Buying a homestead can feel a lot like dating. The listing photos catch your eye, you imagine your future together, and suddenly you are naming goats before you have even walked the property. But a homestead can look wonderful in its profile pictures and still be a terrible choice for a long-term relationship. Wendi walks you through the five stages of getting to know a property: the dating profile, the first date, meeting the family, discovering the baggage, and deciding whether it is actually relationship material. Along the way, she shares questions about flooding, fencing, zoning, deed restrictions, inspections, expenses, and workload. You will learn how to look beyond the pretty farmhouse and decide whether a property truly fits the life you want to build, even on an ordinary, tired Tuesday.
Nobody puts a picture of the barn in the listing and says, “We’re not completely sure what’s holding this thing up.” Buying a homestead is a lot like dating — and today we’re playing Would you date this homestead?
We’re past the basics. You know your price, your location, your acreage. This is what happens after the property catches your eye: what the listing photos aren’t showing you, what to look for when you finally walk the land, the deed restriction that nearly cost us the property we loved, and the plumbing problem hiding under our slab that no inspection caught.
I’m Wendi Bergin — Realtor, homesteader, and someone who has crossed a beautiful property off her own list more than once. Preparedness brings peace, not fear. That applies to buying land too.
Chapters
- 00:00 — Falling in love with a listing before you’ve seen the barn
- 00:45 — Why buying a homestead is a lot like dating
- 01:05 — Welcome to Would you date this homestead?
- 01:20 — The dating profile: what the listing photos are not showing you
- 01:55 — Decoding listing language: “rustic,” “peaceful country living”
- 02:20 — The Polk County drive-by, and the water we found
- 02:55 — Not in a flood zone yet: how new construction changes that
- 03:40 — The property that was 30 minutes from church, and why I crossed it off
- 04:25 — “Plenty of room for animals” doesn’t mean you’re allowed to have them
- 04:50 — The real question: the property, or the life you’re imagining in it?
- 05:05 — First date: get out of the kitchen and walk the land
- 05:35 — Would that fence actually hold the animals you want?
- 06:00 — Why we tore out every fence on our property
- 06:15 — Outbuildings: is there water and power to the barn?
- 06:40 — The pig waterer I didn’t know existed
- 07:20 — Pipes running there isn’t the same as water that works
- 07:50 — Stand still and listen: traffic, dogs, shooting ranges, smells
- 08:30 — Distance matters: barn to house, feed, groceries
- 08:55 — Why our goats may never make it to the barn
- 09:25 — The one nobody asks: what will chores be like in the rain?
- 09:45 — The coughing goat, the nice sandals, and church
- 10:30 — What a good agent is actually there to do
- 11:05 — “Would I still want to live there on a tired Tuesday?”
- 11:40 — Meet the family: zoning, deed restrictions, and yes, HOAs
- 12:20 — Five acres each, horses allowed, goats not
- 13:05 — “It takes one person to pull up those deed restrictions”
- 13:50 — What I screened for: ag zoning, no HOA, flood zone
- 14:25 — Easements, insurance requirements, and animal rules
- 14:50 — Why we couldn’t raise pigs in New Jersey
- 15:20 — Can you sell eggs? Park an RV? Run a business? Build a barn?
- 15:45 — Go deeper: episode 207 on buying land
- 16:05 — Well or city water, septic, who maintains the road, internet
- 16:40 — Calling the county until you get a real answer
- 17:25 — The baggage: every property has history
- 17:55 — Inspection questions worth asking out loud
- 18:50 — When the vines are doing most of the work holding up the fence
- 19:10 — None of this automatically means walk away
- 19:45 — Red flags don’t turn green because the farmhouse sink is pretty
- 20:10 — Slab houses, buried plumbing, and what we didn’t know
- 21:00 — Jackhammering up the half bath
- 21:40 — Relationship material: can you afford the house and the work?
- 22:35 — Land care in New Jersey vs. Florida, honestly
- 23:35 — What will you have to give up to own it?
- 24:20 — Maybe you need two acres, not five
- 24:50 — There is no perfect property
- 25:30 — Marry it, or thank it for a lovely afternoon
- 26:00 — What I actually want to know before I show you anything
- 26:40 — Buying outside Florida? I’ll help you interview an agent
A few things worth writing down
- The listing tells you whether you want a first date. It’s not enough to decide whether you want to marry it.
- Fencing, outbuildings, water, and power are separate questions. Pipes to the stall don’t mean working water; a barn can have water and no electricity.
- Stand still on the property for a full minute. Photos can’t carry traffic noise, barking dogs, a shooting range, or the smell from the neighbor’s operation.
- “Plenty of room for animals” and “legally allowed to have animals” are two entirely different things. Check zoning, deed restrictions, and HOA documents yourself — even on large acreage.
- Inspections don’t catch everything. Ours didn’t catch the plumbing under the slab, because nobody had lived in the house for three years.
- The question isn’t whether the property has baggage. It does. The question is whether it’s baggage you can afford, manage, and live with.
Links
- Episode 207 — Three Things to Know Before Buying Land for a Homestead
- Work with Wendi (Florida real estate) — https://joyfullyprepared.com/realestate/
- Contact — https://joyfullyprepared.com/contact-me/
- All episodes — https://joyfullyprepared.com/podcast/
- FEMA Flood Map Service Center — check any property’s flood zone — https://msc.fema.gov/portal/home
Come find me
If you’re thinking about buying a homestead here in Florida, I would love to help you. If you’re buying somewhere else, I can still help you interview an agent in your area who knows that “room for chickens” is not enough information.
Reach out before you commit to that charming farmhouse with the questionable fence — https://joyfullyprepared.com/contact-me/
And if this one was useful, send it to the friend who’s been sending you Zillow listings at eleven at night.
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