Yesterday we drove out to look at the property. We figured that we ought to look at the place before we start selling off stuff. (Although I wouldn't mind selling off stuff just because.) The drive down there seemed like it was never-ending. We arrived an hour and a half late, but Amy, our realtor, was wonderful! We gave her some eggs from our farm.
Amy asked if we wanted to drive down with her since we'd already done a ton of driving. We told her of our plans to surprise our FB friends, Billy and Tina Cooper and that we didn't want her to be there since Billy knew what she looked like. LOL. Driving in, there were lush green fields of hay and corn, but we got near our area and it was all sagebrush. The owner of our property was there and was quite talkative. I think she's lonely. The place was well kept and she took great pride in what she had developed. She purchased 20 acres in 2002 and developed the property, bringing power from the street all the way to the home which is set back quite a ways so you don't get dirt flying around from the road. She purchased the the transformer, line, and pole that is near the house.
There's a wonderful shed out back with six? individual kennels. An area cordoned off next to the kennels for livestock. She used to have goats and a pig. The home itself has two doggie doors, one goes into a kennel, and another goes into a huge fenced off area for the dogs to run around in. I don't know what I think about holes cut into the modular home, but that's fixable. She also had a pet memorial near the driveway, complete with a sitting bench and markers for each animal, including a pet rat. The markers will eventually go because it's plain creepy.
There's also a huge fenced in area on the west side of the home. She said that you can see the western mountains (the Nevada side) light up when the proving grounds does their bombings. She said it's your own fireworks show. I told her that'd be cool as long as people in the area aren't dying from cancer. I mentioned this to prod on her ails and to find out if there's rumors of people being sick. She laughed and said they don't have problems with cancer.
The well has a cubic acre of water. She said she uses .38 for culinary and the rest to water on the property. She's put in a drip irrigation system to water her trees, which she treasures. I'd want fruit and nut trees everywhere instead of what's there. We will probably develop 3 1/2 acres to use. Two acres for alfalfa hay for our animals, 1 acre for our fruit/nut trees and garden, and 1/2 an acre for the home to sit on. The property is 660 feet wide with the home smack dab in the middle and it goes really deep. I don't think we'd possibly ever use all the acreage, but it can be used as a buffer. We are interested in pricing for extra water.
The modular home was built in the '90s so it's a little dated. The owner is a smoker, so there's some cleaning to do so I don't get my migraines from cigarette smoke. All three bedrooms are a bit small. I'm used to a huge master bedroom since both the Magna and Bear River homes had HUGE ones. The master is in a different part of the home from the other two bedrooms. There's surround sound all throughout the inside and I'm being told that it's outside also. There's a partition wall separating the front room from the kitchen, but the wall moves so you can make either room bigger or smaller. I'd opt to have a bigger kitchen. :) The windows have solar screens to keep the place cooler. There's a small bay window in the dining area.
The house is not in trouble and nowhere near foreclosure. The property owner fell ill, something with her heart and is not able to keep up with the demands. I'm guessing she owns it outright and will live off the sales in a small rented apartment for the remainder of her life. She's supposedly gone downhill real quick this past year. She's young, well younger than Steve, we're guessing. It was kind of sad and she'd get a tear when she realized that she would be leaving the place.
Some pluses we learned about our Wishlist property:
About 5 huge wooden spools that she'll leave behind and we'd love for as play toys for our goats.
Free burial plots at the local cemetery, land donated by a veteran.
She lowered the price to $65,000.
Property comes with mineral rights so you own it ALL.
I would raise some purebred dogs and earn a living to supplement the income for our new style of living.
Steve's ready to move in, while I'm dragging my feet. I want the property also, it's just so far away from family and I've grown to really love the beautiful green farm lands in Box Elder County, especially the Bear River area. It's so so beautiful where we're at!!! Reality soaks in and we can't afford to upgrade our living circumstances at the prices our area commands. We have so much we want to do and learn about living self-sufficiently and we can do it without wasting a total of 5 hours a day commuting.
After we were done looking at the property, Amy drove us by Billy and Tina's place, pointing the finger for us to drive down his road while she drove on by. What a sweet lady! We got out of our car and walked around the corner where we heard activity and with an 18-count of eggs in hand, I greeted Tina and asked if she was our new neighbors. She introduced us to her husband and then they asked where we lived. Luckily, I had memorized an address of a home behind them so it all seemed credible. The only one who asked our names was their 4-year old boy and I just ignored his question or I'd have been caught. :D I also gave them a cold bag to hold groceries, since we live "out in the boonies". We exchanged some pleasantries and when it seemed like it was time for us to go, I looked at them and told them that there was one thing...I didn't live in that house behind them, but in Box Elder County. The looks on their faces and lighting up of their eyes when they realized that they just met some Facebook friends in person was priceless.
We visited for a little while. They showed us around their property, 5 acres, that they had just closed on and they paid CASH on it! Owned it outright. The Coopers found their little patch of heaven and I'm hoping that we've found ours too and turn it into a reality.
We returned home to Bear River just after 2 am.
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