So you’ve decided you are going to move to the country. Of course, you want to make
sure that it is the best possible move with the least amount of stress. There are 10
questions to ask yourself before you begin looking at country property.
1) The first is, what is the biggest reason, or reasons that you want to move to
the country? Now, there can be a lot of those. Some people want privacy or
seclusion. Some people can work from home, and they want to do so in a
quiet environment. Some people move to the country because they want to
have animals, horses, goats, or other livestock. Maybe you want to move to
the country because you want to raise your kids in the country, or if you are like
us, you want to have a place where grandkids can't wait to get to come to see
grandma and grandpa. Maybe you want a garden or farm, or maybe you're
looking for rural recreation. Maybe you're into fishing, or hunting, or hiking, but
you need to know what those reasons might be because they will make a big
difference in what kind of property you look for.
2) The second thing you would have to determine is what does my ideal country
property look like? Am I looking for scenic views? Do I want to a stream or a
pond, or maybe to be lakeside? Do I want some, or maybe a lot of timber? Do
I want something property that I could have trails in? Am I looking for a property
that's got some roll to it? Maybe I want some hills for hiking, or do you want
the more open property? Do I want more grassland because I want grazing
animals? But have in your mind, and be able to describe to lenders and
realtors what your ideal country property looks like.
3) The third question is, what does my ideal country house look like? Now, this
isn't a lot different from what you would answer in the city. Do you want to live in a
ranch or a two-story? Do you prefer brick to regular siding? How many
bedrooms, bathrooms? Do you want a walk-out basement? All the things that
you would normally decide in the city apply here as well. Or maybe what
you are looking for is a lot to build on, in which case you can build a home
that is specific to exactly what you want. In either event, you should be able to
give a description of what type of house do you want to live in.
4) Now, this fourth question is important because it really impacts the amount of
money you are going to spend. That is, how far am I willing to live away from
the city or other facilities? Most of the people who we deal with as realtors
have some need to live close to the city where there might be work or school,
or they just like getting into the city for shopping, restaurants, healthcare
facilities, or any number of things. You have to think clearly in terms of how far
away can I be from the things that are in the city that are important to me. How
long a commute can I tolerate when I need to go to those things? Now, if
you are planning on living in the country and still working in the city, obviously,
you are going to want to be as reasonably close as possible.
If you don't need to go into the city for work every day, then you just need to
think in terms of what are the normal facilities that I need? When you think of
this, don't think in terms of miles, but think in terms of time. In other words, I
need to be 30 minutes away from the city center, or I need to be no further
than 45 minutes away from my place of work. One of the things you will find
when you move to the country is that the commute times are much less
because you can pretty much drive highway speed most of the time. So think
in terms of time, not miles.
5) The fifth question is perhaps the most obvious. What's your maximum budget
amount? You should think that through to make certain that you don't wind up
with payments that are uncomfortable and recognize there are going to be
some other additional expenses you might not have considered. You are
probably going to spend more on gasoline, for example, than you would when
you were living in the city.
6) The sixth question is have you already lined up the necessary financing?
What you will find is that when you move to the country, particularly if you want
larger acreages, the lender you used to buy your home in the city may not be
able to help you. If you are willing to move to the country and buy a home on five
or fewer acres, you can probably use the same lender that you used when
you bought your current home, but the more acreage you want, you are going
to find out that some of those lenders are unable to help you.
Quite often when buying a country property if the value of the land is
significantly higher than the value of the house the requirements for minimum
down payments and potentially higher interest rates will have to be
addressed. Now, as luck would have it, we have several podcasts on our
website, RuralKC.com, about financing country property where we talk with
various lenders about optional financing programs. But don't just assume that
you can use the lender when you're buying a home in a subdivision.
7) The seventh question you would want to ask, is what are the minimums and
maximums that you might want on acreage? Often people will come to us and
say, "I just want to buy 1 or 2 acres out in the country for privacy." You find
that in most of the counties on either side of the state line around Kansas City,
the counties have minimum acreage requirements. Meaning that if you want
to build a house, or you are expecting to live in a home in the country, you are
going to have to live on a minimum of 10 to 20 acres. Now, often counties
have various programs that allow you to live on less than that but don't just
assume that you can carve out any acreage that you want. Most counties
have zoning regulations that will prevent that.
8) The eighth question is have you considered all the pros and cons of living in
the country? We've got a podcast on our website RuralKC.com that
addresses the pros and cons. People move to the country mostly to change
their lifestyle, and we don't want you buying into a country property that you are
going to be unhappy with. Make sure you know what you are getting into.
9) Now, the ninth question is do I have an experienced realtor that knows the ins
and outs of buying property in the country to help me? I like to put it this way;
if you came to me and said, "I am looking to negotiate a lease on a
condominium in downtown Kansas City." I would politely say, "Let me help
you find somebody who is experienced and who really knows all about that
because I'm personally not your guy." I think that applies equally well when
you are talking about buying rural property.
The issues that you run into when you buy rural property are not the same
issues you had when you were buying a home in a subdivision. If you are
considering a doctor, you don't want to have a doctor that isn’t an expert in
your particular illness. In the same way, you are going to want an expert in
buying country property.
There are all types of issues, that a rural realtor will understand that an agent
for subdivision homes won’t understand. Things like septic systems, surveys,
gas and oil leases, easements, rural internet access, zoning regulations,
fencing laws, and a whole host of things that you may not have come across
before, which means that you need to deal with somebody who has got a lot of
experience in helping people buy country property.
If a realtor is not experienced in the type of real estate that you are buying, in
this case, country property, a good realtor will tell you that and will help you
find a realtor that can make it work.
10) Now, that brings us to our 10th and final question. Do you know the phone
number or email of an experienced realtor to help you? As luck would have it,
you are not going to have to wonder about that question at all. I'm going to
answer it for you. We here at the Rural KC Real Estate would like to think that
we are the folks that have the experience and desire to help. So call or text us
at 913-837-0760, 913-837-0411, or email us at Bill@RuralKC.com
For more information, we’d encourage you to visit our website RuralKC.com,
where we have all kinds of information on a country property, thousands of
listings of country land and homes, and when there be sure and check out our
podcasts and blogs where we cover all these issues and many more.
The Rural KC Team
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