How much land should I be looking for?

[Birdinhand]

her's my 2 cents, in addition to what others have said. I grew up land poor. my parents went way out on a limb financially to have the farm dream. that was back when land was cheap(er) but still, I grew up with ice on the inside of the windows in the winter, a smokey farm house that my father tried to heat mostly with wood fire places. there were many wonderful things about growing up on that farm but to be honest, there were some hellish things about it to. my advice is, don't get in over your head. there is pretty much no money to be made in farming but there is still a wonderful hobby life to be had if you have saved up enough money and or have a job that can support it. get as much land as you think you can afford and still have plenty of cash in the bank to make ends meet and have fun, well into the future.

 

[AllenK RGV]

Yes I also agree family farms are a thing of the past. The last of us dreamers still want to strive towards self sufficiency but we will never compete against corporate interests and farming/husbandry practices.

That being said we can still eat humanely raised animals. Or minimize costs by a bit of sweaty labor. Or simply minimize our risk of cancer by monitoring the inputs we give to our farms.

I am in no way a farmer, unless you consider someone who has grown 2 weeks worth of meals from tomotos/artichokes for two a farmer. I have managed a lifetimes worth of basil/rosemary but I am not a farmer, just an aspiring one!

 

[aart]

land here sells for 4-5 per acre

4-5 what per acre.....dollars, hundreds, thousands???

 

[AllenK RGV]

4-5 what per acre.....dollars, hundreds, thousands???

Yes @aart thousand I just assumed that wouldn't require clarification. Depending on where you live I guess it might.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yes @aart thousand I just assumed that wouldn't require clarification. Depending on where you live I guess it might.

Oh, it does actually. Around here it's could be TENS or even HUNDREDS of thousands per acre, depending on location.

 

[AllenK RGV]

Oh, it does actually. Around here it's could be TENS or even HUNDREDS of thousands per acre, depending on location.

Wow is that in the Pacific North west or New South Wales in Australia?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'm in Pacific NW. My assessed property value (land only) is a little over 50k per acre though it's impossible to actually buy anything at that price.

 

[AllenK RGV]

I'm in Pacific NW. My assessed property value (land only) is a little over 50k per acre though it's impossible to actually buy anything at that price.

My wife and I are talking about adding 5-10 acres for 25-50k total(max), of course this property has no lumber or mineral value, it is very poor for forage value as well being coastal plains and only 16 inches of rain per annum. With you being in the Pacific Northwest I'm sure lack of rainfall or drought isn't on your top ten list!


--edit--

It is a real shame that prickly pear cactus isn't of economic importance otherwise we could make money!

 

[Beer can]

Hello everyone,

I have become very interested in becoming a home owner over the last few weeks.

I want land. I want a lot of it. I realistically probably wont be able to afford or find a house with more than like 2 acres, they exist, but they are few and far between.

I would love to have a peacock some day and would like to have a few geese (and sheep). With the amount of space I have right now and the size of my coop make it impossible for me to add any other birds to my flock at the moment.

The .2 acres that I am working with now wont cut it anymore.

Honestly, I care more about the space for livestock than I do anything else.

Just curious as to how many birds you all might keep on a given amount of land? Or what seems to be working well for you right now?

Very interested to hear from everyone!

If possible move further away from the city. You'll find way much better deals, home on a hundred+ acres for what you'd pay near a city for a postage stamp of land.
Your near Buffalo? You guys get like 20 foot of snow every winter also don't you?
If I had a chance to do it all over again we would have went for land. Bought a house we wanted on three acres, really wish we had more. We might sometime look elsewhere but buying a house is not a fun experience IMHO. Sure wasn't like buying a car.

 

[AllenK RGV]

If possible move further away from the city. You'll find way much better deals, home on a hundred+ acres for what you'd pay near a city for a postage stamp of land.
Your near Buffalo? You guys get like 20 foot of snow every winter also don't you?
If I had a chance to do it all over again we would have went for land. Bought a house we wanted on three acres, really wish we had more. We might sometime look elsewhere but buying a house is not a fun experience IMHO. Sure wasn't like buying a car.

Oh yeah the new car buying experience was handled over the phone with just a VISA number and no haggling. I ordered exactly what I wanted. Buyng the home was a very emotional experience for both parties I am sure.