5 Tips For Planning Your Home in the Country

From the Allegheny Mountains of Western Maryland to the rolling farmland of Pennsylvania to the quaint coastal towns of Delaware, the mid-Atlantic area offers something for everyone who is dreaming of their very own place in the country.

If you’ve been contemplating a move to a rural location, with some careful planning, research and legwork, you can make an informed property selection and start living the life of your dreams. To help get you started, following are a few tips to establish how you would like to use your property, choosing a location, and why it’s best to get to know the area before buying property there.

Tip #1 - Activity

Knowing how you wish to use your land will help define property features to look for, according to Cindy Stys, a Realtor and founder of Cindy Stys Equestrian and Country Properties, Ltd. who serves eastern Pennsylvania.

“Do you have a specific use in mind such as gardening, hunting or raising horses? Or do you just want to enjoy nature? Hunters may want sloping, wooded land whereas horse enthusiasts prefer green, level acreage,” says Cindy. Specifying your intended land use will also guide decisions such as the amount of acreage and location, and can help the Realtor prepare you with pertinent zoning regulations.

It’s imperative to familiarize yourself with current local zoning regulations, which, according to Cindy, are becoming stricter regarding livestock, especially horses. She recently worked with sellers of a horse property who had had their horses on the property for years. “Unfortunately, zoning changed a few years ago and required 2.5 acres for the first horse and one acre for each additional horse. Since their property was relatively small, they could only keep one horse even though they had a multi-stall property,” Cindy says.

Check back tomorrow for Tip #2!

Article written by Jean Paffenback and republished from MidAtlantic Farm Credit's Farm Credit Leader Magazine.