# Open House



## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

We are planning to apply for mortgage pre-approval in less than a month. One of the homesteads we've been looking at online has an open house on Sunday.

From maps, the place is 28 acres, about 1/4 mown field (hay?) , and 3/4 mixed scrub, with a pond near the rear of the property (no apparent road to the pond.)

Besides all the regular house stuff, what should I look for on the land itself?

We're just past the really wet season here, I'll be in our swampy church garden that morning for comparison of water tables. (Last I checked, the garden test hole was dry for about 8" deep.) I'm guessing that remote pond is for drainage purposes, so looking at how full it is compared to wet vegetation line should give a good indication of recent wetness.

I'm guessing soil samples should wait until I'm actually putting a deposit on a place and getting the other home inspections done?

This place is near the upper limit both price wise and travel distance wise, so it would have to be pretty nice to get selected. It does have some nice features like built in library shelving and a pantry...


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## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

A different satellite view looks more like forest than scrub. The first picture must have been taken in winter.

I'm concerned that the house next door is practically on top of the boundary line, and might fuss about livestock nearby.


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## bluetick (May 11, 2002)

The first things that come to mind are zoning and wet lands. Can you find out what it is zoned for ahead of time? What do you want to do with land you buy - raise an agricultural crop, livestock, etc.? 

Have you enlisted the help of a buyer's broker? The agent at the open house will be representing the seller.


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## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

The place is advertised as a horse farm, but I'd have to check on the actual zoning. IN poking for such data, I do find a decent number of regulations designed to protect existing agricultural zones. There are fees for assessment of making land residential, commercial, or industrial, but the only direct reference to agricultural districts is limitations on the other applications. If I was getting ready to put in an offer, I'd call the town hall to confirm the zoning.

The wetland policy seems pretty reasonable:


> A154-31. Flood Land, DEC Wetland and Federal Wetlands
> Land subject to flooding and land deemed by the Planning Board to be uninhabitable
> shall not be plotted for residential occupancy, nor for such other uses as may involve
> danger to health, life or property or aggravate the flood hazard, but such land within
> ...


We want to use the buyer's agent we used before, but she doesn't want to actively show us places until after we are pre-approved. She is very pessimistic about the current lending atmosphere. This is sort of an advanced scouting practice mission.

I want to primarily use the land as pasture, raising sheep and goats. We can be flexible with pasture/forest by changing the sheep/goat ratios and coppicing parts of the forest to better support goats.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

dlskidmore said:


> We want to use the buyer's agent we used before, but she doesn't want to actively show us places until after we are pre-approved. She is very pessimistic about the current lending atmosphere.


It sounds more like she is being realistic rather than pessimistic. During the real estate boom financing on rural/agriculture property was tough... since the bubble burst and banks have tightened up.... its next to impossible unless you meet every scrap of criteria the bank needs. In our area that translates to a good credit history... 800 or better credit score... an absolute minimum of two years on the same job, minimum of 20 percent down, debt to income ratio is critical, and it dont hurt a thing to be kin to the bank president.


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## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

Yvonne's hubby said:


> During the real estate boom financing on rural/agriculture property was tough... since the bubble burst and banks have tightened up.... its next to impossible unless you meet every scrap of criteria the bank needs.


In my brief contact with the bank in the matter they were rather optimistic, encouraging me to apply sooner with a smaller down payment to lock in today's interest rates. They don't charge for pre-qualification, so it's not in their interest for me to waste their time with an application that will fail. We have very good credit rating, good debt/credit ratio, and depending on the house we buy, 10-20% down cash, with another 5-10% in equity in the old house. We are currently waiting for another pay stub showing hubby's recent raise before we go in for pre-qualification, and we'll have a bit more cash on hand by then too. (I'm a technical professional, and 100% of my income is going into the savings account right now.)

I'm hoping to be able to finance like a normal home, and not have to present any farm income business plan or go to farm credit places. If I was getting a place without a nice house on it, it could be problematic without a much higher down-payment.

Additionally, we live in a very reasonable real estate market. We didn't participate much in the boom or bust in the housing industry, so local banks were not burned as badly in the bust as the national ones.


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## Bluesgal (Jun 17, 2011)

See if you and the property qualify for the USDA rural home loan program.


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## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

Bluesgal said:


> See if you and the property qualify for the USDA rural home loan program.


I don't think I meet the income requirements. Might meet the requirements after I move and we go down to one income, but I'm not planning to quit before I have startup costs for my farm covered and a year or two of operating expenses in the bank.


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## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

Bluesgal said:


> See if you and the property qualify for the USDA rural home loan program.


If anyone else wants to look into this, there's a calculator, and they don't ask for any personally identifying information:
SFH Section 502 GLP Eligibility Check Worksheet


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## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

We ended up seeing two places today. The first was a charming old place with great agricultural possibilities, that needs a ton of work. The back section is a wetland, but it's not counted in the acreage on the sale ads. The front section was pretty dry to walk on right after a rain, and had some structures that could be rescued for barn and chicken coop. I would love to have this place if it was cheap enough to justify hiring out repairs. Unfortunately it's on the upper end of our price range.

The second was refinished so much it may as well be new although the bones are even older than my current home. The barn and garage were likewise refinished so much it may as well be new. We're talking complete tear-off of the old bard side and rebuilt with two by fours, plywood, and modern siding. Some of the original uprights were visible in the barn, but even some of the major beams had been replace with steel. The land though is challenging. We hiked the 30% slope to the top of the hill where there's a charming path through the woods across the crest of the hill. The far side of the hill is part of the property too, but looks even steeper. There's nothing you could do with it agriculturally besides goats, and good luck putting in fencing other than stapling it to existing trees. Getting a post hole digger back there would be a nightmare. (Might be easier after the goats do some clearing.) On the other hand, half the path up the hill is a power corridor, and the trail runs on past the property. It's actually owned by the power company rather than an easement, so if I wanted to purchase right-of-way to make a trail, I'd deal with only one land owner, with little stake in keeping me off the land. Also possible I could get contracts for clearing brush with the goats along that power corridor if I ever trained a dog to work with goats on that terrain.


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