Green Acres... What to look for in a property?

[tortoise]

My fiance has done the math, and thinks we would be able to buy a $200,000 property in 17 months.

We are definitely looking for agricultural zoning. He said some thing about a cow. ( ) He says ONE goat. I'm shooting for 3 dairy goats, but I will have to drink a gallon of goat milk first. I'm silly squeamish about trying new foods! I will have meat rabbits. My fiance is fine with chickens, start with layers, maybe graduate to meaties? We'll definitely have a garden that will expand a little bit every year. I assume I will get some guinea hens to control ticks.

We will NEVER have a horse. Ever. Any other animal that might earn its keep or be of a benefit to us is possible. Our number of animals is not limited by vet costs. We have cold winters with well over 12" of snow on the ground and often below-zero temps. Our summer get humid and hot, with about 10 days at 100 degrees.

So...

What do I need to support our future mini-farm?

How many acres to graze a Jersey cow (dairy) or beefer? Dairy goats?

How much "barn" is needed?

What outbuildings/structures do we need?

What else to look for in a property? This is the last move we will make. I also need to think about aging and retiring there.

 

[Denim Deb]

One thing that you really need to look at is the land itself, or have someone that KNOWS (if you don't) look at it to be sure it isn't wet. If there's woods, what trees grow? Are they trees that typically grow near water? Is there any water on the property, streams, creeks, ponds, etc. If so, when it rains, how does it affect them? Do they become dangerous? When it rains, are there areas that flood? These may seem like they're unimportant, but it can limit the amount of usable land you have, limit where you can build, and really cause a lot of damage, even mold problems in a house.

 

[tortoise]

One thing that you really need to look at is the land itself, or have someone that KNOWS (if you don't) look at it to be sure it isn't wet. If there's woods, what trees grow? Are they trees that typically grow near water? Is there any water on the property, streams, creeks, ponds, etc. If so, when it rains, how does it affect them? Do they become dangerous? When it rains, are there areas that flood? These may seem like they're unimportant, but it can limit the amount of usable land you have, limit where you can build, and really cause a lot of damage, even mold problems in a house.

Smart questions, Thank you!! There are a lot of lakes around here, and he would like a house on a lake. These are good questions - copying them down for later.

 

[Denim Deb]

If he wants a house on a lake, make sure it's back FAR enough that it doesn't flood if there's a lot of rain. Plus, most houses I've seen by lakes don't have a basement, and tend to be damp.

 

[Rhettsgreygal]

What else to look for in a property? This is the last move we will make. I also need to think about aging and retiring there.

A short driveway, good plow and if the driveway is long, a front-end loader. Or someone to plow your driveway that also has a front-end loader.

Our driveway is over a block long. The mid-December snowstorm couldn't be cleared with one of these:

We needed one of these:

The March 22nd storm also required a front-end loader just for 6 inches of snow because of the rain, ice, sleet, snow, sleet combination.

And there is a winter storm warning starting at 1:00 pm tomorrow through 10:00 am on Wednesday. Ain't that nice. Our stove developed a gas leak and a repairman is suppose to be by sometime tomorrow, hopefully and I have an interview in Wausau Wednesday morning.

Don't you just love winter (oh, I mean Spring) in Wisconsin???

 

[lwheelr]

You should be able to find out pretty easily if it is on a 100 year floodplain. A place we looked at last fall (with temporary occupation in mind) had flooded the previous summer. Not something we wanted to deal with, since the entire property went under.

Also, soil. Is there bedrock underneath, and if so, how far down? If you need a well, this also makes a difference - you'd need to know how far down the water table is in the area. Rock also makes a difference for planting, and fencing.

You'll have to look at both zoning, and at contractual limitations as far as livestock are concerned. Lots of places allow horses, but not chickens or cows.

Septic systems are another issue if you have much acreage. If it already exists, what is the condition? If it does not, is there a place on the property that meets the area code requirements for a septic system (distance from well, passes perk tests, etc)?

The amount of space you need depends largely on the land, IF you expect to feed the animals primarily from the land. If you don't mind buying hay and feed, then you can get away with far less.

 

[tortoise]

A property can be zoned agricultural but you can't have livestock? I had no idea that is possible.



That's what I need y'all for! Thank you for more things to check.

And you are completely right about a short driveway!!! Could be 8 inches here. We *just* packed away the snowblower.

 

[Denim Deb]

Oh yeah. There's an area around here that's like that. The only reason the people can still have animal is because they owned the animals when they changed things. But, if they were to get chickens, horses, goats, or whatever, they'd get a fine. I think it's stupid.

 

[Marianne]

When we were checking into buying this place, the county said that usually you have to have 10 acres to have a horse, but we were grandfathered in. Okay... Then she tells me 'no dogs'. Huh? I can't have a dog??? What she meant was that I couldn't have a breeding facility or puppy farm! This is greyhound country and by cracky, no new members allowed!

The only thing we got burned on years ago was that there was no legal access to a piece of property we bought. Just because there had been a road there for years and years, the city said it wasn't legal access. We lost our butttts on that deal. Ouch.

 

[sufficientforme]

Besides all of the really good information offered the first thing that came to mind is house type. I don't want to be climbing stairs in my old age, I hate laundry in the basement.
Yes there are some weird laws with zoning we live on two acres in the country yet we cannot have pigs according to the zoning but other livestock like cows, sheep, horses, chickens NO PROBLEM.
Easements for roads is another biggy, our friends neighbor had no access to the land he owned either and had to buy the rights to get to his own property from the surrounding owners.
Get full disclosure on the land, a lady I worked with bought a house for a really good price only to find the guy that lived there killed himself in the living room and was still present :/