Finding Land for Your Dream Homestead

How to Homestead

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How to Find the Perfect Land for Your Homestead, Hobby Farm or New Home on Acreage in the Country

One of the most common questions I receive from friends is how to find land in the country for a country home, homestead or farm. My answer is both simple and complicated.

Overall, finding land is simple, but can get complicated based on what you’re looking for, what’s required to do what you want with it and most of all, it can take a lot of time to find that perfect acreage.

In this post, I’m going to discuss a few key aspects to consider when looking for acreage or land in the country based on our personal experience:

  • Location
  • Size
  • Home Build or Renovation Project
  • Utilities
  • Purpose and Use for the Property
  • Zoning Laws and Permits
  • And finally, Ways to Find Your Property

Homestead Location

Your optimal homestead location will be based on your homestead and lifestyle goals. How far do you want to be from town? Where do you want to live geographically? Do you want to live near family and friends or start someplace new? Where will you find good community? (Because having a good homestead community is important, often vital for success.)

Homestead Size

How much acreage will you need? Knowing the range of acres will help narrow down options.

Helpful Tip: It is usually better to buy a larger piece of land with a friend or family member that you can then divide amongst yourselves. This allows you to find, typically, more beautiful and healthy land than a typical, singular smaller plot.

This is what we did, purchasing property with Nate’s parents. I’ve had several friends do this and find better, faster success at finding their dream property.

Finding Land for your Dream Country Home | Learn more at everlyraine.com

New Build or Renovation Project

You’ll need to decide if you’re looking to build your home, barns, etc.; if you’re looking for a turnkey operation; or, if you don’t mind a fixer upper.

All of these options needs to be considered financially and within your desired timeline of starting your farming endeavors or desired move-in date.

Utilities

If you are considering a new-build, you will also need to consider how your will be getting utilities such as your electricity and water. Things are things to ask your local utility companies.

Honestly, this is a lot of tedious and strenuous work; but, important to know before purchasing your property.

Purpose and Use for the Property

Be mindful of what you want to do with the property.

It can be easy to fall in love with a beautiful landscape, but if that landscape is not conducive to the animals you wish to raise or plants your wish to grow, you’re going to be fighting the land.

That can become costly and overwhelming.

How to Find Land for Your Homestead or Hobby Farm | Learn more at everlyraine.com

Zoning Laws and Permits

Before purchasing a property, make sure the zoning laws allow you to pursue your homestead goals. A simple Google search or calling your local governing office will help you determine if legally the land is perfect for your needs or not.

Ways to Find Land

You can simply start by using Google or a search engine like realtor.com.

Many times, a piece of property may be for sale, but you wouldn’t find it on a typical website.

For example, we would drive around and when we would see property we liked, we would find out who the owner was and call them up to see if they were selling their land or maybe a piece of it.

You’d be surprised how many properties were for sale or perhaps could be persuaded to sell, but were not listed online.


Affiliate Disclosure & Content Disclaimer

This post may contain affiliate links from a sponsor, Amazon Affiliates or other program. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This allows me to continue creating more content that you love. The content of this article is for general information purposes only. My goal is to provide you with the best information possible from my personal experiences for you to make the best decisions on the given topics for yourself.

Photographs by Leah Payne