Farming/Ranch in Homer? (Kenai, Sterling: real estate, homes, rental)

[sincitychains]

Wondering if its possible. Not really a FARM that I would make money off of, but a leisure ranch. Not big. Just enough room for a couple horses and some farm-type animals. I'm a special education teacher dying to get out of Vegas, originally a So Cal kid.

Need 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.

[BudinAk]

Originally Posted by sincitychains

Wondering if its possible. Not really a FARM that I would make money off of, but a leisure ranch. Not big. Just enough room for a couple horses and some farm-type animals. I'm a special education teacher dying to get out of Vegas, originally a So Cal kid.

Need 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.

Sure, it's possible. I've seen fields in Homer where they were growing hay, and I've seen cows and goats in Kenai, Seward, and Palmer. And horses aplenty everywhere. Go for it.

Bud

[Alaskan_Adventurer]

I have been looking at real estate out in Homer over the last couple of years. It is fairly high, since it is such a big tourist destination in the summer. There are plenty of smaller towns within 30 miles or so of Homer that would work for you though. Kenai and Soldotna are about 75-80 miles from Homer and are quite affordable. Anchor Point and Ninilchik are the closest small towns to Homer. I have seen land up to about 10 acres for sale quite often, and fairly affordable.

[Rance]

Up east end road, past Homer, has a history for farming and cattle ranching. Still a few there. Some friends of mine have sold out their Homer ranch recently and just moved back to Sterling. I'll see them somewhere in the next couple days. I'll see what they have to say.

[rotorhead]

You could always buy a place with a big basement and become a mushroom rancher.

I think the other guys got it right, land in Homer proper is way too expensive to think agriculture, but not ten miles down the road in Anchor Point you can still buy large parcels of acreage for a much better price. Now...whether or not you can actually GET to them is another issue. If the price is very good, the access is usuallly very bad. Go there yourself, in person (if its actually possible without a helicopter or a tracked vehicle), before you write a check for anything. Check my earlier post on buying land in the Kenai for an idea of the issues involved.

[Rance]

Funny River area is also an old homestead farming area. Lot's of old hay feilds and stuff

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Originally Posted by sincitychains

I'm a special education teacher dying to get out of Vegas

Imagine that...another person from Las Vegas trying to relocate to Homer, AK. Welcome to the club; that makes two of us on the board going the same direction from the same location.

[RAMFEB31]

[quote=sincitychains;626075]Wondering if its possible. Not really a FARM that I would make money off of, but a leisure ranch. Not big. Just enough room for a couple horses and some farm-type animals. I'm a special education teacher dying to get out of Vegas, originally a So Cal kid.

Need 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.

I know a lot of city folks love to be gentleman/gentlewoman farmers like you see on TV ie Green Acres etc. But if you are not a farmer type, you are going to be in for a big surprise. Horses must be fed at least once a day Also must get exercise and grooming. Milk cows must be milked twice a day. Cattle love to wander even thru what seem to be impregnable fence. Goats will eat everything to ground level. And on and on. And don't forget about the manure problem. But, if you are independently wealthy, absolutely no prob.

[rotorhead]

Don't forget that feeding horses in Alaska is a fairly serious undertaking. Hay is pricey compared to down south, its a short season and they don't get four crops of alfalfa like some places The biggest factor is that you have to feed them for a long, long time till the grass grows again. You're gonna need a substantial barn as well, the only animals that are comfortable standing around all winter long in Alaska temps tend to have big antlers.

One reason most folks up there keep ATVs and snowmachines instead, easier to keep 'em fed in the winter.

[mal_flisk]

Someone has recently dumped 6 tons of ahhh.. horse composting material here in town. It cost the owners of the property about $500.00 buck to get rid of it. (Loader rental and truck rental, etc.) They didn't sound too pleased.