7 Essential Things to Consider Before Buying a Rural Home

Dec 17, 2019 | Country Home

The benefits of living in the countryside seem endless. Peace and quiet, less light, air and noise pollution. Stunning views, wildlife and a chance to do more with your property.

We were recently visiting friends the other night who’s home sits atop the Niagara Escarpment in Pelham. During an early evening stroll through their property, we saw a family of whitetail deer run through the wooded section of their property – just lovely!

Here are 7 things you should consider before making the move to a rural home.

1.  Your Plans For The Property.

Do you hope to raise animals on the property? Build a small barn or large storage facility? Make sure to check with your municipality that you can go ahead with these plans BEFORE you buy the home.

The two most common restricting forces you could run into when wanting to make changes have to do with zoning and conservation.

a) Zoning by-laws

Existing zoning and zoning by-laws place by municipalities can have an impact on:

• How you use your land
• What type of structures you can have on the property
• Where structures are placed on the property
• Specific use restrictions (e.g. size of your property and the number of livestock animals you can keep there)

b) Conservation Authorities, or the Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry

These authorities can also have an impact on what you do with and on your property. Especially as country homes are oftentimes located in protected areas (like the GreenBelt). Restrictions might be anything from what you build on your property, the animals you keep to restrictions on cutting down or altering trees.

2.  How Far Away is Too Far?

You’ll definitely want to consider how far away from your current home is too far! Having to make a 10+ minute drive back into town because you forgot to buy milk might not sound too bad but after it happens a few times, it can get frustrating.

Being that much further away from friends may mean you don’t see them as often as you did before. And going out for dinner can feel like a task when you have a 20-minute drive back home.

If the school bus doesn’t have a route passed your new home you may have to drive your kids to a spot that the bus does come to or drive them into school altogether.

Although, in our opinion, the benefits of living in a rural home completely outweigh the concerns of being too far.

Nowadays it is also possible to buy a country home that is not too far away from all the amenities you might love about city life. It all just depends on you and the lifestyle you prefer.

3.  Types of Utility Systems

You can find country homes on the outskirts of town that are connected to local municipalities – making the transition from city to country living a breeze.

However, the majority of countryside or rural homes on the market today have some sort of utility system that you don’t see in town.

In short, drinking water systems often come from wells or cisterns. Your sewer system is often a septic system with some sort of absorption or leaching bed. Heat can be produced by propane, occasionally electric or an oil type system as well.

For more information on these types of systems, you can read this article here.

4.  Living Next To Operating Farms

Often times living in the countryside is glamorized by large manicured lots with grand estates, where the neighbouring farm has cows dotting the hillside, an adorable little farmhouse and red barn that tie it all together. Don’t get me wrong, with the right budget we can probably find this for you but sometimes living near operating farms can take some getting used to if you have always lived in the city.

A few years ago we kept our horses at a barn in Wainfleet and right next door was a farmer’s field. Every summer the farmer would fertilize his field with a very (VERY!) pungent-smelling fertilizer. It was chicken manure fertilizer.  I spent a lot of time on a dairy farm with my best friend growing up, I can handle animals smells of all kinds but this would definitely take some getting used to.

You might be changing the sounds of traffic and fire trucks for machinery operating in the early hours of the morning and more dust. Most people are fine with this but occasionally some are not.

I only bring this up as a point because we have heard a few stories of people being unhappy living beside a farm and have tried to make complaints against the farmer (silly I know). Farmers are an integral part of our community and we always want to make sure our clients know what they are getting into before we make an offer.

5.  Road Accessibility

It is a good idea to look into how accessible the road getting your property is year-round. 

This typically won’t be a problem if you live close enough to town but it is not uncommon to find that rural roads may not be plowed in the winter by the municipality or if they are, they are plowed last.

In more rural settings, sometimes private companies are contracted out to plow these roads for you, with the neighbours who live on the same road often sharing this cost.   Sometimes the road can remain unplowed for days depending on the amount of snowfall and getting down your road could be a real challenge.  

If you can’t get down your road the school bus can’t either which means kids may have more snow days in the year; I am sure they won’t mind this, but it is something you will have to plan for.

6.  Having the Right Maintenance Equipment

For those winter months you may need a snowblower if you’re on a big lot with a relatively normal-sized driveway, but if your driveway is two hundred feet long or more, having a tractor with a plow might be an essential piece of equipment to purchase. 

For the spring, summer and fall months you may need a riding lawnmower, or possibly a tractor with a bush hog to cut the grass.

Hiring someone to plow your drive or mow your lawn is also an option.  

7. Is the Country Lifestyle For You and Your Family?

For some people buying a country home means more space and a chance to use the land by either keeping a few animals like chickens, goats, more dogs and so on. Others have the idea of growing their own fruits and vegetables in an aim to become more self-sufficient. Others simply want a bigger house, a bigger property and more privacy.

We like to make sure that, no matter what reasons our clients have for wanting a more rural lifestyle, they know what they are getting into.

Definitely consider why you think this lifestyle is for you. If you enjoy the nightlife or dining out every night and the buzz of a busy city then no, rural or country living may not be your thing.

Living on a large acreage will be work on some days, and the reality of living the countryside dream might not be as romantic as once thought.  All of this said, most people considering this lifestyle are not going to mind the extra work and are likely to find it gratifying and worth it.

If you are considering buying a country home, we, and many others, recommend downloading our FREE Country Home Real Estate Guide.

Rural Home Utilities in Ontario

Dec 17, 2019 | Country Home

Moving to the countryside can be a big leap for people who have been used to a small home in the suburbs or a condo apartment in a big city.

One of those hurdles to get used to are often the utility systems that can come with country or rural living. 

We have put together a little list of the utilities you might expect to find in a country home in Ontario.  These are by no means extensively detailed explanations of how these systems work but rather a basic overview.

You can click on the links below to jump to your utility of interest.

• Heating
• Water
• Sewer
• Electrocity

HEATING

There are a variety of heating types found in country properties, from old electric systems to propane and oil systems as well.  If you are not too far out of town you may even be lucky enough to be connected to a natural gas line but of course, that depends on where the nearest gas line is located.  Some older properties may even rely on wood stoves and fireplaces for a portion of the heating but those are relatively rare (and also quite self-explanatory) so we won’t be covering those today. 

Propane

Propane has a pretty good reputation when it comes to heating homes. It is typically a cleaner alternative to oil and quite an efficient way to heat your home when compared to natural gas or electricity. Propane is stored as a liquid in a tank outside of the home (either in an above or underground tank). These furnaces work very similarly to any other forced air furnace. Propane typically needs to be delivered to your home by a licensed company which is the only real “inconvenience”. You can also use this propane for items such as gas stoves, fireplaces, and even hot water heaters. If you’d like to get into the nitty-gritty about propane you can read more here. 

Oil

Typically you’ll either find a furnace or boiler system when it comes to oil heat. In short, there is a combustion chamber where the oil is ignited and then an exchanger that warmers the gases. 1. Furnaces use a fan or flower and vents to send the warm air throughout the home. With a 2. boiler you’ll likely see a pump pushes heat through pipes to radiators. Here’s smart touch energy again with more in-depth information on how oil heat works.

Electric

Typically found in older homes. Electric heaters or furnaces aren’t very cost-effective at least here in Ontario where our hydro costs are very expensive. You’ll need to be hooked up to the grid to have this type of heat (similar to natural gas). Typically no ductwork is found if the home was originally built with the intent of heating the home via electricity. So, in homes like this, you often find that they also don’t have A/C. It is, of course, possible to remove and install a natural gas or propane furnace but ductwork will need to be added which can be costly.

GeoThermal

There are several types of geothermal heating and cooling systems available. We won’t be going into each and every one. Here is a great guide if you’d like more in-depth details. In brief, pipes are buried into the ground below the freezing line. Both an ethanol-based fluid in the pipes and the heat from the earth are extracted and transported through these pipes into the home. The heat is then distributed throughout the home either by ducts or radiant heat.

Credit: Geothermal Heating EPA

 

 

Natural Gas

Most of you know what these are all about so we won’t go into great detail here. If you live in a relatively modern home in an urban area you could find a house that is heated via a natural gas furnace.

When it comes to heating, we sometimes see a combination of some of the above in rural and country homes. For example, you might have an electric and propane combination. We often see a lot of homes in the country with electric or wood-burning fireplaces as well which help to heat your home.

WATER

Well

Depending on where your property is located and if there is adequate and safe groundwater, your country home will likely have a well. In short, a well is dug and a pump inserted that brings up the water from the ground and into your home. Having a useful well is great because you don’t have to pay for water. However, before you purchase a property it is essential that you have an inspector inspect the well and get well tests done to ensure it is safe for drinking and not contaminated. For more details click here.

Cistern

When your property does not have adequate or safe drinking water you’ll likely have a cistern. Essentially there is a holding tank that either collects rainwater or you can purchase the water yourself and have it trucked into your property.  If you have ever seen the trucks with tanks on the back that say something like “Ed’s Water Haulage”, “Ed” is trucking water to someone who has a cistern that needs filling.

Municipal

There are country homes that, if not located too far outside of town, are or can be connected to the local water system. This makes things simple for those moving from the city to the countryside.

SEWER

Septic System

In the countryside, it is common to have what is called a septic sewer system.  There are quite a few different types of septic sewer systems, but the most common one in Ontario is the septic holding tank combined with some type of absorption system such as a leaching bed, where liquids are filtered through and then absorbed back in the ground.  The solids and sludge in the tank will require an outside service company to visit the property from time to time to suck out all the contents with what is basically a giant vacuum on the back of a big truck.   There will be a cost for this service so it is something to budget for.  As the property owner, the condition of this system will be your responsibility, so being careful with what you flush or dump down the drain will be something you will want to educate yourself on. You can read more here. 

Municipal Sewer

Again, if the property is located close to city limits you might be lucky enough to be connected to the local sewer system meaning you don’t have to worry about maintaining or keeping an eye on your septic system. However, you are then connected to the grid.

Electricity

This system is pretty straight forward.  Unless you are building a house that you have to fly in a bush plane to get to, you will most likely be connected to the electrical grid. 

One potential opportunity though would be to supplement your electricity by creating your own!  This will be site and location dependent.  But if your plot is right, you may want to explore, solar and wind as possible systems to create some of your own power.   If your property and systems are large enough you might even be able to obtain a contract with the Ontario government to sell electricity back to the grid.  This would require a real cost to benefit analysis, as large scale systems are expensive and you are required to pay for the system yourself.  Speaking to an expert will give you clarification on whether this is a viable option worth entertaining.

If you have any questions, reach out.