The House Might Be A Little Romanticized!

The dream of a few acres of land, a home, and a machine shop still burns in my soul. My wife and I continue to pour over internet real estate listings and pepper old business associates for farmstead leads in their rural areas.

We have found a number of properties that fit our basic requirements of a home with :

• Bedroom, laundry and bath on the main level.
• Small amount of acreage
• 2 guest rooms
• Trees and grass
• A machine shop to hold my tools and keep me busy
• Priced under $100,000

This property can be located anywhere in three state area of North Dakota, Minnesota, or South Dakota– with our preference being in the Southeastern Minnesota area.

Now obviously we are not expecting to find a mansion in this price range and we understand that we might have to replace an orange countertop or deal with gold bathroom fixtures. But I will hold the line at structural defects like failed roofing, a leaky septic system or no access to internet.

Our new abode must be within a life flight of a hospital (in case work in the machine shop goes badly)

This week we will be contacting a real estate agent about three properties in Southern Minnesota. All have their share of good points and bad. After looking at the pictures of the properties, my wife pointed out we will need a way to clear the long driveways of snow in winter. Guess I’ll have to get a snowplow blade for my old Ford Ranger or a good John Deere tractor.