Still hunting for property. It seems like whenever I find something that looks reasonable, there’s some little thing that queers the deal. And, before everyone chimes in with ‘perfect is the enemy of good enough’ or ‘if you wait for the perfect piece you’ll never find it’, I’m quite aware of that, thank you. However, there are some things that I’m simply not willing put up with.

Whats the criteria? Well, theres a couple things:

Minimum of 20 acres – Way I see it, this gives me enough space for privacy and various additions to the landscape as I see fit. I have no upper limit except for what I can afford. Im willing to go down a bit in acreage if it gives me something that is of paramount importance –  running water, pond, a spring, well, mineshaft, caves, etc. A 35-acre parcel with no water vs. a 17.5 acre parcel with a year-round spring? No contest.

Price – I’m really trying to keep it below $200k, but I can stretch it maybe 10% if something is really attractive.

Roads – Absolutely dont want a piece that is bisected by a road. I’ve seen quite a few properties that seem ideal and then you look at an overhead view and there’s some road running right down the middle. I have found a couple pieces where the road either dead ends at the property, which is rather nice, or the road paralells one side of the property which is acceptable. What I dont want is a road cutting the property in half so every Billy Bob in the county can go roaring across my property at 3am.

Neighbors – Obviously the fewer the better. One thing Im noticing is that a lot of people build right on the edge of their property line so as to butt right up against the piece I’m looking to buy.

Terrain – I dont want something thats all vertical, and I don’t want something that is basically a parking lot with grass. A little rolling is ideal with some high points and flat spots. Trees and more trees.

Elevation – I’d like to keep it below 5000′ and certainly not up near 6000′

Proximity – I need it to be within reasonable (2-3 hours) of my current location so that I can reasonably get there on weekends and days off to perform work. There’s plenty of stuff six hours from me, but I need to be closer for the purpose of working on the place on the weekends. And, while Im not living here forever, I can’t just pull up stakes and move to an empty stretch of dirt. There’s that ‘in between’ time where I’m going to have to live here, and work on projects there…..and that means the closer the better, within certain parameters.

So, its a bit of a balancing act. For example, I’ve found a few pieces that were hundreds of acres within my price range, but they are basically flat-as-a-cookie sheet prairie where you can watch your dog runaway for three days. Nope, want more timebr, cover, and terrain.

Contrast that with the place that had lotsa trees, a year round spring, privacy, but was all vertical…an entire sloping side of a mountain.

And the place that has 20 acres, a developed well, a two-car garage on a slab, fiber internet, and phone. Annnnnd….neighbors butted up right against the property line with a huge house and several garages.

Like I said, I understand that ‘perfect’ may not exist. I am willing to accept 95%, 90%, or maybe even 85% of what I want. But…there’s some stuff that is just a dealbreaker.

I can only afford to do this once, so I wanna make sure I get it right the first time.