A Cabin and Forty Acres

There are likely thousands of properties of all shapes and sizes on the market spread across the United States. Some are listed with realtors, some are listed by the owner, some may even be listed by a financial institution as part of a foreclosure or bankruptcy. Even with hours and hours of internet searching you will likely have only scratched the surface of what’s out there and likely gotten frustrated in the process. In this chapter we will help you put together the property wish list which will help you narrow down your search. In this step flexibility is the key, since it is unlikely you will find a parcel with everything you want that is in your budget! Once you have the list together, rate each of the property’s characteristics by importance. Now you have a manageable way to search for properties that will not make you nuts and will increase the likelihood of finding your dream property.

Travel
Just as we started with financing your purchase as the first thing to think about, travel should be at the top of your property selection list.
When I say travel, I am talking about how far are you willing to travel to get to your property? Travel distance will greatly affect what you have to choose from land wise. Now, you may say that distance does not matter if the property has everything you want. But consider this, how far is your family willing to travel?? When I initially started my search, I was looking for properties almost 5 hours from home since the land was more affordable and it put me closer to the rivers which I loved to salmon fish in. However, my entire family said it was just too far to travel and since I wanted them to be able to use the property, I altered my search criteria. The reality is that even the best property can be too far away. A 4–5-hour trip each way really does make it unlikely that you will take a ride up for the weekend and it makes a day trip completely out of the question. What good is having the property if you do not get there. Also, if you have a cabin or other structure, you do not want to be too far away in the event of a problem at the property. I adjusted my search to a 2 hour and 45-minute travel time. This covered two states, so my options were not significantly limited and where I ended up buying put me midway to my salmon fishing spot. Making it possible to run up for a day trip. Once you have decided on what is a comfortable travel distance, grab a map. Place a star where you are, now mark out a circle that covers points that are within that travel distance. Say you chose to make 3 hours your travel distance, and the speed limit is sixty-five miles per hour (yes, I know this sounds like a high school science question) your approximate travel distance is 195 miles. Mark out a circle 195 miles around your star. Now you have a geographic area to start your search! Keep in mind there may be a considerable amount of travel on small backroads to get to your property, which may be in various degrees of repair, so you will have to figure some of that into your calculations. Now you’ll never be able to plan for all the travel contingencies but think a little about the future. It took me a long time to find my property, so it was a little later in life that I bought it. I accounted for travel from where I lived at the time, I did not account for the move I would make once I retired. My move increased my travel time to over 4 hours, on the bright side I can now go up and stay for a couple of weeks instead of just a couple of days so it balances out.


Property Size and Topography:
Take some time to think about the size of the property you would like to purchase. This will be determined as much by how much money you have as the actual property size. Bigger is better when it comes to property. Would you be happy with a secluded 5-acre parcel, or do you want twenty plus acres so you can roam around? Keep in mind that smaller properties will be easier to come by, especially if you are closer to urban areas, they will be cheaper and require less maintenance, long term cost and care than a larger parcel. That said, five acres while sounding large is not that large, you can walk the entire perimeter of the property in under 20 minutes. One of my property goals was not to be able to see any neighbors and there was not a five acre parcel I looked at on which I could not see the neighbors which meant they could see me as well. Granted, that was more a product of where I was looking, in other areas you could certainly find five acres without visible neighbors. Especially if you can find a parcel surrounded by State or local game land. Since my focus was seclusion, I opted to look for property twenty acres or greater in size since I had the budget for it. However, it was not just a question of parcel size. I wanted the surrounding property to be State game land, so my twenty acres would become two thousand acres!

This is just a sample of all that’s covered in the book in order to make the process of finding property just a little easier for you. I cover the process from start to finish and you’ll learn from my mistakes and what I did right! My goal for you is a property you and the family will enjoy for generations!