WANTED: Log House on 100 acres
smakcanada
2 years ago
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Possibly downsizing from 44 acres . . . to 1/2 acre
Comments (15)Okay, good information. I am glad to hear that we could easily build a medium-sized house on a lot this size . . . without being crowded. Obviously, I understand that every 1/2 acre doesn't have the same dimensions, but I was having trouble visualizing how big a typical 1/2 acre might be. Yes, I understand the concept of "smaller lot, bigger landscape". When you have only a small amount of space, it "needs to be" landscaped, whereas acres and acres are just kept natural. After all, you can't see all of 44 acres at once, whereas 1/2 acre can be scanned from the porch. Yes, LiveOak, one of our concerns is that we also plan lots of traveling, volunteering, and other projects. We do not want to be tied down to maintenance, nor do we want to pay other people to keep up large areas. Nostalgic Farm, I grew up on 60+ acres and another 200-odd a bit down the road. Thing is, there's always something that needs doing, and sometimes that's welcome . . . but not always. Also, at not-quite 50, I'm perfectly capable of doing a good day's work like I could in my younger days, but it does take more out of me. Looking at my older relatives, I can foresee the day when I can't do it all myself. An orchard is the one project I'd want to keep, if we do downsize. But I don't really want to embark upon a large orchard. One dwarf apple tree gives enough apples for all the canned apple goods my family can eat in a year (and that's with heavy consumption), and we have no interest in selling fruit. I think I could still have enough fruit trees to keep my canner busy. No, I'm not scared of wild animals. I shoot well. Autumn, I understand about keeping part of the land wild and part of it mowed, but the wild part isn't completely maintenance-free. Thanks for your advice, all! I am not sure which direction we'll go, but you've answered my biggest question: It is a choice. This can be done on 1/2 acre. That's the smallest we'd buy, so now we're free to look around and see whether -- when we're looking at real land, not just thinking hypothetically -- it actually feels right or not....See MoreShould I remove 100 ft Norway Spruce that's about 15 ft from my house.
Comments (49)The pic added by huggorm is not helpful to this discussion. Nothing remotely like that need be done here-as he himself does explain. Again, do as you please, but the doomers and gloomers here are going way off the tracks IMO. A few judicious pruning cuts would have that up and off your house in no time. Nor would it look ungainly. Now one thing to keep in mind-I have two-and especially one-very large, old arborvitaes-I don't know what cultivar but they look more or less like species except stay greener in winter.....and the seedlings thereof, which I collect regularly, grow unbelievably fast for an arb. In any case, the one in question is at the midway point of the front of my house, right adjacent to our front porch, so in a sense, badly out of scale with the house. These are big plants. But here's the thing: I like the tree more than I like the house and it provides a very nice, cool microclimate in warm weather up on that porch, holds uncountable birds and other critters, etc. So I'm not just thinking design elements here. And all of the attributes I'm listing for this big old arb could also apply to your spruce. I think another fallacy in play here is that one must always, everywhere, raise a tree up equally all the way around. Yes, I would normally do so too, but in certain cases-and this is one of them-an unbalanced approach can get you where you need to be. So in this scenario, more raising up would be done on the house side. Trust me, it can work....See MoreWhat to Offer for 1985 3br/3ba 2,965sq ft house on 1.2acre lot
Comments (11)It depends also upon what that particular property is worth to you. I've seen people let $5000 keep them from purchasing a home they really wanted, and end up paying the price it could have been purchased for a few months later, for a house they liked less. Market values fluctuate. There are the comps of what a house is worth on the market at this moment, and what it is worth to you. If you pay $5000 over market value today, but get the house, maybe that purchase price is the market value in six months. Does that matter in the larger picture for what is often a30 year mortgage, and the "value" bouncing up and down? Sure, you don't want to pay more than you have to. But increasing the odds of actually being able to purchase the house you want has a value, too. How badly do you want this particular property? If low-balling increases the odds that someone else will purchase the property instead, how much does that matter to you? That is a question only you can answer. Offering an amount closer to what you said you expect to have to pay, increases the odds of your being able to purchase the property. Not all offers must be made with negotiating in mind. We offered less than market for our house, but that was what we were willing to pay with consideration to the work needed. The owner wanted more, but it was easy to decline increasing our offer, because we had already established what we were willing to pay. Don't forget that most properties get appraised, and that can affect how much price wiggling is done during the negotiations for inspection repairs, closing costs, etc. Even if they accept your lower offer, if the house appraises much higher, they will then probably not going to concede additional money. If your offer is above the appraisal, you can renegotiate (per contract) and are more likely to get a roof replacement, or whatever. In the end, it could be a wash when it comes to the final price....See MoreI need help with updating a 3000 sq ft log home
Comments (4)I have a log-sided home and would love to see what you've got! But -- when you say "modern" -- what exactly do you mean by that? If you mean updating/re-decorating in line with the flavor of the home that's one thing, but if you mean sleek design/metal-glass-steel looks = no, no and a thousand times NO! Log homes are easy in the sense that they are telling you what they want to be....See Moresmakcanada
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