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im currently in CT and cant afford to stay here if i ever want to move out of my parents house.
i grew up on a farm in the UK.
im looking for a little place in the country where i can set up a little homestead and be semi self sufficient...
but being ive not realy seen much of america...im comming up short on where to look.
ive been semi pre-aproved for a mortgage of up to 45K and have a nice little dp set aside, i just need 12 months of rent checks (i was paying rent to my parents in cash)
so the plan is to move in spring 2012.
the rest of the plan involves spending late spring and all of summer traveling around taking a look at places that might suit me and hopefully find a little place to settle down.
im generally looking to stay under 50K for 3-10 acres with a little 2 bedroom fixer/mobile/manufactured home in live in condition...
ive been randomly trolling realtor.com ect so i know there are properties available in western nc that would work for what i want to do with a little bit of elbow grease.
i work from home and am also disabled, so work isnt as much of an issue.
MEDICAL however is...
i need acess to a medical center as i 1: had gastric bypass and will need follow ups every few months or so...and 2: my disabilities (epilepsy AND some other mental disorders) need frequent checking on...
however im willing to travel up to an hour one way to check in with the dr's. id also like to be no more than 1 hr away from general shopping, clothes, walmart, groceries, mabe a wholesale club like costco.
id like to be in a small town (or on the outskirts of one), friendly people, some farming though it doesnt have to be a farming community nessicarily it should be farm friendly with some local farmers markets
weather...well im not a humidity fan but know if i want to stay on the east coast im pretty much out of luck lol, but ive heard westen nc is less humid than other areas due to the higer eleveation of many areas.
a little snow is fine, but id rather not have noreasters and 12+ inches of snow in one sitting like we get here...
my favorite seasons are spring and fall...
schools are not important to me as i cant have children, and given the kind of lifestyle im looking for resale would be to a like minded individual or small family and many homesteaders homeschool...
crime...well im not afraid of living somewhere with a slightly higher crime problem, but im ideally looking for a sleepy small town.
id love to be in an area that does 'stuff', agricultural and town fairs, chillie cookoff, bbq's ect, anything that is mean tto bring a community together...
i dont go to church so would like other none confrtonational ways of meeting people.
that being said, i did that "find your spot" thing online and NC seemed to come up ALOT!
here are some towns it suggested...
now again, i have no clue, and i dont nessicarily have to be IN that town...just close enough to enjoy the goings on.
any suggestions would be great, add to the list ect...
and also opinions on any of these areas would be greatly apreciated.
dont worry i am doing my reserch on my own too and will be creating a list for my road trip, BUT nothing replaces real peoples opinions and experiences.
There is no way you will find something on that much land for that little around here. Land prices are extremely high around the Asheville area. In fact, land goes for that much alone. I've been looking and 2 acres seems to start at 50k. Sorry. In fact, I really don't know where you'd find something that cheap anywhere in NC except maybe the coast.
Don't kid yourself about the humidity either. It was like a rain forest this summer here.
i simply cant afford the taxes in NY state...
it would cost me more a month on taxes than my mortgage
saucy, as i said, ive been doing some looking and outside of the cities in the more rural areas theres quite a few fixers on 3-5 acres of so for around $50K that im seeing online particularly around lenoir...
i knwo you get what you pay for...but it definatly seems doable.
You wouldn't live in them. Don't be hasty and do something foolish in a strange area because you could get stuck badly and never be able to return home, or end up quite miserable. Just because some online website "found your spot", and you want to be self-sustaining? this is definitely not the place for that unless you have plenty of money to sustain yourself.
oh no worries about being hasty, as i said, ive got at least a year to travel and take a look see, im asking here because i like personal experience input (and i know alot of the small out of the way towns dont have websites ect to check out)
some of the homes ive found are more in need of fixing than others but most dont look that bad...i also would never buy a house without a through inspection first...
thats why im trying to do my reserch first and given my criteria alot of people insist that nc might be a good place for me...along with southern virginia and western virgnia...
im just trying to find out what these areas are realy like...for example morganton online is beautiful, but in person it could be a trash heap with a major drug problem and be totally unwelcoming to new commers...
Quite simply, do your homework. Southwest VA may be a much better area for a single woman. Don't try to get away from it all with your medical conditions and not enough money. Plus a year from now, you may be glad to stay with your parents a litle while longer.
If you look hard enough,you'll find something.Here's a stick built fixer upper on the outskirts of Lenoir,which is NW of Hickory.It's on 7 acres! Don't give up!
2398 Setzers Creek Road Lenoir NC
Moderator cut: Links to real estate properties are NOT allowed.
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 11-22-2010 at 07:34 PM..
lol obx that was one i found also and i realy like the potential that it has...hey mabe if its still there in a year...
as for doing my reserch thats what im trying to do...part of that reaserch is trying to get peoples opinions of areas that im considering...not whether or not ill find a house in my price range but instead is it the kind of place i could do what im looking to do.
money is not an issue, i want to keep my mortgage incredibly low so that i can pay it off early and have no mortgage to worry about, my pre-aproval is based on one of my 3 work from home jobs lol. im also not worried about living alone...infact prefer it that way the further from people the better as i have extreem social anxiety...
im quite capable of looking after myself, i can shoot, i can hunt, i was raised on a farm and im physically capable (and will be trainign a service dog for assistance with my epilepsy when living alone)
im also very lucky as i know my parents would always take me back should i need to return home for any reason (but right now for the cost im paying for rent here (not including utilities and food) i could have my own place.)
so im not too worried about that stuff either lol. belive me my dream of living alone in the woods somewhere with my little farm and my work from home buisness is not some half baked dream of a crazy girl, ive ben planning this since i moved from the UK lol.
as long as im close enough to a dr to get my meds and far enough away from a city that i can breath again (and be surrounded by some goats and chickens)...ill be happy.
southern virginia seems to have alot more areas open to homesteading but also seems to be more expensive...id also be willing to check out towns on the nc coast, but the tendency towards massive ice-storms is just not my personal preference for winter weather patterns lol.
Here's a house,not too far from Morganton,with a newer roof and vinyl siding on almost 5 acres for $56,000.It's being sold to settle an estate.I can see a nice mountain in the background.
5 john swofford Rd, Nebo, NC 28761
Photo: << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> All
$56,000 3 beds, 1 baths, 932 sq ft
Status: Active
Lot Size: 208217
Year Built: 1959
Type: Single Family House
List Date: 11/10/2010
Parking: N/A
MLS#: 477656
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MLS # 477656
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