3 Things To Know About Buying Land In The Country 

3 Things To Know About Buying Land In The Country 

Do you have a dream of owning land outside of the city, not being able to see or hear your neighbour’s but know nothing about owning land in the “country”?  I’m Meegan Dennie, a real estate agent in Toronto Ontario Canada and in this video, I’d like to give you some must knows to make this a reality. 

Although I work mostly in Toronto and the GTA, I have experience with land/farms in the Whittchurch Stouffville area and Rural Bradford area, I had a client that wanted acreage but also wanted easy access to the city.  Their plan was to find a piece of land they liked and build their dream home.  We looked in a lot of different areas in and around the GTA. From homes that had an acre or more that needed to be renovated, or was a vacant lot.   

We found a property in rural whitchurch stouffville that had an original home on it that was closer to the road but it also had a driving path that went up the property to this large flat land.  Where most of the acreage was.  It had plenty of space to build a 10,000 sqf home.  

Because the land was raised on a hill and because of where the property was located, they would have actually been able to view the CN Tower from the top level of their newly built home!!I spoke to the listing agent and she assured me that you could build on the raised flat land.  Sounds perfect right?

Well, a good buyer agent should not just take the word of the listing agent, and thank god I didnt.  We made an offer and we put a due diligence condition in the offer.  We were also working with a contractor/arichtech. The land had a stream running through the middle of the property.  

I dont know if you know this, but there is a lot of protected lands in the rural areas.  Not just the GreenBelt but a lot has to do with natural ponds, streams and water that may travel on the property and involve regional conservation authorities.  There is a lot of red tape around building on some of these properties and you doing your due diligence is imperative!  

In a Preconsultation meeting with representatives from the town of whitchurch stouffville and  representatives from lake simcoe region conservation authority - we learned that there was a flood plain zone that we could not bypass in order to build on the flat land at the top of the property.  They explained that a fire truck could be restricted by this flood plain and emergency service vehicles would not be able to get up there if there were an emergency.  So unfortunately the deal fell through during the due diligence period.  

The other things to consider when purchasing out in the country.  

1) your water could likely be well water which will need to be tested and maintained on a regular basis.  Also Many properties in the country will have a septic system that is located on your property that will also need to be maintained regularly. 

2) There may also be active farms surrounding you and or animal farms around you and working their crops or the land can have smells that permeates the surrounding areas.  

3) noise can be a problem as well. Those farmer are up pretty early, working the land. 

I’m Meegan Dennie, Don’t hesitate to call me for anything real estate related In Toronto or the GTA.