Purchasing home on an acreage

[00redLUDE]

If one was looking to buy a home on an acreage (10-20 acres) is there anything specific one would have to ask about, look for in their search? For example: any water wells? Paved roads to the property? Gas/power line to the property? Open hay fields vs treed areas vs ponds on land? Advantage and disadvantage to each? Looking to live in home and use for investment as well. Thanks.

[firebane]

Define acreage? It can be used in many terms.

[Cos]

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[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by firebane
Define acreage? It can be used in many terms.

Well he did say 10-20 acres.....

[firebane]

Originally posted by GTS4tw


Well he did say 10-20 acres.....

You can buy places with that land size in areas that maybe serviced by a city or a rural town.

But you can also buy that size in the middle of nowhere with no services and needing to put everything in.

If its in the middle of nowhere it gets very expensive VERY fast.

[killramos]

Originally posted by 00redLUDE
If one was looking to buy a home on an acreage (10-20 acres) is there anything specific one would have to ask about, look for in their search? For example: any water wells? Paved roads to the property? Gas/power line to the property? Open hay fields vs treed areas vs ponds on land? Advantage and disadvantage to each? Looking to live in home and use for investment as well. Thanks.

Find one prospective for oil.

Dign surface lease.

Profit?

[ExtraSlow]

If you plan on living there, or subdividing in the future, you want utilities to the property edge for sure. Paying for power poles sucks.

As for landscape features, it probabnly depends on what you want to use the land for. if you want to subdivide, some trees are a good idea. Pond may or may not help. Open fields are good if you are hoping to keep horses.

For me, I'd like a place with the water well already in place, with a pond or creek on the property, and at least half of it treed. I don't care about pavement on the roads. Some kind of view would be nice.

[broken_legs]

What type of trees? Timber is worth money - What maturity are the trees? Is there firewood? Can you build with your timber?

Are there further building sites on your property? Maybe you want to sub-divide later. What is the zoning? Is this an ALR?

What type of soil? Maybe you want to grow turf, or put in a vinyard, type of soil will determine what you can plant. Are there adjacent properties? What are they growing?

Do you want to generate income from the property? are you going to raise cattle? Alpacas? Ostrige? Grow vegetables? Sell hay?

What' the proximity to town? Living in the country is great if Home Depot is only 45 minutes away, not so much when you have to drive hours to get a lightbulb, or a water filter. Are you going to build your dream home? DO you have plans? Where is the closest mill? Have you considered a per-engineered house?

What about water rights? Can you irrigate your fields economically? Don't depend on well water, you need a real water source. What about drainage? Is the water drinkable from the well?

You need a shop and a barn or you're going to have to build one. Don't forget a bobcat with tracks for building motocross jumps, and a ranger or other big 4 wheeler for hauling dead animals and zombies around after you snipe them from the front porch.

Personally, i'd like something with cleared fields and well treed in other areas for privacy and some building/burning timber on a slightly raised peice of land with amazing views of lakes and mountains. A home thats "off-grid" with existing water wells, a year-round creek or spring, solar, wind, septic installed, traditional fireplace/woodburning stove.

[englishbob]

All services to property line at minimum,water well drilled and tested.
Trees are good but dependant on age because maintenance can get costly.
Pond is good as long as it doesn't impede subdivision but, also harvests mosquitoes.
Fenced is good as its costly.
Best thing I ever did was move out of the city but the commute is a pain in the arse.

[16hypen3sp]

Friend tried to buy an acreage but was forced by the bank to put 20% down as there was a barn on the property and couldn't prove he wasn't going to use it for animals. (Income) - Bailed on it.

Different friend just bought an acreage... got fucked by GST from the previous owners home based business. (Selling chicken eggs... in his own words - "Those were some pretty expensive eggs" LOL.)

[revelations]

Were thinking about this in 5-10 years as well.

There could also be build timelines, architectural restrictions (eg no mansions), limits to animal husbandry, etc.

[Cos]

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[2000TL]

Look for the following:

- Make sure there is a water well with a minimum of 1gpm. If there is a piped water system, it is even better, however it is probably a private utility company. Make sure they are not under Alberta Environment advisory. Most private utility water companies are under advisories since they don't meet the minimum requirements. Not a big deal, but just be aware of it.

- Make sure for any rural properties, you are at the top of the hill. In rural areas there is no stormwater infrastructure (i.e storm pipes) so water will go through your property and in some cases which may lead to flooding.

- Check to see a map where you can see where the drainage goes. This is really important!

- Check with the municipality for any future developments or zoning around the areas.

- Check what type of sanitary system you have. for 20 acres you will have a septic treatment system and field. If you are building new there are new systems in place like advance treatment systems that are highly efficient and they have a smaller septic field foot print. If house is used, check how old the system is and when was the last time the owner maintained it.

- Important to read the title of the property to see what caveats and easements are on the property.

- Make sure there is legal and physical access to the property you are looking at.

That's all I can think of at this time.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by 2000TL
Look for the following:

- Make sure there is a water well with a minimum of 1gpm. If there is a piped water system, it is even better, however it is probably a private utility company. Make sure they are not under Alberta Environment advisory. Most private utility water companies are under advisories since they don't meet the minimum requirements. Not a big deal, but just be aware of it.

- Make sure for any rural properties, you are at the top of the hill. In rural areas there is no stormwater infrastructure (i.e storm pipes) so water will go through your property and in some cases which may lead to flooding.

- Check to see a map where you can see where the drainage goes. This is really important!

- Check with the municipality for any future developments or zoning around the areas.

- Check what type of sanitary system you have. for 20 acres you will have a septic treatment system and field. If you are building new there are new systems in place like advance treatment systems that are highly efficient and they have a smaller septic field foot print. If house is used, check how old the system is and when was the last time the owner maintained it.

- Important to read the title of the property to see what caveats and easements are on the property.

- Make sure there is legal and physical access to the property you are looking at.

That's all I can think of at this time.

+1, I'd add to have the well and septic systems tested before you purchase as well. I'm guessing that would be a condition of your offer though.

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by 16hypen3sp

Different friend just bought an acreage... got fucked by GST from the previous owners home based business. (Selling chicken eggs... in his own words - "Those were some pretty expensive eggs" LOL.)

Oh yeah... ^^^^ This.

I find it amazing that you take on the tax obligations from previous owners, why can't the CRA take the money from the bank or the previous owners? Be wary of property being sold by a previous business especially a non-resident as there is 25% withholding on income, and 50% withholding on the sale price of the property (if you read the fine print it is YOUR responsibility as the buyer to withhold the money and submit to CRA)if it was an investment property. Generally this is all taken care of by real estate agents and lawyers, however I just disposed of a property in AB as a non-resident and had to stop the process and change contracts at almost every step even though my real estate agent, lawyer and tax accountant were all "non-resident experts", not to mention the gross incompetence of the CRA agent that was handling the certificate of compliance.

Be careful.

[00redLUDE]

Originally posted by broken_legs
Is this an ALR?

Thank you everyone for the useful information. It was a general question because I really don't know what I should be looking for/asking so appreciate all the comments.

What does ALR stand for?

[hondatoy]

The most important thing is when buying an acrage at that time i was buying one was the foundation of the house and if it is wood or cement foundation. Id stay far away from the wood ones that was my deal breaker and make sure the basement floor has no calcium build up it means lots of ground water problems. But its up to you good luck

[Env-Consultant]

Originally posted by 00redLUDE


Thank you everyone for the useful information. It was a general question because I really don't know what I should be looking for/asking so appreciate all the comments.

What does ALR stand for?

I think he is referring to an Agricultural Land Reserve - which doesn't exist in Alberta (at this time). He may have meant Crown land (government owned) - may be currently leased to somebody for grazing or other purposes. Ocassionally the land is auctioned off, but it's scrutinized fairly heavily/prime land is exceptionally rare. Or he may have been referring to Special Areas (Google for more info).

Or I'm completely out to lunch and he is talking about something different.

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by Env-Consultant


I think he is referring to an Agricultural Land Reserve - which doesn't exist in Alberta (at this time). He may have meant Crown land (government owned) - may be currently leased to somebody for grazing or other purposes. Ocassionally the land is auctioned off, but it's scrutinized fairly heavily/prime land is exceptionally rare. Or he may have been referring to Special Areas (Google for more info).

Or I'm completely out to lunch and he is talking about something different.

Agricultural Land Reserve. (in BC)

Greatly affects what you can do with the land and its current and future value etc.

For instance, you can only build a SINGLE residence on ALR, you cant subdivide it, lots of other rules that ensure you will continue to use it for agriculture... until the city forces you into an unprofitable situation and the City Councelman's brother, who is a lawyer, buys the property from your bank in foreclosure, then conspires with the city council to re-zone the entire parcel and subdivide it, then install city services with tax payers dollars to further increase the value of each lot and re-sells your 80 acre farm for 25 million dollars.

Rgs,

B

[never]

Originally posted by CapnCrunch


+1, I'd add to have the well and septic systems tested before you purchase as well. I'm guessing that would be a condition of your offer though.

Yeah, this is a big one when buying an acreage with an existing house. 6 years ago, when we bought our 11 acres off of highway 762 with a house from 1994, the septic, well and filtration system tests revealed some upcoming costs. Had we not been aware of those and didn't get the price of the house reduced, it would have been a pretty crappy surprise.