Three Field Commons.

Landowners

What happens to the place after you.

There are more options than selling to whoever offers the most. Here are four, explained plainly, with no obligation to any of them.

Three Field Commons is a farmland-holding nonprofit in formation in Washington and Yamhill County. We have not bought a parcel yet. We are talking to landowners now so that when we can act, we already understand what people are weighing. Reading this page commits you to nothing.

The four paths

Same land, four different arrangements. Which one fits depends on what you need out of the place and how much you want to stay involved.

Sell it to us

How it works
We agree on a price, you sign a purchase agreement, and we close the way any buyer would. Afterward we record a permanent agricultural restriction on the deed, so the ground stays in farming no matter who owns it later.
What it means for taxes, in general terms
In general terms, this is treated like any other sale of land — there may be capital gains to account for, depending on what you paid, what you've depreciated, and how the property is held.
What control you keep
You keep full control until closing. After that the land is ours, though the terms we agree to about how it will be used can be written into the documents.
Timeline
Months, not weeks. Appraisal, title work, and a survey if the parcel needs one. We would rather move slowly than push a closing.

A decision like this belongs with your own attorney and accountant. We expect you to bring them.

Sell it below market

How it works
You sell to us on purpose for less than the land appraises for. The gap between the appraised value and the price you accept is treated as a charitable gift. This is usually called a bargain sale.
What it means for taxes, in general terms
Broadly, part of the transaction is a sale and part is a gift, and each part is handled differently. Whether the gift portion is useful to you depends entirely on your own income and holdings.
What control you keep
The same as an outright sale, with more room to negotiate conditions — because you are contributing value, your preferences about future use carry real weight.
Timeline
Similar to a sale, plus time for a qualified appraisal, which the gift portion requires.

A decision like this belongs with your own attorney and accountant. We expect you to bring them.

Donate it

How it works
You give the land to the organization while you are alive. No purchase price, no negotiation over dollars.
What it means for taxes, in general terms
Generally treated as a charitable contribution of the appraised value, subject to the limits that apply to your situation.
What control you keep
You have the strongest hand of any of these paths in shaping what happens next, because you are here to say so and the stewardship terms are being written while you are at the table.
Timeline
Can be quick if title is clean — a few months — or longer if the parcel needs to be divided or an appraisal takes time.

A decision like this belongs with your own attorney and accountant. We expect you to bring them.

Leave it in your estate

How it works
Your will or trust directs the land to the organization after your death. Nothing changes now. You farm it, lease it, or sit on the porch and look at it, exactly as you do today.
What it means for taxes, in general terms
Generally handled at the estate level rather than by you during your lifetime. How that interacts with the rest of your plan is a question for your own advisors.
What control you keep
Total, and reversible. You can change the document at any time for any reason, and you never owe us an explanation.
Timeline
As long as you like. The paperwork is a conversation with your attorney, not with us.

A decision like this belongs with your own attorney and accountant. We expect you to bring them.

Staying on the land

Protecting the land does not have to mean leaving it. Two arrangements come up most often.

A life estate. Title passes to the organization now, but you keep the right to live on the property and use it for the rest of your life. The house stays your house. The transfer is done; the leaving is not.

Leasing back to family. If a son, daughter, niece, or grandchild wants to keep farming the ground, they can lease it from us. The lease can be long, the rent below market, and the terms written so the family is not renegotiating every year.

Both can be combined with any of the four paths above. If staying is what matters most, say so first and we will build around it.

What we will do with it

  • Keep it in agriculture permanently, with a restriction recorded against the deed that survives every future sale.
  • Put a working operator on it — a farm, a training program, or a food-access grower who will actually farm the ground rather than let it sit for appearances.
  • Maintain it: fences, drainage, roads, and irrigation infrastructure kept up as part of the cost of holding land.

What we will never do with it

  • Subdivide it into home sites.
  • Sell it for development, at any price, to anyone.
  • Let it sit idle as a passive holding.

These are not promises we intend to keep on good behavior. They are written into the recorded restriction, which is why they outlast us.

Questions people ask

Start a conversation

Tell us as much or as little as you like. A first note does not have to include acreage or a plan — plenty of people write just to ask a question.

Nothing you send here commits you to anything.

Rather talk to a person? Write to REPLACE_ME@example.com.

We use what you send to write back, and nothing else. How we handle your information.