We got this
As you may recall, we have just sold our house in the civilized suburbs of Richmond, VA so that we can begin our new, more rural lives as farmers. Yep, we’ve got less than a month before we are officially without abode. Welcome back for Ch 2: the search for Shangri-La.
No big deal, I thought, we’ll just find a place to rent in the city of Lynchburg, (central to the areas where we hope to find land), while we conduct our search for the perfect plot of land and have our house built on it. We don’t need much. Just 100 acres or so, beautiful mountain views, lovely, green ready-made pastures, clear running streams, and a nice flat spot to build a house. We’ll come back to the rental thing later, but first, the search for property!
Just Shangri-La. That’s not too much to ask.
We quickly found a realtor and sent him our simple wish list along with our budget. The next thing I knew, I was in a low budget, knock-off episode of The Property Brothers. It didn’t take long to learn that what we want is not within our budget unless we move to West Virginia or North Carolina. Both very beautiful states, however, neither is an option if we wish to continue paying in-state tuition for Jackson. Ok, that’s fine. We’ll just start a bit smaller than we’d thought. Turns out we’re looking more at the 20-30-acre range. That’s still perfectly legit small farm acreage. Right?? For sure.
We stayed up nearly all night researching the potentials that the realtor sent us. By morning, we cranked out a rather impressive list of properties to look at, which most closely represented our wish list. We sent it on to the realtor and told him we’ll be there this weekend to conduct a well-informed, methodical, and organized search.
Lets do this
We headed out energetically, bright and early Saturday morning, to the first address on the list. Of course, there really isn’t an address per se, more like a written description of how to get to a lot. The directions, written by a local, include phrases including, “the last holler on the left”, and “turn right at the old tobacco barn” to guide you in.
Finally, we meet up with the realtor near the property. He gives us a short rundown on the final leg of the journey and then leads the way in his convertible coupe. The road grows ever steeper, more winding, and a lot bumpier until we are forced to use our 4-wheel drive. Our escort, who is somehow still leading the charge, is scraping his undercarriage on the immense jagged rocks and ruts jutting out of the very rustic road. About 2.5 seconds after we manage to reach the location Byron and I simultaneously agree that this isn’t quite what we had in mind.
We might not have this
After one more exhilarating trek up mountain-sided goat trails, our realtor announces that he’s going to go ahead and let us finish up the day on our own. He gathers up the loose pieces of his bumper and says; “Don’t worry, the rest of these are easy to find and accessible”. He is driving away before he’s even fully inside the little car.
“Cool”, I said. “We should be fine. We’ll let you know how it goes.” I yelled after him.
Eight hours later, we have managed to locate and gain access to roughly 5 of the 25 properties on our list. We had traced and retraced just about every mile of street, road, lane, and trail covering a 50-mile radius, searching for the “easy to find” and “accessible” properties on the list. Most of which we must view from the road, as they are secured behind locked gates. Tired, very salty, and hangry as hell, we decide to call it a day.
“Strategery” Enhancement
Back at the hotel we crudely demolished the most delicious delivery pizza that I’d ever eaten. Determined to be more prepared for the final 2 days of the July 4th weekend, we found and recorded GPS coordinates for each of the remaining properties using google earth.
Oh, man! We are so fricking smart! Why don’t they just give you the GPS coordinates for all of the listings they send instead of those crazy written directions??
The next morning, the humbling answer to that question arrived right about the time we drove out of town and out of cellular coverage…
We managed to cobble together enough map data etc., by chasing cellular signals into fields, onto hilltops, and in the occasional rural church parking lot, to locate another 10-15 places on the list by the end of the weekend. Some were beautiful and dreamy with lush green fields, big, distinguished oak trees and running streams. Others were wild and unruly with thick forests that blocked out the sunlight. Sadly, many were savagely and brutally logged over and left scarred and naked. Some were a joy with roads or cut paths, allowing you to walk along, clean and unrumpled, while others were a bit more of a “challenge” to traverse.
Challenge accepted
To say the least, Virginia tends to be a bit steamy around the 4th of July. Regardless, you really need to get out and walk a property when you’re considering to throw money at… so you know what you’re getting into… right? The temperature gauge soared up through ’90s and nary a cloud was in the sky. Never the less, I committed to getting out there and walking the properties alongside Byron and Jackson without complaining.
I had been able to maintain a pretty positive and determined outlook. On the second day, about 3 properties in; my clothes were soaked with sweat; I had been seized and assailed by a particularly unreasonable bramble bush, and I had just spent a good 30 minutes picking thousands of ticks of every shape and size, off of myself, my family, and my dog, Roscoe. It was then, that the first crack in my sparkling, enthusiastic facade appeared and the complaining ensued. By the end of the day, if it looked like I was going to have to wade through anything that had anger issues, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, I immediately rejected the property and refused to get out of the car. Thus, marking the return of the diva with a low tolerance for hardship, that my friends and family know and love. I’d tried.
The Hail Mary
On the final day, we drove out to one of the logged-over properties, which, from the google earth photo, seemed to have a bit of a nuclear wasteland thing going on. My expectations were low. Once we were able to finally locate it, the first pleasant surprise was an actual cut-in road that ushered us to the center of the property. As we continued on, I saw that it was logged but it appeared that a few years had passed and had been somewhat restored by the logging company. The ground was green and lush and carpeted with beautiful wild-flowers and young tree saplings. There were two little tree-lined streams crisscrossing the property, and the green rolling hills in the distance provided a refreshingly beautiful view. I loved it immediately.
Walking around the property, we quickly located the perfect place to put our house and began pointing out spots for the barn, pastures, and ponds. When we got back to the car, we were, again, soaked with sweat, thirsty, and exhausted, yet somehow, it felt good. We had found our home.
“Now let’s get out of here and find some air-conditioning and a beer; it’s hotter than the 9th circle of Dante’s Inferno out here”, I said with a sense of accomplishment.
But seriously,
After completing this mildly calamitous land search, I thought, there must be a better way to find land for sale. So, I spent some time trying to locate and consolidate some helpful resources that could save someone else a bit of the headache that we endured. Continue on to find out more, or click here.
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