E-Mail 'Building Or Purchasing Your New Country Property - Part 1, by S.T.' To A Friend

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6 Comments

  1. I enjoy these “move to the country” articles as I recently did the same and am interested in how others have done it.
    I would like to note that living with an old well and septic system doesn’t necessarily mean not having bills for those services but rather having very large bills to replace/service them sometime in the future.
    Replacement means conforming to new codes. For this couple, replacing a septic system on shale will cost app. $10,000. Replacing a well pump is around $3,500.
    A thorough survey is necessary before buying but the good news is the purchase price can reflect that survey and an existing property is almost always cheaper than building new.

  2. I’d like to chime in on the well pump.

    I moved into a rural residential in Michigan in 2007. The property was new in 2000. The well pump quit in 2015 and cost $1,200 to replace. The well diggers who installed the well did the replacement job and told me that’s about how long the pumps last.

    The water is very good, but we soften it anyway, and use R/O for drinking water. Those costs combined for salt and one new membrane a year and pre/post filters run about $18/mo. Amortize the well pump and add that in and you’re up to about $25/mo.

    Still beats a suburban water/sewer bill I used to pay which averaged $75/mo back in the day, which I’m sure is much higher now.

    An automatic generator tied in to the natural gas line insures that when the power goes out, and it does a lot here in Michigan, we still have water. Nevertheless, I still store water, both for emergency sanitation and for drinking, in the basement.

    Septic clean out runs less than $500, every 3-5 years. Add another $8/mo.

  3. Great article!!!!

    I bought a house three years ago and got rid of my water and sewer bill. The sewer part was $52.75 a month not counting water use! I have a lagoon which needs mowed and about every other year trees removed.

  4. Replacing round doorknobs with levers can be unexpectedly hazardous. Oval “lever” doorknobs are simpler and safer.

    I cannot count the number of times a lever doorknob has caught purse straps, packages, and snaggable clothing items, abruptly bringing me to a halt, or throwing me off balance. Fortunately, I did not get hurt.

    Oval doorknobs function in the same way as levers, but pose no risk of snagging. Oval doorknobs act as levers because you can open the door by pushing the top or bottom of the oval sideways, as with a lever (which you push up or down).

    You do not have to grab, grip and turn, as you do with a round doorknob.

    Having once been very sick, and trapped in a room for hours because a round doorknob was stuck and I did not have the grip strength to turn it, I will never have round doorknobs again.

    Oval doorknobs are invisible “levers” that don’t snag unexpectedly, and are good for the elderly and disabled.

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