PotterWatch- Moving to Virginia! Pics in post 17

Southern by choice

Herd Master
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
13,336
Reaction score
14,682
Points
613
Location
North Carolina
Very exciting news!
Virginia is beautiful, I think you will love it....as long as you are far away from No Va! :lol:

I am sure you may already know this but VA is real funny about ANY animals brought across and into their state lines.
Make sure you have all your paperwork and certificates of health etc that VA requires.

How far will you be from the NC border? :)
 

PotterWatch

Overrun with beasties
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
423
Reaction score
8
Points
98
Location
Virginia
Most of our market research for that area has been done by looking up farm websites and local harvest listings. We have been able to see how farms in that area are pricing their wares, and how they are selling (farmers markets, farm pick-ups, etc.). We know that there are a lot more farms there that are selling things comparable to what we plan to sell, but we also know we are fairly close to a very big market (Washington D.C.). We will have to do more research when we get there, but we are pretty confident that we will be able to find our niche. If we want to clear housekeeping and put a certain amount of money away each month here on our current farm, we need to sell about 250 CSA boxes per month. The cost of living there is so much cheaper, we only need to sell 100 and still be able to put the same amount away every month. That isn't a huge amount and I think we will get to that point within about 1.5 years.

As far as transporting animals into Virginia, we have decided that not only would it be difficult to get the health certs and everything done; it will also be very hot when we want to move them so we aren't going to try. We are selling all our livestock before we leave and buying new stock when we get there. The only animals coming with us are the dogs.

We will be about an hour from the NC border, I think.
 

Bridgemoof

Overrun with beasties
Joined
Jan 21, 2012
Messages
1,840
Reaction score
3
Points
96
Location
Middleburg, VA
That's great news Potter! You must be so excited. Virginia is a lovely state. I hope the move goes smoothly for you, and remember to contact me when you get here. I may be able to find some sheep for you. The place looks amazing, and sooo much land! Congratulations. I'm jealous :lol:
 

PotterWatch

Overrun with beasties
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
423
Reaction score
8
Points
98
Location
Virginia
Bridgemoof, I would love to start contacting people about sheep right now so I can see what might be available and how much we will be spending. We really like Dorpers but might consider dorper x katadhin crosses. Any help in contacting people we might be able to buy from would be great. We plan on having a flock of about 60 ewes.
 

DonnaBelle

True BYH Addict
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
1,797
Reaction score
37
Points
228
Location
McIntosh County, OK
There are a lot of people who have moved to Oklahoma from California. Some are Okies who went there to work and when they retired moved back to Oklahoma to have a lower cost of living with a rural lifestyle.

We retired from the West coast of Florida to Oklahoma. We bought a 360 acre ranch here, it has 7 ponds, and needed a lot of brush clearing and general clean up, but that was all right because DH wanted a project, boy he has one too.

We paid $145,000.00 for it, and a gas well came with it and has paid us about $20,000.00 in royalties.

We built a new home, just a modest ranch, 1800 sq. ft. plenty of room for 2 people. Of course, a big tractor barn and shop, a chicken house 12'x 24', a nice dog kennel for the birddogs, and two goat barns. One for the boys, one for the girls.

Our real estate taxes for the place is $2,200.00 a year.

We love it here, there are three small towns close by, and Tulsa is only 1 hour North of us.

I get upset if I go to Checotah and there are more than 3 cars in front of me at the main red light in town.

DonnaBelle
 

WhiteMountainsRanch

Loving the herd life
Joined
Mar 5, 2012
Messages
2,016
Reaction score
144
Points
168
Location
Southern California
DonnaBelle said:
There are a lot of people who have moved to Oklahoma from California. Some are Okies who went there to work and when they retired moved back to Oklahoma to have a lower cost of living with a rural lifestyle.

We retired from the West coast of Florida to Oklahoma. We bought a 360 acre ranch here, it has 7 ponds, and needed a lot of brush clearing and general clean up, but that was all right because DH wanted a project, boy he has one too.

We paid $145,000.00 for it, and a gas well came with it and has paid us about $20,000.00 in royalties.

We built a new home, just a modest ranch, 1800 sq. ft. plenty of room for 2 people. Of course, a big tractor barn and shop, a chicken house 12'x 24', a nice dog kennel for the birddogs, and two goat barns. One for the boys, one for the girls.

Our real estate taxes for the place is $2,200.00 a year.

We love it here, there are three small towns close by, and Tulsa is only 1 hour North of us.

I get upset if I go to Checotah and there are more than 3 cars in front of me at the main red light in town.

DonnaBelle
WOW. Just WOW. :th That is what I want. :D
 

PotterWatch

Overrun with beasties
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
423
Reaction score
8
Points
98
Location
Virginia
DonnaBelle said:
There are a lot of people who have moved to Oklahoma from California. Some are Okies who went there to work and when they retired moved back to Oklahoma to have a lower cost of living with a rural lifestyle.

We retired from the West coast of Florida to Oklahoma. We bought a 360 acre ranch here, it has 7 ponds, and needed a lot of brush clearing and general clean up, but that was all right because DH wanted a project, boy he has one too.

We paid $145,000.00 for it, and a gas well came with it and has paid us about $20,000.00 in royalties.

We built a new home, just a modest ranch, 1800 sq. ft. plenty of room for 2 people. Of course, a big tractor barn and shop, a chicken house 12'x 24', a nice dog kennel for the birddogs, and two goat barns. One for the boys, one for the girls.

Our real estate taxes for the place is $2,200.00 a year.

We love it here, there are three small towns close by, and Tulsa is only 1 hour North of us.

I get upset if I go to Checotah and there are more than 3 cars in front of me at the main red light in town.

DonnaBelle
The difference in real estate prices is astounding. We own a house in a nearby city that is about 1200sq ft. on an 8,000 sq ft lot. It's an ok neighborhood, but not fantastic. I wouldn't send my kids to the schools there. We paid 10k less for that house than we are paying for the farm in Virginia. What a difference!
 
Top