Hobby Farm Buying 101

Requirements:
- Minimum 5 acres, preferably 10+
- Not in a flood plain!!!
- Vehicle parking for a car, truck, tractor, and assorted other equipment
- Additional space for a workshop
- A barn with a solid hay mow
- A livable house
- 1/2 hr or less to work

I saw a house on www.realtor.com last summer. It was overpriced, but six months later the price was reduced. Since my down payment fund keeps growing despite the economy, I decided to give the realtor a call.

The place was only 33 minutes from my apt, it would be about 5-10 less to work --- check. By the time I had finished inspecting the Morton building, the smoker, the small garden shed, the old stone garage, the corn crib, the 2 large barns, had eyed the perfectly good shitter, and peered off at the one room schoolhouse and hog house on 9.9 acres, I was thrilled. All the outbuildings I could possibly want, and then some. They were in good shape, pretty conveniently located, etc.

The house was old (100+ years) and the bricks were crying out for a few cracks to be patched and new mortar applied in a few sections. So I knew it would take some money. And surprisingly enough, the addition was OK. The kitchen was drab, the (only) bathroom small, a giant jerky maker/stove thing (ok ok, I have no idea what it was) was taking up valuable space, the basement unfinished. No running water to any other portion of the house. My hopes had started to sag.

Upon stepping into the "old house," my hopes crashed --- uneven floors, a grand total of three small rooms, and no wood work. The second story, which had been described as previously housing 3 bedrooms, was reached via what more closely approximated a ladder than stairs. The attic was bare to the brick walls, and the tenant had laid insulation on the floor to (I assume) help minimize his heating bill. It was barely six feet from floor to ceiling, and the windows were limited.

It got worse.

The basement was reached by "stairs" that were narrow, steep, and were simply resting on some blocks in the basement. The 2nd basement contained not one, but two furnaces, bringing the grand total to 3 --- 2 LP and 1 wood stove (working). The support beam for the 1st story floors was half rotted (gone), and was at least 8 deg from vertical. The frame for the flooring was missing boards, warped, and completely devoid of crossbeams. Let's just say I didn't linger in the old portion of the house on the way back up.

So much for starting my own commune or family compound ;) Or more accurately, I'll stew on this awhile, see if I can devise a plan to build a 2 story addition in place of the current addition. Oh, and I'll start looking at other places, too...

Home buying seems like it might be a little more difficult than I had hoped.