10 Disadvantages of Buying a Home in a Rural Area

Living in a rural setting can seem very appealing to some people. Quiet surroundings and plenty of space between you and your neighbors are two of the advantages. However, I grew up in an area where the nearest ‘tiny’ town was ten miles away. I can easily list the disadvantages to you.

1. Re-sale – Selling a home in a very rural area can be difficult to do. Many people are moving away from rural areas in order to find work. Finding someone who wants to live in the area and can afford to buy your home, may not be easy to do.
2. Well water – This item can be a plus or a minus. Some well water is great tasting, but even if it tastes great, it may be full of hard mineral deposits. This means installing a water softener and/or an iron filter to prevent the water from ruining your plumbing fixtures.
3. Road maintenance – Rural homeowners often wait longer than urban dwellers to have the road plowed from snow or rough patches fixed. Unpaved roads can mean dealing with mud and dust alternately throughout the year.
4. Internet options – Rural areas often have less options for internet connection. For some areas, dialup or satellite are the only options. One is slow, but inexpensive and the other is expensive and has limits on bandwidth usage.
5. Distant neighbors – Rural areas, especially in farming and ranching areas, can mean that your neighbors are out of sight. This makes for peaceful living or lonely living, depending on your point of view.
6. No convenience store – Some rural situations may have a store within 5 miles, but many do not. This means being very meticulous in your grocery shopping, since you can’t ‘run to the store’ to pick up a gallon of milk, loaf of bread or eggs. You don’t want to ever drive home on a low tank of gas either. You might not make it back to town for the next trip.
7. Insurance rates – One of the determining factors in your home insurance rates is the distance from your home to the local fire department. This can cause higher rates for rural homeowners. Car insurance rates may be higher too, due to the longer commutes to work each day.
8. Vehicle mileage -This is a big factor in rural living. You have a longer drive to EVERYTHING. This means that you will be putting more miles on your vehicles and spending more money gas each month. Vehicle maintenance, including tire replacement, will need to be done more often.
9. Emergency response time – If you need an ambulance, the fire department or law enforcement, it may take them longer to arrive at your home in a rural area. This can be a matter of life or death in some cases.
10. School distance – If you have school age children, the distance to their school can be an issue. It means long bus rides to and from school. It means that attending after school functions require more drive time and are less convenient.

If you’re considering buying a rural home, be sure to factor in all these potential disadvantages. A rural setting that is still close to a municipality is the perfect compromise, giving you the best of both worlds.

Taken From Door Fly