Going to the Country

My team and I have been involved in the procurement and sales of a string of rural properties of late, and it bears mentioning that there are a slew of added variables that need to be factored in when deciding on a home in the country.

The obvious ones have to do with the physical aspects of the property’s location in terms of its views and topography, level of privacy and noise impacts, amount of sunlight and usable land, proximity to desirable locations and commuting, the nature of the immediate neighbors, and of course access to utilities and good roads. 

There are also factors which are less visible, but no less important—the ones having to do the requisite daily needs for most people, like having decent cell phone reception, and the availability of high-speed internet for anyone seeking a place where they can work from home or access their favorite shows and other media sources whenever they want. 

Equally important are the costs of basic services of water and waste disposal, on top of meeting the basic point-of-sale requirements. Costs of water supply can vary widely depending on the public or community water system, and properties served by shared and private wells alike can have vastly differing rates of flow and water quality. Property owners in some of the Summit CSA’s pay hundreds of dollars per month for water brought in through sources like the Monte Vina pipeline, while others pay hundreds more to have their water trucked in. Similarly, costs for engineered septic installations can easily run into the six figures, with annual monitoring fees for the life of the system.

People buying a property with a shared private water source can find themselves having to update existing well agreements to satisfy the requirements of their lender or title company. And for properties on a private road there is an additional layer of diligence to research legal access, road agreements, maintenance costs and level of participation amongst those sharing it.

Perhaps the most dramatic change in recent years for rural property selection is how insurance has become a driver as rates vary wildly from one house to the next. Depending on their location, we have seen quotes for otherwise similar homes run from less than $5,000 to more than $25,000. In fact, the delta has become dramatic enough that it is becoming fairly routine practice to get an insurance quote or ask owners what they are currently paying as part of our initial market analysis, and we are even starting to see low insurance rates mentioned as a selling point for some homes. 

Add to these factors the inherent research we like to check in on around the geology, zoning, property lines and history of permitted and non-permitted improvements and you end up with a pretty exhaustive process of vetting a rural property along the way, but when you do find the right place that checks all the boxes it’s worth it in the end.