Farm and Ranch Land: Rain, Sleet, Snow or Shine

In case you haven't read Finding & Buying Your Place in Country I'll pass along a little freebie, don't just buy a piece of property in an area you're unfamiliar with unless you've done a lot of research and/or interviews with people from that area (that aren't trying to profit from their advice to you). In our ongoing quest to find the Texas land that will meet all of our requirements we've discovered a lot of differences in areas that are within just an hour of each other.

Even though that farm land you've found seems to be the best thing since sliced bread it may have many hidden nightmares such as being within one of the FEMA flood maps or neighbors that are less than friendly. It would be beneficial to call a high profile business in the area and just be friendly, find out what the area is like during heavy rains or adverse weather conditions. In one particular property we were looking out we found out that the area had high water every 5-7 years. They said the home that was on the site consistently had water up close to the top of the foundation and the area was fit for boating during that periodic weather. We discovered this by walking down the dirt road and talking to a car passing by. Turns out the guy was the electric meter reader for the entire area and lived on a high part of the road and gave us a lot of good input about the area.

If I haven't said it enough I'll say it again: research, Research, RESEARCH....are we clear yet :)

Once you've taken possession of the property your Garden of Eden may turn out to be a nightmare.