Considering a Country Home?

Master planned developments can be beautiful, but can box you in in terms of lifestyle and options. Do you want to break away from the suburban mold? Not fitting in to your present community due to hobbies, interests, children or general lifestyle?

You may be a candidate to move to a larger piece of property wtih a country home. No - it does not have to be used as a farm or a ranch. And, it can be a contemporary style home. It may just give you the ability to spread out & have more privacy than a typical community with property sizes of less than a half acre.

Look for property just like you would look for a house - Compare price per square foot of the building & the property area.

What are the surrounding properties like in terms of size and what is the quality of the structures on them? Is it primarily farmhouses, manufactured homes, industry, or business? How long will you intend to keep the property and how hard will it be to resell based on the surrounding mix of uses? All of these things should be considered in the price you pay and the location you choose.

Some great areas to buy a country home right now are in rural areas where a growing metropolitan city is expanding towards an agricultural area. In 5 to 10 years what was thought of as a long commute to the city may be shortened by growth and property values will climb.

Just like a home - what amenities does the property have? While you may be looking for a home to have central heating & air conditioning, a large kitchen and a spa like master bathroom. Look for these type items that enhance the property also. For example, does it have a barn or workshop? A detached garage for storage? Is it planted with any type of crop or fruit trees? Do you want shade? Lots or trees or is it cleared?

Remember that if it is not cleared it will cost you additional money to have the lot cleared before you can build.

What about utilities? Will you have to have everything installed or does it already have a well, septic tank, and electrical power to the site? Investigate how far you have to go to tap into local utilities such as power, water and sewer. Do you want the property to be independent (well, septic, etc) or depend on county services that you will have to pay for?

This is an excellent area to study the variety of alternative power options for any new construction such as solar, geothermal, propane, etc.

Another item to take into consideration is that a vacant lot will generally require a higher down payment on the property than one with an existing home or structure. Vacant property can require as much as 20% down depending on your credit, but a location with a structure can sometimes be bought for 100% financing - even if you will build an additional home or add to the current structure in the future.