Country living has a vivid place in the American imagination. You might be toiling in a cubicle today, but in your heart you are already planting the deep, rich beds of asparagus that you’ll be eating in your retirement. While you answer the next call stacked up in the queue, you can just feel the sunlight on your face as you and your significant other sip wine on the rustic porch overlooking the small vineyard…next to your chickens and olives and roses and beautifully manicured raised beds.
I know that dream. I love that dream. I sell that dream.
I’m the guy who knows how deep to dig the asparagus bed, how to prime your well pump, and which septic guy to call when you need help. I’m the one who can help you find that small dream property that pops into your head whenever work gets a little too boring or urban life starts to wear on you. That’s when you need your Sonoma County real estate agent (me) to send you a few new listings to start dreaming about.
If you’re looking for an old apple orchard or a new vineyard in west Sonoma County, this link to homes with one to five acres in Sebastopol might keep you dreaming for weeks. If you want a Sonoma country property a little closer to the famed Sonoma square, try homes with one to five acres in Sonoma. If you’re ready for the foodie-inspired wine country lifestyle, go for broke and check out some one to five acre Healdsburg properties or the larger Healdsburg homes with six to twenty acres. Healdsburg has fewer small parcels than Sonoma and Sebastopol, but if you’re looking for a place to park your IPO proceeds, Healdsburg has beautiful properties available.
For the architecturally inclined dreamers, starting with bare land (or bare plus roads plus water plus septic plus fences plus high speed internet) might be the way to go. Foreclosed land in the north bay didn’t exist six years ago, but today there are dozens of REO “lots and land” properties for sale in Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, and Lake county. Sometimes the prices aren’t as low as buyers might expect from the bank owned status, but a savvy agent can help you get the best price for the land you want.
As the song says, “don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.”. There’s room in everyone’s head for a small place in the country. The lucky and hard working alike have a chance to move it from their head into the real world. When you’re ready to get serious about finding and buying your country place, please get in touch. In the meantime, those links are there for dreamers. Even real estate agents have country property fantasies…
Update:
I would be remiss not to mention the fantastic blog about an urban transplant moving to Sonoma County for chickens… She doesn’t have big acreage, but she’s got chickens, a great garden, bees, and wonderful stories about all of it.