The acreage and house I wanted to purchase was on close to 20 acres. It has: 1-1.5 acre home site (house needs a lot of work, 2 car garage, outbuildings) , 2 acres tillable, 1+ acre pond, and the remaining 15 acres are timber. How much would a similar property cost in your area?

I guess it would have been a way to determine which 'dreams' belong to both of us and which are more one-sided.

It's complicated for us because DH works 12 hour shifts and with railroad restrictions, he cannot use his cellphone while on duty. Everything has to be done in those few precious hours when businesses are open and he is home and awake.

I think so but it was already a long shot and now that he has spoken with others who have also toured the property, he is over it. He's sleeping now and I cannot speak to him about other options and possibilities. By the time he wakes up the standard business day will have concluded and the earliest anything can be done is tomorrow morning.

That's what I suggested but DH doesn't want to tie up any funds in earnest money for a slim chance.

It's still on the market. Has only been listed for 7 days. My guess is one of the farmers who own the bordering properties will assume it. It is bordered on three sides by larger farms. One of the farmers owns the current hunting rights and I wonder if he'll buy it.

I'm doing a desk day this morning so I'll work on my June goals and post in a bit. Here are my yearly goals with updates: Lose 15 pounds - I have lost and regained 8 pounds plus. This has now morphed into a larger health goal and trying to figure out why I cannot lose weight. I did a blood glucose trial and learned a lot about how foods affect my body. I had a physical including CBC, CMP, lipids, thyroid, A1c, and insulin. I am now working with my primary care provider to work through the results and figure out what is going on. 1000km walk/hike - 241.32; I know this is higher but I wasn't good with tracking in March and April. 600 mile bike - I haven't ridden my bike at all since January so this is 36/600. Officiate 20 days - I have officiated 17/20 days. I would have hit this goal but I chose to coach for 7 weeks and that meant having to step away from some officiating assignment. I am also taking the summer off in order to work on my health and weight loss goals. Recertification 90% complete. Pay off truck - Done! Paint 4 rooms - I have looked at paint but have not painted any rooms yet. Declutter and paint the basement - have decluttered some but not anywhere near where I would like to be. Most stuff in the basement is camping and backpacking gear or belongs to DH. I need to either sell the gear or use it. 1 new adventure a month - Nailed this for March and April. So many new adventures coaching. I guess bringing a new dog into the family could be considered an adventure. Apheresis Gold Level (18 platelet donations) - I have donated 8/18 times. I am a bit behind Find a new volunteer activity - Due to coaching full time for two months, I put this on hold. June Goals Health - follow up appt regarding blood work and foot (x-rays, possible surgery), follow new food plan armed with blood glucose and blood fat information. Hike/Walk - 150 kilometers Bike - 4 bike rides of varying lengths Officiating - None this month; complete recertification Paint 1 room New adventure - Be Wild! Apherisis - 2 donations Do I really need a new volunteer opportunity? I already volunteer once a week. Additional goals: reading, financial, house and yard maintenance

We have also been looking (put on hold while we were thinking about buying property) but have decided to wait also. The prices of a used model, 2020-2022, vs a new 2023 are negligible. We are hoping the prices of used drop soon. We are looking at the 4Runner or the VW Atlas.

Dh just returned home from work and informed me that four of the guys he works with have also looked at the property and all four said the same thing: house is crap and the price needs to be reduced in order to make it affordable to bring it up to code. None are making offers. As a result, DH is no longer interested and has asked me to let it go. My daydreams have been filled with walks through the property with my dogs, floating on the pond while reading, watching the deer from the back porch. So now I deal with disappointment. At least I know more about kit cabins, leech fields, and tenting for termites.

Yes, this is our biggest concern; that and the termites. The current septic is close to the well and uphill from the pond. We are concerned about leeching into the pond and how safe the well water is. The current well is 125 ft deep. Edited: looked up the statutes and the leech field has to be a minimum of 100 feet from the pond. It is definitely more than 100ft but it is uphill from the pond. I am concerned about the run off. I wonder how much it would cost to have the pond water tested? The leech field must be a minimum of 75 feet from a closed loop well system. It is not currently 75 feet away, maybe 50. The septic tank must be a minimum of 50 feet from a closed loop well system, It is not. It is 37 feet (the realtor measured for me when we were on our first tour). DH and I owned a couple of acres a few miles away from this property when we first moved here. We had to replace that septic system after a couple of years so we knew the basic distance between a well and a septic but not the leech field to a pond.

And this is the rub...we would never be able to afford this much land with timber and water in any other location. If this land were in CO (our home state and where we would eventually like to end up), it would be well over $1million. We are young enough now to be able to do the things that need to be done. Who knows what will happen in 8-10 years. CO is not going to get any cheaper, so wouldn't it be nice to be able to buy the property now and live the dream, no matter how difficult, while we can?

No, there has been so much alteration done over the years, it doesn't even look like a school house anymore. We were surprised when the realtor told us that is what is was.

This is an estate sale where both the husband and wife have passed away and the remaining family does not want to deal with the property. The house is being sold as-is so the sellers are not going to do anything except remove the remaining furniture and personal items and even some of those are negotiable (like the riding lawn mower, the row boat).

Flood risk is 1. Fire risk is 1. Heat risk is 2. Wind risk is 2. But it is the midwest prairie so those are expected. Both the pond and stream are downhill from the current house and the possible future home site.

Yeah, I am also concerned about others wanting the property. It has multiple showings daily but no offers yet. Mainly because it doesn't qualify for a standard mortgage. We are in the position that, with the sale of our current home and cash reserves, we would have enough to put down to qualify for a different type of loan through DH's employers credit union. We have asked about this already.

I looked up kit cabins, and wow, are there some nice ones. Tractor isn't necessary due to 95% of the land being timber or pond. Riding lawnmower is fine.

But 8-10 years of having a dream come true versus not giving it a chance at all? Isn't there some value in that? We know we could never buy this much land in the state we want to retire to or anywhere else for that matter. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Just for reference, our niece and her DH live in CO and just purchased a similar sized property (better house, no timber) for almost a million. This property is less than $200,000. Valued because it's an estate and the house needs so much work and does not qualify for a conventional mortgage: the septic has to be moved, the termites, no central air due to a boiler, etc. If the house was move in ready, this property would be well over $400,000. The property cannot be sold separately from the house due to the house's location on the property. The realtor informed us that if the house and property could be separated, the property would be sold for more than $250,000 with the house being sold for under $30,000 and that is mostly because of the garage and the acre surrounding the house.

I hadn't thought of this but called the realtor and asked. As far as he knows, there are no restrictions. The house has already been modified and, unless you knew it was a school house, it no longer looks like a school house. No one the realtor asked even knows the original name of the school and no one has been interested enough to research it.

One of the issues with using the existing utilities is that the septic and the well are too close together and any new construction would require the septic to be moved. It's one of the reasons the property is affordable.

2 people Kinda handy but willing to learn and provide labor. Definitely could handle chaos as long as there is progress. Chaos for chaos' sake, not so much. We would use the profits from our current house for the down payment and immediate needs.

This is our initial idea.

Dh and I have always wanted to own acreage. However, due to where we live, farming community where most properties are snapped up by the large farming conglomerates, it is nearly impossible to purchase property. This past weekend the (almost) perfect property came available. It has timber, tillable, a pond, and a stream. The house is a 140yo converted one room school house. That is the problem. There are obvious signs of termites, the floors slope, the ceilings are low (about 7 feet), the electrical and plumbing are outdated...the list of issues with the house is lengthy but is the only reason we could afford this property. The current septic is too close to the well and must be moved before a new mortgage could be taken out on the home and property. It's an estate so the property is being sold as is which means the new buyer is responsible for moving the septic. We have been to the property and can afford it at the current price. We could afford to move the septic. What we cannot afford is to completely reno the house to bring it up to code and to fix the termite issues. The house is just under 1100 sf and only has one bathroom and isn't insulated. The electricity is twice what we currently pay; inspection reports claim this is due to outdated wiring and the lack of insulation. We also noticed tell tale signs of animal activity the attic. I would like to investigate the idea of living in the house temporarily while building a new house on the tillable land. If we do that, we would have to bring in a prefab as we cannot afford to build a standard home and purchase the property. I do not like the area we live in but buying this dream property and having everything I have always wanted in a home site would make living here until DH retires so much more palatable. The property would increase in value over time and, if we built a prefab home and continued to clean up and improve the property, we would make a nice profit when we leave here after DH's retirement. Is anyone willing to talk about the pros and cons of a prefab? Is it worth doing when we know we'll be leaving in about 10 years?

June is the midway point for 2023 goals.🩱🕶️🥾⛺ I hope you are seeing progress in whatever goals you set. It's time to assess your June calendar and obligations, look at your finances, and review everything else you need to consider when setting June goals. Do you have more time now that it's summer? Can you encourage someone else to help meet your goals this month? Get out your journal and write down those goals and the small steps you will take this month toward reaching those goals. Have you set up a Summer Bucket List? The 23 in 23 challenge? Which of those items can you work on this month?

It's time to finish up May and begin planning for June. Are you still on track for your yearly goals? If yes, whoot whoot! Keep planning those monthly and weekly goals and moving forward. If not, what has been the reason for the delay? What can you do to help you get back on track? We still have plenty of year left to make progress and see real change.