The Campfire Trail: September 11 - DIY Homestead - Starting With Nothing (Part 4)

September 11, 2022

Day 345 of the Adventure

My September 6 posting was part 3 in the "Starting with Nothing" series and had to do with research. I can't emphasize this step enough. Back about a year ago, we had just received acceptance on an offer to purchase our Camp Run-Amuck property. We actually found some places prior to that which would have actually fit our preferences a little better. The one in the pic to the right was one of them. Close to 200 acres with a huge spring flowing from the mouth of a cave that fed a cold water stream. The price was even in the ball park for us. The only issue with it was the location. It was very secluded, which was fine, but it was about 100 miles from our search area. For a number of reasons, we weren't willing to consider that area, as wonderful as the property was. The point is that even simply researching that area helped us gain some understanding of property values and what we would expect to have to pay taking into account various kinds of land features.

The research prior to purchase is more critical that many would believe. Most people are stopped from moving forward on their dream property because of finances, or lack of finances. Finding as many properties as possible that fit your goals is important. Making a realistic list of available properties that fit your budget will help clarify a game plan for you. It's easy to get discouraged when everything on your "shopping list" ends up being so expensive that you cannot find any pathway to get there. The perfect piece of land may not exist in your price range, desired location, size or property features. The only way you'll know is to compare as many as you possibly can. There's also a lot of merit in considering what you can bring to a property that may be a little less than what your dream list consists of.

One of our main goals when purchasing the Camp Run-Amuck property was to keep the size of it manageable. We wanted to use it as a "Case Study" type of property for demonstrating ways to acquire and develop a modest sized property from scratch as an example to others how to do the same. Part of the criteria was to stay in the 5-20 acre range. So far we are happy with the results and are fairly confident that the process can be duplicated and work for others.

Carry On

Adventure Quote: “I cannot see the future, but I can sense its possibilities. I sense now that what I am telling you is the truth. But truth, like magic, can have different meanings. It is not an absolute. It does not always come about as we think it will.”

― Terry Brooks

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost in the Woods (Colombia/Costa Rica blend)

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