Tips on moving to the country

[Mike Tx]

My queen and I want to do it. can anyone offer tips, advice or experiance that may be helpful?

Our current plan is to sell our home, use the equity we have in it, and buy a country home on some land. We would spend weekends and holidays there, living in the city and working our business on the other days. We would rent a very small place in the city to live in.

We want to move about 100 miles from the city, and eventually sell our business and retire in our country home. What do you think?

Any tips on selling the home?

We want to do this in from 1 to 3 years from now.

[ 07-21-2002: Message edited by: MikeTx ]

[CinaC]

Get a truck. Take all your things, and place them in the truck. Drive it into the country. Remove all your things from said truck.

Taa-dah!

[CopInNY]

Mike, sounds like a great idea! Unfortunately, we don't have any actual "country" around here. I have to drive at least 2 or 300 miles to reach it. I really have no advice for ya, except that if ya really want it, GO FOR IT.

[Mike Tx]

There's lot's of country around here, closer than 100 miles. We want a garden, and to be by ourself, and to have fun.

also, I can hunt and fish if the mood strikes me.

Of course, we'll still have the internet so certain forums can get a daily dose of my correct insight.

[Signal 24]

Why pay for 2 homes? Why not just do the dailey commute?

[MadMax]

You can forget about your personal privacy. I lived in the city till I was 27, everybody there minded their own biz. I moved to the country and what do ya know, after awhile, folks I did'nt even know existed, know my biz.
But it is still worth it.
MM

[Mike Tx]

Originally posted by Cowardtn:
Why pay for 2 homes? Why not just do the dailey commute?

To me, the drive is to much. 200 miles a day, forget it.

[Don]

Originally posted by MikeTx:
My queen and I want to do it.

Mike, Mike, Mike, so you finally went over to the other side. I figured something like this would happen sooner or later. Does your wife know?

Seriously, a couple of things to think about here. Consider what your current health is (and of course, your wife

[kirch]

When my wife and I started looking for our first house, we decided to avoid the larger nearby city (about 200,000) and live out in the sticks a bit. We found a village of 1200 people that's a great compromise. It's small enough that we're literally a few blocks from the "country" (farm fields and woods), yet it's large enough to have the basic amenities (gas stations, grocery store, clinic, veterinarian, video store, etc.). If we want more choice or better prices, we drive into "town" and shop at the Mega-Marts.

We recently moved 4 blocks and went from a standard residential street to a 2-acre lot with corn fields to the north, horse pasture to the east and open fields and a Class A trout stream across the street to the south. Of course we have a convicted felon living next door to the west, but life can't be perfect, can it?

[jellybean40]

Well, i did it, but maybe to a lesser extent.

I left the town i grew up in, which has about 19,000 people, and moved to the country, which only happens to be about 20 minutes from there. the *town* i'm closest to (2 miles away) probably has less than 1000 residents in it's township. i have a hospital 15 minutes from me in 2 different directions.

i have 1.5 acres, no city water or sewer, no trash pick up. so you may want to invest in a generator, since when there is a power failure (due to storm) you cant use your water, either. i do have cable out here tho! and the re-cycle center for the trash is only 3 miles away.

since i am not in town, i find everyone minds their business. 2 of my neighbors i dont even know and thats fine with me (i've been here about 8 years). the neighbors across the street keep to themselves, but we have helped each other out on different occasions. most of the people living around me i dont even know their names!

some pluses: i could have small (livestock) animals and fowl here if i wanted, and a pond (which i do want). i can have a big garden, but the deer and rabbits have to be dealt with. (i usually use natural means such as dried blood.) when i had a roof put on my house, no permit was needed...when i had a deck built...no permit was needed. i didnt even need to get a C/O when i bought the house. i did have to have fire code paperwork done, tho.

one of the downsides is the distance for food, to me LOL. there is a small market right down the street (2 miles) and a sandwich place...they make pizza but it's horrible. for fast food or pizza, or chinese or a bakery, i have to go about 20 minutes in any direction. another downside is in snow/ice... my driveway is long and hilly so its treacherous, and even tho my road is a county road it doesnt get plowed or salted right away, and its curvy and shaded so nothing melts.

if i think of more things, i'll post 'em. i love where i live. i wouldnt change a thing and i'm glad i did what i did. it's SO quiet and SO dark out here at night. that's the coolest...
if only i could move the place to Maine...where it really IS cooler!

i did think of a couple things. even tho i only have 1.5 acres, i have woods behind me, and a field on one side of me. i only have a neighbor on one side. across the street is woods, the people there live way back in them.

also, i pay to have my grass cut. it's worth it to me, it's a guy i know and he does a good job for really cheap. i didnt even want to have to worry about owning and maintaining a mower.

[ 07-21-2002: Message edited by: jellybean40 ]

[Rimfire]

I've lived in the country all my life and love it.

We are about a 15min drive from the nearest town pop.(6000) And about a 30min drive form the big city pop.(300,000 - 500,000)

Some things are a pain such as having to drive awhile to do small things. But the ability to hop on the 4-wheeler and be at my favorite hunting or fishing spot in no time is great.


There is a Vol. Fire Dept. down the road. Mostly a bunch of "good ole boys" who like playing with big trucks, but they do a good job are kept busy with grass fires we have in the summer. They have minor first responder training, but if your in real trouble an ambulance from the city running full speed takes about 10mins to get here, plus the 10mins it takes to get back.


I know you personally won't have trouble defending yourself and your family, but around here getting law enforcement help fast is a hit-and-miss kind of operation.

The Sheriffs Dept. and TXDPS try to be everywhere, but there are alot of back roads to cover and it just depends on where they are at when you need help. During dove season its never a problem as a Game Warden is always close by.


Most people out here tend to keep to themselves, but if your car were to break down on the side of the road, just about everyone passing by would stop to help.

Driving is the biggest thing to think about. Driving at night, wild animals, wrecks that nobody may pass by for long periods of time. The roads only freeze over about 3-4 times a winter around here, but when they do it takes awhile before they get salted/plowed etc.


Just some things to think about.

[jellybean40]

Originally posted by Rimfire:

Most people out here tend to keep to themselves, but if your car were to break down on the side of the road, just about everyone passing by would stop to help.

that about says it all about this area too.

you also reminded me about the fire/amb. and police...that's something to think about too. the town here has volunteer fire and ambulance, and the state police patrol here. the one time i had to call the SP due to hitting a deer, it took them about 10 minutes to get here. and that wasnt an emergency. of course there's no fire hydrants, so if you have to wait for the big ol' water truck from another town, it might take longer.

i also have steel doors, dead bolts, an alarm system, and xtra window locks. and my big, tough dog!

[InSane1]

I would actually do a comprimise. Living too far out from the city doesnt appeal to me. I actually lived in st. paul until four years ago. I wanted to raise my kids in the outskirts of the city. I actually live about 30 minutes from the city, which is plenty far. We still have the major grocery stores and department stores. I plan on moving back to the city, if it doesnt reach me first. I don't recommend it for retirement.

If I were you I would only move to a suburb. Generally you can purchase 2 acre lots and have a nice house, enough space and the convenience of having major store closer than the half hour trip to the supermarket or "corner" store. I absolutely hate not being able to walk to the store. When you live in the country you have to actually go OUTSIDE to collect your mail. In my instance I walk two blocks to get it. Think about those things. Think about the inconvenience you might endure if you moved.

I'm not afraid to come right out and say it. DONT MOVE 100 mile out of town. Whoever said small towns are the places where everyone knows everyone.... its not so much everyone KNOWS everyone.... they just know what everyone does. Small town city counsils SUCK. I miss the city.

[klar]

Moving out to the country is gonna be a big decision and many here have given you some very good advice. I have thought about moving back to a farm house myself or just buying some land and building a nice place upon it. Either way there is a lot to be said for living on the farm.

1. you need t oget a nice dog and/or some geese for protecting the place.
2. treat your well and your septic system with care for they are two of the main things that will keep you going.
3. be prepared to be stuck in the house due to weather for a few days at a time.
4.make sure you have a nice basement for food storage and weather safety.
5. be prepared to share anything you grow with the local wildlife.
6. make sure you are prepared to deal with said wildlife.
7. have a spare energy source that is ready or can be readied in little or no time.
8. keep a couple of stored gasloine cans full (you never know when they will come in handy).

I hope this will help you in your decision. I am thinking a small town is a better choice. But that is just me.

Klar

[InSane1]

I'm go out on a limb here and bet Klar has a bomb shelter.... Stocked.... with canned goods.

lol