I bought my current house in 1997. It's 10 minutes from hospital, groceries, etc., and 2 minutes from a highway to exit the city. It's on 1.7 acres with an empty field behind me, and I built the garage, decks, and fence to completely shield me from the neighbors but still provide a view of wide open space. It's the perfect combination of convenience, space, and privacy.
That type of thing is pretty much my ideal location. I actually had something close to it for awhile. We owned 1 acre unrestricted in a similar type location. It was absolutely wonderful in terms of access to things. And, with our dogs at the time (5 of them) it was ideal.
We eventually sold it without building on it as we had planned. But, the cost to build just seemed absurd. The existing house we ended up buying was larger with better finishes that what he would have built and was at least 25% cheaper (probably closer to a third when it would have all been done). To build something comparable to what we bought would have been probably twice the price. I just couldn't justify the difference in price. So we bought our current house.
And, as it turns out almost 6 years later, I don't like being 20 minutes from everything.
We are thinking of moving in a few years and one possibility is the area that I grew up in. I've been looking at houses to get an idea of market. One issue I am having is that where I am now most everywhere is unincorporated. So no city ordinances. We do have an HOA but no pet number restrictions.
We actually have fewer pets now and could fit in more locales (we are down to 2 dogs/3 cats and will eventually be 0 dogs -- they are old -- but would like the option to have 4 cats). Even so, I would prefer some place without pet number restrictions. Around here there are a lot of subdivisions that don't have any.
But in the place we are looking at most of the County is incorporated. So most every City - big or small - has pet limits. Many of the limits are actually fine and would accommodate what we have. But, I don't like it anyway. Cities can change their ordinances. So the place that now allows 4 pets can suddenly change to only allowing 2. I don't want to take that risk.
There are very few unincorporated areas. I could go to surrounding counties and buy a house much like we have now. But, then I run into the same issue...20 minutes from everywhere.
I could try to find an unincorporated area close to amenities. But, the risk there is that it is close to a city and you move in and then it gets annexed so you get subject to the city ordinances.
We haven't decided yet what to do. I mean by the time we move we may be down to 0 dogs or maybe 1 and we have 3 indoor cats now. So most ordinances would be OK with that (not all HOAs, of course, but I could find some). And, we may never get a 4th cat. I would just like to have the option. So, we'll see.