CHAPTER 494: CHAPTER 243: THE TROUBLES OF HAPPINESS_3

Estate Ranch was purchased by the Foundation, and they will also need to pay an annual property tax of $3,000. That is, a property tax of one dollar per acre, which isn’t expensive—the real expense comes from the buildings constructed on the land.

Property tax is differentiated based on usage, with differing rates for commercial, residential, agricultural, and livestock property taxes. If the 6,000 acres of land were to remain idle, only a minimal fee of $1 to $0.10 would be collected per acre. Even for farming and livestock breeding, the tax rates are not high.

If you want to build a villa or cabin, you would need to pay real estate tax based on the residential area.

However, Allen Zhang currently does not plan to build too many houses on this land, nor does he intend to settle here long-term. At most, he might hire someone to mend and patch things, and to put up fences and barbed wire around the ranch. This too is a major project and won’t be a short endeavor.

Later on, he would explore and develop underground oil resources according to the intelligence obtained, purchase professional equipment, drill wells, and sell the extracted oil.

Drilling an oil well could cost tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand dollars! It’s another significant investment and requires a considerable workforce.

Without local police resources, it definitely isn’t too safe—there will certainly be oil thieves.

Oh, and Voodoo.

After sending off the Deer couple and Police Chief Morgan, Old Karl also drove over enthusiastically and greeted Allen, "Buddy, did you really buy this piece of land? How much did you spend?"

"1.8 million dollars." Allen Zhang held the map of Estate Ranch, marking out three areas.

One area is a fertile plain suitable for livestock grazing and farming. Another is close to the lake and a bunker, which could be developed into a vacation area and suspected oil exploration zone, and could also cater to a private shooting range.

The third area is the hillside and woodland, where it seems that animals such as coyotes and rabbits are present. Not many people go there, so maybe some elks and other species could be introduced for hunting and outdoor cooking.

After all, I’m a landowner now.

Who’s going to care if a landowner hunts and shoots on his own property?

Even if I drink deer blood and nibble bear paws every meal.

I own air rights, surface rights, and underground resource extraction rights. Basically, everything within the boundary is private property. If you fly over my head and I don’t like it, I can shoot you down and be justified because you infringed on my private property.

Of course, it’s not recommended to do this without some clout. It can easily lead to trouble.

The only regret is that I can’t own slaves anymore.

"Karl, how have you been? You look a bit chubby?" Allen Zhang looked at Old Karl with a chuckle, clearly a bit rounder but still with a vigorous spirit.

Old Karl laughed, "Of course, I’m light-hearted with nothing to do nowadays, just hanging around bars and pubs, or strolling in the town park. Those spicy young girls in the town, they sure welcome me a lot."

"Buddy, let me tell you a secret, I’m about to strike it rich! Moving back to the countryside from Los Angeles was the best decision of my life!" Old Karl boasted proudly.

"Striking it rich? What business did you get into again? Didn’t you just buy some cattle and sheep?" Allen Zhang was a bit puzzled.

Old Karl glanced around and whispered, "There’s oil on my land!!"

"...!?"

Allen Zhang looked at him dumbfounded.

What’s going on? Has the oil from my land made its way to yours?

Old Karl grinned, "Surprised, huh? Hahahaha, I was too! I just spent a hundred thousand dollars on a plot of land, and unexpectedly, there’s such good stuff underground! I initially just wanted to test it, but the seismic truck actually responded! I’m going to lease some professional drilling equipment from a mining company soon and drill a well—the site is right behind the hills of my ranch."

"I really didn’t expect that."

Allen Zhang sighed, "Maybe there’s oil on my land too."

"Impossible!"

Old Karl waved his hand, "There’s no chance of that!" and immediately began to provide guidance, "Look at your land, even though it covers a large area of over 6,000 acres, it’s too desolate. It’s either wasteland or forests, neglected for over twenty years. The fertile areas have been sold, and not a single acre can support a cow. You can’t grow corn or grapes, maybe just cassava, and even then, hard work doesn’t pay much."

"My land is different! With my careful selection, it’s all top-quality pasture with abundant groundwater. Half an acre can sustain a cow!"

"You really made a poor purchase with your land!"

"..."

Allen Zhang, seeing Old Karl’s triumphant demeanor, didn’t have the heart to upset him.

He nodded solemnly, "Maybe."

When the time comes to actually find oil and extract the black gold, I hope you can still be laughing like this.

After chatting with Old Karl for a while, Allen Zhang and Sieg’s team took a walking tour around the ranch.

First, they entered the old villa cabin, a style from the last century, too run-down to be habitable, requiring some renovation.

Then came the forest, and the lake, with good-quality water, clear green, inhabited by fish and shrimp, and dozens of meters deep—almost the size of a reservoir. It could also be used for water extraction to irrigate the fields in dry seasons.

In the forest, they spotted a few plump rabbits eyeing the group before darting off toward the mountains.

There’s no helping it, 6,000 acres is simply too much! Old Karl was nearly exhausted after a full circle tour.

The old man’s face turned red as he panted and gasped, "This is why I didn’t buy so much land."

"That’s just because you’ve gotten fat and old; you need more exercise. I’m not talking about that kind of group activity. You’re too soft!" Allen Zhang threw in a jab.

Perhaps this is the trouble of happiness.