40 Acres, No Mule

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We spent most of 2011 trudging through rural homes for sale, mostly disappointed by either the price or the condition… often by both. We made offers on 5 places, offers that were often either ignored, or dragged slowly through financing questions and delays. As the year drew to a close we were starting to feel, I admit, a bit disheartened. My brother, who is a part-owner, gave up and headed off to winter in California, and it was looking like the year would end before we got anywhere.

In October and November we saw the Canyonview property. It was too expensive, and there didn’t seem to be a lot of running water, but those issues aside, it was an enormous lot, just over 40 acres, secluded and hilly with trees and trails. Only 45 minutes from Portland on a good day, and 25 from my family in McMinnville. The structures were in good shape, despite the home being manufactured. It was… pretty darn good, all things considered. So we decided to go ahead and try one more time, to see if we could find a bank to loan us the money, even though it was more than we originally set as our limit.

But Talina is nothing if not determined, and she managed to find a broker who shared her determination. Despite the enormous challenges in obtaining financing on manufactured homes (nearly everything in our price range was a manufactured home), especially on large acreages, they persevered, found a bank to finance.

And that is the story of how, after a month of delays and hand wringing, we came to be signing a 4″ stack of incomprehensible legal documents on December 5, 2011. So here we go… we bought a farm!

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