I was inspired by all the NaBloPoMo 2017 posts about Dream Barns to talk about our own horse property search. Sadly, the cost of owning property in Silicon Valley is insane. There are 2 bedroom + 1 bath ranch houses and condos selling for over 1 million dollars. We recently saw a 800 sq ft house posted for $900,000. Because of foreign investors, a lot of the houses go for all cash and no contingencies which prices out even people with tech jobs. In order to own horse property, we would either need to become multi-millionaires (I wish) or move really far away and spend at least 90 minutes EACH WAY commuting to work. As an example, this literally UNINHABITABLE 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom shack on 1 acre is for sale for only $500,000 and it’s only 30 minutes away from my husband’s office and 45 from mine. I’m actually kinda shocked it’s so cheap.
Where was I? Oh right, dream horse properties. Unless we win the lottery, in order to own a horse property and not spend every hour of our non-work time commuting, we’d need to move. So I present to you some properties in other states that we like. Today, let’s look at Vermont.
House #1: 50 Acres, Indoor Arena, Stone Barn, 2 houses, and a cheese factory for $779,000. The house was amazing, but we didn’t like the town it was near (depressed and run-down).
House #2: 54 acres with a gorgeous house, recently built barn, private trails and access to connecting trail system. Literally next door to a facility that hosts rated events and across the street from a ski hill for only $699,000. Sadly lacking an indoor and the only town within 45 minutes has only one store.
The shed in the top right picture was built on a bank jump from an old XC course.
House #3: This next house was connected to the heated barn and heated indoor arena so you could ride without ever going outside during those horribly cold Vermont winters. There was also a covered bridge leading to an outdoor dressage court. This one was $800,000, but it only had 8 acres and the house had about 10 different major projects that had been started but not finished.
Which one would you pick? To be clear, we’re not moving and have not purchased any of these properties, but I though it would be fun to share.
House #2. You can build an indoor. The other amenities (trails, event place next door) you can’t. Plus what would I do with a cheese factory? I eat cheese but have no idea how to make it!
But I can’t build a town with a restaurant or anything to go to.
House # 2. Agree with Teresa. Plus the event place next door may let you use their arena. 🙂 this is a very interesting post thanks for sharing. I should do another follow up post on some of the crap I mean places we have looked at in Chester County HA!
We couldn’t get to their arena in the winter. It’s a few miles down the road (They’re next door bc the properties are both so big.) During the summer there are connecting trails. Wed build our own indoor.
house number two. after you build the indoor arena, build your own covered bridge and cheese factory. then you have all the fun stuff from the other properties. and host events of your own – that will boost the economy so the nearest town can build another store.
If #2 were in a different town, I’d live there already.
CHEESE FACTORY OMG! They actually all are really cool to be honest. 🙂
I kinda want my own cheese factory
I’m just back here still collecting my jaw fragments from the floor after looking at that sh*thole for sale in CA. “value is in the land” Nooooo, I thought sure it was in the abandoned tube TV under the “stairs”… I feel like they could increase the price if they razed that horror movie set first.
They don’t even need to raize it though. They’ll get well over listing without doing a thing.
First, can we discuss the uninhabitable property? I love that the tiny house is unsafe, but there is still a Lexus parked in front of it… Lol. I mean, I realize it probably belongs to the realtor, but still cracked me up.
I agree with the others that house #2 is probably the way to go, but the heated barn and indoor kind of grabbed my attention at house #3.
I liked the car inside the condemned property. Like it was one with the place.
I would probably go for house #3 but would want to know more about the area I think.
In Woodstock which is home to a horse park that hosts rated events.
Across the street from a ski hill sounds like bad news bears for winter riding. Like 10 feet of white, fluffy, bad news bears.
The entire state of Vermont is bad news bears for winter riding.
Uninhabitable CA property you could put a trailer on it for y’all to live in and improve it over time then sell it down the road for millions! VT is so cold! Or…come to NV. It’s great here!
We don’t want to live in the west anymore. Not after all the droughts and fires.
I agree- tear down the shack and put a trailer or modular up. As for Vermont, holy crap is it expensive there! If I had the budget I’d go with house 2. You can add an indoor but you can’t chnage who is next to you
You need straight cash to buy property without a house and that aback will probably go for 800k-900k in the end. Also, so funny bc Vermont seems crazy cheap to us. To be fair, there are tons of cheap places in Vermont. Bel Jouer sent me a listing near her that was 350k with an indoor, it was just not in the rights area for us.
I am about 95% sure I spent the night at property #2 a few years ago. It looks super familiar and is right next to a rated venue.
I’d go #3. House projects don’t scare me.
I figured you might recognize some of them. As for #3, I know house projects don’t scare you, but you spend all your time doing house projects. I want to spend all my time riding. I don’t mind some work, but this place had like half finished kitchen, half finished solar project, a new attic, a new studio space, partially converted the garage to extra bedrooms? It was bizarre.
#3 because hello all indoors with icky winters… Assuming more amenities nearby than #1 and 2. Also trails need to be nearby because I am so sick of not having trails adjacent to my horse.
I really want trails too.