Moving to the Country
By: J. Elaine VonCannon, Associate Broker
I moved to rural, and I mean rural area 4 years ago. Folks said I
was crazy. I am a hour and 15 minutes from my office. I do not
have to go into my office every day. I have been working from
my home office for 28 years. I cannot do real estate or
property management from my office.
I live in a very large rancher on 40 acres. The small town that is
7 minutes from me has a hospital, 2 Drug stores, restaurants,
nail & hair salons, doctors, Wal-Mart, a grocery store, a private
girl school, florist, churches and a laundromat/dry cleaners. So
I am not isolated.
Some folks, want to retire and live a slower pace life. Others
more quality time with the family. Still again a second home to
unwind from stress of everyday life or even to have a taste of
by-gone life style.
So You Want To Go Rural. Here are 16 Things To Know:
1. Decide if you want Rural or Country Life Style
2. Check out the stores, ammonites and such that you would
like to be Check how far they are away. Anything that’s
less than an hour and a half roundtrip is considered
“close” in the rural context. Be cognizant of that when you
read real estate listings and speak with an agent: their idea
of “close” is probably A LOT different than yours. Map it,
drive it, and decide if you’re ok with that much time in the
car.
3. What type of internet and television do you require.
4. Visit an area 3 to 4 times, talk to the locals. Eat at
restaurants if this is an option.
5. Read the local newspaper and magazines.
6. Home prices are less and a lot more reasonable in the
country.
7. Research about well and septic if this is going to be a part
of your home purchased ( I have both).
8. You will be amaze with the quality of the air when you are
not in a populated area. It is truly amazing.
9. Research the type of schools in the area if you need this
option, public or private…..you may choose to home
school.
10. There’s no such thing as take-out or delivery food or
delivery grocery options.
11. Everything is slower. It’s a different pace of
life–which I love–but it is not the fast-paced, hard-
charging, efficient style of the city. Things happen when
they happen.
12. You can have a real impact in your community.
13. In our small town, one person can make a difference.
One person can start a weekly food shelf to help their
neighbors, one person can be the reason a free summer
camp happens every year, one person can organize a
monthly town potluck, one person can see a problem and
come up with a solution.
14. Making friends come a lot easier. Folks are more
open and engaging.
15. The Bottom Line: Love Where You Live, Wherever
That Is.
16. There is no perfect location and no perfect lifestyle,
but for me, where we live now comes pretty darn close.
I’m not out to convert you (well, maybe a little… ) but I do
want to reassure any rural-curious folks that it is possible
to take the plunge without much experience, without
having lived rurally before, without owning so much as a
shovel, and without knowing how to drive a tractor. I feel
like life is too short to live somewhere you hate, so if the
rural life is calling you–answer!
Call or email Elaine with any real estate questions at voncannonrealestate@gmail.com or 757-288-4685.
