What questions to ask

jleonej · #1 03/05/13, 09:08 AM

This is my first post, I just joined and I think that this site is full of helpful information. So I guess its time for me to get more serious with our plans. My wife and I are in our mid 30's and we have lived in the neighborhoods most of our adult lives. We are very interested in buying land for a homestead. She grew up on a farm when she was younger. The question I have is simply, what questions should I ask when looking at property? We are thinking 10-20 acres are enough. What do I look for when looking at a piece of land? I know we want to have chickens, a few cows, a horse or two and a few goats. We plan to have a well stocked garden as well. We live in Delaware and are thinking about staying here. The land is good for growing. We would like to be off the grid as much as possible and we would like to be able to sustain ourselves with our homestead. What do I ask about soil, zoning, permits etc? Any help or comments are welcomed and appreciated.

MichaelK! · #2 03/05/13, 09:59 AM

First and foremost, legal access to the land and any legal restrictions related to rights of way, easments, and zoning restrictions. For example, will you have to cross another property owners land to get to your land? Does the current owner have any outstanding leenes (spelling) against the propterty? Is the building of structures prohibited because you're on the edge of a designated wildlife area? Is a septic tank forbidden in that location.

Secondly, sources of water and water rights. Can you legally drill a well and pump water unimpeded? Is rainwater collection legal in your state? Is a creek flowing across your property? Do downhill landowner have prior rights to water flowing off your property?

The physical atributes of the site. Is it a north, south, east or west exposure? What's the soil type? How many inches of rain does it get per year? What crops/fruit/nut trees have neighbors sucessfully grown?

What are the neighbors like? Have there been any arrests for growing pot or cooking meth? Is there a legal survey of the property? Is the next door neighbor in dispute over property boundries? Is the property fenced? Do hunters freely roam over the property during hunting season?

Hope that's enough to get you started
Good luck!

Maura · #3 03/05/13, 10:45 AM

Good start Michael!

The township can tell you what the millages are on the property. This is more accurate than asking what the taxes are. Whatever you pay for the property, multiply this by the total millage. This is probably what you will pay in taxes. If you are buying from a realtor they will have this information, as well as some of the info addressed in Michael's post. You will want to know when it was last farmed and what kind of pesticides/herbicides were used. This is especially important if you will be drinking well water.

jleonej · #4 03/05/13, 10:50 AM

Thank you Maura and Michaelk, this information is very useful.

FarmboyBill · #5 03/05/13, 12:23 PM

The questions we might ask are,
#1 How long have you been away from farms
#2 What is your prime entertainment now
#3 How long since youve done any gardening
#4 Do you have any idea what 10/20 acres are going to cost in Deleware
#5 Do you have any idea what the machinery is going to cost to farm enough for the animals you listed
#6 Have you ever even tried to live off grid
#7 When last have you taken care of any farm animals, and what were they
#8 Have you ever done any canning
#9 What farming/gardening/homesteading magazines do you subscribe to
#10 Do you have kids? and if so what are there ages.

I suggest you look at U Tubes at Backyard gardening, and figure it out and garden in your backyard before you think about 10/20 acres. Youll get LOADS of experience, and at a fraction of what it will cost to do the same thing on a farm. You DONT need to have raised beds.Youll also accure a knowledge of the tools youll need to garden with.
You sholuld also start buying, first the hand tools for mechanical work on tractors, implements, cars and trucks. Wrenches, sockets, pry bars, drills, saws, table saws, chop saws, saw zaw, drill press, big vice, anvil, grinder, chain saw, ax. sledge, wedges, ect
Then next, the bigger stuff
hoes, rakes, schovels, scoops, forks, spading and hay and manure, gardening hand tools
Next
mowers, tiller, ( and make that a big tiller unless you are going to have a garden walk behind tractor that can plow the garden first before the little tiller works it) A Mantis type tiller, push plows with attachments, garden push planter, buy a mower with a detachable bagger attachment. Saveing the cut grass will be a treat to rabbits, caged chickens, goats sheep, and cows.
ONCE you have all or most of these things bought, AND you shouldnt buy anything new except things with engines on them UNLESS you are skilled on working on small engines, THEN you will be ready for the move once you find a place.

IF you have access to an area where you can store tractors and implements safely, and can buy them while still looking for a farm, Buy a tractor that will pull at least a 2 14in plow, IF your going to get at least 10 acres that are plowable/farmable. Nobody but me will suggest here that you buy 1940s/1950s tractors. IF you find one that is RESTORED, that you like, Buy it. It will never depreciate in value IF you take care of it. AND, later, if you feel the need for a second tractor, and you want a front end bucket, ect, you can buy a more modern tractor. IF you have to have 3pt, There is a few companies that make 3pt attachments for JD, IHC, AC, and a couple other makes.
Youll need a plow, disc, harrow, IF your going to work up an acre garden.
Youll need a mower, rake, hay rack, and most likely a bailer. SPEND YOUR MONEY ON THE BAILER, AND THE TRACTOR.
IF you think to grow several acres of grains, youll need a grain drill, and combine
IF you think to grow corn, soy beans, milo, youll also need a 2 row planter at least, and a corn picker, and grain wagon. and cultivator, 2 row at least for the planter and cultivator.

AS TO TRACTOR, look for
IHC, Model C,H, John Deere, A,B, Allis Calmers, Model WC, WD, WD-45, Oliver, model, 60, 70, Massey Harris, Model 44, 55, Minneapolis Moline, R ZTU
I would stick with JD, IHC, AC as much as possible, for the ability to find parts for them

Get yoursaelf a Stiener Tractor Catalog. There Free i imagine. When you get your tractor, get an operators manual for it, and repair manual for it. I&T makes the best repair manual.

IF your experiences with farming are ancient, or non existant, i suggust you take a vacation, and use it going to a farm that teaches people HOW TO farm. Most of them teach also how to use horses and mules in farming. I dont know of any that teaches how to use tractors currently. Heres a number I found in SMALL FARMERS JOURNAL that they are in NY which is the closest I have to you. 4 days, on old Amish style horse powered farm, Lodging and fresh farm meals provided. 315 379 9145

ani's ark · #6 03/05/13, 06:28 PM

Agree with land use rights, water, neighbours, fencing being key. Youve got some well thought out answers here.
We learned a few things the hard way, that have made our journey more difficult. What state of repair is the house in? Running out of money on a renovation because your found additional problems is very common, we did it. Are the existing fences going to contain your animals? Our place has old boundary fences that are falling apart, it has cost us a LOT to get them stockproof again and put in proper paddock divisions. We looked through rose tinted glasses at the property. We love it, but did a few things wrong for sure!

Lastly, is there a decent barn/shed or do you have the resources to build one soon? Without storage, animal and working space your homestead life is a lot less joyful in bad weather, even in a warm climate. Trust me, when we built our shed it was lifechanging!
Good luck looking for your dream spot!

Dusky Beauty · #7 03/05/13, 08:22 PM

Before we started out, someone gave me a copy of The joy of hobby farming http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Hobby-Farm.../dp/1616082283

It had an excellent chapter about searching for a property, how to research the rights, what questions to ask and considerations to make. Its also got a good chapter about equipment you do and do not need starting out. The animal section is a little light though compared to a lot of other homesteading books out there-- understandable since the authors are vegetarians; they just don't have experience there. But its a good addition to the library.

coolrunnin · #8 03/05/13, 08:48 PM

Also would suggest the encyclopedia of country living by Carla Emery lots of good info in there.

http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-C.../dp/1570618402

Whisperwindkat · #9 03/06/13, 05:28 AM

Find out if there are any covenants about use as well. We recently looked at 14 acres way out in the country. Middle of nowhere kind of thing. We found out there were covenants on the land and no livestock was allowed, not even chickens. Blessings, Kat

jleonej · #10 03/06/13, 09:12 AM

Man, all of you guys are a wealth of knowledge! Thank you! Farmboybill, to answer some of your questions, my wife has been off of her farm for 15 years. We currently have a garden in our current location and it does very well. We also have many of the smaller tools for a garden and lawn as well as most of the tools to build a home. We currently live in a historic home that needed to be remodeled, which we did most of the work ourselves. We currently cann and have done so for a number of years. I have two small children ages 7 and 3. I think that doing this will teach them such a huge appreciation for being independent and not needing to rely on others to live. I have never taken care of any farm animals so I am unsure about that. She has, she grew up on a chicken farm and they had cows pigs and goats. I am not looking at doing large scale livestock, maybe two cows two goats and a pig or two. Still unsure. As far as entertainment we go out to eat every now and then but we are more of the downhome type.

Big Dave · #11 03/06/13, 07:28 PM

Welcome to the show. Read the book Five acres and Independence. You can achive your dreams.

Tricky Grama · #12 03/08/13, 06:29 AM

Welcome! You'll love it here & can see there's a wealth of info.
We have 20 ac 60 mi N of us, so live in the 'burbs & 'visit' the land now & then. We knew from the 1st that the land had some restrictions. No huge hogs, no mobile homes no junk yards, & no goats of 1 type. Didn't effect us b/c we had not planned on big animals.