THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN LOOKING FOR RURAL PROPERTY???

As I creep closer to retirement (about 4-5 yrs off), the wife and I are beginning to look into buying some land with the goal to build a home to spend our remaining years.

We're looking at rural land in mid-state GA. Our hope is to find 20-40 acres (more = better) that we can have privacy, build a nice 100-yd range, have some chickens (maybe goats), work a garden, and basically live quietly, simply, and more independently.

I've bought several homes in my day, but this is the first time looking at "land". Makes me a bit nervous, as I'm not sure what I should be "looking" for specifically.

Advice???

My guess is that for any land I'm considering, I'll need to figure out at least:
1. water (city, well, etc.)
2. power (no clue on what I need to look for here)
3. septic/sewer (perc test???)

Thanks. rich

BTW - thinking of building one of these . . .

http://www.barnpros.com/products/apartment/denali_apt_60.html

(sorry, can't make link hot from work??)

Rich,

If you were born in '67 and getting close to retirement, ya done well!

You'll get lots of advice, here's mine:

When you are considering property, research easements that the property carries. Ideally, you don't want any. None. Also, carefully look for any other baggage the property may have. Neighbour disputes that are ongoing, neighbours from hell, chronic trespassing, chronic crime in the area, etc.

Ray

As a licensed real estate agent who owned a company selling land, farms and timber tracts for about 10 years, my advice is this. Find a friend or family member, maybe a couple different ones, someone who lives out in the country, maybe one that's a farmer or one that raises cows. Have them help you look. Unless you just happen to find the right real estate agent, you aren't going to get much good advice from them. And it's not because they will be intentionally lying to do, its just because they really don't know.

So my advice is to get help but get it from someone you can trust, someone who KNOWS land, not someone who thinks they know land.

But as a basic run down, you need to be sure of the access, the water, electrical, pipeline etc easements, also find out if there are easements that allow other people to cross the land to get to their property, can you get water, power, what are the current taxes, what will the be after you build a house...the list goes on.

You also need to decide what you want....pasture, timber or both. Remember, pasture doesn't stay pasture in most of the South without cows, some bushhogging and some weed control.

lots of good advice already posted. not sure how things are in Georgia, but down here in da' swamp the first thing i do when looking at a potential piece of property is check to see if its in a flood zone. be patient, too. i've been looking for land and/or a house in the country for over 2 years now. doesn't seem like i'm any closer to finding it.

flood zones (mandatory flood insurance in most places)

mineral rights intact

closest rescue services (ems, fire etc)... imho it's great to live "out there", but it's greater not watching every single thing you own and the dog and the wife burn up in a fire you're trying to fight by yourself.

Here's something you need to do when you're considering a piece of land... this is my opinion only...

Take a chair with you.
Sit in the area that's for sale.
Stay for a few hours during the day... morning, afternoon, evening.
Try to do this over the course of a few days.

You'll learn the traffic pattern.

We didn't notice the 18 wheelers passing by our house on a major secondary road... had we known, we wouldn't have built there... we're at the base of a hill so these damn trucks are speeding up coming down the previous hill and accelerating to make it up mine... and coming down, there's always some yahoo with a jake brake.

Right across the street is a cinderblock building. It's a bar. Imagine that. It looked closed when we moved in and was for months... but then it opened and has the sound system from hell. I'm hoping it gets closed down but doubt it'll happen.


Check easements.
You'll want a percolation test to make sure that a septic tank will drain properly on the land.
You'll want to ask the county/city about other residentialwells in the area... ask about the refill rate. You won't want to sink a well only to find out that the water level dropped and you need to drill deeper.
Talk to the local well drillers and get their opinion... they'll know more about the water table than almost anyone else... especially if they've been there for decades.

Talk to the power company. I'd recommend that you get the power lines buried from the main line to your house. We did that with ours and it's neater and there's less chance that we lose power during ice storms and such. It helps the power company is proactive and is raping the trees that are even close to the power lines... it's kind of funny to see a tree with 1/2 of its canopy because the other have was chainsawed off to prevent issues during and after storns.

Plan where you might want to drive.
Plan a track for you to have dirt bikes and 4 wheelers.
Plan for where you're going to put the house and barn and sheds.

One thing to consider is how the water flows across your land. Pay careful attention to this especially in relation to where your house will be. You don't want to build in a not so obvious low point like a neighbor of mine did.

While I like the look of that.....

My grandmother would be the first to tell you,
as you enter your golden years....

you are not going to want to be walking up and down a lot of stairs.

As for the land itself.... lots of good advice already posted.

1) Where are you going to get your utilities?
2) What is planned for this land/area (highway, reservoir, etc).
3) What jurisdictions will I be in?
4) What kind of 911 support will I have?
5) Who are my neighbors (was land next door bought by someone who will build airport, pig farm, etc).

Besides whats already been said.

Will you have kids in public schools? Our school systems have huge variations in quality. That would narrow down what county I'd be looking at.

Medical care. As we get older the need to be close to quality care increases.

These are a couple of reasons, along with cheap property, that a lot of FL residents are moving into our county and those around us. I'm in west central GA.

Very few areas in GA won't have the mineral rights go with the deed.

Find out the real reason why the person selling it is selling it. Everyone I've known that bought land somewhere they didn't know has gotten screwed. It's like buying a used car. Sometimes you can find someone that just wants to buy a new car, but usually they're selling the car because it costs more to keep than it's worth.

When you start looking Google earth is your friend, I dont know how many places when we were looking that saved us a trip just by going to google and looking at the address. Then drive out and wander around it. You have to decide what is important to you and go from there. I knew I wanted 10 or so acres of pasture the rest a mix of woods. At first I wanted around 25 acres then once I walked a few that was to small. It took us a while but not getting fixated on the first one really helped and now we have what I would consider close to a dream place.

I thought of one more very important thing. This is by far the most common mistake I've ever seen people make when moving to the country and/or buying land. Do not assume that what is around you will always remain exactly like it is today. I've seen people go plain nuts when their adjoining land owner decides to clear cut his 500 acres. No longer are they surrounded by pretty trees, instead it now looks like the backside of the moon and likely will for 10 years until the trees or brush grows back up. I've seen people who just can't believe that someone would build a chicken farm right next to them on the adjoining tract of land. Or maybe a subdivision or a trailer park, the list goes on.

The point is, you control what you own. You don't control the neighbors and it doesn't matter if their land hasn't changed much in the last 50 years, that doesn't mean it won't change tomorrow. So to put that into practice, don't make the common mistake of going to the backside of your property and building your home where you are near your property line and depending on the neighbors land not to change so your view doesn't change.

I hope that makes sense and I know it might seem silly but trust me, I've seen it happen a hundred times.

I hate to insert a negative comment.....but on the BarnPro Denali Apt 60......unless you just really LIKE the SMELL of cow, horse, goat, chicken, whatever, DUNG.....I wouldnt want to actually live IN a barn..

You'd have to listen to them too.....but that would be nothing compared to heading out in clothes that smelled like you just got finished rolling in a steaming pile of green manure..after you adjusted to the smell yourself..which people do..

Have you ever heard the statement "What, did you grow up in a barn?!?"

Well.....dont retire in a barn...

Now...on the positive.....call up your state AG extension and start asking questions about minimum acerages and usages for exemptions. That changes all the time. All the other comments here are awesome too. Great feedback. Good bookmark thread. Im doing the same thing you are and spend quite a bit of time putting together my planning...so I wish you the very best!!

Thanks. Lots of good advice. I'm actually thinking of just garage and workshops downstairs. O animals in the barn. Just people. Seems kinda backwards doesnt it?

Yes it does make sense.Years ago,my wife and I were ready to buy a 2 1/2 acre property near Ely,Nevada,that is until the real estate agent informed us of an apartment complex that was going to be built right next to the property.We got up and walked out.

Water = well, creeks, and ponds. City water is in someone elses control! solar/wind power. You must give Govt./power co. access if power lines run! Remember imminent domain. Hidden liens, back taxes. If in an estate sale, make sure all family members are involved. Restrictions do they allow the animals you want to raise and structures you want to build? Easement/right of way? County Ordinances: do they allow the building projects you want? do they have say? in septics or wells? some places do some dont. espec. grid electric power already on the property or will you do it! taxes, population, crime, stores, hospitals, # of doctors per citizen. Is it a dry county = do they sell beer and/or liquor/wine? if not how close is it? if you drink? How much are building permits? some places are 1000's of dollars and some near or nothing. espec. if not hooking up to city water and sewer and power. Some areas even tell you what you can and can't grow garden wise. know the local govt and ordinances and gun laws of course. churches if your interested.

He said GA.

THIS.

I have just begun looking for my own plot of land for a Bug Out location. While I am not going for that large, maybe one or two acres. My MAIN requirement is a small river/large creek, preferrably one that runs down from the mountains so as to not be easily infected by morons or terroriists. But there is more to it than easily cleanable drinking water. This will also supply irrigation for a small garden, drive a waterwheel connected to a generator, supply fish, as well as a good place to cool of on a Summer day in Georgia, and if you have to bug out from your bug out it could be used as a get away route via boat canoe or a log if need be. As well as slowing zombies or roaming herds of bedouins.
Also if you are going to build from the ground up, I would suggest going to a solar power system, with a back up propane generator, and small windmills. If the stuff does hit the fan, you will still have power. And its one less bill you will have to worry about.

I might suggest buying mostly wooded land, and starting out by building on a small cleared area then clear the land as you need it. Or you might spend alot of time and energy trying to keep the grass from turning into brush and then woods instead of working on your projects. Or else you could end up clearing land that 5 years ago was already clear.

I live in Meriwether county, pretty much central north georgia. Check with each county on building restrictions. Our county is very rural (even though atlanta is only 50 miles away) and they have a restriction on new construction or mobile homes have to be at least 1500sf in size. Land is affordable here. We got lucky and got a home on a little over 8 acres for around 35k.

Good luck and pm if I can help you in anyway.

Check www.landwatch.com for listings. Google earth those areas and "put the little orange guy down on the blue road" it may save you a lot of time....

This is only true to a certain extent.

Another thing that comes to mind when we bought our land is restrictions.

You have to check restrictions.

You mentioned wanting a few chickens, you would be surprised how much chicken hate there is out there.

First thing we learned was the phrase "... only good restrictions" is usually a lie.

Another thing to look out for are Homeowners Associations.

Last thing you need is to buy your land, then find out you have to submit your home building plans to an HOA
and then be told, "we don't like that barn house thingy.... and oh yea, we don't allow 2-stroy homes anyways"

An all in one building is a bad idea in a rural area. One fire and you lose everything. Build a small well insulated house, all gas, with several out buildings. Utilities could be a costly item, research them well for your area. You may find a place with electric service and water already on it. Build away from the road, too many break ins happen with houses close to roadways. Survey the plot, it could save you money. Most old surveys are inncorrect and mark your boundaries and corners with something solid, not just a wooden stake.

Good luck, we love living in the country.

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