What should i get?

[Ilovemychicks08]

In Yelm the city line ended on the property line. Next door could keep livestock, our 5-acre piece couldn't. This was i Washington state. In Texas there is a special agriculture designation on property used for agriculture which significantly lowers your property taxes. But if that designation has lapsed because no livestock have been kept continuously on the property it takes 5 years of constant livestock keeping in 7 years to renew the AG designation. And the number of acres that qualify for the AG tax qualification varies greatly from county to county. In Wood County 5 acres with the appropriate number of animal units qualifies. In Travis County you need a minimum of 12 acres on the east side of IH35 and 20 acres on the west side. There can be a big difference in required acres to qualify for the AG designation. And beekeeping requires more acres due to the proliferations of bees which are considered a nuisance or danger. It doesn't cost anything to do your due diligence now before you begin shopping for your property.

And if you plan to build from scratch, start learning those skills now if you don't already have them. Reading up on building requirements and techniques puts you ahead of the game. Library books, U-tube videos, HGTV, DIY, and Magnolia channels can teach a lot. I learned a lot more building tricks from HGTV when I was laid up during chemo years ago. The more you know the more problems you can avoid. I always learn something new from DIY channels. Even if it is what not to do!

Enjoy your new adventure.

Thanks for the zoning info! I know how to build a house already, having remodeled multiple and building 2 additions on 2 houses. I also have family member and friends that can help.

 

[Ridgetop]

Sounds like you are good to go once you find your land. Have fun! Raising livestock with our children and watching them do 4-H activities were the happiest times of our lives.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Sounds like you are good to go once you find your land. Have fun! Raising livestock with our children and watching them do 4-H activities were the happiest times of our lives.

I am going to be showing the animals to atleast for 2 more years. We are looking still and hopefully will have land in under a year. Thank you all!

 

[Show Sebright]

Checing the zoning is imperative. Years ago, we planned to move to a horsekeeping area BUT found out that the limit was 3 horses OR 3 rabbits! Then we inherited my aunt's property in Yelm, WA. She had kept a lot of livestock. It had a cute house that we had remodeled for her, 2 good huge barns, a 2 room bunk house, and a wonderful well with good GPM. The pastures were green all year. We learned that the property had been included in the city limits several years earlier. We could not have any large livestock, and only 3 chickens! Don't believe anything that the real estate agent tells you. Don't think because the next-door neighbor has livestock that your property is zoned the same way. Check the zoning with the city before buying.

Just curious, can you get your property rezoned.

 

[Ridgetop]

We checked on that. My aunt had opposed the zone change. A property owner wanted to subdivide his large property and build houses so the city changed the zoning on his and all the adjacent parcels. If we had owned 100 acres or more of the surrounding and we could have requested a zone change BUT it would be expensive. In my aunt's case they allowed her to "grandfather in" but since she had several strokes and no longer kept livestock we could not slide in under the "grandfather" clause. We were very upset because we liked the property, had completely upgraded all the mechanicals, redone the interior, reroofed the newer barn, and it just needed new fencing to move in with our sheep. We also had made friends at the church. DH wanted to just move in and try to claim the "grandfather" zoning, but we checked with the city and they said no. It had a wonderful well, water was delicious and high gpm volume. The barn nearest to the house was perfect for the sheep, jugs, etc. The farther barn was huge and perfect for hay storage, tractor and trailer storage. We planned to add a small bathroom to the 2-room building and convert it to a combination guesthouse for relatives or a canning house. We were devastated about it. DH loved the place. My siblings live outside Seattle so we had relatives a few hours away and our kids would have been thrilled to come visit. We sold the property and bought our ranch in Texas. Now with the crazy liberal government in WA destroying the state, we are happy not to be there, but it was a wonderful property. DH loved it.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

I guess im happy im not living in WA it kinda seems like there are to many rules. I know we can rezone here but its expensive.

 

[Ridgetop]

Just check zoning for yourselves - don;t rely on real estate agents. We got an over-asking offer on our WA property from a family with a special needs child. They had gotten him a pony then the family took up riding and wanted to bring their horses. They were moving from out of state. I told our agent to inform them to check the zoning. Since the child was special needs and the pony was a "support animal", it was possible they could get a variance. Our agent did not tell them anything since he hoped to get the sale through. I notified the buyer's agent myself via email when I found out. They were unable to get the variance. If the buyers had gone ahead with the purchase relying on our agent, they could have sued us even though I told our agent to have them check zoning. I fired our agent.

Some of the undeveloped property behind us has changed hands several times. One buyer had home plans drawn up to build 3 homes on the 10 acres. The agent had told him that the dirt road crossing the back of our property was a public road. The next buyer was told the same thing. A friend bought a house with an adjoining field fence for horses. When he went to build his barn an access easement showed up that blocked him from building anything on the property. he sued the Title Insurance company that had missed the easement and ended up buying the easement back. Years in the courts, and a lot of money spent on lawyers. Still no barn on the property 25 years later.

Real estate agents will tell you or let you believe anything to get the sale. Our agent is a personal friend BUT I still check with the zoning and tax assessor before buying the property. I trust him but the seeing agent can mislead the buyers' agent too and the description of the property your agent will rely on is not always truthful.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Just check zoning for yourselves - don;t rely on real estate agents. We got an over-asking offer on our WA property from a family with a special needs child. They had gotten him a pony then the family took up riding and wanted to bring their horses. They were moving from out of state. I told our agent to inform them to check the zoning. Since the child was special needs and the pony was a "support animal", it was possible they could get a variance. Our agent did not tell them anything since he hoped to get the sale through. I notified the buyer's agent myself via email when I found out. They were unable to get the variance. If the buyers had gone ahead with the purchase relying on our agent, they could have sued us even though I told our agent to have them check zoning. I fired our agent.

Some of the undeveloped property behind us has changed hands several times. One buyer had home plans drawn up to build 3 homes on the 10 acres. The agent had told him that the dirt road crossing the back of our property was a public road. The next buyer was told the same thing. A friend bought a house with an adjoining field fence for horses. When he went to build his barn an access easement showed up that blocked him from building anything on the property. he sued the Title Insurance company that had missed the easement and ended up buying the easement back. Years in the courts, and a lot of money spent on lawyers. Still no barn on the property 25 years later.

Real estate agents will tell you or let you believe anything to get the sale. Our agent is a personal friend BUT I still check with the zoning and tax assessor before buying the property. I trust him but the seeing agent can mislead the buyers' agent too and the description of the property your agent will rely on is not always truthful.

Lucky i have a immediate family member thays a real estate agent. I find that wrong that they would do anything just for the money. Land is really hard to come by in Southern Wisconsin right now.

 

[Baymule]

Lucky i have a immediate family member thays a real estate agent. I find that wrong that they would do anything just for the money. Land is really hard to come by in Southern Wisconsin right now.

It’s great that you have somebody that’s going to look out for you.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

It’s great that you have somebody that’s going to look out for you.

Yea, we have friends that have pigs and meat cows. So we were hoping to get some sheep, goats, or different cows. They give us meat from their pigs. Thank you all again!