Even before we left New Zealand, the Kiwi Homesteaders had chosen to join forces with Starfish’s parents. This worthy couple, having moved from Auckland to a small town in North Canterbury in order to be closer to us, were realising that living as an ageing couple in a small town with attenuated support networks was not going to be tenable. The Government response to COVID, according to which (among other things) even having family visit was liable to result in nosy neighbours dobbing one into the Police — yes, this happened to us when we came to install a washing machine for them, of all things — amply demonstrated this sad fact of life. The, “New normal,” as officials and the commentariat proclaimed it.
Accordingly, the decision was made that we would pool our resources and live together. This post shares some of our decision making processes about where we would settle.
Peter Goodchild, from the great north, writes about some factors to help a would-be rural purchaser in his decision-making here. Much of what he writes is valuable and worth taking into consideration. I will add my own thoughts, and how we chose.
The old Real Estate mantra, “Location, location, location,” is certainly apt. But what makes a good location? When everything is being upended, city-dweller considerations like proximity to work and shops, and your kids’ eligibility to attend a, “Good school,” (whatever that even means in these days), don’t really apply. Instead:
- Jurisdiction and Community
Where can you even get to, legally? You may desire to live in this or that country, but if the country’s immigration policies are unfriendly, you will need to look elsewhere. Preferably you won’t have to apply for permission, or if you must, the application will be uncontroversial (for example, based on family ties such as a parent or spouse).
What laws and customs will you live under? These are certainly important. The laws, and (equally importantly) how they are enforced and against whom, cover all kinds of things, including what you can farm and grow, how much it will cost you, whether you can build structures on the land, how many and of what kind, what activities you can do, etc., etc. In New Zealand, District Plans issued by local councils under the Resource Management Act can and do regulate just about every activity you can think of; and Councils aren’t above using, “Resource consents,” that is, permission to violate the District Plan, as a way of raising revenue. You will probably find that a light-touch local government is preferable to such a regime. If your destination is a federal state, you will probably find that you have more options.
Property taxes, or rates, are another aspect. In these areas, if you live in an incorporated city (even a rural part of the city), you will pay city taxes as well as county taxes. And of course there are high-taxing and low-taxing areas. In general, the more populous the local government division, the higher the taxes, though of course there are many exceptions.
Another criterion for us was ease of homeschooling. We are firm believers in and practitioners of homeschooling; and in some areas this requires compliance with a whole boatload of rules and regulations, and even allowing intrusive Government inspectors into the home. We wanted an area that was relatively hands-off in that regard.
But it’s not just the laws. What is the demographic character of the area? In stressful times, looking like your neighbours, so that they believe (probably rightly) that you come of similar stock to them, will be important. We can celebrate this fact or deplore it — I’m not going to comment on which you should do — but it is a fact, and it’s a fool who closes his eyes to facts, and acts as though they don’t exist, just because they don’t suit his moral or intellectual sensibilities.
In our case, because of past ties, we chose rural Texas.
2. Economics
I probably don’t need to say much about this. We all know that our budgets limit our options. If possible, buy land that doesn’t require you to borrow.
3. Existing structure or not?
Unless you have the luxury of being able to live in a house (or even an RV or similar) somewhere else, you will probably want a property with an existing house. These pose their own challenges, as existing structures can come with maintenance issues, but unless the structure really does need to be bowled over, you can at least live in it while you’re carrying on the work.
4. Soil and water
If you want to grow or farm anything, it is impossible to overestimate the importance of these factors. Enough water is an absolute necessity. Your water is going to come from rainfall, a spring or well, or a water supply network, or a combination of the three. Water supply networks are subject to politics; although they have historically been relatively dependable in terms of quality, fluoridation and other chemical treatment are things, and can’t be undone by boiling the water. If you want to rely on rainwater, you have to live in an area that gets enough of it. Wells are decent enough, but can dry up in bad years; you also have to consider the rate at which you can consume water from it and not run it dry, and the contaminant and mineral content. In any case, you’ll need your own way to purify water, which in practice means either filtration or distillation.
Regarding soil and topography, flat to gently rolling terrain is easiest. Gentle rolling adds interest, and allows for things like natural watercourses to develop, while not making the land impractical to work. Steep hillsides are time-consuming and energy-intensive to work with.
Anyway, when taking all these factors into account, we ended up buying a ~60-acre tract in an off the beaten track part of Northeast Texas, mostly good fertile meadows though with some woodland, and on gently rolling countryside. February was spent looking, March on working through the conditions and so forth, and closing on 1 April. On to our next adventures!