Monday, January 4, 2010

Where to search for land to build

We've started to look for land to build our dream house. By WHERE to live is just as important to us as WHAT we build. So how do we decide where to look for land? Well, there are many things to consider.

STATE
First and foremost is, do we want to live in the state we live in now (and have both lived in for most of our lives)? I would say the answer to that is yes. I don't think either one of us is opposed to moving to another state, but that would involve looking for new jobs, and that's not something either one of us want to. We certainly don't LOVE Massachusetts - especially the tax structure and political climate - but there are many things here that we want to stay close to - family, jobs, and friends. We also enjoy being so close to all that nature has to offer in and around Massachusetts - the beach, the mountains, hiking, skiing, the change of seasons.

So, even thought there are cons to living in Massachusetts, there's plenty to keep us here. So that narrows down the land search. And since our jobs are one of the criteria to consider, we need to also narrow the seach to a certain distance to work.

DISTANCE TO WORK
My husband and I each have a different willingness to drive to our respective jobs. The compnay that my husband works for has multiple locations throughout New England. So even if he were to move, there would probably be a location somewhere within driving distance and he could request a transfer (although a transfer is not guaranteed). He likes the location he's in now and enjoys the people he works with, so transfering is not something he really wants to do, but it's an option.

I on the other hand work for an orgranization that only has one location, so transfering is not an option for me. I also have worked for this organization for almost 20 years and have no interest in leaving. I like my job and the company I work for. My benefits are great and I would hate to have to give any of that up. In terms of my willingness to drive, it's much less than my husbands.

NARROWING DOWN THE GEOGRAPHIC AREA
So to start to narrow down our search area, I took a map of Massachusetts and drew radii around my work location and my husbands work location. I would prefer to stay within 25 miles of my work, so my radii were 20 and 25 miles. The radii I drew for my husband were 25, 30 and 35 miles. I realize that an actual driving distance will be greater than a point-to-point line on a map, but I think this is a good starting point. So where our maximum radii overlap is our starting point.

Next, we know that there are certain areas that fall into these radii that we would never want to live in - primarily because of the population densities (and real estate prices) of the towns. These are all towns that are to the east of where we live now. So those areas are automatically out. Towns to the west of where we live now would require us to both travel on the Mass Turnpike. That's not a problem in and of itself, except that to go any further west on the Pike than where we live now is a NIGHTMARE in the summer and on holiday weekends. There is a huge traffic backlog that occurs in that area of the Pike and I am not willing to have any part of that. Yes, there are other roads other than the Pike that would take us west, but they are few and far between, and travel in general in that direction is problematic. So west is out too.

That leaves north and south. South means moving to Connecticut or Rhode Island. I know I just said we wanted to stay in Massachusetts, but we would be willing to move to either of those states. We are so close to the boarders of those states right now, that a move there doesn't mean moving a great distance away. So south is an option.

I think we would prefer north though. North offers a closer proximity to New Hampshire and Vermont - the two states that we seem to take all of our vacations in. There is a greater diversity of landscape as you go further north, and that means more places to hike. So, as of right now, north wins.

TO SUM IT UP
So to sum it up, our search area is north of where we live now, 35 miles or less from my husbands office and 25 miles or less from my office. Those are good criteria to start with. There certainly are many more criteria to consider in a lot, but at least we know where to start looking.