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[Lynn Wigglesworth <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>]

bob ford wrote:

> I'm curious, how to you come to pick "place"?.  I've looked and bought and 
> sold in different areas of the country, never can find just what I want.  

I'm not Bev, but I can tell you how I picked my place. First, I knew the 
area of the country I wanted. It was a large area, from West Virgina up 
to Maine. I wanted real seasons and a relatively cool, not humid summer 
(that eliminated the south and much of the coast). I pictured the 'look' 
that I wanted...rolling green hills. Lots of pasture and farms, with 
lots of trees between farms. My family had vacationed in upstate New 
York for years, so I knew that much of the Northeast fit my vision. Then 
I looked at land prices and taxes and general cost of living.

Northern Pennsylvania was a good fit for me. New York has high taxes. 
Vermont has high land prices. If I moved to Maine, it would be near the 
coast, and that's expensive. I looked at lots of areas online, then we 
came up here for weekends and just drove around, over 3 counties. I saw 
this place and saw (in my minds eye) the kind of farm I wanted. Everyone 
else saw a rundown farm that had everything of value sold at auction. I 
bought the newspaper from the local town, had it mailed to me in Philly, 
and read it for almost a full year before we bought. After reading a big 
city paper, a rural newspaper was delightful. Who shot the first buck of 
the season, who caught the biggest fish. No murders or serious crime. 
Someone breaking into an unlocked car made the headlines.

The fact that, after a year, my farm was still available was a clue to 
the economy (it had, in fact, been on the market for 9 years). Houses in 
town sell quickly, but farms are a white elephant. I knew this wasn't a 
property I could sell easily, but I have no intention of ever moving, so 
it doesn't matter to me. By coincidence, this farm was going to auction 
for back taxes/mortgage just as we wanted to buy it. The government had 
somehow ended up owning it (farm mortgage, I think). We got a lawyer who 
negotiated us a great deal; the government was happy to take pennies on 
the dollar since they'd get cash, and we got it for about half the going 
rate for bare land (with a house, barn, and lots of outbuildings). We 
put every cent into paying down the (small) mortgage and making 
emergency repairs (new roof on the house, structural work on the barn). 
When my ex bailed out, the farm was accessed at double what we paid for 
it, so I had to pay him half of that price. So here I am with a 
falling-down farm :-)


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