Make sure your partner is honest about his level of commitment and investiture BEFORE you buy. I am now the Jill of ALL things, him, none.
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I wish Iād tried driving my commute during typical travel times, not just on our weekend property showings. I thought 45 minutes would be fine, but actual weekday traffic means closer to 90 minutes each way. Thatās 15 hours/week wasted in my vehicle.
I wish Iād visited the property after rain, so I could see how the heavy black clay (which grows absolutely luscious bermuda) remains a swampy mess for days after the rain stops. I wish Iād visited the property during summer drought, so I could see how the clay dries to concrete that can shatter bones on impact, with 5" wide cracks just waiting to devour someoneās leg. Also, that luscious bermuda grows 10 months a year in Texas, so thatās a lot of mowing as well as stressing over my easy-keeper potentially foundering.
I wish I knew everything would be more expensive than Iād budgeted for. Firstly, my anti-social-at-the-boarding-barn horse completely lost his mind at being solo on my property, so I had to rapidly acquire a pasture mate. The cement floor in my barn may as well be ice, so unplanned $$$ on rubber mats. Those $25 volume-discount hoof trims at the boarding facility are now $40 (now times 2 horses!) New corral panel & gates required renting a flatbed trailer to get them home, plus hiring someone to bring a tractor to dig the holes to install them. I can store about 70 hay bales, again not enough for volume discounts or free-delivery, nor enough to last a whole winter.
I wish I knew to invest in appropriate tools from the beginning. That $2k riding mower took 10 hours to mow 6.25 acres and needed new blades every 4 months because we pushed it beyond itās true purpose. We finally bought a $9k zero turn this summer and reduced mowing time by half (after 5 years, hallelujah!) I wish Iād paid to install extra gates earlier in our life out here, but I didnāt realize how much theyād enhance efficiency. Please buy a 4-wheeled dump cart the day you move in - you will NOT regret it. Splurge on the heavy duty 1" contractor hose for quick filling of water tubs, and shell out the $50 for the big manure basket-fork.
I wish I knew Iād rarely ride my horses BECAUSE they are in my backyard. I spend far more time on property maintenance than I ever imagined, so between that and my commute, I lack the time & energy to ride. I do get to see and love on my horses everyday, of course, which does make me luckier than many!
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My thought this weekend when I was riding around on my mower: You will either spend all your time mowing or trying to grow grass. There is no perfect balance of animals to pasture where you wonāt have to do one or the otherā¦OR BOTH (thanks, non-edible weeds!).
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my experience dictates one should pave the areas you want grass to grow since I have never be able to kill the grass that grows in the expansion joints of the concrete drive
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These are wise words that I wholeheartedly agree with.
As someone who is both involved in it for a career and reviewed it prior to purchasing - zoning is easily changed (at least up here in Canada). Look for the over-arching document for the county/city like an official plan that shows what they plan to change in the future. It could be zoned agriculture now, but be identified as an area for regeneration in the official plan where the county (etc.) plans to allow residential.
Also - check to see how the lands around you are divided or subdivided. I did not pay enough attention when we bought our hobby farm that the lands to the east were divided into 10 acre lots, but owned by the same person and farmed. Now Iām stuck with 5 new houses - one in each of those lots - as the original owner sold them off.
You should also look at the history of the site. I had no idea our property was run as a timber mill many years ago. There are still areas that do not want to grow grass because of the compaction etc of the soil.
Good luck and have fun!
Network, Network NETWORK!
You may find a few toads, but there are MANY princes to be found through a network. Also known as community.
The best time to look at horse property is during the wettest season. If possible, go when it is actually raining. This will let you know where water wants to go and what the soils are like when saturated.
If you are looking at raw land, #1 make sure you have water, #2 make sure if perks, # 3 cost of electric service and #4 can you get reliable cable/internet #5 are there reliable contractors in the area, some BFE locations can make building a long, slow process because there arenāt any trade folks around.
Access to the property in general, home + barn. Be sure fire and rescue and any other wide and long vehicles can have access. Pasturesā¦ 10-12 foot gates at a minimum. Sometimes you can do a narrower gate if you have it angled correctly. My fencing contractor didnāt charge extra for gates, no matter how wide. His quote per linear foot was his quote (board fencing). He wasnāt the cheapest, but he wasnāt the most expensive either. The guy I really wanted, wasnāt available. The guy I used was the only one he would refer people to. This is another example of networking. I had seen the work from the preferred guy over the years. Always great work and his work held up well over the years. I had many folks recommend the one I used and I had a recommendation for another and I had seen the work for a 4th.
On the networking lineā¦vet and farrier in the area. If you are new, trying to find someone that will service your area and that is GOOD will be important. If you are looking for land in a horsey area, that shouldnāt be too hard.
A source for horse quality hay that can be picked up or delivered for a reasonable price.
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well, that is something that you had better not take for an absolute ā¦ the only way I would step out onto that limb would be by making the sale contingent upon obtaining the favorable zoning change
I meant for the neighbouring properties more-so than the ones the OP is thinking of buyingā¦ I agree - you shouldnāt buy a property that isnāt zoned to what you are looking to do.
Look at it this way, just because the neighbour is zoned agriculture doesnāt mean it canāt be changed the year after to residential or rural residential. Happens quite a bit unfortunately, especially in rural areas with small townships that do not currently have a heavy residential population to rely on for tax income. It would be less than fun for the OP to buy a place only to have the surrounding neighbourhood change to residential over the next few years.
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How fast it falls into disrepair if you donāt keep up! (you asked!)
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I assumed Iād love having my horses home, but I didnāt know how much Iād enjoy it. They were gone for two months this summer after I had surgery, and it was horrible. When I brought them back home it was seriously the best remedy after a scary stretch of time.
Yes, it took a couple of years to get my place where I wanted it after building a new barn and all the fencing and the hidden and unexpected cost of thingsā¦but I have loved having my horses at home. Itās not fancy, but it works perfectly for my three horses and my lifestyle, especially since I do it all on my own.
One more thing, thoughā¦you can check out the neighbors and find out theyāre great, only to have them move and you get new neighbors who are pack rats. The previous owners took great pride in their place, but the new ones have filled the once beautiful yard with junk. I put up solid fencing on that side so I donāt have to look at it anymore. And they were offended. Go figure.
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