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.