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Although the idea of putting a house in the center of a rural property outside of road view may be enticing, there can be some serious drawbacks. Please consider:
1. Cost of running electric lines. The power company may give low cost access up to about 80 feet from the line, but after that you are looking at buying poles or conduit, paying for installation, and getting it all approved. You can be easily talking $5,000 to $10,000 or more.
2. Cost of running any municipal water - likely less than power costs, but still a consideration. Land line phones may be cheap, but subject to outages if not properly buried below frost lines or the depth an animal can damage it.
3. Internet and cable access. Rural internet can be a challenge. Most cable companies don't venture out into the boonies. That means paying $$$ for decent internet access, often with bandwidth limitations.
4. Septic system requirements. You must have a place on the property that percs properly, and spend the money on an approved system. If you don't have access to municipal water, you also need a well or creek or some other source of water.
5. Insurance rates. If you are too far from a fire hydrant, $$$
6. Security. You might feel secure for a few days completely isolated from road visibility, but then so will the meth heads and scrappers, and other thieves. Remember, in the country, the police or sheriff deputies are only a half-hour away.
7. Animals - AKA deer, skunks, groundhogs, rats, coyotes, squirrels, foxes, rabbits, armadillos. Deer eating your garden or shrubs gets old. Skunks go without saying. Groundhogs love cucumbers and lots of garden goodies. Coyotes will lure and kill pet dogs. BTW - loose dogs in the country from into hunting packs. Farmers with cattle can and will shoot them - legally. I could go on about dumped dogs from the cities, but you get the drift.
8. Tornado and other storm protection measures. A family stuck in an ice storm in a city can get help soon. In the country, it can take a while.
9. Neighbors and trespassers. Four-wheelers, snowmobiles, and dirt bikes may be using your property without permission. The same goes for hunters.
10. Access to medical care and even common shopping. As you get into retirement, medical needs increase. Trips into town for daily physical therapy may become impractical. Dropping down to Home Depot or a Chinese restaurant or pizza place can become a major event (all the time leaving your home unprotected).
A driveway is really one of the least of your worries.
-edited to add: you may have already considered one or more of the above issues, but this is a public forum and neglecting to mention them would be remiss to other readers.
Last edited by harry chickpea; 01-01-2013 at 07:52 PM..
My experience is that Harry Chickpea is one of the most informed, practical, and knowledgable and the least "scare ya off the country" posters on here. Do pay attention to what he says.
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