76 replies to this topic

[OurBoys]

Mark, thanks for the tip. You also reminded me the width would also be important. If we purchase acreage in that area, there's the possibility of black bears being around. The last thing I want is to furnish any bears with meals. If I hear a commotion and I'm able to make it out there in time, my dog will have to have a wide berth. But then again, I have a feeling once I fire my gun, everything will go to hell in a hand basket anyway. But the more room I can give my dog, the better.

Debbie, I didn't think about that. After printing off the layout and grabbing a pencil, I don't like having the house towards the end of the property anyway. The listing doesn't mention if there are any utilities but even if they are at the road, it would still be a long ways to go even if we just took everything up to the curve.

DH doesn't like long and narrow anyway. Crap, and it was such a good price.

The next in line is this one.


It's twice as much land but not twice the price. Again, depending on the topo and perc'ing, I'm wondering if we could sale off a part of it to help pay for our part. We might still be able to have more acreage than the 5.7 one and not pay as much. (Getting creative here.)

BTW, will electric fencing keep bears out?

ETA: Also, would motion sensor lights scare them away?

[juliepoudrier]

I would be more concerned about what appears to be a subdivision right next door? That could create issues with any sort of farm use of a property.

J.

[OurBoys]

Good point, Julie. On the listing it states the parcel is not in a subdivision but if there's one just across the street, it might have restrictions. I've sent the realtor an email with some questions; one of them being that.

[ejano]

It's twice as much land but not twice the price. Again, depending on the topo and perc'ing, I'm wondering if we could sale off a part of it to help pay for our part. We might still be able to have more acreage than the 5.7 one and not pay as much. (Getting creative here.)

BTW, will electric fencing keep bears out?

ETA: Also, would motion sensor lights scare them away?

Some counties (i.e. Culpeper County, VA) have regulations that prevent reselling land within an allotted period of time.

[OurBoys]

Some counties (i.e. Culpeper County, VA) have regulations that prevent reselling land within an allotted period of time.

Yes! You're right. I should have remembered that. Thanks!

[Mark Billadeau]

Some areas have minimum sizes for building lots (review the zoning maps and comprehensive plan) which could impact your ability to subdivide. In our part of Frederick County MD the minimum is 25 acres.

[juliepoudrier]

REgarding your question about bears, good fencing is probably your best bet, along with livestock guardians. If nearby subdivision trash cans are attracting them, that would be another reason to avoid more populated areas. Most of the time bears will leave you alone--unless they've lost their fear of humans thanks to stupid human behavior.

Also even if you can sell off a portion, remember you'll need multiple perk sites, and of course you might not be able to choose your neighbor, so to speak....

J.

[OurBoys]

@Mark, I'll check but I don't think I have to worry about a minimum. If I don't put in the number of acres in a search, lots as small as .19 acres pop up. Like Julie said, it depends on if it percs and how many bedrooms it percs for. That's also what a realtor told me when I asked if we could live in a MH while the house was being built. (Wow, a 25 acre minimum. That's awesome.)

@Julie, I was wondering how the neighbors would feel about living so close to livestock. With one of our next door neighbors we have now, I figured we could put up with anything but you made me realize, why should we?? If we don't sale off any property, we can cut down the probability of 'problem' neighbors. I have a feeling Les might be right when he said we would probably regret it later on down the road too.

I've emailed the Brevard Police Dept (yes, I'm still looking all over) and asked them how often they get bear sightings. The 2nd location backs up to Pisgah. That's good because we won't have to worry about anyone selling off any of their property to a contractor and end up with a subdivision behind us. But, if that is a subdivision in front, I don't want to worry about any bears using our property as a pathway to a possible meal. The little research I've done in regards to fencing I found someone who uses 5 string barbed wire fencing electrified by solar. He said so far it's worked for him.

As much as we love the Brevard area with all the waterfalls, I'm getting a little impatient with the realtor. I emailed her Monday and haven't heard back from her yet. The Yancey Co realtor sent me a listing for a cute little place in Mitchell Co. with 6 acres that also backs up to Pisgah and has a pond. I might email her again.

[OurBoys]

Some counties (i.e. Culpeper County, VA) have regulations that prevent reselling land within an allotted period of time.

The realtor got back with me. This surprised me.

In regard to selling a portion of the land, you need only to own it by the date of closing on the sale. For example, if you entered a contract to purchase the parcel and had someone to whom you wished to sell a portion, you could close on your sale to them immediately after your purchase was concluded and recorded.

She also sent me a topo map of the property. I really should learn how to read one of those things.

[OurBoys]

REgarding your question about bears, good fencing is probably your best bet, along with livestock guardians.

You're right. Here is a portion of another email I received from the same realtor.

Yes, we have bears all over the mountains – I have never heard of one attacking livestock and they are not abundant as say raccoons and squirrels. Fences don’t do much good for bears anyway as they are superb climbers. Your dogs will be the best deterrent – I never had a bear come in my fenced yard until I lost my wonderful lab. I now have a cocker.

The second best deterrent for bears is to not have garbage or food where they can find it! Some people bring in all of their bird feeders at night – I don’t as I have too many and I also have flying squirrels that I adore who come at night to feed.

We already knew about the food/garbage but I didn't know about the bird feeders.

Looks like a LSG is in my future.

[OurBoys]

Update-DH & I have had some unexpected bills pop up, computer crashed (no fixing it, had to get another one), DH's car went into the shop again, etc. which reminded me; even if we bought a piece of land that we could afford, we still need to be able to pay for the emergencies. The thought of not getting any acreage until we retired depressed me. Unfortunately (?), when I get depressed, I usually snap out of it by getting PO'd. This time I don't know if that is a good thing or not because I've come up with Plan C.

Our backyard neighbor, the one whose land actually backs up to ours, has 22 acres. I'm going to ask them if they will give me permission to fence in a small portion of their property that backs up to ours. If they will, the goat shed and chicken coop will be built there. That way the livestock won't actually be boarded on our property or in the subdivsion. They will just be used to 'visit' to clear off the lot. It won't be much training but at least I'll be able to use Jake to drive or fetch the goats from one area to another. I'm also hoping I can train him to work the chickens too. Our little veggie garden is a fenced in area closer to the top of our backyard. If I can get Jake to put them in there, all I would need to do is throw some bird netting over the top of it and let them go to town at the end of the growing season.

DH isn't too keen on asking the neighbors about fencing in some of their property. He wants to go ahead and build the goat shed on our property. I told him even if we got away with having goats, we probably won't get away with having chickens too. But, with that said, I feel like I have a Plan D if the neighbors say no. I'll just have to do without chickens until we move.

Wish me/us luck. I'm going to go grab a tape measure now and do some measuring. We priced the fencing and the wood over the weekend. We just need to figure out how much we need to get an approx. cost.

[Jedismom]

I'm never usually in this section of the boards. I don't know why. It's so interesting and you learn so much. We've also recently purchased 20 acres in northern Florida and looking to possibly add 30 more since the neighbor wants to sell. Looking to eventually move there and farm, raise animals, expand my rescue efforts.

Anyway, I was thinking..why not ask the neighbor if you can rent a portion of their property? They might be more likely to let you fence it.

[OurBoys]

Anyway, I was thinking..why not ask the neighbor if you can rent a portion of their property? They might be more likely to let you fence it.

I am. I should have been more specific earlier. Sorry. Once I accepted the fact we aren't going to be buying any acreage and started thinking about what else I can do, I remembered asking someone how they got started. She told me she leased a couple of acres until she was able to buy hers. When I started looking around the area in my mind, I realized I could ask the backyard neighbor. It won't be much; only an approximate area of 50' deep and 195' long. (I found one property post but not the other so until DH gets out there and finds it I won't know exactly how much to list on the contract I'm going to draw up.) Here'a a copy of our subdivision and the acreage behind us (Our house is on lot #20.)



Their property isn't very deep towards the end. There's a beaver pond(s) that is more towards our property plus a small patch of woods next to the beaver pond. One next door neighbor sometimes takes his tractor over to the other next door neighbors to cut their grass so I would have to leave a space wide enough for him to drive through. It won't be as much land as I want but I think I can make do. I should be able to keep a couple of ND goats on a 1/2 acre. And maybe later on down the road I can come up with some type of fencing that will allow the goats on the other 1/2 acre and keep them out of the flowers/flowerbeds.

[KB4pups]

Brenda,

Fancy meeting you here! How exciting these plans sound! I'm getting runner ducks at my house this week. They may be a good option for you? If I can a keep them here, you can certainly keep them there!

[OurBoys]

Hey Kimberly!!

Lucky you! I hate living in a subdivision. Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to have any kind of livestock that can't be kept in the house. The next time you come over, I'll take you down to the "lower 40". Hopefully, we'll have some of the work started. (Obtaining and fencing some property is the 1st problem. DH & I apparently have different ideas on how to develop it but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. )

[NorthfieldNick]

Brenda, consider portable, electric netting for fencing. You can take it with you when you move. Info at Premier Sheep Supplies website.

[OurBoys]

Thanks, Ben!