“What’s the safest way to invest money?”: a question people never cease to ask, especially in the middle of an unstable economic period. That’s when words like ‘diversification’ become increasingly popular, and people double their efforts to hedge against risks. Those who are more comfortable with risk might look for an angle to profit during the turbulent times, stirring into the skid. But for the most part, it’s safety and security which motivate people during trying times.
Safety and security are two of the things TJ Visiodei had in mind when he started ACTS Decentralized Real Estate. The idea of a self-sufficient homestead that is also part of a community and able to produce sustenance and tradable goods came as an answer to a simple question — how can one avoid being in a position where you can’t provide what your family needs to survive?
“When my daughter was born, it was a natural birth at home and less than 24 hours after that, we had a huge winter storm,” TJ recalls. “And that winter storm, the best way to describe it, is it left me completely exposed.”
Natural disasters aren’t the only threat facing families that TJ wanted to protect against. He saw firsthand the volatility of cryptocurrency markets. Mainstream finance markets aren’t as volatile, but they’re still treacherous. But then there are rising food prices, the always problematic housing market, and who knows what the energy markets might do next. So whether it’s money, food, shelter, or fuel, it’s a necessity that’s getting more expensive and difficult to get, and that’s a reason for worry.
So, the solution he came up with is an investment opportunity in an asset that’s tangible, practical, and self-sufficient. Some call it done-for-you farming; he prefers the term ranchising. What’s behind the name, however, is the same, and it’s a unique concept.
“We are, as a company, an ecosystem that answers the following question: What would it take for you to snap your fingers and have the homestead of your dreams,” he says. “Never have to think again about food, never have to think about your community, whether you trust your neighbors, what would that take?”
The answer is – to take a leap of faith and invest in ACTS. In the company, TJ drew upon various ideas to counter some of the main reasons why people who might like to own a farmstead still decide against it. For some people, their romantic view of farming is crushed by the realization that they know nothing about it. TJ’s answer? Have farmhands that are shared among several farms so that no single farmstead is burdened too heavily with labor costs.
Those farmhands will know how to implement rotational grazing to achieve the best results without overusing the land. The land itself is top-quality land, but without the expense, as ACTS can leverage the size of their purchases on anything, including land. And if money is a problem, ACTS has come up with a lease-to-own program.
“There’s going to be an entire economy within ACTS itself of people just buying and trading amongst each other, so even if we had hyperinflation, even if we had everything go sideways, they won’t care,” he says. “They’ll have the rest of the ACTS community—no big deal. I’ve got my food. I got my go-to mechanic guy. I got my go-to doctor guy. So it’s managing, maintaining, and growing this ecosystem. That’s why I need to stay there.”
The concept is community building as a way to hedge against uncertainty is the traditional way of ensuring survival during tough times. With his decentralized real estate plan, TJ wants to reintroduce that concept to the foreground of everyone’s understanding of the situation they’re in. Because times are rough, people need places to weather the storm and maybe even try. TJ is building ACTS to be just that.
