Dh and I went and looked at another piece of property yesterday and he fell in love with it! We would be first time home buyers, so I'd like ya'lls opinion on whether this would be a good buy or not. In a nutshell, it's 75 +- acres in NW Henry Co, TN with I'm guessing 1990 something doublewide that has a new front porch (excellently built), a big back deck, a barn/shed that needs a new tin roof (we already have the tin), a very nice newer storage shed with a poured concrete foundation (looks like they were going to put a dog run there) with surrounding fence, and a pond that needs to be dug out. It sits off the road about 1/8 mile with paved driveway. The pasture is out front and to the right of the house, and what concerns me is that it's in a flood zone so to speak. I don't know if it's legally described as such, but I've lived here most of my life and have seen it flood several time during very heavy storms because there is a creek that runs through that part of the property and the beavers have it all damned up. Power lines run through the back of the property (saw a really nice 6 point!). Most of this property is rolling and wooded and can't really be used for pasture land to sustain the animals we want. We could put two calves and possible a horse on the pasture that is there and fence in the barn (up on the hill) so they would have a place to go in storms. I would have to have a lot of little gardens all around the yard which is a pain to mow around and upkeep. There is room for the chickens and tons of wild blackberries. There is a hill directly behind the DW that we could dig out for the underground/cordwood house and then sell the DW cheap when the house is done, fill in the hole with the dirt from the underground house and put a garden there (?). To me, this is a lot of money to be spending with the economy the way it is right now and I don't want a mortgage payment for the rest of my life. But DH says this is exactly what he has always wanted, but we are arguing whether it is practicle or not for the lifestyle we want to live. I will be doing a title search tomorrow and checking what it is appraised for so hopefully I won't find any skeletons in the closet. Would you please share your thoughts/concerns about this property? In my personal opinion, I think we should be looking for something cheaper that has better potential over time even if it means more elbow grease. About all the improvements we could do to this land is dig out the pond, have some of the trees logged (if that's your idea of improvement....not mine personally), and rebuild the shed/barn. I'm not sure if building the underground cordwood house would up the value any or not in this area....I've never seen one built. That's something I'd have to look into. Your thoughts are appreciated! Heather
Hard to answer because only you know what your wants and needs are. What is your long range plan and how does this property fit with it? How many and what animals do you want and will this land support them? How big of a garden do you want? can you do that there? Orchards? Other issues like close to schools or work? Neighbors? Privacy? The flooding is a big one. It would be terrible to lose a ton of work because of a flood..it would be worse if you knew it was likely to happen and did all that work anyway. If you really love this place are the beavers something that can be dealt with? Trapping and knocking out dams is hard work and the varmints keep coming back but it can be done. If you have a list of the things that are most important to you down to least important and then start ranking the properties you consider against that list you will probably find out a few things...What you really in your heart feel is important...How much of what you want you can really afford...what differences you and your husband have in what is important.. My .02 Good luck. Eric
Your apprehension about the mortgage caught my attention. Then again you had very little positive to say about the property. It sounds like your spider sense is tingling, while your DH is drooling. It sounds like the property has been improved to nearly its maximum value (unless you replace the DW). Perhaps the seller is asking top dollar. Maybe it would be better to buy something that can be improved significantly. Keep looking. My .02$.
I agree with Gobug. When we first started looking for properties, we found one that I really loved. My dh, however, could only see the negatives: the barn way too close to the house (practically attached); the house in need of renovations, with a yucky floor plan; the view from the house was terrible (which was a shame, because the property was really quite lovely, but they seemed to build the house with the worst possible view); no restrictive covenants (good and bad, imo); barbed wire fencing (with horses on the property!). On the other hand, all I could see was the stuff I loved--lots of pasture, a lovely pond, mature berries, lots of hardwood trees around the property (many of which created a screen so you couldn't see the property from the road); hardwood floors on the main floor. We ultimately bought another property we found later. All in all, I think this was a much better deal for us. I think we did the right thing by passing on it. My dh was right about all the negatives--I just was very tired of living in an apartment while we house hunted.
One problem I see - selling the doublewide, cheap or not. Its very hard to sell a mobile home that must be moved off the property. It would probably cost people more to move it than you would ask for the doublewide. Also, if/when the doublewide is moved, its possible that trees will have to be removed to get it out, if they have grown up since it was put there, and other disruptions to the property.
I read your replies and convinced DH to look at another property yesterday, and thankfully, he'll think this new property will work much better for what we want even though it involves ALOT of cleaning on the outside of the property. Not much a bushhog and the local scrap iron place couldn't fix. It has 9 apple trees, 3 or 4 peach trees, 2 nectarine trees and tons of blackberries already bearing fruit on the property which will save us some money because I definately was going to plant an orchard on whatever property we bought. It is advertised as hanging a "single wide and double wide that come with the property". HA! What a joke! The single wide is a '60's model that might make a glorified "chicken hotel" if taken off the axels , though the DW is in good shape but has been used for all kinds of storage. If we offered it free to someone if they hauled it off and cleaned it out, there is an old driveway that leads to it seperate from the main drive with no trees in the way that would compromise the removal. It is 7 acres that already has the perimeter fenced, so all it would need is a section of cross fence to put the animals in. Anyway...this place has LOADS more potential than the other one. The house has new vinyl siding, a new roof, and new theropane windows throughout, though the inside needs some new paint, and flooring of some kind in the near future. And it's SMALL....a 4 bedroom, 1 bath, LR, kitchen, computer room and den. But all of this is only 976 sq. feet. But it's only $31,000 too . Much more within our price range. And again, there is already a perfect hill to build the underground house, if we ever decide to do so. Sooooo.....ya'll comments helped us see that the previous property wasn't exactly going to accomadate (sp?) our needs, let along our budget. Thanks again guys! I welcome any comments, concerns, suggestions you would have on this property as well. Have a good one! Heather
