Tools We Used in the Search for Our Homestead.

Picture off my iPhone.

Introduction

Our dream for a long time was to purchase a home where we could grow some fruits and vegetables; and to raise some animals (chickens, rabbits, sheep). Several months ago we began a search for the dream property to start the homestead. Along the way we had to adjust to certain realities. The dream was adapted, honed in a sense, to buy the property we wanted and still achieve the goal (a home of our own where we could be as self sufficient as possible).

This post will tell about some of the online sites we used to look for the property. The sites, to my knowledge, are only available in the United States. There may be similar things available in other countries.

Finding the Property

We had decided to start looking in the state of Ohio. Partly because we have friends who live in the eastern part of the state near the West Virginia border and partly because the properties were cheaper than locally. An added bonus was the fact we are a day’s drive from one of our children and a half day’s drive from the other.

Our friends were our “boots on the ground” to drive past properties we wanted to look at on a trip we planned to make before Thanksgiving. We used the the site Realtor.com, https://www.realtor.com/?cid=sem_193631106_11628084666_228221249657:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!15120!3!228221249657!e!!g!!realator%20com&gbraid=0AAAAAD6NRB9IrNQpujovyiXGaXKk7yV4D&gbraid=0AAAAAD6NRB9IrNQpujovyiXGaXKk7yV4D&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvsXdoKvq-wIVAvnICh0nIgXdEAAYASAAEgKs8_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Picture off my iPhone

Besides the site they also have an app. We were able to add our friends to our account so we could each save searches for the other of us to look at. Eventually, we narrowed down the selections to what we could look at when we went to Ohio.

The site has all the information on the properties. Pictures, amount of land, square footage of the buildings, and etc. It also had a function on the map to check the flooding. Something we used for all properties to judge how likely the property was able to avoid flooding in extreme situations.

Another Useful Tool

We also used the site acrevalue.com, https://www.acrevalue.com/map/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIt669n67q-wIVRcvICh0eKQKHEAAYASAAEgLBevD_BwE&lat=40.8&lng=-90.5&zoom=4

Picture from my iPhone

This will give information on farm land if it is in their database. It provides the soil make up and what the land is used for (wooded, crops, fields, and etc.). Not all property is in the database, especially land inside municipalities.

While we used it to an extent, most of the properties we added to the list we would use when in Ohio were inside villages or small cities. Unfortunately, this was due to the affordability of those compared to larger properties out in the country that were small farms or larger homes. The fact there was a large Amish community in the area also brought up prices I am sure.

The List

We had pruned the list down to eight properties we wanted to look at. Before we left to visit Ohio we had our friends there recommend a realtor. We coordinated our visit with the realtor so we could look at houses over two or three days. My next installment will detail that adventure. Thanks for reading!