How to Find Your Dream Homestead Land

By Dave Wortman
Published on February 22, 2008
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Finding the perfect homestead land takes planning, research and patience.
Finding the perfect homestead land takes planning, research and patience.
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A rural lifestyle offers many benefits to children: room to play, a connection to the land, and experience with both wildlife and domesticated animals.
A rural lifestyle offers many benefits to children: room to play, a connection to the land, and experience with both wildlife and domesticated animals.
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Finding productive land for a profitable farming venture can be more challenging than finding a homestead for personal use.
Finding productive land for a profitable farming venture can be more challenging than finding a homestead for personal use.
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If you see a farm you like, ask if it’s for sale. You might be surprised!
If you see a farm you like, ask if it’s for sale. You might be surprised!
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The pace and amenities of small towns are significantly different than those in cities. Be sure you’re prepared prior to moving.
The pace and amenities of small towns are significantly different than those in cities. Be sure you’re prepared prior to moving.
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Although marginal soil can be improved over time, soil fertility is a big consideration if you’re planning to have a market garden.
Although marginal soil can be improved over time, soil fertility is a big consideration if you’re planning to have a market garden.

Imagine your ideal patch of Mother Earth. Perhaps it’s a place where the sky and farmland are vast, where the soil is fertile for growing your own food, the trees grow tall, and your neighbors offer genuine small-town friendliness. There’s little crime or traffic, and all you hear at night is the rush of wind through the trees.

Now, imagine that someone’s willing to give it to you?—?free.

That’s precisely what the town of Anderson, in central Alaska, did in March 2007, when they attempted to lure potential transplants by offering 26 free, spruce-covered building lots. And each 1.3-acre lot had its own view of beautiful natural surroundings. In return, all the newcomers had to do was agree to build a home and stay awhile?—?not a bad bargain for those looking to head back to the land. And according to Anderson’s city clerk, Nancy Hollis, the plan has been successful, drawing people from all walks of life. “So far, the new land owners are fitting into our community nicely,” she says. (The free lots are taken as of this printing.)

For some, finding dream homestead land means secluded rural acreage. But for others, an ideal homestead may be in a small town, where you might find less expensive housing and a lot large enough for a garden, some fruit trees and a few chickens?—?plus the benefits of nearby community amenities. There are some locations where you can still find your dream homestead land without breaking the bank. And with the fallout from the recent mortgage crisis, farmland prices?—?at least in some areas?—?are tumbling, offering an even better reason to jump into the game.

Navigating the Market

Anyone who has searched for affordable farmland near the nation’s major cities or in booming retirement and resort areas knows how challenging the process can be. Even some more remote rural areas, particularly in the fast-growing retirement and resort areas of the West, have experienced price spikes. “I am seeing land prices increase dramatically in southern Utah, northern Nevada, southern Idaho and eastern Oregon,” says John Allen, director of the Western Rural Development Center at Utah State University. And in many areas of high-cost states such as California, spiraling prices have put homestead land well out of reach for many buyers.

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