Leaving the "big city" for the country.

[EddieWalker]

... I believe he also wants to be able to hunt on it for some period of time, which I don't have a problem with as long as he doesn't act like he still owns the place...

While it's fine to let him hunt on your land after you buy it, or anybody else that you allow to do so, BE SURE that it's not in the contract, nor any part of the deal. If it is included in the contract, then it becomes a legal easment that gives him access to the land, and you cannot tell him to leave or stop him from accessing the land. He might be the nicest guy in the world right now, but there's allot of money at stake for him and he's putting on his best behavior until the deal is done. Once hunting season starts, you don't have a clue as to what type of person he is, what he'll do and how he'll act or respect you or your wife. Will he leave trash behind? tear up the roads if it's muddy? Cut down trees? Start fires? Shoot animals that are not legal to shoot? Bring friends with him? Camp out in your yard or want to come into your home? The list of things that he might do are almost endless. Most of them are what I would consider bad traits and why I would want to be able to kick somebody off of my land and never have them come back. If you can do this legally, your good to go, but if you have a contract that lets him use your land, there's not much that you can do about it.

Eddie

 

[wvpolekat]

Just got off the phone with him. Actually, my wife, the chief negotiator in the house did. Contracts will be done this week, then we will go up and grab them for our review. I will bring up your concerns, Eddie to the lawyer when we review. Thank you for bringing that up. Perhaps that will just be a handshake part of the deal.

We are looking at a mid August time frame to take possession. We want our older boy to not have to change schools. Owner was understanding of this.

Now, the part I hate. MOVING. I am limited in my lifting thanks to 3 hernias. Luckily, I have a brother in law that is an ox and I will hire him to do the heavy lifting.

Keeping my fingers crossed that the paperwork matches what we have talked about.

 

[wvpolekat]

Next question......

The boy's bedrooms are upstairs. Because we are fostering to adopt, we have to get it approved by the state. There is a window requirement for bedrooms. I am waiting on clarification if these can be skylights or if they have to open.

We can work around this for now, by using other rooms as bedrooms, but IF we wanted to, does anyone have any idea what it would take to add some dormer windows to the second floor rooms? I know that in steel arch buildings, the entire thing is structural and it's not as simple as just cutting a hole in it. Anyone know anything about this?

I am going to find out where the building was bought and contact them regarding it, which is going to be the definitive answer, but just trying to get an idea what we may be getting ourselves in for.

 

[Reverend Blair]

First of all, congrats on the new place.

All I know about WV, I learned from John Denver. I don't like John Denver much, but I kind of got the impression he'd never been there either.

You'll like living in the country, I think. It's a lot of work, but it doesn't really seem like work. Septic systems are a pain, wells and spring water suck to deal with. So what though? The utility companies are a hassle too. At least this way you have some control.

A couple things I'd consider, and keep in mind that the Canadian prairies are different than WV so this may not really apply. Still though, country is country.

1. Consider wood heat.

There are outdoor boilers available that will augment your in-house heating. Have a look.

A good wood stove will heat the main living space too. Not good as a main source of heat, but it will cut your costs.

2. Road clearing in winter.

First of all, get some old tractor tires and tie them in a diamond with chain. you can pull them behind a tractor or a 4x4 to plough your road.

Second of all, get either a snowblower or a scraper blade attachment for your tractor.

3. Isolation and kids.

Revel in it.

The tale of my nieces and nephews (in their late teens and early twenties now):

The ones who grew up in rural areas can fix things, entertain themselves, work hard, talk sensibly, and drink without acting like morons.

The ones who grew up in the city can manage to be more or less polite for short periods and hold jobs. I never give them whiskey though, and if I need help doing actual work I call their cousins.

I know the city kids will likely come around eventually, and they're all good kids, but they seem to be a lot less mature.

There's something about rural life that encourages kids to grow up faster. I don't know what it is, but I see it.

Windows:

I don't know for sure, but it seems to me that if you frame them in like you would in a wood structure, it should transfer the weight back to the structure below. You might have to weld or bolt some angle iron to the metal of the Quonset, then attach that to the wood though. Ask an engineer to find out for sure.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Disregard them at will...I'm no expert.

 

[dodge man]

Those travel times aren't bad at all. I know when you first drive to a place, it seems to take for ever, but when you put a watch to it, you find out it isn't that bad. Where I grew up, people had commute times longer than that but it might only be 10 miles away.

As far as well casings, have they done oil exploration in the past? Just a guess on my part.

As far as hunting goes, think about that one a little. Do it on a year by year basis. If it goes O.K., just let him keep doing it. If it doesn't go well, tell him you started hunting and are a selfish hunter.

 

[wvpolekat]

Not much oil exploration. But as of recently, LOTS of gas exploration. But not sure how long that has been going on or if it started with the energy prices.

I will walk out later and take a pic of the one in my yard here in town. Thankfully, they are big enough that you wont miss them and hit them with the mower or something.

 

[wvpolekat]

Slight update. I need to hound the telco some. MANY people around me have DSL, so I think that I may have to push a bit harder.

Little work with google maps shows me that a good friend that has DSL is 1.3 miles as the crow flies from me with only a logging road and woods between us. Worse comes to worse, I will order up a spool of single mode fiber and head out across the woods with it to them. Also looked at several options that will run over twisted pair out to 20,000 ft. Somewhat cheaper to go that way, but not as robust as fiber. Also looked at wifi, but with a lack of power along the route, I would need to put together something with solar and a battery to hang in trees, not ideal and really not any cheaper. But, lots of other options to get better Internet.

Called the county health department today to schedule getting the spring water tested (another foster license requirement). Will be 2 weeks before they can come out to collect a sample, but no big deal. As long as there is no ecoli, we are good.

Went over the floorplan in regards to the kids rooms with our state worker today as well. We will have to make some minor changes to meet their rules, but nothing significant.

Next, I need to go hook up my Woods finish mower and see why it sounds like "a thousand screaming demons", to use my wife's words. Probably a bearing somewhere. No biggie.

Overall, lots of progress today on little logistical things.

 

[MarkV]

I can only share my experience but I would not get too optimistic about the telcom working with you. We are less than a 1/2 mile from the last DSL junction and after 5 years of repeated inquirers, knowing people in the system, we don't expect it to happen for us. I suspect that with technology going more towards wireless the telephone hardwire system will see little updating in the future.

MarkV

 

[wvpolekat]

I agree, but my point is more that people on both sides have it. So, obviously, it can get to me.

 

[Mark in WV]

Sounds like you are making progress on this property.

On letting the previous owner hunt on your property, I would suggest you do a 12 month written agreement that states, when he can hunt, whom he can bring on your property & other clarifications. This will keep the problems down & allows you to control the situation.

With also living & owning rural property in WVa, I would suggest a trip to the Records Room at the County Courthouse. I would look up what the current owner paid for the property. I would search all back Deeds, Right of Ways and Easements on record. Also, (very important) see who owns the Oil, Gas & Mineral Rights, if you do not own them, a well can be drilled on your property at any time within 200' of any residence. Also, look at the book that contains the Recorded Leases for Gas & Oil wells, you might find that the property is "Under Lease" to a Oil & Gas Company. You can also check with DEP (304 926-0450) in Charleston to see about gas & oil exploration in that area, also any "abandoned" gas or oil wells that might be on this property. From your description this property sits on the Marcellus Shale gas reserve.

Good Luck - Mark