Anyone in or near Munfordville, Kentucky?

I live sort-of nearby, it's about 45 minutes from my house, but then, I'm a half hour from anywhere! Haven't been thru Munfordville in a while. The main problem with Munfordville will be higher paying jobs. Your best job opportunities will be Elizabethtown or Bowling Green. There isn't much in the way of good jobs in Glascow from what I hear. Land prices are low and I believe there is very little zoning. I can't speak for Munfordville specifically, but most farms in the area run some beef cattle and grow some tobacco. The larger farms raise corn and soybeans. You can grow about anything here if you can keep the bugs in check.

Again, I can't speak for that area specifically, but in general the people here are friendly and warm up to outsiders fairly quickly. Maybe it's just us, but we've been here only 11 years and our neighbors seem to forget we haven't lived here our whole lives and it's been that way for a while!

Just being nosy...where are you from and what type of farming would you like to do?

 

Oops, that was me,must have gotten logged out somehow.

 

I'm about 35 mins from there as the crow flies.
Cost of living is much cheaper than all of the other states I've lived in: WI, CA,TX,CO, MI & TN.
Food is fairly cheap but like everywhere is going up.
The only thing that's much higher than other places is automobile insurance-it is just about the same amount as what we paid in CA and that's with good driver, homeowner and over 45 discounts. :no:
Property taxes are really low- about $400/yr in Metcalfe county for a place valued at $90,000;of course each county will be slightly different so it could be $500 in Hart county.
As far as I know the rural areas of most of the south central counties have the least restrictions & zoning and the only ones we have in Metcalfe are for septic service and that's only if you want electricity. The electric companies won't hook in electric without an approved septic or sewer system anywhere in KY from what I've been told. You might be able to get some sort of variance if you wanted to use a composting toilet but I can't tell you for sure how that would go.
In our county you can put the septic tank & lines in yourself and have the health inspector do the checking before covering the tank & lines.

The people down here are nice, a bit wary of newcomers but not unfriendly. After 5 yrs here, I'm still considered an outsider but folks treat me ok-and what more can you ask for.

There's a big interest at the farmers markets for naturally grown produce with no pesticides or herbicides. The closest moneymaking farmers market to Hart county would probably be Bowling Green. I have a friend who sells 'naturally grown' vegetables there and he makes pretty good money. Herbs & flowers also sell pretty good, especially if you offer suggestions for usage and recipes.

I can only speak for my area but the soil is pretty much clay with rocks. I raise everything in raised beds. I broke a shovel last month trying to dig a hole to plant grapevines! Now, some folks down the road actually have dirt- so maybe there's pockets of good dirt among the rocks! :haha:

If there's anything else I can help with just give me a holler.

Good Luck,
Kathy

 

I'm not familiar with all of Hart county, but I know a good bit of it is rocky as indicated by outcroppings. Of course on wooded acreage you wouldn't be able to grow much in the way of market crops, but it wouldn't take a lot to clear enough land for a family size garden. It's a very rural area, and I'm pretty sure you'd be OK with a cabin and outhouse if the property is off the beaten path at all. Just call it a hunting cabin . Counties like Hart generally don't have many restrictions or zoning, but don't quote me on that because I don't live there- just taking an educated guess. A regular septic system would probably have to be inspected upon installation, because if you're new to the area you won't be able to find someone to install one without a permit. Be sure to ask if county water is available, and if not how far is it to the closest place to fill a tank. A guy I work with brings his tank on a trailer to work with him every couple of days and fills it at the city water works.

You should be able to find work in tobacco, but keep in mind it doesn't pay well and it's seasonal. I can't vouch for any other nearby cities, but Elizabethtown is booming and if you get in a bind you find employment at the temp services(Manpower and the like) short or long term, especially if you're reliable and drug-free.

If that deal doesn't work out, check with Hart County Realty. The have a web site but I don't have a real estate guide handy for the url. They often have small acreages with a cabin already on them in the 10-15,000 range, broker owned. Be aware of location though- you don't want to be in Adair or Ohio County or some of the others where there are no jobs to be had at any price, and it's a loooong drive to someplace that does.

Oh, forgot to mention that cost of living is quite low, I'll bet taxes on the property you're looking at are less than $100/year, probably $50 or less. Electric is cheap, and there are quite a few discount stores like Dollar General and discount groceries like Aldi and Sav-a-Lot.

 

I don't know about Hardin but here you pay $300 for the tap in and the water dept puts in the meter and then you just run your lines into wherever you want water. We just put a tap in off of our main for our kids cabin, the pipes and shutoffs to connect to the main cost us less than $100 for a 195' run to the cabin. Of course that didn't include any interior pipes.
We rented a ditchwitch for a day to do the digging, it cost $86 but it was well worth it, since we laid the lines 30" below grade, we hit rocks as big as 10" across, old car parts, odd stuff we still don't know what it was!

Hope this helps.
Kathy

 

Leitchfield is the County Seat of Grayson County. It's not a big city, about 9 or 10 stoplights, and a new Super WalMart. I will soon be moving to my new farm in eastern Grayson Co, near the Hardin Co line. Grayson Co has very few restrictions, sometimes I wish there were a few more. When I built I had to have septic and electric inspected, that's it. Plumbing has to be inspected, too, if you have less than 10 acres . My place already had a couple of water meters on it(and a couple of trailers, which I promptly got rid of!), so I can't tell you how much it is to hook up. We ran all the new water lines from the meter ourselves, just the cost of materials and ditch witch.

What realtor are you talking to? Caviat Emptor with Kentucky Land Co. - the offer low down payments and owner financing, but they like to find ways to foreclose, it seems. I've never talked to anyone who has had a positive experience with them, except for the one couple who found their own financing and paid cash. There's a few other smaller real estate companies around that like to play that game as well- be careful! I wish I had a real estate guide handy, I'd look to see what's available. My current 10 acre farm in Hardin co will be for sale soon , the price tag will be in the 80-ish range. There is a nice trailer and barn on 5 or 6 acres just up the road from me in Grayson Co- price $65 if I remember right, I doubt he'd finance. I saw another little house FSBO nearby- it looks like it needs work and it's small and on a smallish lot- can't remember price on that, either, but it was under 30. Give me a price range and I'll see what I can dig up- PM me if you want to keep that info private.

 

Jagger- I PM'd you...