How much value does permaculture landscaping add?

Question

I've got some plots of land on the big island Hawaii near Pahoa. The area is relatively low income and food sovereignty is a big deal - both because financially food on the island is very expensive to import and because if anything were to happen to the harbors, the people would be reliant on their land and their neighbors for any sustenance.

My business partner has a wide breadth of experience evaluating land for farming, and creating permaculture and edible landscapes. Growing Victory Gardens for people who don't know how to get started.

I'm curious if anyone here has much experience with what those value adds of edible landscaping are worth in terms of money/land appraisal and what people are willing to pay?

Thank you so much!

Julia Rockwell · Answer

I don't see any activity on this thread, but I have a gut feeling that it indeed does add value. I'm going to be experimenting with this on the property that I first purchased and I'm convinced there are so many positive externalities that arise from incorporating this type of landscaping. It also intersects nicely with various types of REI, such as buy & hold. For a long term play, if you plant a few plant guilds that sustain one another (a la 3 sisters), especially if they're something nice like fruit trees or flowering trees, I feel like you would attract better tenants/buyers and at the very least set your self apart from your competition since all properties being equal of course I would chose to move into the property that yields free food.

Thomas LeBlanc · Answer

I am also interested in this so am bumping the thread.  My context is I am a permaculture designer and am exploring how I might make a niche combining that experience with real estate investing.  I would love to believe there is a future in buying fixer upper properties and rehabbing them into sustainable homesteads marketing to the people who are leaving the city for 'that country life' and can afford to move into a place that is turn-key for them