It's a point not lost on them today.
Rural landscapes are widely celebrated. You can look at them, commit them to canvas or send digital postcards back to the folks. But when it comes to plunking down dollars for a rural landscape, for heaven's sake peel back the trees, grass and streams and take a hard look before you buy.
"The aesthetics of the landscape can distract you from what issues exist," says Scott Richardson. He says they should have dug into more details about their property.
Here's a 'for instance.' The Richardson property gives life to scraggly cedars. Cedars are a non-native species that gulp water in a place where groundwater is sometimes more a wish than a reality. Cedars also out-compete native hardwoods and grasses. For allergy sufferers, cedar pollen is a drifting plague strait from the gates of hell.
The hated cedar would not have kept the Richardsons from buying rural property; they didn't fully appreciate the unfolding battle before them. Twenty-three years later, the job of removing cedars is a constant part of their country life.
E X T R A: The Battle of the Brush
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| Always take a good look at the land you want to buy. Photo: Wyatt McSpadden | Know what you are buying land for, says Charlie Israel, of Mossy Oak Properties. That will narrow your search. Photo: Rob Lagerstrom |
"When you're looking at a rural property, decide what your objective is," says Charlie Israel, owner and broker of Mossy Oak Properties in Birmingham, Ala. "That frames your purchase." If you want to hunt, look around and see if there is anything to hunt. Just because there are trees and pastures doesn't mean trophy bucks roam the land. If you hate cedars, stay away from the Texas Hill Country.
Here's our "prevent buyer's remorse" checklist of things to look at before you buy.
Access. You cannot be denied access to your property. But that doesn't mean your neighbor can't make life miserable. Make sure you have deeded access to your land if it is surrounded by private or public properties. Some states require that access be granted by way of the easiest or most direct route possible. Others—Texas is one—make no such provisions.
You may come across another—albeit rare—version of the access problem. There was a case in rural Alabama where the neighbor of a new property owner had long taken a shortcut across the new owner's land in order to reach a far field. The shortcut came within 25 feet of the new owner's barn. It became an increasingly larger irritant as the neighbor ignored requests to stop. It was also a dispute that seemed to be slipping toward a courtroom.
The bottom line is this: Work out all your access issues before you close on the property. Once you own it, you give up a lot of negotiating power.
Dumps. Keep an eye out for old dumps and burn piles. They may be home to old pesticide containers, barrels of waste oil or worse. A few items on the surface of the ground may hint at more refuse below. Don't forget to look around all the corners. Draws, or small, dead-end canyons, are natural dumping spots.
Storage tanks. Look to see if chemicals, fuel or oil has been spilled onto the soil around storage tanks. Also check for underground storage tanks. While you don't expect the Environmental Protection Agency to race up the drive and start removing barrels of toxic oil, spills pose a risk to your drinking water.
"The most conservative thing to do is to test the soil around the tank," says Israel.
A more thorough step would be to conduct what is known as a Phase I environmental audit. The audit, which can cost $1,500 to $2,000 per property, is a professional review of the land's history to see what transpired there in the past—manufacturing, mining, farming, construction.
Soil tests and other evidence-collecting would be part of a Phase II environmental audit. The third and final phase of an environmental audit involves the cleanup.
E X T R A: Look for What You Can't See
Wells. Are there old wells on the property? Are they adequately sealed? An old board with bricks on top doesn't seal it well enough to keep contaminants from running down into the well. Another risk to wells is a non-functioning septic field. Sewage gurgling to the surface can migrate over to the wellhead.
"We always test for chloroform, bacteria and nitrates," says Greg Sackos of Intermountain Realty in Baker City, Ore.
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| Make sure you can get to your land. You have to be given access to your property, but it may not be the most direct route. Photo: Rob Lagerstrom | Wetlands can be a great natural asset. Just make sure you understand the strings that may come attached with them. Photo: JupiterImages |
Drainage. It's always a good idea to see property during or right after a good rain. Where does the water drain? Does it flow toward the house or other buildings? Does the drainage reveal an erosion problem?
E X T R A: The Oddball Problem
Wetlands. Home to ducks, geese and frogs, wetlands can be either a great asset or a can of worms. Local, state and federal agencies all have rules regarding wetlands and often additional rules for the upland ground around them and the watershed that directs runoff into them. Be concerned about endangered species in the wetland (and anywhere else, in fact). It's not that a wetland is a deal breaker. But it's good to know what's there among the cattails.
Streams. Creeks, streams and rivers are open to everyone, even if one flows directly through your property. In Oregon, canoeists and kayakers can camp next to the stream up to the ordinary high-water mark. "They can set up a tent on the bank and have a party. You can't stop them," says Sackos.
STEP 8: SITING THE FARMHOUSE >>
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