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Not the last thing to look for is "homestead exemption" protecting your residence and mini farmstead in the case of a bankruptcy. These days it may take just 3 days in a hospital to become thoroughly bankrupt. From what I know, Texas and Florida are the most protective, no matter the size of your residence & lot, creditors can't touch it. Ohio is one of the least protective. $20,000 is all you can claim after your dream farmette is auctioned off.
There are inexpensive farm leases available in our area, although you can't build a house and live on them but you can live in the nearby town and work the farm so you sort of have the best of both worlds. Deep soil, adequate rainfall with irrigation water as well, farmer's markets nearby and you can grow year round.
Yeah, if you can stand the piles of snow and the freezing cold long winters, it is great.
Smyrna, NY, if I win a lottery, here I come, gorgeous landscapes, pleasant climate, sparsely populated, clear river waters, mature forests, plenty of public access. Unfortunately, if you didn't win lottery yet, NY state should be the last place on your destination list, taxes, prices, long commutes, less than stellar income for your average wage unit, did I mention taxes?
Stay away from the corn belt or even mini-corn belts. A record corn harvest has put a lot of money in farmers' pockets. They can't make much money investing it, so they are buying land with cash and prices are going through the roof. Land around here (northeast Nebraska) has gone as much as $5,500 an acre for dry-land (non-irrigated) and for over $7,500 an acre for irrigated. This is land that a few years ago sold for $1,500 and 2,000 an acre respectively.
There are some great spots in Michigan. Look there. Stay along the west side along Lake Michigan and you'll have moderate temps, lots of snow (and they know how to move it) and very nice summers. You can get some good prices right now.
Have you considered Missouri? The winters aren't as harsh as Iowa if you are in the Southern 2/3rds of the state, we have an amazing variety of topography from plains, to wetlands to rolling hills to the Ozark mountains. Land is generally reasonable in price. A number of areas would get you close to a large or medium sized city (Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia, Springfield, Jefferson City).
I'm not super familiar but I think Charlottesville is sort of small? Not sure where your market would be unless you mean just local farmer's market vs. next big city over bigger farmers market.
One thing about VA and going further south - more ticks. Seems like I get more ticks everywhere I go these days but I've talked to some Virginians and I got the impression that there are a lot of ticks.
I'm not super familiar but I think Charlottesville is sort of small? Not sure where your market would be unless you mean just local farmer's market vs. next big city over bigger farmers market.
One thing about VA and going further south - more ticks. Seems like I get more ticks everywhere I go these days but I've talked to some Virginians and I got the impression that there are a lot of ticks.
I'm not a doctor, but I think part of avoiding bugs wherever you are can be controlled with diet. I use lots of onion and garlic during the outdoor months and have very little problem with small insects wanting to suck my blood.
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