Hi! Sorry everyone, it's been a busy weekend of gardening, chick raising and everything else we have to do, so I haven't had time to write.Here are the highlights....
The chicks are doing great and are growing very quickly...time for a bigger box!
We threw Steve a surprise birthday party on Friday when he came home from work. He got some new tools, a popcorn popper and a huge popcorn bucket for his favourite snack. In fact he and Meghan are in the kitchen now popping kernels! Lots of Meghan
and Kate's friends were over and since they all call him 'Dad' anyways it was a fun little party, and he really was surprised. I think he liked his 3 eyed purple monster ice-cream cake too.Saturday we had our gardening class which was a nice time to get together and share knowledge and tips. It's great for me to learn all the local wisdom of gardening here in the Maritimes. Thanks ladies! And Steve worked on getting the tiller tuned up and running.
Saturday afternoon we met a lovely couple from Annapolis who might be able to help us finance the purchase of a property. They understand about organic farming and the amount of work it takes to have a successful farm. Super nice! Now for the bad news...the property we love looks like it was sold earlier that day to another party. So now we have 2 choices...wait and see if that deal falls through before April
20th or look for another property. There are others around of course, so I think we'll hedge our bets by seeing what else is out there in our price range. There's no point on dwelling on what we can't have...we just have to pick up and move on. But since the decision to purchase a piece of land is a permanent one for us (we're never moving again) we want to make sure we get the place that's right for us and our goals. I've got a short list already...I think that I'll be doing some driving tomorrow to check out some places now that the snow has melted off them. And Steve has been very optimistic too that while we probably won't find as large a place again in our price range, maybe we can find something with more cleared land which means less initial work for us. He's got a good point. So if you hear of anything for sale that's 20-120 acres, suitable for farming, in Annapolis County between Greenwood and Paradise and under $50,000, please let us know. One property we've been looking at for a year has recently had another price drop down to $53,000 with a house and 62 acres...Steve likes it because it's a reno instead of a full out build so that's less work for him. Something to think about. There certainly are options out there and we just have to pick the right one for us. We're open to any advice you can give us, please leave a comment.Hope you all have a great week to come.
So sorry to hear your perfect piece of land got scooped - although it is still possible the deal may not clear. My sister and her husband just bought in rural NS the place they had fallen in love with, and got it at a much reduced price from asking. I think it doesn't hurt to offer low (especially if you aren't doing a private sale with people you know) - realty is business, not personal, after all. They can always say no, or make a counter. And you can't know what the seller's situation is - they may be happy to just sell the land - after all money is money. But if you think about your mortgage over 25 + years, any money you save in your initial offer is really a much bigger saving in the long run. That's my take. Still in Victoria where housing prices are ridiculous, but I've been thinking about real estate a lot. Also, find a realtor you are really comfortable with, who is a good negotiator and will get the best deal for you! Talk to them about their comfort level with lower offers, or other advice they may have - there are realtors and then there are realtors, in my opinion. Sounds like you will fairly soon but closing in on just what you want! Best regards, Linnaea
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