Earlier this week, we got our second significant accumulation of snow – a welcome contrast from last winter, when it felt like it didn’t snow at all.
The seller sent along beautiful photos of the farm in the snow. While snow accumulation is one of the rare times I’m grateful to live in an apartment, I have to imagine it will be hard to be annoyed by the work of clearing snow when this is my view!
These updates seek to document the process of buying a farm – but they also seek to help someone who may have to navigate a similar process in the future. If you have any questions (ever), please feel free to let me know!
This Week in the Process of Buying a Farm
The big news: inspections are (almost) done!
The home inspection was completed on Thursday and went really, really well. I haven’t received the full report yet, and the radon and water tests won’t be done until next week.
There are some minor details that will need to be addressed – a leaky valve on the boiler, a broken window sash, some failed thermopane windows (which makes a foggy appearance when moisture gets inside). All of these are minor findings that are pretty standard for a 34 year old house.
It’s clearly a well-loved, well-kept house – and I’m grateful to be the next one to love it and take care of it!
The septic inspection went a little less well. The first septic field is saturated, and in order to inspect the other three leach fields they will need to dig down four feet to get camera access. This requires additional equipment and an additional $800 or so. I’m not thrilled about it, but if they uncover an issue with the septic system, that will a defect for the sellers to fix – and that’s a costly fix, so doing the secondary inspection is very important.
Furniture Shopping
I also took advantage of the 3-day-weekend to visit a local furniture store. After years of tolerating a very uncomfortable loveseat, I am so excited to purchase the perfect custom couch for my living room.
Thankfully, I know exactly what couch I want and was able to get a quote for it, as well as an expected timeframe of 6-10 weeks. Given that we’re not closing until June, I will wait to place my order until late April.
Next Steps:
Other than scheduling the secondary septic inspection, things will now calm down considerably. When the full inspection reports come in, I will meet with my buyer’s agent to discuss requested repairs and possible credits towards closing costs.
Now that I have more information about both the inside and outside of the house, I can start making some decisions regarding decorating and garden placement. I need to go to the paint store to put together my color palette, and I can start thrifting to be on the lookout for furniture pieces that might be a good fit. All of this can be done with leisure since we’re not closing for another five months.
I’ve been working on designing and planning my orchard, so I will have a post up shortly that compiles that research. The seller also shared with me his original location for a garden, so I think that will help narrow down my starting point for garden beds.
If you have any advice for me, I’d love to hear it. Let me know in the comments, or find me on social media.
Talk soon,
KC
@farmninetysix