It figures that the one day in weeks if not months that I decided to not get dressed would be the day a neighbour dropped by!
This neighbour is half of the couple who sold me the lot! She’s very nice; retired from being a power engineer in Manitoba and now raising horses. I am going to their place at about 4:00 for wine and to meet her husband.
First off, I got some answers about my property purchase. They own all the vacant lots in town and paid only $100 for mine! They thought it would be the last to go because it is so small. I thought my offer of $3,500 to their request for $5,000 was a low ball, but she laughed and said that I didn’t even come close to matching the low ball offers they had gotten previously. They considered my offer fair and serious and took it since it was cash in hand, plus they thought the tiny lot would be hard to sell. She doubts they would have accepted less, though.
Now, in no particular order, here’s the scoop on services.
The lean-to attached to a private house is a proper post office and is open in the mornings. So I can mail things from there and get a PO box. No more having to run into Assiniboia for general delivery.
Water
I am on a water line and need to contact the RM (rural municipality) to find out how to get a tap. For the summer, I am welcome to go to my neighbours and fill up from their exterior tap! I can back up to it with my truck, so I am going to get a big container to fill once a week or so and then tap into that with smaller jugs. The water is NOT drinkable.
Garbage
Garbage, water, and sewer fees are about $600 a year. My neighbour says I am welcome to put a bag in with their trash this summer!
Sewer
The neighbour says that I am on a sewer line, but I’m not really. In RV parlance, their sewer is for grey water only and everyone has holding tanks for black water, which they then have pumped out. It will likely be cheaper for me to just haul my waste to a dump station. Grey water can run on the ground considering how little I use.
Power
I do indeed have a pole on my property, so I just need to have a metre put on it and then have an electrician install an outlet. Shouldn’t cost me more than $1,000 total.
Grass
My neighbour did my lawn last summer. I told her that she can come up with a number for what that was worth and I will gladly pay, either with cash or with barter. They are doing construction this summer and I let her know I’m moderately handy and available if they need help.
Gravel
The RM will deliver gravel to my property (to use as an RV pad) at a rate of so much per yard (no idea how many yards I’d need). Several neighbours with little tractors could apparently be bribed with beer to spread it around.
Supplies
Willow Bunch is only 18KM away (compared to 32km for Assiniboia) and has gas and a small grocery store. The road there is gravel, though, so thank goodness for my truck! I drove that road once in my car and swore it would never happen again.
Assiniboia has a movie theatre!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, I may have jumped the gun on my excitement since it doesn’t appear to be a proper cinema and I can’t get any information on what’s playing this weekend, but it’s a beacon of hope that I won’t miss seeing this latest Star Trek on the big screen (although with the amount of work coming in this week, I can almost justify a four-hour round trip drive to Moose Jaw to see it…).
Neighbours
I’m told most are hermits, especially the guy right next to me. As long as I’m not loud and obnoxious, no one’s going to care what I do.
So that’s the scoop! I have to get back to work. OMG, it doesn’t rain but it pours. I don’t think it will ever be enough to get me back over the hump from the last few issues AND to cover what’s upcoming, but it’s still a relief!
Well, that is a lot of answers and mostly good news! The big thing from my point of view is that you will be under no pressure to add “improvements” to the property before you are ready. A shed of some sort would sure be nice and will probably make it’s way up your list of priorities.
Free access to water and garbage pickup is a real bonus, now you just have to find something to put your water in. Used plastic 45 gallon drums are sometimes available for $10 or so on kajiji. Your water is not potable anyway so you will not have to worry about trace amounts of contaminates. Or better yet, do you have hoses long enough to fill your holding tank once in a while?
There is NO pressure to improve the property.
A shed is HIGH on my priority list actually. I am trolling the classifieds and sales. I can’t have a rake, garbage bin, ladder, pruners, etc. without a storage shed.
For water, let’s not go crazy. 🙂 I have 10 gallon containers that have served me well but are getting leaky, so I’ll just replace them. I would do just as well to walk over over with two one-gallon jugs every few days and just fill those up. I only use a lot of water if I’m doing laundry. No chance on filling the holding tank, we are clear across the hamlet from each other. And anyway, that would encourage me to use way too much water.
I guess you’re not used to hauling water, assuming that I don’t have what I need. I guess you didn’t notice that I was hauling water for almost two months on the beach. 🙂
Don’t forget about used enclosed trailers with broken running gear. Sometimes you can buy them for almost nothing (maybe even nothing). Level it, add skirting and you have a storage shed. Small used shipping containers are another possibility, probably cheaper than a shed and much better built.
A storage shed with a rain gutter leading to a 45 gallon plastic drum and your water worries are history.
I’d suggest an IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container) to collet water off a roof. I bought two 330 Gallon ones for about $50 each. They’re great because they sit atop a metal pallet (some have wood) and they are enclosed by a metal cage for extra support. Gee, for the price you paid for the lot makes me want to look for one in that area too!
Forget rain water. It doesn’t rain here in the summer. 🙂
Lucie, property here is CHEAP. The sellers won’t sell to just anyone, but I’ll put in a good word for you! 🙂