patrick.net

RentingForHalfTheCost says

20 acres? For high six figures I can set you up with a 2500sqft lot and a 850 sqft house in the heart of Silicon Valley. The benefits are amazing.

What a great post! Thanks for making Silicon Valley sound so appealing. I'll be sure to avoid it at all costs.

clambo says

Live in the sticks, illegal aliens abound, pot growers abound, and sometimes the organized pot growers are also illegal aliens funded by Mexican drug cartels.

This one scares me. My mother lives 45 miles east of Redding and had the Sheriff come out with rifles to bust the pot-growing operation on her land that she didn't know about. It kind of rules out Mendocino County for me...

The good news is this dilemma will force me to take a road trip -- yeah! I love driving around and dreaming, so you may see me out there later this spring, looking all touristy and gawking at you all. Gotta check out San Luis Obispo and the Sierra Foothills...

Thanks for all of your help.

And I hope this reply thing works and doesn't look too weird.

jhall says

This one scares me. My mother lives 45 miles east of Redding and had the Sheriff come out with rifles to bust the pot-growing operation on her land that she didn't know about. It kind of rules out Mendocino County for me...

Good argument for legalizing pot.

BTW, your comment quoting worked fine.

jhall says

This one scares me. My mother lives 45 miles east of Redding and had the Sheriff come out with rifles to bust the pot-growing operation on her land that she didn't know about. It kind of rules out Mendocino County for me...

Good argument for legalizing pot.

Yes. Also, jhall, it is probably similar all over. If pot growers and raids is a major concern I would look for statistics and not make a decision based on one data point from your mother.

Similar things used to happen because of alcohol during prohibition:

Hows this one? Remember "Ponch" from the old CHP TV show? http://www.classiccountryland.com/properties/california-land-for-sale/modoc-county/#page=overview California Pines only $299 down and 10% per year for a $9,000 lot "in the California pines"

Heard of Peak Oil? Worried gas prices are going to the stratosphere? 10 acres is alot of land. Get 2 acres where you can grow food and raise meat animals without having to use mechanized equipment. Learn how to use handtools and get prepared for a difficult tomorrow. Find neighbors that are also making steps for self-reliance as one family can't do everything and you will need to help and trade with each other.

Mudwelly Girl says

Heard of Peak Oil? Worried gas prices are going to the stratosphere? 10 acres is alot of land. Get 2 acres where you can grow food and raise meat animals without having to use mechanized equipment. Learn how to use handtools and get prepared for a difficult tomorrow. Find neighbors that are also making steps for self-reliance as one family can't do everything and you will need to help and trade with each other.

Don't worry about that, all we have to do is lower taxes and the free market will sort all that out. Oh yeah and those dam government regulations!!!

/sarcasm

I am from Northern California and have lived all over the place. It is absolutely beautiful, stunning in fact, and I miss it every minute of everyday (I now live in N.C.).

My family still lives there and my brother and his wife are in law enforcement there.

Things to know: despite the beauty, Clambo and the others are right. This is not the place you want to go to "get away," unless you want to get away to a planet where martial law rules and where even the police won't tread. I kid you not.

The beautiful California of my youth is still there. It is still the best place to look up and see the Milky Way. But, unfortunately it has been invaded and is not safe.

We moved from Minnesota to Redding CA.

We bought 470 acres and built our home on a Mountain top just north (20 miles) of town. It is a 3800 square 2 story with a 6 car garage and all high end amenities. It has absolutely stunning views of the Cascade Range, The Trinities, Mount Shasta and Mount Lassen. Not to mention there is about 3/4 of a mile of a creek with two 20 foot waterfalls. With the land, home and 8 additional beautiful mountain top building parcels we are in to it for just over 1,000,000.

The price for this could no t be touched any where else in CA near a sizable town (Redding, pop 90,000 +) that has everything you need.

You will get about 400% more for your money here than you will any where near the Bay area. We know because we have shopped all of these areas.

Here is a picture of the home. Landscaping not done yet!

waterfalls on the property

I'm not sure how rural you want to be but I used to live in Potter Valley (mendo county) and it was nice. It is out in the sticks! Access to Eel and Russian rivers and a few nice lakes. 30 mins drive from Ukiah (closest real grocery store) and 1.5 hours from Santa Rosa.

It gets a lot hotter here than on the coast. I think this is good if you want to farm as you can grow many many more things.

http://www.trulia.com/property/3075819454-13011-Mid-Mountain-Rd-Potter-Valley-CA-95469

Oops here's a picture of the home.

Right now there are even better deals than this around here.

Definitely an area you need to check out.

Even though the OP mentioned moving for family reasons, Its also worth mentioning that if you really want acres and acres of farmland, I know for fact that they sell acres of land near where my folks live in rural NC for 100's of dollars per acre.... not 10's of thousands. Like way, way , way more bang for your buck.

Kind of interesting to see all the Minnesotans on this post. There are a LOT of Midwesterners that moved here I assume to escape the dreadful winters.

There's a sort of "back to the land" movement in some parts of upstate NY. We've got plenty of cheap land. And cold, cloudy winters. (But not this winter).

http://www.landsofcalifornia.com/california/

Try this site. You can do a detailed search. Every time I think of moving to the country I use it. Good Luck

Also landandfarm.com

The Balletto family put 60 acres on the market west of Sebastopol for $895K. 3 parcels and it is covered by the Williamson act which restricts what you can do with it. It's off Occidental Road and in a warm spot for this area. Prices are down substantially in the Sebastopol area, especially outside of town. There's a gorgeous 2.5 acres outside city limits but in walking distance to town center coming on the market soon. It has a 2//1 refurbished farmhouse and old outbuildings. Not cheap at the expected asking price of $639k but nice enough I bought a lotto ticket.

One further note. Once you get farther than 2 hours from SF in light traffic prices drop very quickly. And we are not at a bottom for raw land, except perhaps for truly premium quality parcels which are few and far between.