FAMILY READINESS CENTER - Post of the Week

A few thoughts on obtaining a piece of property
Posted by Jerry D. Young on: March 17, 2009, 04:09:01 PM »
A few thoughts on obtaining a piece of property:100 miles away from any SAC base, missile site, naval base, military staging & training area, and major cities50 miles away from large cities, nuclear power plants, research center, dams up stream from the proposed location, concentrations of potentially dangerous businesses (Refineries, bulk fuel plants, industries using chemicals in bulk quantities, airports, rail interchanges, etc)Near a small city or town of twenty-five thousand population or less, with a diversified economic base is best. Agriculture does not have to be the primary industry, but there should be at least some types of food production locally. Small truck farms are better than a huge single crop plantation.Preferably, the town will own and operate its own power generation plant as well as the water supply and sewer disposal facility. In some smaller towns, this is not possible, or even likely, but check anyway. You might get lucky.Make sure you have absolute right of way to the property. Some realtors will sell land in the middle of a tract that has no access. Beware.Climate/micro climate: The area should allow production of food crops with reasonable effort, and not have extremes of temperatures summer or winter. Green houses can off-set somewhat marginal garden conditions.Good southern exposure on at least part of the propertyHopefully a wooded/forested area to the north of the propertyFlowing water is nice, a good potable water source is mandatory. Check out the depth, quality, flow rate, and expense of water wells in the areaThe ideal water situation would be a reliable city or rural water district supply of high quality untreated water, backed up by a twenty-five to fifty foot shallow well with a static water level of seven to fifteen feet and a flow rate of fifteen hundred gallons per hour or more of soft, uncontaminated water with a three-quarter horsepower to two horsepower shallow well pump with a forty-two to one-hundred-twenty gallon pre-pressurized storage tank. Finally, with a hand pump kept in good repair on the well you are ready for any emergency.The sewer disposal situation is a little different. Very few areas permit installing a septic system if a city sewer line is within two hundred to five hundred feet of the property line. You have either city sewer or a septic system. You cannot have both of them. An exception is where a new sewer line is installed in an area not formerly served by city sewers. There is usually a period of two to five years to allow everyone time to make hookups before the septic systems are declared illegal to use.If you must hook to the city sewer, be sure that the system is reliable. If it is not reliable during normal times you really have problems in a disaster. If reports indicate poor sewer service either find another place in the same town with better service, if possible, or find another area.Check on the availability of telephone, cell phone service, natural gas, and electric service before purchasing the land. If any of the services are not available, you must consider what alternatives you will choose.Besides room for a garden, there should also be space available for burying small amounts of human waste and garbage for a short time if it ever becomes necessary.Space provisions for dogs, cats, rabbits, and chickens, bees, etc., should be made if you ordinarily have them or plan to keep these animals. Space should also be allocated for any other special reasons you may have.Total acreage depends on how much elbow room you want, garden space needed, animal space needed, farm support crop area needed, firewood requirements, among any other needs you may have. I don’t think you can have too much land. Five acres if you aren’t going to burn your own wood for heat. Ten acres is better. Twenty-five should do. More at your discretion and bank account balance.If you are going to use wood for fuel, most forested lands can produce one cord of firewood per acre per year continuously . Try to get double the amount of woodlot you need and set it up to coppice as you harvest the wood.

ez
Re: A few thoughts on obtaining a piece of property
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2009, 08:05:00 PM »
great advice . I would reccomend holding off buying any property right now.. I expect values to continue to drop but be ready for when they hit bottom becouse they might not be there for long and remember there are others who might be looking at the same peice of property..
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Gunnywag
Re: A few thoughts on obtaining a piece of property
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2009, 12:49:54 PM »
Also to consider - If you have water on the property that has a high enough flow rate, you can install a small hydro electric system. Charging a battery bank 24/7!!


Ozarks_1
Re: A few thoughts on obtaining a piece of property
« Reply #3 on: Today at 11:02:04 AM »
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Quote from: Jerry D Young on March 17, 2009, 04:09:01 PM
A few thoughts on obtaining a piece of property:Preferably, the town will own and operate its own power generation plant as well as the water supply and sewer disposal facility. In some smaller towns, this is not possible, or even likely, but check anyway. You might get lucky.The ideal water situation would be a reliable city or rural water district supply of high quality untreated water, backed up by a twenty-five to fifty foot shallow well with a static water level of seven to fifteen feet and a flow rate of fifteen hundred gallons per hour or more of soft, uncontaminated water with a three-quarter horsepower to two horsepower shallow well pump with a forty-two to one-hundred-twenty gallon pre-pressurized storage tank. Finally, with a hand pump kept in good repair on the well you are ready for any emergency.----- -----Notes from north-central Arkansas concerning the Ice Storm of 2009 - and the two weeks without (utility-supplied) power:1. As stated, many small towns didn't have the means to manitain their water/septic systems without utility-supplied power. Some of the tiny communities (population under 1,000) won't ever consider back-up generators for their water systems.2. The reliability factor of community water is somewhat questionable. In their "infinite wis-dumb", the politicians of the city that's our county seat (population 1,500) switched from their own independent water system to a regional one about 25 years ago ... with no plans to maintain the old facilities. When regional power went down, the city had very limited water. Also, one of the three water pumps malfunctioned due to 'voltage issues' and the other two had problems. The situation stabilized when the National Guard brought in generators a week after power went down. No spare parts were on hand to repair the broken pump.3. Even with utility-supplied power, rotating periods of water cut-offs were common. ----- -----Generally speaking, I believe it's going to be hard - perhaps impossible - to find a city or rural water district that doesn't treat their water.

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