Still Waiting on Inspection Reports

image from unabashedlyprep.com

The home inspection yesterday was exhausting, but went well.

At one point in the morning, myself, my brother, my mom, and my real estate agent were trying to attend to/help the listing agent, home inspector, two septic inspectors, two well pup specialists, the radon inspector, a heating specialist, and a flooring and counter specialist.  That's a lot of people, and there were moments of chaos, but for the first time I was really happy to see a community of people gather together to help me get my farm up and running.

Even if we did spend almost two hours looking for the septic tank and never quite figured out the well situation.

Overall, the only unanticipated challenges were with the electrical work, which the homeowners hired an electrician to repair, but who didn't do a good job.  They didn't even do a satisfactory job.  Next week I will most likely bring in another company to give a second opinion, and depending on how high the cost is, I may ask the current owners to renegotiate.

The septic tank for the apartment was simple to find, but the tank for the house was a whole different issue.  It wasn't where the map from the septic company thought it was, and it wasn't where the map from the town said it was either.  They poked around the whole yard looking for the cover and using a wand to track an indicator that they flushed down the toilet.  Finally they found it - right underneath the house where they had added on.  I panicked for a minute, but after flushing two buckets of water down the toilet, we realized that the indicator just got stuck and that the tank is actually right at the front door.  Thank goodness.

The tanks ended up looking fine and passing inspection, and the good news is that because the leach field is in the front yard (where we just intended to let the dog hang out), instead of in the back yard (as the maps indicated), I now have at least another quarter acre field opened up for growing.  Hooray!

The well for the barn, chicken coop, and main field is total crap.  The cover had slid off the already-fairly-crappy-well a while back (really the only reason I had found it to begin with) and it was just filled with dead animals and debris.  Too much disrepair to make it worth fixing - the well company advised I filled it in.

Thankfully, the main well (which supplies the house, garage, and apartment) is pretty deep and had a very steady supply of 10 gallons per minute for over an hour.  They believe this is more than enough water for my needs, and if not, they can hydrofrack to extend the supply down the road.  For this upcoming season (and probably next) hoses will have to supply water to the barn and garden (at least there is an outlet near the garage hose, so I can use a frost-free hose in the winter!).  Down the road we can reconnect the faucets to the working well.  The unanswered question involves a second well pump in the house, with pipes leading out to the yard.  It's not currently supplying water, but it could indicate a third well on the property that we were unable to find.

The written inspection report didn't say much - actually a lot less than the last house.  I won't have the radon test back until next week, and I wasn't expecting the water test back either.  Unfortunately the water testing company emailed over a letter this morning saying that they could not perform the water tests because there was too much chlorine in the water.  I'm still trying to get a better understanding of how much is too much, and what that means in terms of use and cost of repair.  I know that sometimes chlorine is added to city/well water if the bacterial counts are too high, but the current owners are perplexed as they've never added anything to the well water.  Still waiting back on a few phone calls before I can figure out what to do next.

The estimates on home repairs have also started rolling in.  I was pretty spot-on with most of them, except for the flooring estimate and the countertops.  We'll have to think more creatively about how to get a quality product closer to our price range.  I'll figure something out.  Then hopefully I can present the package to the lending agency and take out additional money on my mortgage to do the essential repairs.

This afternoon I'm off to a meeting with a business advisor, hoping to get some questions answered and progress made on that end of things.  Buying a farm really is a full-time job!

Inspiration from Unexpected Places

Just over a year ago I received a VERY unexpected phone call from the post office at 7:30 in the evening.  Long story short: a box of 50 day-old chicks (destined for Kentucky) were accidentally shipped to me were officially mine.  That means I had the choice to ship them back to the hatchery (knowing none of them would survive the two day trip without food or water) or I could bring them back to my house, where I already had a batch of week-old chicks basking under the heat lamp in a children's swimming pool in my living room.  (I prefer to raise chicks in a pool because it's easy to wash, and because I can tell everyone who calls to check in that I am lounging by the pool).

Needless to say, I brought the peeping box home and set up a make-shift brooder to raise the chicks.

My life was utterly chaotic for a few weeks.  Two separate batches of chicks living in recycled appliance boxes in my living room made for noisy and dusty roommates.

(in case you doubted me - that's 12 hours worth of chick dusted accumulated on my dresser!)

Just in case you don't remember last winter - there was a CRAZY amount of snow.  Once the chicks grew wing feathers, my house was a scene from "Chicks Gone Wild."  When the surprise poops and peeps of "help!" in the middle of the night grew wearisome, I moved all of the chicks into one large playpen on the porch for a few weeks.

hay bales, baby fencing, and towels hanging on rope make the perfect temporary barn (well, maybe not perfect)

(part of the gang - can you spot neckie???)

As the chicks grew, as did my worries about their future.  I had fallen in love (instantly, of course) and desperately wanted to keep all of them.  I reasoned that 50 chicks (in addition to the 20-ish layers I already had) would make the perfect sized flock for egg sales at the farmers' market I ran.  I would build a movable coop and raise them in the pasture behind my house and eat quiche and egg salad sandwiches every day.  A could-have-been disaster turned into my first farm business.

first day outside!

So you can imagine that I was DEVASTATED when the owners of the farm I was working at told me that I couldn't keep any of the chicks.  I needed to find new homes for all of girls, and I had to be sure they were all good homes. It took a lot of searching (and math!) to divide the flock into several homes, but I managed to find wonderful farms for everyone to live at, as well as cover the expense of feeding and caring for them for two-three months.  (well, that's not entirely true - I kept honey sunshine, neckie, gertrude, and poquita and re-homed a few of my older hens).

A bunch of the chicks went to live at the Yale University student farm, where they've become a really important part of their educational programs.  Another bunch went to a nearby community farm with a vegetable CSA.  Smaller groups were adopted by nearby families looking for homegrown eggs.

For one of the families, raising the chickens didn't quite work out.  I found out today that several months ago they were re-homed to a nearby farm.  I ran into the farmer there today and she made a point of telling me how influential the chickens have been.  They have raised around 100 layers for several years, a standard red sex link variety.  But with the addition of the heritage birds, their customers started asking about the different colored eggs and becoming really interested.

The chickens caused the farmer to re-think that aspect of their business, and now their installing a hoop house to raise their birds in a healthier manner and are thinking of raising more heritage birds.  It's the tiniest detail (and really had nothing to do with me), but it really made me re-think my circumstances.

If I had kept all of those chicks, I wouldn't have been able to "retire" and pursue my dream of having my own farm. All of the families and farmers that have been affected by the personalities of hand-raised chickens (and their delicious eggs!) might still be shopping for breakfast at the supermarket.  A local farmer might not have considered eggs a viable part of their farm business.  

In the end, things worked out better than I could have planned.  It's the moral of the story time and time again, but it's still really hard to remember when you're living with disappointment.

Today I drove by the Lebanon farm and for the first time saw all of the ways the Ledyard farm was a better fit for ME.  I won't know until the closing date if this farm really is "the end" of the story, but I'm realizing more and more that, as always, things may work out better than I first planned.

I'm SO eager to get through the inspections and meet with the slew of contractors coming to give estimates on home improvements tomorrow.  I won't have all of the information I need, but by the weekend I should have a pretty good  idea of where we stand.  I'm just hoping that there are no big surprises and I can enjoy a relaxing weekend filled with hiking, chickens, and shepard's pie.

Speaking of pie, happy pi day!  :-)

Progress Report: Six Months

I've been on a bit of a blog-cation the past week: celebrating birthdays, weddings, and enjoying the spring weather we've been having!  I also needed a break from analyzing and writing about the farm, which has been overwhelming my thoughts.  I can't believe the closing is less than 7 weeks away (hopefully)!

Things I've Accomplished:

1. Farm Tours: Went on two farm marathons and visited several other properties to purchase.
2. Attended a farm marketing course, through Holistic Farm Planning.
3. Attended the CT NOFA Winter Conference.4. BOUGHT A FARM!
5. Received a $300,000 mortgage to purchase the farm through the Farm Service Agency's Beginning Farmers Program.


Things I'm Still Working On:

1. Finalizing my loan application (still waiting on an appraisal and final budget review) and working with my attorney to prepare for the closing.
2. Evaluating home (etc) inspections (all scheduled for Thursday morning).
3. Meeting other Ledyard Farmers.
4. Learning more about registering the farm and establishing it as a business (meeting with a business advisor on Friday).
5. Creating a specific crop/livestock plan for 2012 (finished my CSA vegetable crop plan today!).
6. Developing a logo and website (I hired a graphic designer and am working with Small Farms Central to host the website, which should be up and running in the next few weeks!).
7. Begin drafting orders for seeds/chicks/supplies (just waiting until everything is FOR SURE before I place the orders).
8. Conduct a land survey through NRCS (passed the preliminary environmental assessment last week!).
9. Acquiring estimates for all of the work that needs to be done on the home (already have electrical and roof estimates and have scheduled flooring, countertops, well, and heating system professionals for Thursday morning).
10. Figure out all of the other details of purchasing a farm that I don't know about yet!

Check out past progess reports here:
One Month
Two Months
Three Months
Four Months

Hope you're enjoying this lovely spring weather!  Wish me luck with the home inspection on Thursday (I'm so so so nervous!)!

A Few Farm Updates

image via pinterest

I've been away for a few days trying to de-stress.  Anxiety over this farm has given me a stomach ache I can't seem to shake.  Thankfully I have excel spreadsheets, to-do lists, and a wonderful fiance to help.  And chocolate cake.

I've been worrying about spending money, with the potential of losing this property looming over my head.  In fact, I spent all day Monday worried the deal would fall through because of an error in the contract.  The town had the property listed differently on maps - once with it as the full 6-acre parcel, and once with it subdivided into two, smaller parcels.  Even though we double checked the address before I signed, turns out I needed to sign for two parcels, and actually three addresses (the apartment is listed separately).  The current owners winter in Florida, so it more than a full day of worrying to straighten out the paperwork, but as of this afternoon it's settled.

Today I met the loan officers for an environmental assessment of the property.  This isn't something I had to do last time, because the other property was registered as a farm.  But basically we just walked around and I explained where I planned to grow what, and signed off that there were no hidden hazardous materials on the property that I know of.  It seemed to go well.

Hopefully tomorrow the appraisal will be scheduled, as well as the home inspection.  I hate that it feels like a risk this time around - knowing that if there is a problem we can't negotiate to fix I will have spent another thousand dollars on nothing.  I guess that's just how it works.

This whole process requires a huge leap of faith.  Yesterday I hired a graphic designer to pull together a logo (something I initially planned to do myself, but just can't seem to find the inspiration to pull together) and decided to abandon ship on designing our own website and instead host through Small Farm Central (which has amazing customer service and guarantees a level of searchability we'll need).  Next week I'll register the business through the state as a sole-proprietorship.  Initially I planned to register as an LLC, but for this first year the cost doesn't seem to outweigh the risk.  Though I'm still a little on the fence about it.

I'm still also deciding whether or not to defer the first mortgage payment for a year so that I feel less pressured to pull everything together.  But, then again, I work well under pressure and really need to maximize my income no matter what.  Repairs on the house are going to be costly and the farm needs to generate the income to pay for them.  I spent the whole afternoon fiddling with the budgets (thank goodness for excel!) and any way I add it up, it's a lot of money!

Did I mention that I'm REALLY good at worrying?

Oh, and trash day at our new house will be Monday.  And Ledyard recycles plastics 1-7.  It's settling the little details that really make me happy.  

Thank You

image from claywoodandcotton.com

The contract is signed for the Ledyard farm.  I spent a good chunk of yesterday in negotiations over what would happen if there were major problems found during the home inspection, and after three trips back and forth to the real estate office everything signed and agreed on.  I'm not thrilled with how it went, but that's life.  I can't give up on this property over tiny details. (Speaking of tiny details, I spent most of the afternoon at Home Depot, getting price quotes and learning about all sorts of DIY home restoration!  Get ready!)

Today I spent the entire day at the CT NOFA Winter Conference.  I'll admit, it's not my favorite conference of the winter, but it draws a slew of people interested in local food and offers quite the diversity of workshops.  I attended one on Marketing through a Website, another on Soil Fertility Management, and a third on CSA Planning.  I got to see a ton of people that I haven't seen in a while, so all in all it was a wonderful day.

Going to the conference was especially good because I have a tendency to not want to go anywhere when I don't have good news to share.  It's not something that I like about myself; I just don't like to talk about things until I have a plan in my own head.  Lately, I've been feeling like the Girl Who Cried, "I Bought a Farm."  Three farm properties in less than 6 months is a lot to explain and a lot to keep up with.  I know it's not my fault that things often just don't work out, but I still feel responsible.

So, thank you for all of your support.  For following along on this crazier-than-I-expected adventure and supporting me when the goings get tough.  I know I ramble, but it's still really nice to know there are other people out there that care.

I REALLY hope the Ledyard Farm becomes my home.

I bought a farm today (attempt 2)!

source unknown via pinterest

That's right - I'm buying a farm.  Again.

What I wrote in the last two posts about being firm on my price turned out to be all lies.  The current owners counter-offered my "best and final" offer (why does that keep happening to me?) with the price of $250,000.  It's high - higher than I want to go - but in the end I decided to just go for it. (After several hours of waffling and family consultation).

It's an awesome location, a really good piece of land, and I can afford it.  I didn't want to look back on my decision and worry that I made the wrong choice over $14,000.  Over 30 years of repayment - that'll feel like nothing (even though it's still a lot of money).  I was worried along that I would pay more for the property than it's worth because I felt like this was my last opportunity in the near future, and I'll admit that was a factor.  But the reality is that I'm desperate to give my dream of owning my own farm a shot and this property gives me that chance.

As far as the finances go, I need to talk with the loan officer tomorrow morning before I officially sign the contract (and sign the release contract of the Lebanon farm, losing out on being repaid the home inspection fee).  I think that I have the opportunity to borrow the full $300,000 loan I was approved for, and use the remaining amount to repair the outbuildings and purchase a tractor.  We'll see what makes sense.

Hoping there are no problems, we'll close on April 30 and I'll move in on May 1 - just as I was originally planning for the Lebanon farm.  The process will go much faster this time (the loan officer said 30 days) because I already have approved funding.  It just needs an appraisal and an inspection and we're good to go.  I hope that's not easier said than done.

I wish I could say that I'm excited.  That I somehow miraculously managed to find a comparable property and negotiate a contract in 2 weeks and I'm overjoyed and feeling extremely lucky.  But I'm not.  I'm afraid to be excited, knowing how quickly it can all fall apart.  I'm worried this farm won't work out either and the thought of all that disappointment makes me queasy.

Hopefully I'll feel more excited tomorrow after I speak with the loan agency and sign the contract.  Right now I'm stressed about all of the work that needs to be done on the loan application and all the things that could go wrong in the home inspection.  Really stressed.

I guess that finding another farm seems too good to be true.  But it's not.  I bought a farm today.

I bought a farm today.

Sick to my Stomach

I've been sick to my stomach all morning waiting for a call from the real estate agent.  I buried myself in a novel to help my mind to stop thinking.

My agent called back with a VERY disappointing counter offer around 2PM.  The sellers stated that the property is worth at least $287,000, and they think only $10,000 in repairs need to be done (stating my list of $50,000 was mostly cosmetic).  They countered with $277,000.

It's just terribly unrealistic of them to think that the property is worth that much, or that the repairs would be so minimal.  Or that anyone else could tolerate living in their level of grime.

I countered with $237,000 as my best and final offer.  The difference in numbers was too great to bother going back and forth over little increments.  And with the level of work that needs to be done, that really is the most I would be willing to pay and still trust that it would appraise below that price.

My real estate agent doesn't think they'll accept it, and I guess I'm not feeling too optimistic.  But I REALLY need this to work, so I'm holding out for a glimmer of hope.

Please please please please please please please....