| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| PocketFarmgirl |
Posted - Oct 03 2006 : 6:51:59 PM
We are looking for property with a house already on it (I guess...I've seen what some of the farmgirls have written about banks not lending on unimproved land, or financing mortgages on land you own!). We're looking for five to ten acres, ideally.
First of all, am I missing the boat on:
1. Lenders who specialize in small farm lending? Do you know of any?
2. Some sort of financing specific to buying a farm that might qualify us for more than we could otherwise afford? There's a beginning farmers lending program in NY that I'm looking into; it offers lower interest rates as an incentive. Has anyone used such a program?
3. How can I find out about Ag. tax exemptions? The ones I've seen so far don't count unless you have an identifiable income or percentage of income come from the farm, but a friend of my mom's keeps a few sheep just to keep her exemption, so I'm wondering if I'm missing something.
I've got three little ones, and I homeschool. I don't want to bet our home on the success of my farmgirl enterprises. I'd be thrilled if they provided a good lifestyle for our family and a supplementary income that helped us be comfy. My husband has a town job that is our main income. On the other hand, I feel like I'm doing a lot of looking for our farm in a fairly rural area and not finding a lot...and I'm not sure I'm doing it right. I see interesting properties, but they're just out of our range, or they're in our range and need big ticket items like a new roof or replacement windows, and I know the utility costs alone would eat us alive. I feel like the fox in the Aesop story...my dream is just out of reach.
More questions:
Has anyone done contract for title? How did you go about it? How did it work for you?
Has anyone bought a FSBO? How did you find it?
Did anyone find a farm through a local or federal agency? What agency? How did you do it? (I looked at the USDA site...nothing in our state.)
I wish we were in a place where we could buy land and build our own house by hand, but I don't realistically see it happening.
How do all these people build houses out in the country? Do their builders own the lots? Or do they do both loans at once? Hm.
Thanks for bearing with me. I know I've asked a lot of questions. Any replies are appreciated. |
| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Redhen |
Posted - Oct 05 2006 : 2:18:15 PM
Hi! Well I hope everything works out for you and I wish you lots of luck. Wish I knew more. I have one acre  and a 100 year old house that was a for sale by owner. I had actually looked at the house before when another couple had it for sale (FSBO also)but we werent actually ready to move yet. I really loved the place and it just so happened to come up for sale again a few years later when the owners were transferred. We made an offer, they countered, and we said that was truly our best we could do. They took it! I think it was meant to be. Our transaction went very smoothly. We had one attorney handle it all. We did have a thorough inspection done to be aware of what we were getting into, and it was a very sound house. Oh there is still lots we need to do for comfort sake, and energy cost-saving. We just dont want to go head-over-heels in debt so we do a little as we can afford it....or else when something breaks! Anyway, here's a site I hope you will find helpful. Someone on here posted before and its a good one to get ideas.
http://www.unitedcountry.com/
....I don't believe we're in Kansas anymore.The Wizard of Oz |
| MamaHumbird |
Posted - Oct 03 2006 : 9:11:57 PM
Sarah, I know how frustrating it can be looking for a farm or farm home. I live in the midwest and the land I have is across the street from where I grew up. I don't know what advice I can give you except to tell you a little about our story. I wanted to be in the same school district that I went to (I don't homeschool) so school districts became a big obsticle for us when we were looking for land because it really limited us. That is one advantage that I see you have. I would love to have 100 acres but can not afford it, and I got so desperate when my oldest was in kindergarten that I was looking for any land or house that would do. The community I live in has not grown much since I went to school here (I am 32). You either live in town (small towns of about 500) which is not what I wanted for my family or you had a farm (which we could not afford). I was lucky enough to get word that this 10 acres was for sale but not even on the market. She got it when her parents passed. I was so close to this family that they were like my own however I did not know her personally, she was a relative by marriage. I explained to her that all I wanted was a place to raise my kids in the country. I didn't want to live in a subdivision or have a subdivision next to my property. She sold it to me based on the fact she knew my goals to clean the place up and raise a family. There was an old house of her parents on it. It was so hard to live in. Way to small, bugs, snakes in the rock walls of the basement and stairs to the basement that you would pray everytime you went down they wouldn't collapse. Definately not my dream home, but it was temporary, we were going to build a new home on the property. There was no insulation in the kitchen (which used to be the front porch) so in the summer my sugar in my cabinets would turn into a rock. I was pregant and determined to get the new house built. We did not hire a builder, to save money. My brother was a framer and we lay sod so we knew a lot of sub contractors. We tried to trade out as much as possible but it didn't work out to well. We have been here almost 4 years and it is still not done. One thing that saved us a lot of money was that there was already utilities running to the old house ( which the county made us tear down). I don't know about your area but just the cost of excavation (we have lots of rock), getting electricity, getting a water meter and some kind of sewage system can cost you more than you can imagine. We saved money in that area because the old house had a water meter, so we run our lines to that. Electricity had been bored under the road so we just had to pay to get it from the old house to the new one (about 300 feet). I could go on and on but it seems that I rambling. I don't know if any of this will help you. We just got a regular mortgage loan. In our area everything has to be inspected through the building process if you own less than 40 acres. It is a very stressful, long process that will not happen overnight. But if you can find a piece of land you love, maybe you can live with the house until you can afford to either build a new one or add on to the existing one. Good luck, I feel your frustration & stress.
Holly |
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