by Myrth » Sun May 05, 2013 3:40 am
Well, the 4 acre place did not work out. It needs a lot of work and they want more for it than we are willing to pay, given what it would cost to make it work for us: home repair, fencing, repairs to out buildings, removal of large concrete slabs (remnants of old buildings). So, we've kept looking.
We came across another prospect. It is just over 3 acres. The house is a bit more than half the size of the previous prospect, at about 1200 square feet. It is actually a better size in my opinion because there is just the two of us now, with occasional visiting family. I want to downsize a bit to cut down on heating, cooling and maintenance costs. And it just seems wasteful to me for two people to live in a big house. Of course many people would view 1200 square feet as big, but by modern standards it is modest.
The house is in much better shape than the last prospect, needing no immediate work. The outbuildings and fencing are also better suited for our needs, except for a huge building that I am not sure how we would put it to use. I have been mulling over that for a day and ... well I don't know what we would do with an 8000 square foot building!!! So that is one of the less than ideal aspects of the property.
There are a few apple trees that are young yet - I don't know the varieties yet. The soil appears to be very good. And the main portion of the property is a blank slate. We have a bit more research to do, but may be making an offer on it soon, despite the big building, as this is the closest to our ideal that we have seen yet.