I asked this on another forum a while back and the responses were mixed. I'm not sure how many of you are living rural on property, but I figured I would see. I will have the opportunity in the future to purchase some ground that would, of course, be hunting property. However, it's also would be for me to build on. The main catch for me is the necessity of having to build a little over 1/2 mile of driveway to get back to where the home site would be. Most of it is cleared/open field, and it has very little elevation gain (around 60ft of gain/loss through the course of the drive). I grew up with a 1/4 mile long driveway so I know the maintenance involved, but tacking another 1/4 mile on to that seems, well, a little off putting Getting equipment to maintain it is not a problem, so aside from the installation cost, the maintenance issues are the only major issue giving me pause. It's a great piece of property, and the price is hard (impossible) to beat. So, would you let access like this determine your decision (or at the very least have a large impact on your decision)? Curious to hear your thoughts.
There is a reason it is a great price. All kidding aside it shouldn't be a deal breaker. I would keep two things in mind before you approach it. (1) Resale. Many buyers would not want the headache of a long driveway and you will lose potential buyers. I know many do not count on it, but I have sold a lot of forever homes due to divorce, deaths, job situations, etc. (2) You are not getting any younger. How long will you stay there? Maintaining it yourself will get harder as the years go by. Good luck.
Our house sits a little over 3/ 10's of a mile off the road. The increased costs associated with the length is non issue for me as we enjoy the privacy it affords. One piece of advise is if you can't swing paving the entire length consider paving the section closest to the residence as it will cut down on dirt ect dragged into the house or garages.
My driveway is a half mile and worth every inch, I can let the dogs out to chase squirrels and not worry about traffic. Like trial said the privacy is nice as well. Plus my driveway goes thru the woods every trip up and down the driveway is like scouting in a way.
We are in the planning stages right now for the 25 acre parcel we bought last year. Our driveway is around 500 ft long. I didn't want to get to far off the road as it is very costly. Running power( below ground), water, and rock gets pretty expensive beyond 500 ft. Plus I am eating into some of my best habitat if I go any further.
I would probably look to see if there was someplace else on the property closer to the road if possible. But if it isn't, I wouldn't let that driveway length stop you though. Just seems like an excuse for a better truck and plow to deal with the snow. As far as hunting, I wouldn't want a drive way running through the middle of my hunting land so I would want to make sure it runs on one of the property edges if possible.
The price is not due to driveway length. The ROW/driveway would be 75% crossing my parents property Power/water would come from the farmhouse already on the property (it's rented and will stay that way), so it only needs to come about 500ft.
Grew up on a driveway about 100 yards long. My uncle has one that has to be pushing 3/4 of a mile long. We typically get enough snow in the winter that a 3/4 mile long driveway would just get old. If you have kids or plan on having kids, I'm willing to bet the bus driver won't drive that entire length so keep in mind that's a long walk for little legs. Also, with it being that long, you have to make it clear that it's a driveway and not a road. I'd personally hate to have private drive signs all over my driveway.
The school bus was a big factor too. They won't come off the main road so our kids are going to be hoofing it everyday. I was going to make a small enclosed lean-to type shelter for them to sit in. Might even install a blue flame heater....
Awe shoot, my dad and uncles used to walk five miles to school in the snow one way. It was also uphill....both directions.
Our driveway is 1 mile off the county RD (1.5 off the highway). Half of that is shared with some neighbors, but then we have about 3/8 mi of additional interior roads for the cabins. Long story short, if I were buying a place, I wouldn't think twice about a drive a mile or more long. Especially if I have my own plow truck. Even if I thought it could be an issue, this would nullify it
It is important with the long driveway to have 4WD both my wife and I do so we can get out when we need to. My wife was home when the kids were real young so she walked them down the driveway to get to the bus, after elementary school my kids did not ride the bus we drove them to and from rather than have them exposed to the feral youth on the bus.
WOW CM. I didn't know that your Dad and uncles grew up near me. I lived 6 miles from the school and it snowed every day of the school year and it was uphill both ways!
The kids issue does bring up a good point I hadn't considered much. The bus will certainly not come back a private drive, but where this property is located, I would be driving them to the bus stop even if I was plopped right on the township road. All of the rural stops around us are consolidated. The buses don't stop at each house.
Personally, I wouldn't mind a driveway that long but I can imagine the cost of rock would get up there. I have a tractor and box blade so maintaining wouldn't be that big of a deal. I really enjoy my tractor time. I would hope that if I had that long of a driveway, I would be in a very secluded area though.
