10 Acres Flat Land-Dream Home/Property

Hello fellow permies,

I recently found my dream home. It just happens to be an open land property but after saving up for what seems like a life time, I can finally afford to purchase the land. The only issue is that it's kind of in the middle of nowhere and doesn't have any sewer or electricity lines yet. I really want to buy it but before I do I wanted to get some advice on what I need to know or research before commiting to this property. Ideally I would like to turn it into a farm, with lots of trees surrounding the property line. If my dream were to come true it would have huge green lands, growing corn, apples, strawberries, cabbages, potatoes, lemon, avocado...etc (always wanted a banana tree as a kid so maybe that too). Now I don't really know much about farming, close to nothing but I'm willing to put in the time to do research and maybe even apply for some gov grants. Can anyone give me pointers on what expenses I will be looking at in the future if I were to transform this flat land with practically nothing growing on it to a beautiful farm oasis. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Much Love.

You could create a spreadsheet of all the issues you need to think about.
Its impossible on the page to lay one out, but I will try.
Firstly research- lists already created
Then Financials, soil quality and type, access to water, road access, markets

Expences on land, fences, roads, shedding, house

drainage needed?
Fencing OK?
Thats just a start

Is there a road in to it? You need to price that in.  You can find out from the electric company how much it will cost to run electricity out there.  Ditto a septic tank - find the company that will install it and get an estimate.  If there's a well or other water available, have it tested.  You would be amazed - we installed $5,000 worth of water filtration to remove all sorts of unlikely things, including radiation!  (Granite in Vermont often has little bits of radium in it - who knew?)

Is it close enough to where you work for you to continue your day job?  You described it as "the middle of nowhere;" you'll need income to pay for it all (shelter, seeds, equipment, tree seedlings, and all the rest).  Will you build your own shelter?  Off-grid?  Solar?  Talk to the zoning administrator in the town to find out what sort of shelter will be required.  Check zoning laws for whether livestock is allowed.

Is there any forest on the land?  Harvesting wood can be helpful for building and heating.  You mention avocados and lemons, so perhaps it's warm year-round.  Find out the history of the land - make sure it wasn't someone's hazardous waste dump or something.

Start reading about farming!  Try Joel Salatin - his books are well respected and give you an idea about what needs to be done, and what is possible.

Best of luck!  When you need more specific advice, include your geographic area (USDA zone in the US, or state, no need to be super-specific).

Here is a commercial list
How to start a farm
good luck

Thanks for asking all of us!  I have been searching for property for my sister to retire to and we have been whittling down the lists:  Essentials, Preferables, Would-Be-Nices, and Absolutely-Nots.  Does this property have enough of these qualities or do you have funds or the ability to make improvements?

My first step in helping my sister is to go to the county and get all the records they have (probably not much if it is raw land).  
Next is to visit the department of ecology and do a well log search.  Here is the site for Washington State.  Check out your state or county for similar information.  This will provide information on your neighbors' wells: how deep and type of soil.
next: soil type.  How deep is the soil, what types of slope?  Twice, I thought I had found the perfect house for my sister but the land was so steep as to be unusable - I think the best thing to do with steep slopes is the forest them but that slope meant that I wouldn't be able to safely manage the woodlot.

Curious if you have already purchased or are in the process and your geographic location.  My answer will be more specific for the rural USA but are things to think about no matter where you are.  What does open land mean in this context?  

Top things to consider and/or fund soon are access (roads - both county and on-site), water (well and septic), power (off-grid or cost to connect to utility), any structures (including state of dis-repair), topography, the density of groundcover/forest.

Lots of things to consider as you ponder this transition.  Hope this helps  :)

Hello again,  i want to share a document that I got from Bret at High Sierra Permaculture about finding the right land and I want to honor the potentially proprietary nature of the document. So if you click the link below and watch the video ad for his program, he will send you “7 Steps to Success: FINDING LAND FOR THE PERMACULTURE HOMESTEAD & FARM OF YOUR DREAMS” as a thank you gift.

[url=https://highsierrapermaculture.us14.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2938c35a32f20ef957441cb24&id=80b06d709e&e=392183779b]How You Can Easily Live A More Sustainable life Today, Starting With Permaculture (in as little as a few hours) To align your life & home with nature, so that you can feel peaceful, healthy, secure, and fulfilled in any climate and even in small spaces.
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