Buying Country Acreage and Rural Properties: To Buy or Not To Buy Copyright ©2001-2008 Jody Hudson
Almost anyone can become a rural property owner; if you are willing to set goals, establish what your purposes are, plan ahead and set targets that are all aligned toward the same result. And, if you can be patient instead of requiring instant gratification.
There is no more $50-an-acre land; unless you count some of the inaccessible and unusable properties that are sometimes available in blocks of 10,000 acres or more; and even these properties are rare. But you can get rural properties more reasonably now than in the past IF you are willing to be creative in your expectations and in the ways you use and modify the property.
If you are in a big hurry to find rural property, you will likely not be able to find what you are looking for. Rural properties have fewer buyers who want to purchase them, but there are plenty of dreamers who have not considered the realities. There are seldom bargains available because most folks who own rural properties know exactly who to call first when they want to sell. If the property really is a bargain it is gone with one of the first ten phone calls the seller makes. However, if you are willing to “think outside the box” of convention you may end up with what is a bargain property for you.
Twenty and thirty years ago thousands of folks bought into the “live on a farm and make a fortune” dream of owning a chicken house, home and acreage in Sussex County Delaware — the chicken capital of the world — where there are several million chickens for every person who lives here. For a short while it was possible to take the “contract” from a chicken plant to the bank and with only that as collateral, get a loan for about 10 acres, a home and at least one chicken house. Many folks soon discovered that the so called contract had fine print and clauses that were all in favor of the chicken plant and none in favor of the chicken grower. Soon most chicken growers were working full time to help support the chicken business they had bought, along with it’s mortgage of $200,000 or more, sometimes much more.
Now when I appraise a chicken farm with house and acreage I appraise the working chicken farm at zero — and that is really too high a value in some cases. There are lots of easier, better smelling and cleaner jobs you can purchase with $200,000 or so. If you want to make a living growing chickens you should prepare to spend at least a million dollars, you can finance it of course, and get several chicken houses built around your home on 15 to 20 acres, if you don’t mind the smell, and then the best bet is to lease the business to someone who is running 20 or thirty chicken houses at least.
There are some sensible things you can do in contemplation of moving to and living in the country. First among those is to start by renting a small home in the area you want to live — and either move there or at least visit there often enough to get to know the area. If you already live close enough to drive to your dream area daily, start doing that and start frequenting the shops, churches and restaurants there. Stop at yard sales and to check into cars, trucks and equipment that is for sale in people’s front yards. Be honest, tell them you are planning to move into the area and want to learn about your neighbors and only stop to shop if you are really interested in what they have for sale and are willing to purchase it at your price. Rural folk have a built in truth-detector and it is usually accurate. Don’t try to BS them or your reputation will precede any other data about you.
I suggest that you can subscribe to a good magazine on rural living, or two or three. One of the best to begin with is Backwoods Home Magazine. Start by visiting and reading EVERYTHING on line, then get a subscription, then purchase ALL of the back issues which are bound into soft cover books.
If you yearn for the simple life of old fashioned living, in a log home for instance, and away from the downward pull of civilization, check out Homestead.
If you are able to take your income with you, to maintain your current income, and don’t need a job where you are going. Then I recommend you just rent a place first and start spending more and more time in a good area as you begin to test your transition resources. While renting get to know the people and see if you fit in with them. They are not planning to change to meet your parameters, I assure you. MOST of the folks who come from the city to the country start by trying to change the area they have moved to and the new neighbors, to be more like where they left. They should not have left or they should get on back there — and most of the neighbors will tell you so.
If you move to an area as a renter and find the people to your liking and they find you to their liking, you have probably found the right area. However, in rural areas ten miles can make a huge difference in lifestyle and area ethnicity. Please don’t move to a resort town, like Rehoboth Beach where I work, and then without checking try to move into a place like Oak Orchard or you will experience some near terminal culture shock. I love where I live and the people who live here but hopefully not one of them thinks that I have some intention of changing the way they live here!
Once you have zeroed in on an area and visited it many dozen times or better yet rented a place there and started living there for short stays; I suggest that you start joining various groups and organizations as a part-time member and let them know that you are not full time yet, but hope to be. They help. Don’t try to instruct them or help them do what they are already doing better; just try to help them on their own terms. You need to learn the rules of this new game, it’s their game and their community. At most you will be a welcome member of the community. You will never be the equal to those who have four or ten or thirty generations of family buried and established there. For instance in our area those who have only been here for sixty years are still not considered “from here” by those who have been here since the 1500s or soon after.
Once you have looked at several dozen properties that interest you, and that may take a year or two or more; you will begin to appreciate different micro-cultures in the area. You will begin to notice differences in soils, roads, well water, septic system functionality and road access; not to mention the differences in governmental rules and enforcement of same. Each time you find the perfect property; put a contract on it “pending research and discovery” and during that time check the neighbors and professionals about the property. You should check the neighbors first, lots of them, they already know everything the professionals are going to charge you to tell you.
Hopefully by the second or third property you put a contract and deposit on; you will have the one that is right for you. Remember, if the property is a bargain price, you have missed something in almost every case. What you need to do is figure out how it is a bargain for you; because you have an unusual use, ability, or way to change the property easily to suit your needs.
Buy through a Realtor if at all possible. Sign a buyers agent agreement with your agent so that his allegiance is to you — otherwise, by law his allegiance is ONLY to the seller and by law, you are in an adversarial position to the seller and the Realtor. With a buyer’s agent agreement signed, your agent is now on your side, by law, and is an opponent of the seller and the seller’s agent. Ask your agent then to provide you with all the comparable sales data from the multi-listing service if there is one. If not hire an appraiser, once you have the property under contract, (make the contract contingent upon a satisfactory appraisal) and pay to have the price evaluated. If you have contracted for too high a price, renegotiate the contract; if you find you have a real bargain; you of course double check with your agent and the appraiser to find out why. It may be that the reason for it’s “reasonable” price the reason that keeps it from selling is not that important to you — and you do have a bargain.
Possibly your employer or the consulting work or your self employment activities may allow you to telecommute. But if you can’t telecommute to maintain your current income; before buying in an area, find out if you have a marketable skill, one which is in demand in that particular region. This will give you some assurance that you will not become a financial fatality. Most of the folks who move to rural communities, without checking into how they will make money in the new location, have to sell their property at a loss within 5 years, due to lack of income.
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