Monday, March 12, 2007 a.m. – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo)
This page (and site) is still under construction — partly because our offer on The Farm has yet to be accepted.
But please stay tuned — bookmark this site — and within a day or nine you’ll be able to hear all about the exciting adventures of Brock and Heather, Canadian DINKS (Double Income, No Kids) as they revolutionize their Starbucks-card-holding lives and move onto 10 acres of dirt, which will one day be a really great organic farm!
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Monday, March 12, 2007 8:35 p.m. – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo)
Well, we are stymied. We heard back from the owners of our farm tonight (via realtor) and they’ve counter-offered . . . at $2,000 less than the asking price. We had offered $50,000 less than the asking price. Clearly there is some miscommunication here about the value of the property and/or our net worth. Brock’s on the phone with his dad, I’m here updating you. What to do?? Is it worth going DEEP into debt to live a pastoral lifestyle? It’s not like I have to kill chickens or anything, just weed gardens. I don’t mind owing thousands per month in mortgage payments, as long as I get to wear gumboots on the weekend.
Real estate is tricky. That is what I have learned today.
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Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8:15 p.m. – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo)
We met with Banker Nils at 4 pm today and he comforted us, petted us, and told us that everything would be okay. So we’re charged up and ready to do this real estate thing.
Also I bought seven Canadian farm magazines today at lunch to cheer me up and inspire me to freelance our amusing (albeit short, so far) experience of returning to the land. My Harrowsmith (Canadian version) describes us as “urban refugees.” Or “cidiots” (city + idiots), but I like urban refugees better. I never knew how inspiring an agricultural magazine could be. Did you know there are chickens that lay blue eggs? I want those chickens.
Anyhoo: negotiating the price of our new farm. We’re meeting the realtor at 5:30pm tomorrow, at which time we will make a firm, emphatic (yet reasonable) counter-counter-offer. We’ve consulted with Brock’s daddy, Nils, and my (gov’t) coworkers, and we’re ready to negotiate.
Assuming we do get this property, our next step will be choosing a small but comfy home to build. We’re going to have so much debt, this is nuts . . . I was in a stupor/stupour (Canadian spelling???) yesterday by the time Brock came home from work, I was so exhausted and excited and confused and frustrated and impotent. All I could do was lie in bed and think about how pretty yellow sheets are. I’m still dizzy, but I’ve concluded that this (debt-funded) farm existence will make me a lot more satisfied with my life. We’re a lazy generation. The thought of having to work (literally, not via office job) for my food is refreshing. I’m not a total back-to-the-lander, though — I’ll still need high-speed internet.
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 8:52 p.m. – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo)
Negotiations are getting intense. We increased our offer by $25,000 — still $25,000 less than the original asking price. We also, however, got permission from the owners to get the land appraised, which will give us some idea of whether we’re totally cheap and/or ignorant of land values, or if the asking price really is inflated and goofy.
The owners have until Friday pm to respond — I don’t think they’ll accept or even counter, but Brock thinks they’ll lower their price by another thousand or three.
Working farmland will be easy, compared to this.
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Thursday, March 15, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo)
While the appraiser checks out our property today (THANK YOU BANKER NILS!!!!!), I am browsing gumboots.
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Sunday, March 18, 2007 7:52 p.m. – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo)
We haven’t heard anything official back from the appraiser yet, but Friday’s rough estimate was $400,000. Today Brock and I decided that we want that farm, dammit, and we can make it worth whatever we end up paying — so we offered $418,000 today and we’re pretty confident that this offer will be accepted. It’s hard not to get too scared/excited. The sellers’ deadline for acceptance is 9am tomorrow morning, but the realtor is meeting with them RIGHT NOW so hopefully we’ll hear the answer before we go to bed, and therefore only be kept awake by exciting ideas rather than apprehension.
Also, the realtor says that there are assets to the property that wouldn’t have been apparent to an uninformed appraiser, so it’s likely we can get a higher appraisal than $400,000 and therefore qualify for a larger mortgage, which will give us more cash to establish our “farm.”
It’s all scary, the huge debt we’re taking on and this whole “farm” thing, when we’re basically operating on Brock’s adolescent memories of his parents’ organic strawberry farm and whatever we’ve read in Harrowsmith. But this is the best time in our lives to take risks: we don’t have any kids, we’re making a ton of money so qualify for mortgages and etc., and if everything goes to shit we can always sell the works to some retired oil tycoon from Calgary.
Or maybe we’ll be ridiculously happy, make a fortune selling raspberry pies and live in bliss until we die surrounded by our farm-loving grandchildren.
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Monday, March 19, 2007 9:59 a.m. – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)
THEY’VE ACCEPTED OUR OFFER. WE OWN A FARM.
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Thursday, March 22, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)
Can’t sleep. Don’t know what to do about shelter as of June 1. Very excited about 10 acres of land, though. Yurt? Motorhome? Trailer? Build something new and tiny? Move a house from Nickel Brothers?
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Tuesday, March 27, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)
We’ve been so busy. I wish we could just stop working for a week or two so we can focus on the farm, and all the decisions we have to make, and daydream together on our couch about our future crops. Name the chickens, etc.
This weekend we learned EVERYTHING about motorhomes/RVs/5th wheels, which is one option we’re considering as shelter come June 1 (aka the day we gain a farm and have to leave our penthouse). Unless we’re prepared to live in it for two or more years, though, it won’t be financially beneficial — we’ll lose the GST/PST and the payments we make, which (for a $30,000 trailer) are in the $400/month range. Financially, it seems to make the most sense to build SOMETHING permanent this summer, and either camp on the farm or squat at Brock’s parents’ house for the summer. The problem with this, of course, is that neither of us know how to build a house. And once the house is there, we’re limited as to what else we can build, although A1 ALR zoning does allow a second house . . . anyhoo, this is so confusing. We need to figure out what we’re doing before April 18, which is the deadline to have our financing in order.
FYI, for a few hours we were totally sold on a $79,000 5th wheel that was bigger than most people’s apartments. We figured we could live there for five or more years. Until we realized that monthly payments would be $800. For a trailer.
Last night Byron called to suggest pre-fab homes — like the ones at Home Depot.
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Tuesday, March 30, 2007 – Victoria, BC, Canada (in a condo – BUT WE OWN A FARM!!!!!)
Coworker Lisa has suggested we have a worm farm. I thought she was on drugs, but apparently there is such a thing.
Also, the other day I saw an article on farming truffles (the mushroom sort). That’d be cool.