Hello. I know Keremeos isn't the south Okanagan, but one of the things I've noticed since moving to the S. OK is that there are a lot of empty town lots for sale for (relatively) cheap, but that these aren't easily visible
online. For example, within a five minute walk of my house, there are three empty lots for sale (two right beside each other) and two more lots with houses, but the houses are probably not worth very much to most people, both being older for the area, and neglected looking. None of these places show up on the MLS, but I believe most if not all are available for less then 10K. (One I inquired about, and is asking 8000, and has been sitting for eight months since then, so will probably
sell for less.)
I'm from the
city, so all these town lots look 'biggish' to me, and I'm wondering if a person could make themselves an "acerage" by buying up lots like them over time. Of course, there would be a problem with establishing forest on "acerage" subdivided like that, and pigs are out (maybe
chickens would be okay?) but the positives would be that they're all already "hooked up" with
water access and electric, they're close to whatever services the town provides, while having relatively low taxes since they're "empty" - and in the future, it might be possible to sell them for
profit to housing developers as the town expands, provided that the town does expand. Plus they would easily be used as teachable space, since the town public would be right there to be amazed by
permaculture coolness.
Other then small town lots, though, I haven't seen anything approaching affordable agricultural land in the valley, which I blame on the wine industry. And the cheap irrigation water. And of course, rich Albertans.
My advice would be to make contact with a real estate agent in Keremeos, it won't cost you anything but time as a potential buyer, and perhaps they can let you know about "secret" lots for sale. Ideally you'd be able to drive around the area yourself, and take notes on anything interesting you saw.
I haven't been to Keremeos yet, but keep hearing good things about it!