, and the story
≈ 4%Everything above, plus Open Harvest as part of how you sell: Farmer Dan and the farm as the identity buyers remember, launch events on the land, and the "live beside your own farm and park" story in your marketing. A property that sells itself.
What I am asking for
A steady monthly payment, from the design phase, so I can give this my full time. A decision on which of the three structures fits you. A design seat on the landscape and the path. And a first working session to agree the payment, look into the grant together, and match the farm build to your schedule.