Wanna Buy a Homestead? Or Come Live on One?
Sharon March 2nd, 2010
I don’t usually do adverts, but a couple of people I’d like to help out are selling homes and farms, so I thought this once, I’d post a few.
First, my friend Edson is moving for family reasons from their place in Ohio, and is offering a terrific homestead. You can even keep the cow!
Second of all, a neighbor of mine, David Funk, the famed breeder of amazing Nigerian Dwarf Goats did us the enormous kindness of selling us a really amazing buck at a very reasonable price, and I’d like to do him a reciprocal favor. The house is about 10 minutes from us, and he and his wife have to downsize for health and work reasons. It is a really gorgeous little homestead, they’ve done tons of work on it, and it has (the listing doesn’t mention this) the most stunning micro-hydro sites, plus a swimming hole and multiple waterfalls, and 10 acres with new chicken house and a nice little goat barn. It is fairly well priced for this area (housing values haven’t fallen much here), so if you are interested in being a neighbor of mine, you might consider it!
Finally, we’re still looking for housemates for the 1000 square foot, one bedroom apartment in our house. We’re open to barter or money, and you’d have full access to a lot of land, good company, good food and goats. Email me at jewishfarmer@gmail.com for more details, although you might not hear much back until the end of the month when the book is done.
Sharon
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Just saw a farm down the street, minutes from my parents’ farm, is for sale. I’m SO hoping that it doesn’t go to a developer, but that’s how it goes around here. Farmers can’t compete with the cash developers have.
Mr. Funk’s home is amazing or at least photographs well. If I could sell my phone, afford the move and mortgage, I would love to be a neighbor! =) For now I’ll have to settle for a blog reader from VA. Congrats on the new buck.
Hi,
I’m a fairly new reader of your blog and I live in the UK. I’ve really enjoyed reading back through your old posts.
Your neighbours property looks amazing, but my immediate reaction was OMG!! To give you some idea of property prices in the UK, I live on the edge of the commuter belt for both London and Birmingham, so not the cheapest area (Northern England tends to be cheapest) but by no stretch the most expensive. In South East England $296,000 would buy you a garage, I think.
This house in the nearest market town to me is on the market for the same amount of money as your neighbours 10 acre plot…
http://www.chancellors.co.uk/Search/Property/FullDetails.aspx?searchmode=B&propref=14338HIG®office=143&offmode=R&maintoff=0&instrno=3350&siteid=0&weekmonth=M
(Sorry, don’t know how to do short links!)
I would so love to have 10 acres….
OT, I see it lists the house as having a water softener. DH is very keen on one of these as we live in a very hard water area. I’m not sure, and can find out very little information about their environmental impact. We wouldn’t drink the water, and that seems to be the biggest criticism of them. As to sodium loading in the waste water, doesn’t salting the roads have a similar impact? Any thoughts? I’d be very grateful to hear your opinion.
Good luck with finding a lodger.
One of the cheapest and yet nicest areas I can think of is northern Maine, assuming one doesn’t mind the cold. Check out this search for Symrna Mills, Maine and the surrounding area. (Listings limited to 5+ acres, land or land and building(s).
I think this link is portable: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Smyrna-Mills_ME/type-single-family-home/type-mfd-mobile-home/type-farms-ranches/type-land?sby=1&pgsz=3&ml=2&ofbm=10
Other areas more northerly in Aroostock County are pretty nice too, though even colder. (The weather is a solid USDA Zone 3 with some possible Zone 2.)
I’m pretty much stuck in suburban Boston myself, however.
How we came to Gleanings Farm
1) Sharon send us a map and a list of things to bring years ago
2) We lived in town, and Sharon’s seemed a good place to go
3) She always said family would be welcome
4) I’d read her blog for years — it wasn’t hard to find
5) Oh, that’s what this place is called — we just followed all the others, they seemed to know where they were going.
Thanks, Sharon. I love your writing almost always, but 300K for a house and 10 acres isn’t exactly “homesteading”. Sorry, but homesteading is something you do on land that you can pay for with the land itself (or the timber on it).
Yes, they are beautiful places, but hardly homesteads: Trophy Exurbs might be a better label.
I am afraid I have to concur with Auntiegrav.
Although gorgeous this property may be (it truly is splendid); full of neat, modern gadgetry and a nice piece of dirt, it is still a vinyl and wood shack hardly sustainable and maintainable in the Long Descend.
300k for 10acres is then a little steep for a poor farmer.
On another hand, Sharon’s philosophy is fairly well reflected on this property.
This house is remarkably close from Albany, and has a very good potential to feed it inhabitants by becoming a small subsistence farm.
It is almost a shame that the building on the property is so nice which makes the property too expensive… at least for me.
“It is almost a shame that the building on the property is so nice which makes the property too expensive… ”
That’s exactly the problem with many houses I’ve seen. Builders and buyers (and I’m not talking about Sharon’s friends here per se) have been putting so much emphasis on a big, expensive house and have been buying up lots of otherwise nice land to do it.
I’ve been looking at houses lately myself, though I doubt I’ll ever move from my present job as the kids/students there are just such a perfect fit for me. I still dream of living in a more rural area, never mind “preparations” demanding/not demanding it. I’d just like it.
Anyhow, after attending NOFA-NH this past weekend, I got to browsing real estate in central New Hampshire. I stumbled across some amazing real estate on and around Lake Winnipesaukee. Not that I’m in the market, but look at these *amazing* listings of over-the-top, trophy homes on the lake. Imagine the hair cut these are going to take:
http://www.newenglandmoves.com/viewDetails.nem?GLID=1011325739&selectTab=1&propertySearchType=8&associateSearchType=&cid=1562300
The RE taxes alone on that thing are $31,067 !!!
This broker has a whole collection of these things.
In a hundred years, this present era of huge oil-era homes cropping up around the lake will add a very interesting chapter to the already long history of different land uses around Winnipesaukee.
Speaking of which, this broker also has Kimball’s Castle for sale again. (I guess the plans for a hotel/bed breakfast fell through.) This property is a genuine castle set up on a high hill on the south shore of Winnipesaukee. It was built by a former tycoon of the Boston & Maine Railroad at the previous turn of the century. ….All yours for $995,000 It has 260 acres of conservation land that comes with it (It’s very hilly and rocky, except for the immediate area around the castle, so would-be farmers, you want to pass on this, trust me.)
http://www.newenglandmoves.com/viewDetails.nem?GLID=1012022545&selectTab=1&propertySearchType=8&associateSearchType=&cid=1564564
Of course, Kimball’s property more or less lasted because it’s all stone. Whether the other trophy homes would ever last 110 years given their wood-glass construction, I highly doubt it.
Wow, what an era we have lived through. People 200 years from now will absolutely be sure we were nuts!
What a difference a few thousand miles makes…
I know there can be no direct comparison- difference in average wage, cost of living (although I suspect that is higher generally in the UK) etc, but here, as a sweeping generalisation, you can’t live off the land unless it is much larger acreage or it is free.
Out of interest, I found this 14 acre small holding for sale in Wales, where property is frequently cheaper than near the English cities. The house has 4 beds, but is need of modernisation.
http://www.smallholding-wales.co.uk/pengribyn-smallholding.php
£375,000 is equivalent to about $565,000….
Sharon did say property prices haven’t dropped much in her area. And it still sounds like a bargain from this side of the Atlantic!
Hazel near Oxford, UK
So what about an intern CSA farmer, resident temporary grandma, roommate that can pay some rent and trade work for food and share some hugs with the kiddos? On a limited, internship basis as I have grandkids I don’t want to be away from for a long, extended period. But I’ve read the blog and lots of other places you write and would love the opportunity to learn more on a day-to-day basis. I feel that time is running out for leisurely learnin’ in the farmin’ department. How about a trade with my professional sign language skills with your homeschooled kids? I’d trade for all the goat experience I can get!!! Give me a buzz Sharon when you finish the book and have time…
Misi
No thanks. We finally found our own little piece to buy…for a whole lot less money than either of those. Sure, it’s only an acre and has no outbuilding, garden, or livestock, but it has tons of potential. And there’s something exciting about starting practically from scratch to build your own doomstead. (Thank goodness it has a house. Did not want to start THAT much from scratch!)
I agree with y’all that both are fairly expensive -my claim is not that “you should buy these” but because I know I have a wide range of readers, some of whom have more money and some less, some are looking for more conventional and some less, I’m doing a favor for several friends. That’s all. On the other hand, I do know people who living in very pricey areas think these are affordable. It all depends.
My homestead cost a heck of a lot less than either of these – but that comes at a price too in time and labor and money.
Most people are going to be living in housing not designed for the world we’re entering – that’s just a reality.
Misi, send me an email, because otherwise I’ll forget, but it might work!
Sharon