Any advice on what I need to know about country living/owning property?

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ESP47

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I currently own a home in the city but I'm going to be getting married next year and we're planning on buying ourselves a nicer home. I'm looking to possibly move to Auburn California which is like a small city but still very much country.

In our price range there are some homes that come with an acre, up to 5 acres or so. I'd just like some room to move around and some room for a shop if needed. Maybe a garden or just some wiggle room or whatever. I don't have a use for multiple acres but lets just say we find our dream house and it's on 3 acres. Most of property is going to look something like this with more trees thrown in.

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I know a lot of you guys live a little further out in the country, what are some things I need to know about? I don't want to spend all my free time tending to the property (obviously some is required) and I'm guessing there are some hidden expenses and surprises that come with a home like this over one in the city with a normal sized front and back yard. That type of landscape seems somewhat maintenance free but I could just be ignorant. Any warnings or "you should consider this" before I get serious about looking for a new house in this area?
 
....Some of us could write a book

1...Water....Do you / does it have? You have to drill a well? Is there a county/ other water system you can tap? Gets expensive. Money for maintenance, pump, etc

2....Power...Do you / does it have? How far from 'the road'? That can be expensive

3...Speaking of road? Do you / does it have?

It might seem attractive, but it can be VERY expensive in the "country." Depending on the area, the factors above, plus garbage removal, unseen happenings like rain/ landslides, snow removal, and FIRE.

My own "just sold" estate at a greatly reduced price, was in the family since the 1930's, first my Grandfathers. Before it got sold, approximately 35 acres + house, the magic people in the gobt declared HALF OF IT to be wetlands. There IS NO in place appeal process. You get to hire lawyers and fight it. It might just cost you "everything" and then you still might lose.
 
ESP47 said:
I currently own a home in the city but I'm going to be getting married next year and we're planning on buying ourselves a nicer home. I'm looking to possibly move to Auburn California which is like a small city but still very much country.

In our price range there are some homes that come with an acre, up to 5 acres or so. I'd just like some room to move around and some room for a shop if needed. Maybe a garden or just some wiggle room or whatever. I don't have a use for multiple acres but lets just say we find our dream house and it's on 3 acres. Most of property is going to look something like this with more trees thrown in.

View attachment 1715385460

I know a lot of you guys live a little further out in the country, what are some things I need to know about? I don't want to spend all my free time tending to the property (obviously some is required) and I'm guessing there are some hidden expenses and surprises that come with a home like this over one in the city with a normal sized front and back yard. That type of landscape seems somewhat maintenance free but I could just be ignorant. Any warnings or "you should consider this" before I get serious about looking for a new house in this area?
Click to expand...

Try and stay ahead on the fire protection work. That is pretty nice country in that area. Lots of race tracks close at hand :thumbsup:
 
Can't say about California, but here in Missouri, I describe 5 acres as too much to take care of, but not really enough to do anything with. I do have 5 acres, but it's mostly woods. Still yet, I mow a little over an acre, which takes about a couple hours a week. One nice thing about having it though, houses are not stacked on top of each other.
 
Go to a couple town meetings, their concerns will more then likely be your concerns as well.
 
I have 3 acres and a street runs through it and another acre across the street. Four acres total.

It is a handful to keep it mowed and kept up. I have animals and that adds to it but that is self induced.

I would ask what kinds of critters are native to the land. Any bears or anything really dangerous like that. Wouldn't be a deal breaker but better than being surprised when something makes a home out of your car and surprise, surprise

StoplightBear.jpg
 
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I live in Granite Bay, about 20 minutes from South Auburn. There are some nice areas out there.
My place is about 1.25 acres and I deal with yard and tree maintenance frequently. Maybe the after-effects of the drought have left trees a bit fragile as several here have died and left big branches to dry up and crack...falling down and requiring almost immediate removal. I'm getting better at detecting dying trees, sad to say.
I am close to getting out of the state though. I hate the politics, hate the politicians digging deeper into my pocket to pay for social programs that I oppose and I absolutely hate excessive regulation. The Wife and I are considering a move to Tennessee. I want to buy acreage! I'm not talking 5 or 10 but 25 or more. I know that this means even more maintenance but There are farmers that you can hire to bring goats or sheep in to clear brush....Those critters can really clear overgrowth pretty fast!
I like people but I want more buffer space around me. I want to be free to paint cars, do restorations, store as many cars as I want all without oppressive county regulations limiting me.
California was and could still be a great state if it were not for Asshole politicians that turn their back on the exploding homeless problem yet come down against businesses and taxpaying citizens.
 
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Unfortunately the entire W coast states are lost to the left. CA, OR, and WA are all so far left "at the top" I doubt they will ever recover. Witness WA governor Jay F***tard Inslee. You already know about your own.
 
One piece of advice. If you move to the country, leave city life behind and assimilate to country living.

I live in a very rural area surrounded by farms and crop fields and we see it all to often, someone moves here from the city and complains about the sounds and smells.
 
City, County, State, federal taxes, zoning, their history of eminent domain and zoning, their history of law enforcement employed with the area (your place, your neighbors)

WATER RIGHTS, OIL RIGHTS, THE RIGHTS OF THE AIR ABOVE your land.

Varies with oil production, proximity of an airport, state & local water restrictions

Some places, it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to dig a well, some places are solid rock so waste management and a septic tank get expensive.

They WERE going to build a nuclear reactor in Texas for experimentation-people lost their land...

Is there criminal activity in the area?

My aunt’s ranch was canceled when people stole a 1/4 mile of barbed wire fence and posts... my parents had a gate stolen

Do people shoot guns, weekend parties near your prospective property...laws???
 
Yeah water is something that I have to figure out before hand. My brother lives up in Boise ID and is on a well and pays 5x what I currently pay during the summer months. He said if you literally live across the street, you're on city water and pay substantially less than he does. I don't really need a big lawn or anything so I will save some on that aspect but it's something I need to consider.

I'm not talking about moving way out to the boondocks where people are shooting critters off the back porch and riding donkeys into town. There's no bears or oil or anything like that. A piece of property like this would be the absolute furthest I'd go as far as "rural" goes. Most the ones I'm looking at aren't quite as rural. The massive shop and the little pond as an oasis would be nice but the 5 acres is overkill for anything I'd need. I just don't want to be on top of my neighbors but I don't want to be too far away from them either. Just a place where I can do my thing without worrying about what other people think, while at the same time not being so far away that I'm a hermit.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2720-Fawn-Hill-Ln-Auburn-CA-95603/17666283_zpid/?
 
Let me give you some more
So far as "way out" Mom and Dad's place was once a mile out of town. Then they moved the city limits, and it's "a few hundred feet" maybe 1/4 mile I don't remember, There's a local private water system, which that property likely could not access.

BUT WORSE!!! My aunt/ cousin (she moved in to take care of her aging Mom) lives "around the corner and up the hill) above the cemetary on a hill. The city has limits surrounding the cemetary and up and down the road. So they are in the "city impact area." What does that mean, even in supposed "conservative" Idaho? it means, on her 5 acres, THEY WONT ALLOW her to build a barn and have her horse!!!! This is the CITY telling someone OUT OF the limits what they cannot do!!! So check out that sort of thing. See if the local city has eyes to expand, etc. Find out about city codes.

Recently I got a "free boat." That is a story all in itself. The guy who had it, got into trouble with the local county because he has (gag cough) TWO whole ocean shipping containers. YOU CAN'T HAVE MORE THAN ONE!!!! Unless, you build walls around it and a roof over "them" to make it/ them look like a building. This is FARM land, folks. You know....barns, fences, cows, cow **** and old tractors and machinery. But Got forbid you have TWO storage cans!!!

Check it out-----then move OUT of CA
 
Water, sewage, natural gas, are the main things I'd look at. You can always leave most of the land natural and just clear what you want. Clearing keeps the varmints away. Snakes, scorpions, raccoons, deer, coyotes, and the such. Can you shoot them without anyone going nuts? Will you and your wife adjust to everything being a little farther away? Groceries, a good hardware store, bagels? How do the people seem to get along with you and others?
 
With all the deadly fires that California has gone through in the past two years, you had better find out what fire insurance is going to cost you, if you can get it at all in the area that your hoping to be in.
Insurance companies aren't renewing policies, cancelling them, or doubling, tripling, yearly rates.
Something new to think about in California living.
 
ESP47 said:
I currently own a home in the city but I'm going to be getting married next year and we're planning on buying ourselves a nicer home. I'm looking to possibly move to Auburn California which is like a small city but still very much country.

In our price range there are some homes that come with an acre, up to 5 acres or so. I'd just like some room to move around and some room for a shop if needed. Maybe a garden or just some wiggle room or whatever. I don't have a use for multiple acres but lets just say we find our dream house and it's on 3 acres. Most of property is going to look something like this with more trees thrown in.

View attachment 1715385460

I know a lot of you guys live a little further out in the country, what are some things I need to know about? I don't want to spend all my free time tending to the property (obviously some is required) and I'm guessing there are some hidden expenses and surprises that come with a home like this over one in the city with a normal sized front and back yard. That type of landscape seems somewhat maintenance free but I could just be ignorant. Any warnings or "you should consider this" before I get serious about looking for a new house in this area?
Click to expand...
When you move to the country you must go Snipe hunting. Ask the locals about the rules and seasons for Snipe.
Good luck
 
Find out who your neighbors are before the move. You don't want to move in down wind from say a doodoo factory, for instance.
 
512Stroker said:
You are kidding right, you never been Snipe hunting?
Great sport, you have to try it.
Seek out help from local hunters in your area.
Click to expand...
No Sherlock, never heard of that before, in my lifetime on top of planet earth.
Then tell me, tell us all, what it is, if your so knowledgeable?
 
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