Alan2005

I alluded to this in libgirls chillwack thread; but as I really am seriously considering buying a house with some land attached to it I thought it worth a thread of it's own. Now I'm not talking about a farm, or something that requires a tractor or other heavy machinary, but an acreage in the mls sense. Somewhere of, say, 5 or so acres with a nice house on it.

Having lived in cities most (but not all) of my adult life I have a romantic notion of what this might be like. The question is, how is the reality going to compare to this.

I'm guessing there must be a few people who post here living on acreages in the lower mainland BC (RICH?) - so what's it like? Will I just be surrounded by grizzly bears, canadian chavs, red-necks and grow-op managing gang-bangers?

JonboyE

The thing you have to be prepared for is the time and effort required to manage the land. Maybe if it is all bush it is not so bad, but if it is landscaped in any way there is a constant battle to prevent nature reclaiming it.

We have an acre (just the one) on the Sunshine Coast. Fortunately the tenants like gardening but they both have jobs and and a young family so we end up putting in several weekends each year pruning and weeding.

dbd33

Another snag is that an acerage is necessarily far from everything. Expect to put very many miles on the car. Expect it to be difficult to get minor repairs done on site, I'm faced with trucking the broken fridge fifty miles to the nearest repair place. One vehicle isn't enough, if one breaks another is needed to fetch parts to repair the first one.

There's also the matter of tools. One comes to need a ride-on mower, a chainsaw, a rifle, here a snowblower, all manner of unexpected things.

Bills tend to be less day-to-day but alarmingly large when, and if, they have to be paid. For example, water from a well costs nothing but drilling a new well is a big deal, something similar applies to a septic system.

This isn't BC but it's probably as true there, as here, that the neighbours, if any, will be eccentric. Since there isn't a great choice of people about, one comes to attend events one would ignore in the city, Halloween at the gay trailer park springs to mind as does minor league ice hockey, events with a religious theme might be another example.

And rural internet will have you screaming.

JonboyE

There is that. It's a perfect excuse to buy a John Deere. I'm not sure about the rifle though. A bell is usually sufficient to let the bears know when you want to go out.

dbd33

And a live trap. For raccoons and possums and the like. Porcupines one just shoots in the trees.

The problem with the JD is that one then needs accessories, the bush hog, the post hole auger, the beer can holder. It never ends.

Aviator

It takes my guy 6 hours (once a week) to cut the grass and another 4 (twice a month) to do the weed eating. The field is in hay and that takes another two or three hours for a local farmer (three times a year). Then there's weed killing the gravel areas, trimming the trees once a year and grading the driveway. I feel worn out just thinking about it.

Only wildlife is coyotes and rodents, dogs and cats take care of them and the dogs keep the coyotes off the cats.

R I C H

Even 5 acres is going to require some machinery. If it's mostly grassed, then a 54" deck mower is the minimum sized you'll want. I'd recommend an agricultural model, rather than a regular home-owners type for longer lifespan, and a more robust deck/transmission. I spent $12k on a JD X748 series tractor/mower/snow plough combo (2nd hand) - the shaft drive and diesel engine's perfect for an acreage of that sort of size.

Depending on where you're considering take into account irrigation requirements too. You'll then have a pump to run/maintain and irrigation lines to look after (blow out in the winter, for example).

The property could be on a well, and septic rather than city water, so make sure supply is adequate and the filtration/softening system's up to scratch. I wouldn't buy 5 acres that needed irrigating without at least a 10g/min well, though I know properties that have under that amount - I like a bit of a buffer for drier years.

That amount of grass will take several hours a week to maintain, then there's weed-whacking on top if you've borders or fence lines you want to keep tidy. You may not have animals of your own, but it's certainly possible that neighbours will, so determine who's responsible for fence maintenance - that's a lot of post and rail or wire to take care of if you've animals that enjoy chewing or rubbing up against it.

What you're surrounded by depends on the area, but we get bears (black), deer, coyotes, herons in the creek etc, which we really enjoy watching. It's only a 20 minute drive to downtown, so not exactly remote and out in the bush, though we've got 1000's of acres of crownland to play on behind us.

If you can find a nice community of similar sized well maintained acreages I'm sure you'll love it - peace and quiet, neighbours close enough to enjoy the company of when you feel like it, but far enough away not to be intrusive or overlooking you.

Acreage is often out of city limits, so you benefit from lower taxes and the delights of removing your own garbage, so factor in a trailer or some means of transporting it to the dump. The taxes you save will most likely be wiped out by much higher home insurance premiums as you don't benefit from city fire coverage.

Drop me a line if you've anything specific you'd like to know

Alan2005

Thanks for the replies - I actually feel informed.

RICH, what is your internet like? I realize that, as dbd says, the internet can be shite in rural areas and this is one of my main concerns as I'd like to work from home the majority of the time.

ExKiwilass

Inlaws are both on acreages on Salt Spring. Internet is patchy (but this is the gulf islands) and expensive. Though I think they have high-speed now through Shaw? One of them has a well that has a high level of a certain mineral, such that they have to buy water to drink. There's also an issue with their septic field.

The other ones have had the luck of having 2 sets of crappy neighbours. Even on acreage, it can be amazing how noise travels...chickens, yappy dogs.

You'll want to check into the zoning, too.


On the good side: pretty, space, can do what you want within reason, wildlife, privacy.

ExKiwilass

Gotta admit I'm really surprised you're thinking about it Alan..you always seemed like such a city kind of dude.

Lucky Bird

We've got 5 acres and love it. Partly treed, partly grassed and partly landscaped. The only wildlife we have ever seen are deer, squirrels, frogs and bunnies. Give my OH a ride on and a chainsaw and he's happy.

R I C H

dbd's correct, it's shite.

Only about 2kms out of city limits, but no cable or broadband. I use Explornet satellite. It's been reliable, but it's at least half the speed of Shaw cable that I used to have and close to 3x as expensive. For occasional working from home it's ok, but I wouldn't want to rely on it for a business.

It really depends on where you live - I only moved 5kms from the 32 acres we previously owned and that had cable, mains gas, city water etc. Every property's going to have to be looked at on it's merits.

The4BellsLondon

Alan - you do know that if you buy a it place we will all be visiting - often

mandymoochops

will second what both Rich and dbd have said.

We live on 10 acres and agree wholeheartedly about needing ride on mowers (a lawn tractor would be good actually because then you could out a shovel on the front to clear the snow if need be), at least one quad, a mud room because you will get filthy, and a gun.

Its hard work maintaining it, there is always something to do / fix / clean up , you may have to haul your own garbage as the bin men tend not to visit rural addresses, get a sturdy mailbox as the locals seem to think that the game of 'throw the beer bottle at the box as we drive by on the gravel road' is fun.

Oh and get some critters - you can't have land without animals

It is hard work but really good fun and you can wander round the place naked as the day you were born / have your music on super loud if you so wish because no-one can see / hear you

el_richo

FIL on his 11 acres in good old Whonnock has a good few MB flying through his ether. I've worked from their many times without issue.

Edited to add, can't remember if it's Cable or BB. The cost is reasonable too. No different than my brother in law pays in Kits.


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