Here are seven things you absolutely must consider before buying a homestead. These tips can save you a lot of time and trouble down the road.

1. The Price Is Right

Price is the first thing I would definitely take into consideration. Because a house can be built or fixed, fences can be built, and all of it done over time.

But debt is something that once you take on, it is very difficult to get rid of.

When shopping for land, always check into foreclosures (like our homestead was) for sale by owner property, or even free land. Those are usually ways to find the best deals.

The main thing to remember is that homesteading is about simplicity. And it is hard to live the simple life when you constantly have bill collectors on your back.

2. Your Land Can’t Be ‘Parched’

What I mean by this is your land has got to have a water source. Without water you can’t have livestock, you can’t grow anything, and if you’d like basic amenities you can’t have those either.

So you need to check the land to see if there is a creek, is it hooked to city water, or does it have a well on it.

If it doesn’t, then you’ll need to consider the cost to add a water source to the property. One solution is to place a tank in the ground and haul in water.

But that still requires money. So you’ll need to know all of this to make sure you don’t overextend yourself on the purchase price.

Or to consider if you even want a piece of property that you’ll have to create a water source for.

3. Take The High Road

When purchasing property, you’ll need to consider your road access. Is it a state-maintained road or privately owned?

When it snows who will be responsible for clearing the road?

If it is you then you’ll need to consider what equipment you’ll have to buy to properly clear and maintain the road. From personal experience, let me tell you that maintaining a road can be costly.

The road where our land is located is off of a private road. So anytime it snows, we have to make our own way out. And when the road gets rough, we have to fix it. We have had to invest in a tractor with multiple different attachments in order to maintain the road.

It has not been cheap.

But it is worth it because of the other bonuses we got with our property. Which we’ll discuss in a bit.

4. The ‘Zone’

Zoning is a really important item to consider when purchasing a homestead. Especially if (like us) it wasn’t a homestead prior to you purchasing it. The property must be zoned agricultural. Or you at least have to be able to keep small livestock.

This was one of the reasons we purchased the property we did.

Yes, road maintenance can be a pain sometimes. But our land was zoned so we could have small livestock. Which was great because we knew starting out that we didn’t want to ‘go large’ for quite some time.

So it worked really well for us. But you’ll need to make sure the land is zoned for what you hope to do with it. If it isn’t then you’ll know to move on.

5. Keep In Touch

The internet is so important nowadays. Even for homesteaders.

It is how we stay in touch with everything.

You need it where you live. You will use the internet for researching hiccups along the way. Or you could be like me, and use it as a means to make an income while homesteading.

So wherever you are planning on purchasing land you will want to make sure that you can have the internet where you are.

And that it will be the excellent quality of internet that you want. It may sound crazy, but we depend heavily upon it so you’ll want to make sure it’ll be available wherever you hang your hat.

6. Location, location, location

Location of your property really does mean more than you might imagine. I know a lot of us want to move as far away from the general population as possible.

But you have to consider how far you’ll have to drive to the markets where you intend on selling your homesteading goods. If you plan on selling what you grow.

So if you are needing to make an income from your homestead in this fashion, you might not want to be very far away from where your local market is.

Again, this will all depend on what your goals are for your future homestead. But if this is part of the plan then you’ll definitely want to consider the location.

7. Wide Open Spaces

This one is a big thing to consider in my book. How isolated do you want to be?

Really think about this.

The location of our land is outside of city limits but still close enough that I can be to town in about 15 minutes because when we first started out, I wasn’t ready to ‘go large’ or go too far out.

But I’ve changed my mind since.

I feel a little differently about my location the longer we live here. I think I’d like a few more acres between me and my neighbors. (I have great neighbors, though!)

So think long term when you consider this factor when buying land. If you are younger, you might really get into homesteading and want more space.

But if you are older then you might not want to be too far out because as you get older, you may need more doctor appointments. That’s a fact of life.

So this is certainly something you might want to chew over before making any big decisions.

What factors did you look at when buying your homestead? Did you follow any of these suggestions? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section below!

Article Source: Morning Chores