Property Search, week 3

From property20070415

Oh my.

That WAS all I was going to say, but really, I should say more.

We visited a lot today that I really didn't have any expectations about. We were actually supposed to go look at another 300+ acres just a few hundred yards from here, that the owner was willing to divide, but first we visited the initial lot we had heard about. It was 47 acres of land that was really very affordable (because otherwise 47 acres would be out of our price range). The reason? A planned power line bisecting the lot diagonally. But after some discussion we agreed that, with 47 acres total to deal with, the planned lines and their easement would still leave tons of land available, without even needing to worry about giving birth to flipper babies.

Even so, from the photos we had it was easy to tell the land was sort of barren, not many trees. Loggers had cleared most of it back in 2000. I think Sarah was more excited than I was about this lot before we saw it, just because there was so much land so cheap. Also, a lack of trees is actually better for her plans, since it means, rather than needing to clear off a bunch of space, all we have to do is plant where we want. I wasn't terribly excited at the prospect, though, because I was hoping for at least some of it to be woodlands.

Well, forget all that. The property had more than one "oh my GOD" moment, things we weren't expecting or were so much more than we had expected. I don't think we had any conception of what 47 acres would look like. It's huge. We're still sort of curious about the western border of the property... by all the maps we have it appears to be the creek that runs along the western side, but we came across a marked line stretching across the property before we hit the stream. But the area around the line had been cleared (about a two foot wide line) and we haven't come across anything like that before. So we're beginning to think the line may be for the proposed power line.

And as far as the lack of trees goes, I was taught a valuable lesson when we got home, where the strong winds had knocked a huge tree into the house next door.

So, at any rate, we've got an appointment for a proper viewing next Wednesday. If that confirms what we believe, and assuming we can arrange the finances in time to nab it, this may be it.

EDIT: Sarah just got off the phone with someone in the Georgia Transmission office about the power lines. They will, unfortunately, be the giant metal 500-kilovolt lines. We were, however, right about those markers marking the location. So now we REALLY have to debate.