Property Search, week 2

From property20070331

Another Saturday, more property. This time it was several lots about an hour outside of Augusta. Most of them it was apparent pretty quickly they weren't suited to what we're doing. But the first one we saw, which wasn't a lot we were expecting anything from, was a real beaut. Its only drawbacks being a water feature that was very small and several mysterious campers that looked abandoned. Its pluses will be apparent in the photos. 30 acres, topographically great, with a couple of nice clearings and a really beautiful but odd feature.

Following that were several lots that didn't require much looking, along with a few other mystery campers. Then we hot the last lot, the main one we had headed out to see. It was around 30 acres and very affordable, backing up to a small lake, according to the maps. The property itself was very dense woodland, but the lake was not at all what I expected from the map. Much larger and beautiful. Honestly, we were really won over, just because of the lake. We didn't go very far into the actual property because from that side it was almost impassable. We went back to the truck and drove to the other end to see if we could find any ground inside. That's where we met our supposed potential neighbors, the details of which I'll leave to Sarah. But the short version: we got very lucky. We were probably well on our way to making a few stupid financial moves to get this property based solely on the lake. If we had, it would have been too late once we found out there redneck jackasses nearby who weren't thrilled with the weirdos looking around. Taking our leave, it was already becoming clear this was not an area we wanted to live in when I drove past the clincher: A right turn sign with "KKK" spray painted on it. Nice. So long, Washington County.

The verdict on week 1

I don't know how long it will be before Sarah's here to explain anything. So I thought I'd keep people posted as it goes. We liked the property for a number of reasons. We weren't exactly sure where the lots extended, that was why we were so comprehensive on the photos. So, we sat and mulled it over and waited on word from the agent on them. Once we finally got the map, the lots are 7 acre lots, very rectangular. We'd be looking at buying, say, 2 together. The area was a good mix of pasture and woods, which we like. But it did have 2 major issues that we've decided are a big deal: no water feature (though there was a dry creek bed that looked as if it must see water from time to time) and heavy power lines cutting right through. Looking at the map of lots it was obvious why these lots were still available: they were the only lots with the power lines cutting through.

So, in the end, we're still looking. We've got leads on a couple of areas for this weekend that look promising, but possibly a bit too pricey.

Our priorities are 1)land that is generally flat and 2) a water feature of some kind. Pond, creek, whatever. Beyond that, we'd like to avoid giant powerlines. Otherwise, the mix of pasture to woods is not as important. We'd just like to grab as much land as we can. Sarah might be a bit more specific.

Property Search, week 1

We spent today about 50 miles south of both Atlanta and Athens looking at property for Garden Fantasma. I won't even begin to try and explain what Garden Fantasma is, other than where we'll live in about 5 years or so, hopefully. I'll let Sarah explain the rest. Anyway, here are the photos from today:

From property20070324