Two to consider

We drew up a list of properties that looked interesting on paper and hit the road on Friday night. It was a lovely evening for a drive and we were so excited to see 3 black bears and perhaps 30 deer along the way. At one point I saw a field full of deer, grazing at dusk.

We did drive-bys on approximately 8 properties and 2 of them intrigued us.

Property A is land-only, a short way up a dirt road, not too far from a trout-stocked lake. It's very off the grid with no services. There are 2 land parcels we could pick from, one is 50 acres and one is 80 acres. They both have nice sweeping views of the valley below.

Property B is also land-only with 20 acres, just outside of a small town. It's on top of a hillside, with town views in one direction and mountains in the other. It's over budget and has one other huge drawback: the current access road is very, very steep (def. 4x4 only) and it doesn't appear to actually be located within the boundaries of the property. But oh those views.

Property B video:

We've sent some questions to our realtor so we'll see what he says.

Picking up where we left off

Well, we've allowed ourselves to sulk for a few weeks and now it's time to get back in the game. We're going to go do property drive-bys this weekend. There are a couple that seem pretty good -- land only and the prices are right. And we may pop in to a winery or two and grab some bottles for the cellar.

No cabin

We didn't get the cabin :-( Bummer.

Waiting

Not much to report until April 13 when we find out if the first offer has fallen through.

Still waiting

We received a call from our realtor telling us that the seller has accepted the first bidder's request for an extension on their offer (they want more time to remove their subjects). So now we're stuck waiting for a couple more weeks and it's starting to look like this won't go through for us.

No word yet

Oh gosh, still no word. This waiting business is for the birds. Bleh. Three more days to go until we get the news.

Our back-up offer has been accepted

The seller has accepted our counter-counter-back-up offer. We've paid our deposit. And now there's nothing more to do until Friday when we get word about whether or not the first offer has gone through.

We've been countered

We received a call today from our realtor that the seller has made a counter-offer. We are very, very close so I'm fairly confident that we will be able to come to an agreement in the next 24 hours. However, it still leaves us twiddling our thumbs until March 30 when we will see if the first offer goes through. Eight days to go.

Our back-up offer is in

We have decided to proceed with putting in an offer, even though the seller has an accepted offer on the table. We are gambling that the existing offer will fall through and therefore we are submitting this "back-up offer". So our offer went in this morning and now the seller has two days to accept or counter. If the seller accepts this back-up offer, we then have to wait another seven days to find out if the first offer has fallen through. This is the part of real estate that I hate the most: waiting.

Renewable Energy Handbook

The Renewable Energy Handbook is the first book we've purchased as we begin this journey and it's been incredibly helpful. It has so many ideas that I hadn't even considered. I find myself soaking away in the tub at night, flipping through this wealth of information. 

Are we too late?

Our realtor emailed today to say that somebody else will be putting in an offer on the cabin today. Have we missed our opportunity? Don't know. We are going to continue doing our due diligence as there are so many things that can wrong with an offer on this property, not the least of which is the buyer's ability to obtain financing for a recreational property. That requires a very high down payment in most situations. Our realtor is suggesting that we put in a back-up offer.

Doing the math

Oh what to do? We are crunching the numbers on the cabin and trying to decide if it's a good buy. It's going to be close... So many things need to be done that are very expensive. Septic, insulation, drywall, plumbing, wood stove, well. Argh.

Log cabin tradeshow

We took a drive out to the suburbs this morning and visited a tradeshow for country living, including those living off the grid. There were quite a few alternate energy vendors so we got a good lesson on solar energy in particular. Very roughly, we could end up spending $10,000 for a solar set-up. That should be enough power for most of our needs so while it's a big up-front cost, it should require minimal investment over the years. And most importantly, it's a very green solution.

First visit

We left home at 9:00 on the button and hit the road in a downpour. Typical winter weather for our area. I took the first driving shift. After perhaps 1-1/2 hours, we turned onto the second road which includes a big climb, up and over a mountain pass. This is the part I was nervous about but it turned out to be mostly clear, well above the freezing mark, and an easy drive.

After passing kilometres of fruit trees, we arrived at the cabin site at 1:20, a few minutes early for our meeting with the realtors. There is approximately a foot of snow on the ground but it's old snow and the roads were clear and lots of melting around us.

We did a quick inspection of the well location but there wasn't much to see given most of it is under snow. We do know that the pump on the well needs replacing (goodbye $500).

The cabin sits fairly close to the road, but with a berm providing some privacy. The land is in a very narrow valley so while there's 10 acres as part of this purchase, the majority of the land is on the steep hillsides. The cabin faces pretty due south by my reckoning, with a generous porch and peaked green roof. The land slopes gently from north to south. We were very pleasantly surprised to see a pile of siding stacked on the grass -- hopefully an expense that we don't have to put out for. Most of the surprises so far have required spending money, not saving it.

There is another berm behind the cabin that is a potential location for solar panels -- with a nice open shot to sunshine. Also behind the cabin is the large generator, sitting inside a portable shed. We're not sure that the generator works but it's likely. The seller's realtor says he's started it up now and then over the last few years.

The cabin seems dry and relatively well built for something that is home owner constructed. A few minor modifications have been made to the layout so it's not quite as it appears on the floor plans that we have been pouring over.

The basement is full height -- perhaps 8'? There is a sump in place, the water access from the well, and the rough-in pipe for the septic (which I'm told these days is referred to as an on-site waste water disposal system). TH and I talked briefly about the possibility of putting in a bedroom downstairs but it would probably be very cold in the winter as there would be no heat downstairs.

We explored a little more, snapped pictures and headed for home after an hour.

Now we're doing our research and considering putting in an offer by the end of the week.

Getting ready for first visit

Tomorrow is the big day when we make the drive to see the property for the first time. I've been stressing about the drive all week as we need to go up and over a mountain pass to get there. And there is plenty of snow up there. I've been obsessively watching the highway traffic cam to see what the weather is like and while the roads are currently bare, I'm still worried. There is a chance we'll encounter fresh snow.

Assuming all goes well, we'll be meeting our realtor at the property at 1:30. I am wiggly with excitement. We're charging two cameras and my notebook is beside the back door, ready to go.

Price reduction

I looked at the MLS listing for the cabin and the price was reduced by $10,000 last night. Wow. This is exciting news although I hope it doesn't generate some competition for us. It is killing me to have to wait until next weekend for our visit.

We have been trying to not get ahead of ourselves but it is so hard to walk through Home Depot and not start discussing lighting choices, bathroom vanities, water options, etc.

The Husband (TH) is studying floor plans and designing the kitchen layout as I type this. This sure will be heartbreaking if we decide not to purchase it or if somebody else gets there before us.

A stale well

I spoke with our realtor today and he in turn has spoke with the seller's realtor. We are tentatively scheduled to visit the site in 9 days, not this coming weekend as I had hoped. Oh well, this gives our realtor time to do his job. He'll be better prepared which means we will be better prepared.

He told us that they had 8" of fresh snow today. And I was hoping for an early spring breakup.

One of the things we learned is that the well has been sitting unused for so long that it may be stale. Unusable. Which may mean digging a completely new well. We're guesstimating that this could cost anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000. I suppose this is our official initiation into possibly buying a rural property and the unexpected expenses that will arise. I also suppose this means that a water quality test will be one of our first steps. Is this an expense that the seller should pay? I don't know.

First steps

We are taking the first tentative steps in creating a cabin in the woods.

I stumbled on a real estate listing last week that sounds promising. A partially built house on 10 acres of property, in a rural location approximately fours hours from our home in the Vancouver suburbs. This location is off-the-grid so has no access to electricity. And no telephone although it may have cellphone coverage.

What the property does have is a (half) built house/cabin, a well and a huge generator. Also included are plans for a septic system, a building permit and potential rental income due to the nearby ski resort.

The property appears to have been on the market for several years. First the owner listed it by himself, and then it seems that he handed it to a professional realtor last fall. There have been atleast two price reductions that we can find via Google sleuthing. So perhaps we could get it at a good deal. I wonder if others are intimidated by the lack of creature comforts. Or having to finish the house. It's got a foundation, roof, doors, windows and studs in place. So a lot has to be finished including electrical, plumbing, drywall, bathroom, kitchen, wood stove and on and on.

Next step: a weekend road trip to view the site -- to see the area in person as I've never been there. The Husband (TH) has skied the nearby mountain and driven the road so he's one step ahead of me. The closest I can get is looking at highway traffic/weather cams a dozen kilometres away.

Let's see where this takes us. Will this property be the one or simply a bump in the road.