Not all of us are born and raised in the country but we get there as fast as we can. If you, like me, spent years or decades of your life dreaming and trying to move to the country, you may have some solid ideas of what you want. Here are some things that I learned along the way that helped me to edit and curate the dream so that I could buy the right property….and I’m still shopping for it. But I have been renting in the countryside for some time now and have a lot of first hand experience on what to be aware of and the nuances to country living.

Since we have been shopping for land for so long this is number one. Do not rush the purchase. It seems like every time I get antsy to just buy a property, this Proverb comes up in my daily reading.

“Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.” Proverbs 19:2

The Lord is good to remind me to not rush this kind of purchase. Although I have been moving around for 18 years and all I want to do is settle down on my dream property. I have had nearly decades to dream about what I want in a property and I’m tired of just dreaming! But here’s the good thing about it taking this long to finally buy land, I have a solid understanding of what I want. Which is number two.

Consider ALL of the aspects of how you want to use the land as well as the design features that are non-negotiable.

What sports will you do or want others to be able to do on your land? Even if you do not do these sports yourself you may have children or grandchildren you want to be able to have these options. ATVs, target practice, archery, horse riding etc. These are recreational interests that people need a significant amount of land to enjoy. These sports require certain topography tailored to these pursuits such as the ability to create hills for ATVs, woods or open ranges for shooting and archery, even riding terrain for horses, etc. Be aware of the necessity for privacy for noise buffering and safety for target practice especially if there are rural neighbors. For certain louder activities it’s just best to be more spread out from people and it’s more considerate and freeing to not have rural neighbors upset.

I like things to look a certain way, so I want these sporty areas away from my gardens and my house. More land is better than not enough and you will find this to be an emphasis in my advice. I have never met someone who wished they had bought less land but I have met people who bought 5 acres and grew out of it.

Consider your homesteading pursuits. No one can do it all. Decide which products you most desire to produce and buy the property that supports being successful at those things. No property can accommodate every single thing someone could do so you must be more narrow in your preference and purchase based on the biggest priority.

Buy more land than you think you need. If you are moving from the city or suburbs especially, a couple of acres will seem like a lot of land to you. Consider that once you park a couple of large pieces of equipment, a mower, vehicles, or an RV, or a boat, and start collecting outbuildings like a shop, a garden house, or a guest cottage….not to mention pets and potentially livestock, your acreage will fill up fast and leave little room for the many pursuits. You can not add land to your land. But you can always develop further into your rural property as you need it with time.

Decide which design features are most important to you and buy the property that already has it or allows you to implement those ideas with ease. For instance, I want a long winding drive up to the house so I will need acreage in front of the house to create it, or I will need to find a house set back on the property that already has that feature. But that automatically discounts houses set forward on the property where it would be impossible to implement that feature. Dream design features are important to identify and shop based on them because it’s the difference between a property you like and your dream property.

Other non-negotiable features for me are:

Water features: I would like ponds and creeks on the property.

Trees: I would like a mixture of ever green and deciduous trees.

Grass: the ability to grow green grass and have healthy pasture so it can’t be too arid of a climate.

Woods: I would like some woods for the beauty of it but also for the access to firewood on our own land.

We might build our own house on raw land, we might find the property we love already with a house. But hopefully my years of dreaming helped you think through your dream property.

Check back for more country living articles and have a blessed day!