Him and his wife have been surviving off the proceeds of it, has gathered some income, but (the main challenge currently) he's a Depression era person who's seeking "secure" investment strategies.

You are going to liquidate all your available cash and then immediately (according to you) quit your job.What will you survive on and what reserves will you have when the project hits snags??

And stealing is their chosen method of survival?

Just adapt and roll with it... all of us on here are primed to survive the changes if we keep our eyes open.

Unless you need cash now to survive, why wouldn't you hold onto this property forever?

I've not independently verified this, but I've heard no currency has survived for more than 200 years once they go fractional reserve.

The lease survives the sale.

Well that was an amature, you need the contract to survive to seek the damages provided for under the contract.

FEMA seems to step in in big disaters with assistance as well as states (I know, Cali is busted), the uninsured and underinsured survive but those with insurance fair better I'd think.Retro fitting your house might be worth the pound of cure, to a point and anyone you talk to will likley be doing a sales job on you too. :)

But the practice of many small farmers trying to survive on tiny plots of land is difficult to sustain.