My husband and I would like to begin looking for our "little slice of heaven" but are unsure as to what exactly we need to look for when searching for land.We would like approx. 3-5 acres. We are concidering putting a mobile home on the land until we are able to build. We're totally green when it comes to building as neither of us has any experience what so ever. Do we need to be zoned a specific way to have animals? Permits for Septic systems, etc.? Is there a way to find out if there is any chance of a city growing up around you? We would really like to have an idea what to ask before we start talking to realators or anything. If it helps with an answer we live in North east Ohio.Also any book suggestions on subject would be greatly appreciated. Raya

-- Raya Amick (Raya2448@ivillage.com), November 13, 2000

Answers

Real ly good question and one that I'm sure will generate lots of ideas. First, be sure of what you and hubby want. Brainstorm and write it down. Do you want to be on a paved road, off, need a helicopter to get to it? The realtor will need to know. Big trees, open, cleared land? Write it down. Then, when you go to realtor, you will have a wish list all ready. And pick their brain about zoning, septic tanks, etc. They should be able to get you in touch with governing bodies in the area where you are looking who can answer technical questions about what the local ordinances require. I'd sure steer clear of too many zoning restrictions. When you are armed with your own desires clearly spelled out, you can deflect all those pressures to buy the wrong piece of property. They will show you anything they think is even close to what you want. It's up to you to keep them honest and on track. If you are worried about town growing out to meet you, avoid corridors of growth along the interstates, loops around even moderate sized cities, and suburbs. That is no guarantee, but it's a start. Also go back to some of those folks in the county offices and ask about proposed or in-the-works projects coming in your direction. The realtor wants to make a sale, they aren't always going to be honest about disclosing such facts. It's up to you to find out. Go to the mayor's office or contact the chamber of commerce or members of the city council. They'll be happy to brag about any improvement projects and new businesses coming into the area. Now, I'll turn it over to other good folks with more ideas...

-- melina b. (goatgalmjb1@hotmail.com), November 13, 2000.

I don't mean to be self promoting, but I just listed a book for sale on Amazon.com that would be perfect for you. It is called "Finding & Buying Your Place in the Country", by Les and Carol Scher. It is a great resource and helped us out greatly when we purchased the 9 acres of our dreams almost 4 years ago. It will steer you away from making some great and costly mistakes. Good Luck, Andrea

-- Andrea Robinson (AndreaandNate@aol.com), November 13, 2000.

Flooding is not good. If you can, drive around after a hard, hard rain and see what the areas looks like. You would be suprised at where all the water stands. Steve and I did this when we were looking for a new farm. Some houses basements fill up with water. Just look at the layout of the land and quess where the water would go if it flooded. Notice all the old farmhouses are on top of a hill. Ours is, it goes downhill all around us. Be careful if it sounds way cheap and it is way flat. All the floodlands are selling fast here in Kentucky, they look beautiful untill it rains too much. Have Fun in your search!

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), November 13, 2000.

Raya: Just a few ideas and problems I've seen or made. Stay way away from cities and they won;t grow around you. Remember if people can get to you easily they will! Also find property at least 2 or 3 miles at the end of a rough dirt road. 40 acres is better. No less than 10. Always buy on the sunny southern slopes unless you like it cold. Its best to see a property in all 4 seasons. A reality wants a fast sale so please don't fall in love with property until you look on a massive scale. Don't build to close to your dirt road. DUST! Talk to the neighbors if you find something!! Very important! Don't buy anything until you know you have clean good tasting water. Hope this helps.....Kirk...P.S. I don't know of to many homesteaders that find the perfect spot and stay. Move if you don't get it right the first time. Good luck to you!!!!

-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), November 13, 2000.

Raya, move down here, no zoning of any kind, no requirements for septic, outhouses are permitted, little chance of any city blossoming up in the next 20 years or so. To tweek your interest, and provide specific information about the area, contact any of these realtors: Swisslands Realty 740-472-0614 www.swisslands.com , United Country Realty 740-472-1777 www.unitedcountry.com ,Fliehman Realty 740-472- 1131. The best way is to go look where you think you would like to live, and start looking at places. The more you look, the better you will be able to determine what you actually want and need.

What finally made up our mind after looking for 3 years over 3 states, was the price of property here, cheapest in the entire US for usable property with water, electric, and tillable soil. What you would spend elsewhere for just land, you can purchase ready to move into farm house with barns, fenced pasture, and utilities. Might need a little fixing up, but entirely livable. Good luck, Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), November 14, 2000.

The wise goverement in OHIO, has outlawed outhouses and any septic system other than a mound system in the state. While mound systems work in some cases they will not work through out the state. The ODH (Ohio Department of Health) does not know the geology of the state outside of Franklin county. The are also now requiring that all septic system be inspected by the local health dept. every three years. This inspection is not free, each dept. sets their own free. I think that it is $50 in Meigs county (SE Ohio).

That be set aside, the county health depatments have the FEMA flood plan maps, you can also go to this site - http://www.esri.com/hazards/ HAZARD MAPS

You may want to check out the Topo maps of the land you are thinking of - http://www.topozone.com/ TOPO MAPS

Talk to a well driller, in some parts of the state water is hard to come by, Monroe, Morgan, Noble and Washington Counties.

Find out who owns the mineral rights, can you have free gas.

Running surface water, pick up a free rocks in the stream, look for crayfish and waterpennies (they can not tolerate poor water quality) avoid those land that the stream has no life or mostly leaches in the stream.

Talk the the Water & Soil conservation people, they can tell you if the soil will slip etc, many have very detailed maps for free that can help.

Talk to the smaller local timber companies, they may have land or know of land that is available.

I hope that this help.

-- Rich (pntbeldyk@wirefire.com), November 14, 2000.

Hmmm, I just checked with Knox county health board in Ohio and they said nothing about having to have a "mound type" septic system, nor inspections every 3 years...they just came out to the sight to offer advice and tell me what type of septic system would best serve. We also have no building codes except a foundation below the frost line. Maybe it is up to the counties.

I agree with not just buying 5 acres. Get as much as you can, especially frontage. I've been burned twice buying secluded "country" land only to have the "country" swallowed up by a spreading city and its "country subdivisions."

SE Ohio is very rural and land is cheap. Very pretty area too. Definitly check w/ township officials and neighbors...but don't get too discouraged if neighbors give a bad report....sometimes they just don't want anymore people moving in!! Good luck. BE PATIENT.

-- JimR (jroberts1@cas.org), November 14, 2000.

Rich, we have no zoning requirements in Monroe county concerning outhouses, as long as your run off does not bother anyone else next to you,(minimium property size requirement, can't do it in town of course) we checked at the courthouse. As an interesting side note, you can also bury your dead anywhere on your property, with just a properly filled out death certificate, as long as your neighboor does not complain about the possibility of his ground water becoming contaminated. Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), November 14, 2000.

Check on the mineral rights. Who owns them etc. In the ocunty where I live the Mitchell Energy Company started drilling an oil well right behind a guy's house on his property. He protested to no avail because Mitchell owned the mineral rights. When you buy without getting the mineral rights, you only own the surface property. Check with the county at the courthouse abut all the zoning things. Get copies in writing of the zoning stuff. Check with the county and state health departments about outhouses etc. Don't buy in flood zones. Here in Texas I think there's some kind of law that sellers have to disclose flood prone areas to buyers. Check for that. Check for everything and remember, if you're far enough out of the city it probably won't get you in your lifetime but if it does, your property will increase in value enough to sell and buy a bigger place somewhere else. Be open to that if you're close to a city.

-- Shooter (jcole@apha.com), November 14, 2000.

Annie, yes no zone requirements but there is an ODH EPA rule that was passed last year, to go into affect in 2001, each of us should thank Nancy Hollister for this one. I have inside scoop my sister-in- law is a health inspector for one of southern counties in Ohio. There is however talk of changing the regulation, local depatments may not enforce it because mound system won't work in SE Ohio. They work great in SW Ohio (guess who developed the rules). Ask your friend that live in Guernsey and Muskingum counties what they pay for a septic system inspection.

Raya, plumbing permits in muskingum county can be probamatic, ask the plumbing inspector for his advice up front and you won't have any problems.

-- Rich (pntbeldyk@wirefire.com), November 14, 2000.

Raya, another land broker to check is Anthony Lnad development in Byesville, OH, and Brunner. I'll post their phone numbers tomorrow. SE Ohio has a lot to offer. I farm in a small 16 acres in Meigs and have 40 AC of timber in Washingon, next to the Wayne National Forest.

Take your time. Select an area that you are interested in. Walk the property over and over through out the year. Make a list of the types of trees and other vegitation that is growing. Go to the library the look up the plants, this will tell you a lot about the soil condition. What animal live on it? Deer a nice to see every now and then but when they are in the garden every night, well thats a different story. Most people or friendly whennthey find out you are not a developer that plans to destroy their way of life. Talk to them. If you are so inclided take an evening class at the local community college, (in Ohio there is one within 50 miles of any point in the state)and ask the older students, they know what is going on. In Northern Washington county, city water is being plumbed to many of the homes in the area, watch for rising prices here, (Dalzell area).

just wait, I'll post more, tomorrow during lunch.

-- Rich (pntbeldyk@wirefire.com), November 14, 2000.

Raya and Rich, yes, we also have "city water" here, even though we are in the boonsticks! Back in the mid 1980's when the drought was so severe here, the Federal government coughed up some matching funds under the Appalachian Development Act, or some such program, to help Monroe county install county/private water delivery systems. Yes, it does have some chlorine in it, but no flouride (sp?), so we use a water filter system to remove the chlorine. The water is cheap, we can afford to use it on the gardens, for livstock, etc., our water bill is usually 24.00 dollars a month for 6000 gallons. Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), November 14, 2000.

Annie:

I don't think burying someone on your property is quite as easy as that. Here in TN you can create a private family cemetery, but only if a permanent deed restriction is placed on the property designating the area. I happen to own two and one half family cemeteries. No one has been buried there for years, but a family could still do so if they want to as they have easement rights.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 15, 2000.

Ken, it is as easy as that in our county, we checked with the funeral director, and the county coroner (sp?), on this. We were thinking of having an already buried family member "moved" here, and had to know for sure. If you bury a person within 3 days, no embalming is required either. Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), November 15, 2000.

You folks are awesome!!! I couldn't beleive it last night when I logged on and found not only did someone respond to my inquiry but several folks had and with such great advise ,and such a short amount of time. You given us alot to think about and even a little more confidence.Thanks so much.

-- Raya Amick (Raya2448@ivillage.com), November 15, 2000.

Just two short suggestions to add to those above. Make absolutely certain than you have legal access to your property. Take no one's word on this! Secondly, get a local phone book and check out how many different names there are in it. Avoid at all cost areas like the one I live in where most of the residents are "geneologically challenged". Make sure that the family trees in your prospective neighborhood have some branches. Good luck, John and Pat

-- John and Pat James (jjames@n-jcenter.com), November 20, 2000.

There seems to be a lot of discussion about Southeast Ohio. I am in Vinton County, and am a Licensed Real Estate Broker, here. We homesteaded here 12 years ago and bought an abandoned house with 9 acres from a coal mining company.

There has been comment about NO ZONING, this is not the case anywhere in Ohio. There is state zoning, and building codes for the entire state. The regulations take precedence over local codes (in theory). The state of Ohio in it's infinate wisdom has made no provision for inspection in most cases, and leaves that task to the individual counties. In most cases the individual counties have made no provision to inspect anything and are not likely to budget any money for that purpose. So effectively there is no inspection required of most things.

The exception is water and sewer. The state keeps making new rules, and nobody cares because there is no inspector in most rural counties. There are however permits required in most counties for water systems (wells) and sewer systems. Site reccomendations are included. In my county the fee for permits is $100 each. The county sanitarian has, incidentally read the book "Humanure Handbook". I do know of one "Humanure" system that passed inspection back before the permit fees were required (with his blessing). Commercial construction projects are permitted at state level and inspected by state inspectors.

There was one comment about Anthony land, and Bruner Land companies. Both companies are subdividers who purchase land of questionable value, and subdivide it selling often on a "Land Contract" for a very small down payment. The result is $400 an acre reclaimed strip mines are being sold for $4,000 per acre with a small down payment. There are better deals around if you shop (in my opinion). But if anyone is really interested in that kind of land deal both companies have web sites and operate statewide. I think Bruner also operates in W.V. as well.

-- Ed Copp (OH) (edcopp@yahoo.com), November 23, 2000.