# Buying and Living on a farm



## BentheViking (May 19, 2011)

My wife and I are in the beginning stages of house hunting. We found a 5 acre farm, with 5 outbuildings. The house is 2300 sq ft with a lot of good bones, but needs a lot of updating (paint, floors, kitchen, etc).

We are really exploring the idea at this point, but am wondering what other LJ's have in terms of experience of buying and living on a farm, since we don't have tons of experience. Things to keep in mind, cautions, words of encouragement, hell even words of dis-encouragement. We aren't trying to jump into this lightly and want to know everything as much as we can up front.

And yes there may be some potential for barn wood in time!


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## hhhopks (Nov 22, 2011)

Sounds like you need watch the old reruns fo the Green Acres.
I would think that will give you some ideas.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

No experience with buying a farm but I grew up on a farm, at least from 12 - 19 years old. If you mean to actually farm, as opposed to rural living, it is a tough way of life but very rewarding. I mostly hated it then but sometimes miss it. I was in excellent physical condition too. We kept 60 head of cattle and raised several hundred acres of corn and hay, and a several acre garden. Basically it was a self sustaining hobby farm. The corn and hay fed the cattle, butchering and selling beef paid for the seed and equipment maintenance and helped feed the family. Occasionally my uncle would raise rabbits for food. We also hunted squirrels, rabbits and deer. When I was younger we had horses and chickens.

I wanted to live in the country when my wife and I married but she was a city girl and terrified of rural living. In retrospect, she now wishes we had bought a farm. I would love to have a few chickens, maybe some goats and raise some beef.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

Neither my wife or myself have ever lived in town except during my internship and we both vowed we would never live in town again! Go for it. It is a lot more work but very much worth it.


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## BentheViking (May 19, 2011)

It would be a small hobby farm, much smaller than your wormil. My wife likes husbandry, but I am much more into my woodworking as a hobby. I think it will be more of a rural property with farm animals for a few pets. A couple of goats, a couple of chickens maybe a potbelly pig. No cows or horses. Maybe try to rent some of the field to other local farmers to use for hay. We are very much in the beginning stages we are just trying to get a feel of what it could be like.


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## sandhill (Aug 28, 2007)

Very romantic. I bought 10 acres with a 4,000 sf house in VA. about 11 years ago and sold it. My wife and I had full time jobs. She commuted almost 2 hours one way. I was lucky and was only 40 min. away. Here is your week, Get home on Fri. Start cutting grass, up early sat. No your not going fishing, you have to plow an acre for the corn. Then till the 200 X 200 foot garden and do other chores and make repairs so your done by dark, but you not finished. You go to bed and get up early SUN, finish mowing the grass, string the planting rows and get the seed down make sure all the fences are up around everything so the deer don't get into the gardens and hope you planted enough to feed you the rabbits and the ground hogs because you can't get rid of them. Thats all the fun stuff wait until you start canning in the fall and getting everything ready for winter. Some things to think about: You will need to cut and split firewood unless your rich and can afford electric bills for a house that size. Mine was $500 a month without burning wood (I had 3 package units 3.5 TON each) 
A hand mower will not get it you will need a tractor of some sort. Have the well tested and get a home inspection. You may be able to use it to negotiate a better price. 
It's really is cool to own a small farm but be realistic about what you can do with the time you have. I was offered 56K more then I paid for that house a year later and took it like a fool and bought 3 1/2 acres with a smaller house, it was no less work and today the house is worth 350K more then I sold it for. You sound like a young guy and after all this economy stuff clears up you could be sitting on a real good investment. Also conciser this, It can get lonely and if you have kids there may be no other ones to play or interact with and emergency services will likely be farther away and in town.
Welcome to the American dream. Follow your heart


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

If you actually plan to do any farming/livestock, plan the financials in advance unless your regular job/business can subsidize an expensive hobby. The demand for fresh/organic eggs, milk, vegetables, meat, is rising.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

I live on 40 acres, mostly woods. Own no animals except dogs.
Built my house on this property in 1976, raised two sons, both Eagle scouts.
Deer, wild turkeys, bobcats, coyotes, foxes have all been seen walking by the kitchen window.
I work as an engineer, in town, 8 miles from my house.
I also own a small retail business in town.
I have 1 hour a week that I can do anything I want to; if I get up at 4:00AM on Sunday.
Depending on where your farm is, you may not have high speed internet and probably not cable so plan on satellite for these services.

Probably going to have to sell it all because of the asshole we have for a president and the idiotic administration he has put into power.


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

Make sure you can handle the driveway, keeping it smooth enough to drive on, and not be a mud bog in 
wet weather as well as plowing it in the winter. You may have to buy a small tractor to handle this as well
as the mowing and plowing. Be sure to figure this into your budget. Is the road to the driveway maintained
year around. I had one place a few years back that they did not plow the road during Christmas break 
because the school bus did not use it. Big pain you know where. Do you have natural gas or as Sandhill
mentioned a big electric bill. Will you need to insulate the house before next winter and can you manage it.
Is the garage in good shape and can you get your vehicles in it, or will you have to build one. Being able
to start your car in a garage and back out is a big plus in a cold snowy winter or real rainy day. Will you 
need to add some concrete to prevent muddy footprints in the house? Most other points have been 
covered, so I will not repeat them.


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## KOVA (Nov 21, 2011)

*LA ENERGÍA PARA CONSTRUÍRTE ALGO O MEJORAR LO QUE YA TIENES ES LA QUE CUENTA A LA HORA DE DECIDIR!!!!! SI TU ERES UN TIPO HARAGÁN, NO ES UN PROYECTO PARA TÍ, EN CAMBIO SI EL LUGAR TE VA A ANIMAR Y HACER FELÍZ A TÍ Y A TU FAMILIA, ADELANTE!!!!!! COMPRA ESA FINCA YA ;-)

ENERGY FOR SOMETHING OR IMPROVE build you ALREADY HAVE WHAT COUNTS IS THE TIME TO DECIDE!! IF YOU ARE A TYPE lazy, NOT A PROJECT FOR YOU, HOWEVER IF THE PLACE YOU WILL ENCOURAGE AND HAPPY TO MAKE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY, GO!! BUY NOW THAT FARM ;-)*


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## Nomad62 (Apr 20, 2010)

The first recommendations from me are to have the water checked for taste, hardness, odor, and drinkability; then have the septic system inspected for useability and any signs of maintenance (people rarely do it). These two things will make or break a wonderful home. Have the electrical panels checked for arcing and owner installed breakers, making sure they did it right. Assume the sellers are selling you a problem, and make sure you are capable of repairing it. Watch for water pooling and drainage. I've lived in the woods for almost all my life, and love it. Best of luck.


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## superstretch (Jan 10, 2011)

Definitely check utilities.. Water, electric, gas. Get it inspected and see what needs to be done. Be prepared to become hand at every home task.

Things I've run into (2800sq ft on 4 acres, with several outbuildings)

House: remodeled several bedrooms, fixed electric in several places, refloored several rooms, ran laundry connections to different room, sealed the first floor from the basement (critters), reworked plumbing to fix connections to a toilet and a shower, repainted just about everything inside, finished the flashing material outside around windows and corners, emptied septic tanks.

Chicken coop: sealed it off so if I end up using it later, I won't have to clear out snakes, wasps, and other critters

Workshop: replaced floor joists and floorboards, finished enclosing with metal siding, added outlets

Outhouse: replaced tin roof with cedar shakes

Large barn: cleared out, currently working on replacing some rotten beams

Small barn: just tore it down (at the request of the bank, since we're refinancing)

Garage: collapsed on my honeymoon

Yard: mow front once a week, mow back every couple weeks. Weeding/clearing a constant battle, but most of our 4 acres is usable.

My wife and I have been renovating the house now for 2+ years and there's still a ton to be done, but its been a great activity to bring us closer together and the house is so much better than it used to be


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## BentheViking (May 19, 2011)

Well the house is being sold by the family of an elderly man who died. To get the house ready to sell they have done a roof, new electrical and plumbing (the house had been broken into and the copper was stripped), new septic, new furnace, termite remediation. I'm not sure how much of this is true vs. exaggerated, but I will certainly look into it more. The house is on a relatively major, albeit not very very busy, road that on both ends connects to roads that lead to i-84 (the major highway through connecticut) which is 5 minutes away. Stores, schools, etc are very close. The driveway of the house is about 5 cars wide, but only 1 car deep until it gets to the garage.


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## BentheViking (May 19, 2011)

Oh and an alarm system was added


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

pm sent


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## nate22 (Jul 12, 2010)

I grew up on a farm my parents had cows and pigs. They also grew hay, corn, and soy beans. My dad still farms it is a hard way to make a living but you work for yourself and depends on how much you make you still have to have another job. But if your going to use it as a hobby farm I would think of maybe renting out a couple of acres if they are fields to a farmer and you could make a little that way. But farming can get expensive depending on what kind of farming you do.


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## BentheViking (May 19, 2011)

Went inside the place today, much was as I had expected. Much of what it needs seems do-able. That is with one major question. The whole center of the house sags. Not a little bit either. Probably several inches (4-5). Might not be that big of a deal across the whole of the house, but it is all concentrated in one spot probably four or so fee wide. First floor and second floor. So I went down to the basement and its a rock wall/dirt floor kinda place. Around the area are several beams and posts designed to keep the house from getting worse. Bottom line is I think I'd need a structural engineer to come and to take a look (Anyone know what that may cost???) and then get the beam jacked and replaced with new support columns put in and possibly even some cement poured to keep the columns from sinking into the dirt again. Anyone know what that may cost?

Are we crazy for even thinking about this? Certainly I wouldn't do the work myself, but I want to make sure its done before we buy or worked into the negotiations. Are we better off letting the problem be someone elses? Should the town declare the house in need of being torn down?

Basically is the juice worth the squeeze?


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

I'm a contractor of 25 years .It sounds like a very scary situation. I would guess it needs a whole new foundation and lots of support beams . This can easily cost $50.000 or more. Unless you can buy the property for the value of the land only I would see what else is out there.


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## Nomad62 (Apr 20, 2010)

A house is worth little without a good foundation. I'm with Jim above, I'd get a heckuva deal before jumping into this one. The thing is, any place will have its troubles. If you like this one, see if the seller will pay to have a contractor come out and take a look, maybe two of them; then compare what they say to what you are willing to put into repairs/the cost of the home and make a decision from there.


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## rodman40 (Jan 11, 2012)

Go for it!!! In the country you can cut air anytime you please and no one hears it [except my 4 year old grandson Nathaniel who was born with super hearing, even a whisper doesn't get by him.], I'm talking from pure experiance.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

I bought an old house that had some bad water damage in the kitchen where a washing machine had been leaking for years. Had to pull out the kitchen floor and replace the floor joists, sub-floor and all.

Then I discovered the center of the house floor level was about 2" below the perimeter foundation.
Put a big timber beam, 8" x 8" oak, under the middle of the house and started jacking it up. When I noticed the house was about an inch off its foundation I stopped jacking and went back inside to check the floor. STILL SAGGING!

Apparently, the stupid thing was built with the sag. The baseboard was even cut with the slope in it. I could not get it level without stripping the wall covering off to the bare studs. I finally got it fixed and sheetrocked the whole house. Good thing I was young, my first house, and had a good job.

Just telling you this to point out it's easy to bite off more than you can chew in an old house renovation.


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