Anyone move from the city to a ranch/farm? - day dreaming here...

OP here - glad to see I'm not the only one with that idea around here :) In all honesty I think this plan will also help me with my early retirement dream materialize. You see my house here in SoCal has a $200k+ equity today (and I still owe more than that on my 30yr mortgage). Hopefully the equity will be even more in 10-12 years when I'm ready to retire. Though the equity will do nothing for me if I stay put and do nothing with it. However, I could definitely leverage it by selling the house, then buying a ranch out right and eliminating the mortgage altogether. That way I can retire on a smaller nest egg than if I were to stay put, besides I'm getting to be that age where the 20 somethings people are starting to irk me more and more with their entitlement and lazy attitudes. I know I'm in the 'get off my lawn' age and part of it is that but I wouldn't mind a slower pace and courteous people.
 
I solved the get off my lawn phase by getting rid of my lawn, only cactus and zeriscape.


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I moved from a wonderful suburban area in Orange County to 5 acres 25 miles west of St Louis. I really think it would be hard to live again in a suburban area after having room to roam.


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My dad did just that when he retired. His grew up in a farming family but lived all of his adult life in the big city. He inherited some acreage from his parents and he decided that this is where he wanted to retire, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. He knew what he was getting into, having grown up on a farm.

He loves it. He renovated and modernized an old house that was sitting on the land. He planted a vegetable garden and an orchard, both of which produce more food than he needs (he gives the excess away to the rest of the family). He built a pond, a greenhouse, one workshop, and two garages - one to park the cars, the other to park the tractor and other heavy equipment. He makes his own kraut and cider. He recently installed a rain water collection system to water the garden. He cuts the mature trees on his property to heat the house and make lumber for his various construction projects. And on and on.

Now that he is getting older and has had a few accidents (including breaking his shoulder last year while removing the snow from his long driveway, which left him immobilized for months) he is starting to require more help from others to maintain the property. My stepmother told us that, if anything were to happen to him, she would not stay in the house because it would be impossible for her to keep up with such a labor-intensive property.
 
My longer range plan is to move to an assisted living center when I am no longer able to maintain the house up here in the remote mountains. This is not a place for someone who has medical issues. I did put everything I need to live on the main level, but that will only help for a while. When its time I will probably be ready for the easier life in a retirement community.

Last time we discussed this subject, I told DD she would have to drag me out of here kicking and screaming all the way. I think I'll leave it at that for now. I don't want her to think I'll be moving down to the city anytime soon. :D
 
Hermit, not sure where about you are in CO but I've visited Montrose, Ridgeway, Ouray, Silverton etc and really liked it- beautiful country up there.
 
dvalley said:
Hermit, not sure where about you are in CO but I've visited Montrose, Ridgeway, Ouray, Silverton etc and really liked it- beautiful country up there.
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Thanks, dvalley. Hope you got a chance to do some hiking and off road Jeeping. That area is great for such things. The Durango & Silverton Railway is also quite fun. The late DW's ancestral family is from that corner of the state so I get over there on occasion. I'm closer to the center of the state.
 
dvalley, I am with you and think the same. Except I am currently on 2.5 acres. Have 2000 sq ft house and 1248 sq ft (26 x 48) detached shop. I could never live in urban city, but can appreciate being somewhat close for the advantages of big city. I need a bigger shop space, but could get by with less house. I have said many times, in retirement give me 3000 sq ft shop and 1500 sq ft house, I will be happy as can be.

I have never really lived in the hardcore downtown or urban high density housing. When i have lived in large metro area, I always choose the outskirts suburbia. I prefer being out of town, not even in any city limits.
 
I also plan to retire to a small farm-ette, 2-20 acres outside a modest sized city. Currently live in a suburb of a fairly large city, not my ideal living arrangement. But, given my and DW's work arrangements, suburbs are the best way to go for now.

I grew up on 3 acres, with a pond, huge garden, fruit trees, canning, freezing. I've always wanted to get back to that, but, life got in the way.

I don't play golf, I'm not a big socializer, so my retirement plan was to be a "pretend farmer". I might even try selling some things at the farmers' market.

As someone mentioned before, when asked "But what do you do all day?", you won't be stumped for an answer.
 
Scarecrow said:
I also plan to retire to a small farm-ette, 2-20 acres outside a modest sized city. Currently live in a suburb of a fairly large city, not my ideal living arrangement. But, given my and DW's work arrangements, suburbs are the best way to go for now.

I grew up on 3 acres, with a pond, huge garden, fruit trees, canning, freezing. I've always wanted to get back to that, but, life got in the way.

I don't play golf, I'm not a big socializer, so my retirement plan was to be a "pretend farmer". I might even try selling some things at the farmers' market.

As someone mentioned before, when asked "But what do you do all day?", you won't be stumped for an answer.
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Sounds like a neat idea. By the way, when people ask me what I do all day or what have you been doing, my favorite response is "Whatever I want". Been retired now for about 6 months.
 
Recently moved from a development in suburbia to a 2+ acre relatively flat tract with a 4000+ SF restored 1800's era farm house fixed up so that the part that is an in-law suite which is rented out for extra income. Also has an attached 1600 SF garage / workshop, and several outbuildings including a huge two story barn and equipment storage shed. Plenty of gardens, fruit trees and a small pasture area. Not RE yet, but this was certainly part of the plan. I know that we won't be able to be here forever, and will eventually downsize, but thoroughly enjoying for now.
 
My home small- 2000. sq feet. My garage is big - 5 car - and I am going to put up a pole barn for a shop as I like cars and motorcycles and the existing garage is full already.

Bought it online site unseen in the depths of the housing crisis in early 2011. It then sat vacant for more than 4 years til we made the move a year ago.. Neighbor looked after the yard. Insurance looked after the structure. Nature looked after the rest ...

My land is 2 acres pasture, I mow it weekly. The other 8 acres is wooded and requires 0 maintenance.

DW has a huge garden in the pasture / front yard. The few neighbors, whose houses we can see in the distance, are friendly but keep to themselves and like their privacy too.

It doesn't have to be a forever location either.

I may stay here 10-15 years and when we tire of the maintenance or driving to town we can always move.

I got into it cheaply and I won't feel bad if we need to "dump it" later. It's affordable and paid for.

We also are likely to snowbird abroad eventually, and this place can be closed up easily for long periods of time, as we have proven ...

We chose the area to be fairly close to aging in laws , close to a big university, close to healthcare but far enough from civilization to have some peivacy, peace and quiet. We have some small part time "keep busy" jobs til DS2 finishes HS, and I'm studying at the university .

I wake up early - to a few deer in my front yard - most mornings ..

I don't lock the doors.

Life is good..
 
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DW and I have been living on a pretty big piece of rural property, about 45 acres, since we got married 28 years ago. It is a lot of work. Stuff can get overgrown quickly in summer, and in winter the old farmhouse, as my neighbor quips, "is like heating a corn crib." Still, I love looking up at night and seeing stars. The geese and cranes are moving back up north, and I enjoy watching their formations in the sky. Tillable acres we rent to a neighboring farmer, and the income covers the property tax. So it definitely has its good points.
 
I've lived in the sticks for over 20 years. The downside is no pizza delivery. Everything else is positive.
 
That's a persistent problem. I don't anticipate a change unless the public sector gets involved a la the Rural Electrification Administration. We have a point-to-point wireless service that can deliver a little more than 2mb, but that's barely functional for streaming video.

We were in Japan recently and were awed at their Internet speed. It's sad that we've fallen so far behind technologically.
 
Mr._Graybeard said:
That's a persistent problem. I don't anticipate a change unless the public sector gets involved a la the Rural Electrification Administration. We have a point-to-point wireless service that can deliver a little more than 2mb, but that's barely functional for streaming video.

We were in Japan recently and were awed at their Internet speed. It's sad that we've fallen so far behind technologically.
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Interesting, your post made me look up connection speeds. According to this list we are 14 th https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Internet_connection_speeds

I guess its kind of like medical care, life expectancy, literacy and so many other areas - we think we are first until we open our eyes a little wider...
 
Interesting that Cyprus is No. 2. Their last war came with the Turkish invasion in 1974. It has been a haven for Middle Eastern intrigue, but a government website boasts it has the lowest crime rate in the European Union.

As a rural resident I do contribute to that US firearm statistic. Raccoons and woodchucks have tasted my .22-caliber hot lead. I don't hunt them, but sometimes they won't take a hint.
 
Here are some photo's of the Amazon property.
 

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A few more
 

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Mr._Graybeard said:
That's a persistent problem. I don't anticipate a change unless the public sector gets involved a la the Rural Electrification Administration. We have a point-to-point wireless service that can deliver a little more than 2mb, but that's barely functional for streaming video.
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Yep, we're saddled with a wireless system with a 1.5Mbs download speed - on a good day. The ISP suffers from serious reliability issues, knows it is the only game [-]in town[/-] out here in the sticks and will disconnect your service if you complain too much.

Our REA announced a few months ago they were going to start deploying broadband service later this year and were targeting to have service available in our area sometime in 2017. Hope I'm still alive to enjoy it.
 
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Satellite internet is here. All you need is buckets of money. It is available and it works! (Most of the time.)

And please, let's keep the government out of it.
 
Papadad111 has the answer to alot of the doubt questions here:

"...I may stay here 10-15 years and when we tire of the maintenance or driving to town we can always move.

I got into it cheaply and I won't feel bad if we need to "dump it" later. It's affordable and paid for. ..."

Just reverse the hypothetical case and imagine you want to move from the hinterlands to "big metropolis" where culture is generated and the city provides 24 hrs a day; five star entertainment, med care, coffee, boutique premises distilled whiskey, whatever. Then you tire of the drug deals, the 3am garbage trucks, the non stop activity and night life, seeing those same jokers in the elevator everyday... The same remedy above applies in my mind.
 
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