I'm back! What are your "must haves" in a property?

babsbag

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Sorry. For me personally I wouldn't buy a property that had a well that didn't have potable water. I know people that are always having to truck in water because their property doesn't provide potable water. I would always have the water tested before purchasing a property.

A huge part of the country land in CA is on well water, a even bigger part of our agriculture in on well water. Testing a well prior to buying land is smart but most bare land will not have a well but honestly I don't know of anyone on well water in our county that has non potable water. More of a concern is having soil that will "perk" so a septic system can be installed. I wouldn't be too worried about contaminated ground water in CA, but then I have the benefit of knowing that since I live here and I am familiar with the areas the OP is looking at. Right now I would rather have my well and police myself than have a water district breathing down my neck if I water a flower or a tree.
 

greybeard

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There's no shortage of 'seasoned' folks like myself and Baymule that have and are actively building and maintaining fences, buildings and working facilities. Both my older sisters are keeping up acreage and homesteads as am I and I'm the youngest at age 65. I didn't really get started good on my place till I was 56.
It has been my experience in life that oldsters can do it just as good as anyone else provided they observe a simple axiom.
People don't stop don't things simply because they can't do them, people can't do things simply because they stopped doing them.
If you can do something--DO IT! And keep doing it, no matter how hard it is. The day you stop, is the day you start dying.

#1 thing:
Water. I live in an area that historically gets around 40" of rainfall/year. In 2011, we were in extreme drought, that extended to a lesser degree into 2012. I was able to keep all my stock because I could find and buy feed and hay, but if I had not had a good well and a good pond system that never dried up that year, I would have had to sell off every head of cattle I had. Feed and hay were expensive that year, but water would have been the deal breaker.

I saw lifetimes of work run thru the salebarn at giveaway prices that year, simply because of a lack of water.
 

Baymule

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Hi @greybeard I well remember the 2011 drought. We had several horses, round bales were $80 to $125 and we were glad to get it. Love your comments on getting things done no matter what your age. I plan on dying when I'm 105, by getting thrown off a horse and hitting my head on a rock. LOL
 

frustratedearthmother

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I agree! We might move a little slower but we're stubborn and things still get done. And, if I move too slow I round up some teenagers to do the heavy stuff. Sometimes (and I am very appreciative for the help), but sometimes it's just as much work giving them direction, lol.

I'm beginning to worry that hay is going to be a big issue here too. First it was too wet to cut - but first cutting is in now and it's weedy as all get out. Sooo, in all my wisdom I decided to wait on second cutting and with the lack of rain around here I might be waiting a long time....geeze! I've got my name on a couple waiting lists so fingers are crossed that I can still get some...
 

Baymule

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There is hay everywhere up here, but a second cutting is questionable. We have a hay cutter around the corner, less than a mile. He called us last week, and we bought 30 rolls, a year's supply for us. We feel blessed.
 

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