Help choosing between two pieces of land?

Hi all,
I was hoping for some of you to share your thoughts and opinions on the potential for a permaculture focused homestead between two pieces of land.
About two years ago I purchased 1.5 acres directly behind my grandparents home, where I grew up, with plans to start my homestead. Unfortunately the town requires a minimum of 2 acres to build a home. A neighbor who had previously agreed to sell me the other half acre changed their mind. At the time no one else was willing to sell.
A year passed and I purchased a 3 acre lot, in the same town but about twice as far from "in town" (about a 22 minute drive) It is also 5 miles from my grandparents (about a 10 minute drive).
This 3 acre lot is where I had a well drilled and put up a 30' yurt. The yurt is not livable by the towns standards yet, it's still under construction inside.
I had been considering selling this property for a few reasons, but had been going back and forth on it. Yesterday a neighbor who has property adjacent to the lot behind my grandparents offered to sell me a half acre.

I realize I am in an extremely privileged position to even be able to decide between two properties. I want to make the best decision for my current and future self and my family. Here are what I can currently list as pros and cons of each lot.

1.5 acre (possibly future 2) behind grandparents:
- A wooded lot, last clear cut about 60-80 years ago for cattle. Has now grown in with trees. No current water source besides grandparents nextdoor. No driveway but can be accessed by our yard truck. Lot is approximately 150' wide and around 400' long.

Pros:
Nextdoor to my family home. I want to be available to my grandparents to help them as much as possible as they get older. My sister also lives with them and she has health issues that mean she needs assistance.
Trees provide shade and moderate temperature. They are also aesthetically pleasing. My partner and I love the trees there.
Selling the larger property and buying a half acre more here would allow me to be debt free.

Cons:
Less space than other lot.
People hunt on land behind this lot.
Lot is long and narrow.
Large trees blow over during big storms fairly often.
No well or "driveway"
Oddly shaped, with possible large sink hole. My grandfather says he thinks people a long time ago took dirt from a hillside for fill, but I worry it's really a sinkhole. It's about 50' by 60'.

3 Acre Lot with yurt:
- Lot on the north side of a hill, gently sloping NE for about 3/4 of the lot. The eastern corner is a steeper slope down into the corner. The higher half of the land is completely cleared meadow (once used for sheep pasture), the other half is wooded.

Pros:
More space
500ft well with lots of stored water
Already has a driveway
Yurt in progress
Lots of sun for solar and gardening
Currently 28 orchard trees I planted spring of 2021
Private, only 2 neighbors who are fairly distanced from us. The driveways 500ft long right of way, 700ft to the road.

Cons:
Ticks. The ticks are crazy. I realize there are things that can be done but if you go outside you easily can get 10+ ticks on you in minutes. They are on the inside walls of the yurt daily. Mostly dog ticks, some deer.
Direct sun means a lot of heat. I have health issues, dysautonomia, and extreme heat intolerance. It means I can't go outside when it's 85 or over. And at this property it is always about 10 degrees or more hotter than at the wooded smaller lot. I don't know how we will be able to cool the yurt.
Being on a hill side, we are also very close to granite ledge. The ledge varies from 6inches to 4ft down in the soil. The soil is sandy loam. A lot of work must be done to retain water. The ledge makes planting difficult. I am not sure how my orchard trees will fair with such shallow soil?
This property has put me $34,000 in debt. Which may not seem like a lot but I am unemployed do to my health problems and am not sure when I will be able to work again outside of odd jobs when my health allows.
Having the yurt up is good, but it is huge. 700sq ft and 15' tall ceiling. It is way bigger than we need and it has made it difficult to finish the building. It will cost more resources to heat and cool.

I feel like the yurt property has more potential and I've put a lot of work into it. But it is tempting to be next to my family and not be in debt.
For anyone willing to read such a long post, thank you. Opinions? Thoughts?

Could you move the yurt to the smaller lot by your family?

The yurt could potentially be taken down and moved, however it was a huge endeavor getting it up. Getting the canvas roof on was very difficult. I am surprised we were even able to get something so heavy off the ground and onto the roof the first time.
If we didn't move the yurt we would stay in my grandparents home while we built a small cabin/cottage on the smaller lot. Preferably from natural materials and resources on the land.

I should mention we know if we stay in the yurt where it is, a lot will need to be changed to make the heat and cold tolerable. We would essentially have to convert the whole building into something else.

Hi, I vote for selling the land with the yurt.  Even though you have put a lot of energy into that piece.
It sounds like it will need more work to make it comfortable for you to be there.
And as your family ages, you will be driving back and forth helping them.
The other piece has plenty of good things going for it.
There is nothing as nice as being debt free!  
There is a lot to say about living next to your family.
Standing timber for shade is invaluable.
Building a cottage, (hopefully with a rocket mass heater!)
Increasing the size of the family land.
Yup, I think this is the piece for you!

How sure are you that you'll have legal access to the smaller place after your grandparents pass away?  Is there enough sun for gardening (if that's something you want to do) at the smaller place?  How much land do your grandparents have and would that acreage be usable (or bequeathed) to you in the long term?  If so, it makes that lot seem a bit bigger.

Having read about your condition, I think the smaller block is a no brainer.
If you can purchase the extra land as indicated, you then have the ability to build.
BUT, if your heart is in the bigger block many of the issues you speak of can improve.
Water tanks, shade trees etc

The larger block sounds to be in good order to attract a better price and suit somebody well.
$34,000 is not a large mortgage, but if you cannot meet the commitments that's not a good place to be.
If you do go to the family block, I would have that extra land secured first, prior to selling the other.

If you keep the bigger block some research on the way to do things will be needed, I am sure that will be available.
As for income, can you do anything from home, establish some sort of business, manage someones elses?
Ticks sound awful, is there a long term solution such as 100's of chooks?

I will definitely have access even after my grandparents are no longer here. Their property and home would most likely be left to my mother in name, but she’d have it open and available to be shared between my younger sister and brother, and myself. They’d currently allow me to plant on their land and probably even have small livestock in certain areas.

Long term I know I could create shade at the yurt property, and possibly control the ticks with hundreds of birds.

My goal is to have a property that can meet the majority of my families needs, being as self sufficient as possible. Gardening is obviously a huge part of that. The smaller lot has dappled sunlight with some bigger openings that I think could work for a small solar set up.

Being close to my family and debt free makes me lean towards the smaller lot. But I worry that someday my family may not be near me anymore and I could regret not keeping a piece of land with more space, possibly no sink hole, and so much available sunlight. The cons of the yurt lot worry me though, particularly the ledge with trying to plant an orchard.

You haven't told us your general climate. That changes many things enormously.

You've added improvements to the yurt property, so it's worth more than you paid. A 22 minute drive is a gas pig. And a tick haven is about as desirable as a mosquito haven.

The question is, would any sort of dwelling (5th wheel trailer, tiny house) be legal on the 1.5 acre property? Is there a way to get legal road access and perhaps utilities if you (or someone) wanted them? Otherwise it's an orphaned location. I would suggest understanding your options fully, independent of the adjoining family property.

I am located in the north east.
The town won’t allow any type of living structure, portable or not, without the 2 acres. It is a decent town to do natural building in though, we have very minimal actual building codes. I would be able to have road access installed and utilities if I wanted but at least for myself I’d prefer to stay off the grid. I could have a well installed if I chose to.

After thinking last night, maybe I am over thinking worrying about where and what my family could be up to decades from now. If they all left maybe I’d decide to pack up and travel. Who knows.
Right now the time I have left with my grandparents is invaluable to me. Being next to my sister with her chronic health issues and my brother who is autistic and may need some extra help in the future will be important to me.
Maybe it is worth giving up the extra acre for those things, and to be relieved from the debt.

The smaller land piece isn’t necessarily wet, but the yurt property is high and dry…but I could never have a basement..decisions decisions