There is a definite trend of people migrating to rural areas for a number of different reasons. Some want to get away from the noise, pollution and stress of living with neighbors on top of them, others want to preserve a little slice of heaven, while still others are looking for an investment they can sell as the suburban sprawl knocks at their back door. If you think that living out in the boonies is just for simple folk, you’d be sorely mistaken considering that over 90 percent of the U.S. is rural and much of it has shown a marked increase in value during the last few years. With the recent economic downturn, now may be an opportune time to look for motivated sellers, but trends in sales and prices can really only be evaluated at the regional level. If you have the heart of a cowboy, you might want to take a look at Texas ranches for sale or if you’re looking for something a bit more modest, then there are many good opportunities on Texas land for sale if you’re willing to do your homework.

Buying untouched property is not for the faint of heart or for impatient people. Many people are planning for the future and dreaming about building a vacation or retirement home or maybe some just want a place to stretch out and have some fun hunting and riding dirt bikes. But, to keep your head out of the clouds and your feet on the ground when you fall in love with that pristine piece of real estate, don’t forget the following advice. First of all, don’t get emotional where you might be tempted to overpay. Regardless on how much you spend on upgrades you might make to the property, you can’t expect to get it back if you decide later to sell. Don’t be surprised when you struggle to stay within your budget, the property itself and the prep work done to it before construction begins shouldn’t be more than 30 percent of the total cost of the entire project. Here are some of the often unforeseen expenses that will inevitably be encountered during this process.

Be diligent in determining how you will gain access to utilities and how much it will cost. You’ll have to find out if you’ll have access to water lines or if it will be necessary to dig a well. The further down you have to go to reach water, the more expensive it will be to dig. In addition, foul-tasting water due to iron or other impurities will necessitate spending even more to install a water filtration system in your new home. Once you have water, it will need somewhere to go and there usually aren’t sewers in the country, so then you’ll have to find out if and where a septic tank can be located. And that’s not all — you still need to determine how you’ll get hooked up to electricity and phone lines, since cell phone towers are few and far between in the country. Ever since fuel prices skyrocketed, it is more expensive to transport building materials as you get farther away from more populated areas.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, but if you take your time, do your homework and hire competent professionals to give you advice, there is no reason why you can’t achieve your dream of country living.

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