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So, I live in a rural area and own some acreage. While I firmly believe home prices will tank in the next year, I also firmly believe secluded property that is

So, I live in a rural area and own some acreage. While I firmly believe home prices will tank in the next year, I also firmly believe secluded property that is still accessible will see a value increase. I'm just far enough away from a city center to be inconvenient for people to just come here, but close enough that if you have a reason, it's not terrible. And I bet I have a shitload of new neighbors after this when the local 'wealthy' folks try to get out of town. Don't know what all that means, just something I've been thinking of this week.

throwanem 7y ago
Probably means it's time to start thinking about selling. You'll probably come out ahead on the deal, and rich people make the worst neighbors anyway.
- Loughla 7y ago
  That's the thing, though. Out here, you don't really make choices as an individual. I mean, it's a weird balance. Lots of us live out here because we didn't want to be told what to do by a government (outside of the don't steal, don't murder sorts of laws). Some of my neighbors moved out here after living under an HOA and getting pissed off. But when it comes to something like selling the property to someone from outside, or moving and leaving a place empty, that is always discussed in the community. It's like a weird family made of distant cousins. You don't want to leave them with shitty neighbors, but you also don't want them bothering you. Country living is odd.
  - throwanem 7y ago
    Oh, no doubt. I grew up that way and there's a good deal I still miss about it, for all that I appreciate city conveniences. But if you're getting new rich neighbors, one assumes you're not considering selling in a vacuum, either. And my experience has been that the loose communality you describe is far from immune to the influence of a lot of money. One of my own distant cousins sold a place to a developer a few years back, without consulting anyone, that'd been in the family for four generations. Even those relations most infuriated by the sale eventually had to concede that, for the just shy of a million the developer paid her, they'd have done the same.
- stronglikedan 7y ago
  I've lived next to all sorts of people, and I can tell you with certainty that wealth isn't a factor in being neighborly.
  - throwanem 7y ago
    And I can tell you just as certainly, out of my own experience, that you're wrong about that. If you appreciate the place where you live for its own sake, the worst thing that can happen to it is an influx of people who appreciate it only for what they can turn it into, and who also have the financial power to do so. Whether or not they're nice people is maybe not entirely orthogonal to whether their behavior has a noxious effect, but it's certainly close.
- stickfigure 7y ago
  One of the benefits of acreage out in the country is that your neighbors are far enough away that you really don't have to care.
  - Loughla 7y ago
    Literally the only reason I bought the property that I did. We sit on a hill, with woods between us and the two nearest neighbors. I want to buy the place across the road, just so I never have to worry about someone building over there. New neighbors built a new place down the road (half mile or so) and put up a security light and have lights under their eaves all the way around the house. For the life of me I can't figure out why you would move out to where it's dark, just to get rid of the dark.
_curious_ 7y ago
"I also firmly believe secluded property that is still accessible will see a value increase" Maybe. At least more likely today than it was a month ago :)
ghaff 7y ago
I do wonder if it will cause any shift in the current fashion for urban living among certain demographics. After all, it doesn't need to be a huge change percentage-wise at the margin to have a big effect. After all, the current urbanization trend is relatively small in terms of the overall numbers. And there are lot of places--even though not really in the Bay Area--where you can get to at least semi-rural places while still being within an hour or so of a major city. (And really in the country within 2 or 3 hours.)
- Loughla 7y ago
  Honestly, I don't think it will change the urban living trend. Those folks tend to be younger and looking for a certain type of lifestyle, regardless of the health and safety impacts. That lifestyle just doesn't exist out here. Our 'fun' revolves around standing or sitting around talking for hours on end. My spouse jokes that you need to factor in an extra 2 hours to any small errand just for the bullshitting sessions that will inevitably accompany. I'm guessing this will be older, wealthier folks moving out here. Maybe that's too myopic for my area, though - there's not really any employment areas offering big money for younger folks like tech does. One thing to remember, when you live in a city, there are things to do and people around. Out here, you either make your own fun (everyone has a hobby of some kind - the three of us within 1 mile of each other do machining, woodworking, and blacksmithing respectively), or you leave to go somewhere else. It is a hard transition for folks not used to it. The boredom and isolation are real. It took my wife (Chicago city native) about two years to get used to how loud it is here at night due to all of the animals and insects, while it's absolutely quiet at the same time because of no people. She still (12 years later) has problems with feelings of isolation.
  - mumblemumble 7y ago
    Former country kid here, but inching my way toward having spent half my life living in urban areas. My sense is that a population-level trend toward country living simply can't happen. There are too many people, and they can't all move out to the country without causing it to not be the country anymore. The difference over the past couple decades in the are where my mom lives is stark. Night isn't noisy anymore, because, thanks to land developers, all the wildlife has been crowded out by McMansions. Growing up, we roamed an area of quite a few square miles on foot and on bike. Nowadays I'm not sure I'd let my kids do that, because there are just so many more people blasting down the road in their Audis while fiddling with CarPlay.
mc32 7y ago
I don’t know how prevalent it is, but there have always been “day after” doomsday preppers from live-off-the-land types as well as Hollywood types with ranches or “caves/bunkers” in Montana/Idaho. It’s not something new to those people. They were always thought of as kooky, but maybe it will gain more traction from the haves.

throwanem 7y ago

Probably means it's time to start thinking about selling. You'll probably come out ahead on the deal, and rich people make the worst neighbors anyway.

Loughla 7y ago
That's the thing, though. Out here, you don't really make choices as an individual. I mean, it's a weird balance. Lots of us live out here because we didn't want to be told what to do by a government (outside of the don't steal, don't murder sorts of laws). Some of my neighbors moved out here after living under an HOA and getting pissed off. But when it comes to something like selling the property to someone from outside, or moving and leaving a place empty, that is always discussed in the community. It's like a weird family made of distant cousins. You don't want to leave them with shitty neighbors, but you also don't want them bothering you. Country living is odd.
- throwanem 7y ago
  Oh, no doubt. I grew up that way and there's a good deal I still miss about it, for all that I appreciate city conveniences. But if you're getting new rich neighbors, one assumes you're not considering selling in a vacuum, either. And my experience has been that the loose communality you describe is far from immune to the influence of a lot of money. One of my own distant cousins sold a place to a developer a few years back, without consulting anyone, that'd been in the family for four generations. Even those relations most infuriated by the sale eventually had to concede that, for the just shy of a million the developer paid her, they'd have done the same.
stronglikedan 7y ago
I've lived next to all sorts of people, and I can tell you with certainty that wealth isn't a factor in being neighborly.
- throwanem 7y ago
  And I can tell you just as certainly, out of my own experience, that you're wrong about that. If you appreciate the place where you live for its own sake, the worst thing that can happen to it is an influx of people who appreciate it only for what they can turn it into, and who also have the financial power to do so. Whether or not they're nice people is maybe not entirely orthogonal to whether their behavior has a noxious effect, but it's certainly close.
stickfigure 7y ago
One of the benefits of acreage out in the country is that your neighbors are far enough away that you really don't have to care.
- Loughla 7y ago
  Literally the only reason I bought the property that I did. We sit on a hill, with woods between us and the two nearest neighbors. I want to buy the place across the road, just so I never have to worry about someone building over there. New neighbors built a new place down the road (half mile or so) and put up a security light and have lights under their eaves all the way around the house. For the life of me I can't figure out why you would move out to where it's dark, just to get rid of the dark.

_curious_ 7y ago

"I also firmly believe secluded property that is still accessible will see a value increase" Maybe. At least more likely today than it was a month ago :)

ghaff 7y ago

I do wonder if it will cause any shift in the current fashion for urban living among certain demographics. After all, it doesn't need to be a huge change percentage-wise at the margin to have a big effect. After all, the current urbanization trend is relatively small in terms of the overall numbers. And there are lot of places--even though not really in the Bay Area--where you can get to at least semi-rural places while still being within an hour or so of a major city. (And really in the country within 2 or 3 hours.)

Loughla 7y ago
Honestly, I don't think it will change the urban living trend. Those folks tend to be younger and looking for a certain type of lifestyle, regardless of the health and safety impacts. That lifestyle just doesn't exist out here. Our 'fun' revolves around standing or sitting around talking for hours on end. My spouse jokes that you need to factor in an extra 2 hours to any small errand just for the bullshitting sessions that will inevitably accompany. I'm guessing this will be older, wealthier folks moving out here. Maybe that's too myopic for my area, though - there's not really any employment areas offering big money for younger folks like tech does. One thing to remember, when you live in a city, there are things to do and people around. Out here, you either make your own fun (everyone has a hobby of some kind - the three of us within 1 mile of each other do machining, woodworking, and blacksmithing respectively), or you leave to go somewhere else. It is a hard transition for folks not used to it. The boredom and isolation are real. It took my wife (Chicago city native) about two years to get used to how loud it is here at night due to all of the animals and insects, while it's absolutely quiet at the same time because of no people. She still (12 years later) has problems with feelings of isolation.
- mumblemumble 7y ago
  Former country kid here, but inching my way toward having spent half my life living in urban areas. My sense is that a population-level trend toward country living simply can't happen. There are too many people, and they can't all move out to the country without causing it to not be the country anymore. The difference over the past couple decades in the are where my mom lives is stark. Night isn't noisy anymore, because, thanks to land developers, all the wildlife has been crowded out by McMansions. Growing up, we roamed an area of quite a few square miles on foot and on bike. Nowadays I'm not sure I'd let my kids do that, because there are just so many more people blasting down the road in their Audis while fiddling with CarPlay.

mc32 7y ago

I don’t know how prevalent it is, but there have always been “day after” doomsday preppers from live-off-the-land types as well as Hollywood types with ranches or “caves/bunkers” in Montana/Idaho. It’s not something new to those people. They were always thought of as kooky, but maybe it will gain more traction from the haves.