Are you thinking about buying a house with acreage?? Here are my “Things to consider” list before you buy.
My husband and I bought a beautiful 10-acre piece of land with a little cottage on it in Northern California in 2017. We actually rented the house for about 4 years before buying it so we’ve lived here for more than a decade. The choice to move up here was made because my husband’s aunt and uncle owned the house next door on 10 acres of their own. Long story short, we were blessed to purchase the property that borders theirs.
Anyways..
We’ve owned the property for more than 7 years and have learned a lot about maintaining the property and living in the country.
Don’t get it twisted though…
We are not the people who bought a piece of land, dug a well and lived in a trailer for years while we built our own house. For that advice, you’d have to check in with my Aunt next door haha.
Power
The Cottage has standard power. No fancy solar panels and definitely living ON the grid BUT when you live in the country natural disasters seem to be more prevalent.
One Summer, due to the wildfires and drought we spent almost 2 weeks solid without power because our electric provider shut it off. No one in the city had to deal with this inconvenience.
Additionally, storms knock out the power more often and if the land has lots of trees on it that can be a hazard to power lines. In general, we are without power more often than the town 20 mins away for a multitude of reasons.
The Well
Talking about power…the well is an essential device to get your water from the water tablet underground to your dining table and it runs on electricity.
I am no well expert but it’s a simple process. A hole is dug deep into the ground, PVC pipe will go down a ways until the rest of the hole is carved into the solid earth and into the water table where a pump is submerged. Wires and a tube come up to the surface to bring the water to a water tank that fills every time you turn on a facet in the house.
These things break. While some people don’t have problems for 30 years, sometimes a lizard crawls into your well pump panel and frys the whole thing at 8pm on a Friday. Yep. Been there, done that. Then you get to spend the weekend without running water and that can be ROUGH.
Work on the well can be expensive. When we needed to replace the panel, it was a surprise $2,800 or when I urgently needed a new pressure tank and it cost $1,500 four days after Christmas.
Propane
Ovens, stove-tops, dryers, hot water heaters, furnaces, or even generators can run on propane and everyone out here uses them. The first couple years we rented The Cottage we were busy working adults who would forget to call to have our tank refilled. When you run out of propane you have no hot water and this is SUCH a problem. You won’t realize how much you use warm water until you don’t have it anymore.
I’ve learned to set an alarm that goes off once a month. Logging the percentage of propane left in the tank monthly helps me monitor not only when to call for more but also gives me an idea of how much we use. Helping budget for that expensive phone call I make every 6 months for the propane company to come and refill our tank.
If you’re curious, in 2023, 150 gallons of propane was about $450 and we use around 25 gallons a month.
Trees
This definitely depends on where you live. Here in Northern California, near Tahoe, we have lots and lots of trees.
When you own property you own more trees.
Not only do trees increase the risk of wildfires but threaten powerlines, have a chance of getting hit by lightning, risk falling, drop branches, and attract wildlife (such as those dreaded squirrels).
Irrigation Water
Even if you don’t plan on a crazy garden, you’ll want water spigots at least a few hundred feet away from the house.
About 30 acres away there is a manmade irrigation creek where we get gravity-fed water to water trees, lawns, livestock, gardens, etc.
In our area, we are offered up to 1 inch of water thru Summer and/or up to 1 inch of water through WInter. Most of us around here only pay for Summer water to keep the lawn green, water the fruit trees, garden, and pond.
Summer is from April til October and it costs us a painful $900 a year, once a year.
Having property is also another maintenance thing. Last year, we had an old pipe underground crack and had to dig it up and repair it.
Septic
Septic is something you have to take care of. Putting bleach down the drain can kill all the bacteria in your septic. The bacteria is important because it eats away at everything down there and keeps it running smoothly. So NEVER use bleach if you are on septic!
Also when using new products in your laundry, for cleaning, or deciding to dump anything down the drain make sure it’s septic safe.
There is also a lot of controversy about using the products to keep a healthy septic tank because a lot of the time that stuff is meant to eat away at everything, including your good bacteria. Opt for a more enzyme-based cleaner to keep stuff in there natural and biodegrading.
Calling a company to pump the septic once every 10 years or so will also keep your tank healthy and will keep you from ending up with a lawn backed up with septic.
Animals
Maybe you’re thinking about moving to the country and getting chickens and a garden. Be prepared to need to put up heavy fencing.
Chickens get eaten. It’s just a fact of life. We have had predators literally rip fencing out of wood paneling to get to the chickens and it is devastating. Also gardens get eaten by deer, bunnies, birds and bugs so much more than in the city.
We get skunks all the way up on the porch sometimes. Outside cats are always at risk of not coming home. Random loose dogs make it to the property sometimes, which can be very nerve-racking. Squirrels, moles, and gophers destroy every flat surface of our property with holes and piles of dirt.
There was a bobcat that grabbed a squirrel right off our backyard area a couple of years back.
Wildlife is everywhere when you’re in the country. It can be equally frustrating and absolutely amazing.
Deer, bunnies, and all the birds make sitting outside on a spring day a lovely experience. We have a pond and the frogs and fish are always a treat. During winter we get ducks that spend their mornings silently swimming around and in the evenings they spend doing mating dances and making a ruckus.
Everything Else
Last but not least I just wanted to touch on a few other things about owning property that maybe don’t need their own category but are worth mentioning.
Manual labor becomes part of your life. There are ALWAYS things to do on the property that aren’t fun, but they hang over your head just like vacuuming or dirty dishes, so get ready for that.
Quiet space is a beautiful thing you live country. When my neighbors leave, 15 acres away, I know it cause it’s so quiet out I hear them driving down their driveway. I love this aspect but some people might find it lonely. I used to be uncomfortable being home alone past dark just due to this fact and it should be considered.
Driveways are something else that can be a big deal that needs regular maintenance. We have almost a mile-long driveway and it needs to be re-graveled periodically which can be expensive.
Lawn Maintenance, and I’m not talking about a quick mow in the backyard once a week. Every year the property needs regular weed-eating and mowing done with a riding lawn mower at least a few times before summer dries it all out.
Conclusion
If you are considering buying a house with acreage I hope this helped. I can’t imagine living in a city again. While none of these things mentioned should be taken lightly when deciding to move to the country, living out here is totally worth it.
My husband and I aren’t big DIYers, don’t like manual labor, and spend plenty of weekends inside the house but we wouldn’t trade our land for anything.
Being able to walk the dog on my breaks in sweatpants and not be seen by anyone is absolutely priceless. Buying the Cottage might have been a mistake because it is an ugly little run-down house but there is no doubt in my mind that this little piece of property was meant to be ours.
I can’t recommend buying property is for everyone but it sure is a blessing and a joy.
Also, I there are so many health benefits of living on acreage. For example, I always get a chance to do some healthy grounding and get the benefits of enough sunlight.