[greywolf2112]

Hey there, all. Wife and I are considering purchasing acreage in OK for possible move/retirement. Have a ton of "must haves" on our list (year-round water, low taxes, within 1 hour or so of Ft. Smith AR, or Tulsa, etc.)

We have so far narrowed down our county search to:

Delaware

Adair

Sequyoyah

LeFlore

Mayes

Cherokee

Haskell



Could any of you who live in/near any of these counties give us some advice on which might be good/bad counties? We are looking to get at least 20 acres, more like 40-80, that we'd be able to have a stocked pond or a river/stream on, electric, hopefully decent internet/cell phone coverage, and partially wooded. Basically a nice gentleman's farm/hobby farm that isn't too close to the interstate or population centers.

I am an xray tech and can travel if needed for work, wife works from home and as long as she has a fast internet connection she is golden regarding employment.

Will surely ask a LOT more questions in this thread and bug the hell out of ya

[_redbird_]

Hmm. Year round water. That one puzzles me. Are there places which don't have year round water?

Good luck on your search. I don't think you will have a problem with the search. Of course, I would want mineral rights added to the list. But those are getting harder to come by.

[greywolf2112]

Originally Posted by redbird4848

Hmm. Year round water. That one puzzles me. Are there places which don't have year round water?

Good luck on your search. I don't think you will have a problem with the search. Of course, I would want mineral rights added to the list. But those are getting harder to come by.

Oops - wasn't clear. I meant year round water like a stream, pond, lake, etc. Having a well/municipal water is great while it works, but having my own source is essential.

[briansgi]

Quality internet will be the issue, unless you go satellite and it's very expensive and performance isn't that good either. Good luck.

[greywolf2112]

Originally Posted by briansgi

Quality internet will be the issue, unless you go satellite and it's very expensive and performance isn't that good either. Good luck.

This is a main concern. I'm wondering how good of a connection one can get with a cell-phone card/wireless solution. I guess then the key is having good cell phone coverage.

[Goodpasture]

Att's Edge service pretty well covers the state. Their G3 is limited to the Tulsa and OKC area.

We also have Hughes Net for Satellite because we do large file transfers, and our service runs about $75 a month. The local telephone company wants us to switch to DSL for $80 and a slower service.

[_redbird_]

Originally Posted by greywolf2112

Oops - wasn't clear. I meant year round water like a stream, pond, lake, etc. Having a well/municipal water is great while it works, but having my own source is essential.

Ah, guess I should have figured that one out. We have well water, although our neighbor has city water. Most acreages come with some sort of farm pond. I have seen quite a few acreages for sale on various real estate sites.

I am sure someone on the NE side of the state can refer you to one.

Our well water does not taste good thanks to all the oil wells blasting salt water into their wells. Good luck on your relocation.

[briansgi]

I live in the first county you mentioned, Delaware county. I know the cell phone coverage in/around the Jay area for instance is horrible!. To the west of Jay, south of Jay you can barely make a call, but it is quite hilly in this area too.

[mustangsally]

We live in LeFlore County, 25 miles from Fort Smith. We have a well and cistern for the gardens, rural water which tastes great. FiberOptic internet. Local Phone (Panama). AT&T cell out of Fort Smith and never had a dropped call or any trouble. Property taxes are little over $800 a year for 53 acres and 2884 sf house. Local Walmart, other shops and restaurants, but only 35 minutes to Fort Smith AR which has most everything we need. We have farm supply and co-op for feed/supplies. Couple of times a year we travel to Tulsa just to experience the "big city". Lot of people here from other states and those we know all get along great. We moved from Colorado where if you had a well you didn't always have water, taxes high, people snotty. This is heaven on earth.

[greywolf2112]

Originally Posted by mustangsally

We live in LeFlore County, 25 miles from Fort Smith. We have a well and cistern for the gardens, rural water which tastes great. FiberOptic internet. Local Phone (Panama). AT&T cell out of Fort Smith and never had a dropped call or any trouble. Property taxes are little over $800 a year for 53 acres and 2884 sf house. Local Walmart, other shops and restaurants, but only 35 minutes to Fort Smith AR which has most everything we need. We have farm supply and co-op for feed/supplies. Couple of times a year we travel to Tulsa just to experience the "big city". Lot of people here from other states and those we know all get along great. We moved from Colorado where if you had a well you didn't always have water, taxes high, people snotty. This is heaven on earth.

Thank you so much for that information. I'm wondering if being closer to Ft. Smith would be ideal for me given my occupation as well as the wife's need for high-speed internet for her at-home office. So far I like what I'm seeing of LeFlore county.