Customer Reviews

How to Find Your Ideal Country Home: A Comprehensive Guide

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a great how-to book for the person who has no experience with living in the country and hopes to go there soon. It covers a broad group of concerns for the would-be rural land owner, bringing to consciousness numerous important differences between living in densely-populated areas and living far from town. It cautions against living near health hazards (which crop up all too often in unpopulated regions!) or too far from employment, and strongly recommends water and soil tests before buying. These are all good ideas, and the author has many more ideas of equal merit to share.

Unfortunately, the book did not meet my needs since I have already done a fair amount of research on country living, and have some real-life experience in that area. It was too broad and general to be of much help to me. Therefore I caution the informed would-be rural landowner - seek out another source for specifics about buying and settling in your area of choice. If you have reached the level of self-education where you already know to ask about deeded easements and percolation tests, this book is not for you. Also, if you already know which region of the US you want to live in, this book will probably disappoint you. It is aimed at helping people with preliminary decisions such as, "Do you want to live somewhere hot, cold or temperate?"

If you are currently an urban/suburban dweller and you have begun to toy with the idea of getting back to nature, this book will be of immense help to you. After reading it, you will be more realistic and generally informed about country living. If you still have the itch to "get out of Dodge" at that point, you'll be needing another book - one with more specifics.

If you're dreaming of enjoying a life in the country, plan carefully. Choose the best community for your needs, find a great property and then create the perfect homestead. Sounds hard? It's not at all. Just follow this step-by-step guide and the process will be part of the joy. Find your favorite climate and the healthiest areas of each state. Balance your need for services, education and entertainment with your desire for solitude and self-sufficiency. It's all here: easy-to-read maps, expert advice and extensive list of resources for your use. Gene GeRue's gentle guidance and common-sense ideas make this book the perfect foundation of your dream home.

What a delight to find a book that really lives up to the promise of its title. Author Gene GeRue has obviously been there, done that, and writes from personal experience but he also seems to have read every book out there and to have traveled extensively. I've been on a personal quest for a country life for more than three years and have read all the books, or so I thought until I found this one. I thought I knew pretty much everything about the subject. Wrong! This book opened my eyes to new considerations. It gave me a whole lot of ideas on how to bring all the factors together and really make it happen. The final thing I would say is that this book is a great read even if you aren't sure you really want to move out beyond the sidewalks. It's nice to find a non-fiction book that has a lot of humor to balance the serious material. I also appreciated the maps. They make it easier to narrow the search. Buy this book!

I think I own and have read just about every book on moving to the country and this book is tops. As the founder of the CountryBound Web site, this topic is a passion of mine and several people recommended this book to me. I really appreciated Gene's insights and logical approach to realizing one's country dreams. His style of writing is reassuring but direct. He does not candy coat the trials and tribulations of country life. When you finish this book, you will know if country life is right for you.

The other part of this book that I found extremely useful was the maps and detailed illustrations. I have found no other books that have the detailed info that this book has. And if its any further indication on just how much I liked this book, I bought several copies and gave them to friends and family.

You will not be disappointed with this book.

This is a very different book! It is far more than a "How To" publication.

The considerable anxiety associated with actually moving to the country is lessened, as the author builds your confidence to make informed decisions.

Most of all, the character of the author, through his words, beckons us to share an American lifestyle and country value system, that so many of us have dreamed about.

Even if you never actually make the move, I urge you to let your mind and heart journey with Gene GeRue. This book will make you feel good!

Gene GeRue is living what he writes about. His directions and experiences saved us time, money and energy in understanding what we really wanted in rural America.

Gene has always been there by email to answer our questions. His good humor and common sense helped us greatly in our search for location, what to look for in specific properties and how to validate what we were really after. We have all three of his books and they are well worn from our notes and place holders.

Thanks Gene for keeping us on track.

I am having a hard time understanding why so many people rave about this book. From the moment I started reading it I found it one of the most annoying "how-to" books I have read. Here is why:

1) There are way to many quotes in this book. The flow of Mr. GeRue's argument is constantly interrupted by quotes of varying quality and relevance. One begins to wish Mr. GeRue had more original thoughts to share himself.

2) The information provided is often shallow and obvious. The argument gets made over and over that rural areas are more quiet, more peaceful, more healthy, less violent, etc. etc. All of this we already know; that's why we bought this book to find out how to get some rural life ourselves. Mr. GeRue relies excessively on trends, mostly as anticipated by others. Even in the most recent incarnation of this book, many of these trends are already outdated and have been proven incorrect.

3) Mr. GeRue has a problem with California. He used to live in Concord, which is not the most scenic place in California, and he probably has some leftover trauma from that experience. He constantly makes negative remarks about California and Californians, which is very annoying for someone trying to use his book to find rural land in California. This bias shows up throughout the book. For example, in his discussion of bio-regions, GeRue simply lumps the entire state of California together with Nevada and Arizona, as if the climate and land in Sonoma County is at all comparable to the desert outside Phoenix.

So maybe Mr. GeRue's book is helpful if you are looking for a place in the social paradise that is Southern Appalachia (just ignore the casinos), but don't buy this book if you are interested in land in the West.

Gene GeRue's "How to Find Your Ideal Country Home" has a little bit different focus than most books on buying real estate in the country. He's not here to tell you how to buy your land, or where the current fad in rural "hot spots" is this week. He writes to help you focus on what you REALLY want out of life - what is important to you in your surroundings, neighbors, weather, and more. His intent is to help you focus on just what it is you want out of your country living experience - and how to reach that goal.

It's more than just money. It's more than scenic, picturesque villages - or the lack thereof. His book focuses on the process of determining goals and realistically evaluating a piece of property as more than just another slab of real estate - but as part of a living, growing community. And its determining what you want and need from community - and what you have to offer - that will be the most important deciding factor in whether or not you can be happy living in that community. "How To Find Your Ideal Country Home" offers up the tools and advice that will serve as your guideposts in that process.

This book is an excellent guide and collection of information. The author has excellent insights. The map data and outlines and lists are all matters of public record. Even so, having all the information in one place and well indexed is very, very valuable. There are things I would add to the book, for instance in the section on tax rates I would also include sales tax and state income tax data because as the author notes, property taxes don't tell the whole story. I would also include information on concealed carry of firearms laws as these vary tremendously by state. Information on hunting and ranges for game animals and fish would help too.

Incidentally, while this book is aimed at the U.S. in terms of the map/climate/social data, the themes and suggested plan would work for rurual property searches anywhere and would give you an idea of the data you might need to consider. So, order the book even if you live outside the U.S.

I think the best review I can give this is the blurbage from the Chicago Tribune on the cover: "Monumental. Well researched....The most complete and up-to-date book available for prospective buyers of rural homes." And, sure, this book wasn't written yesterday, but it remains pithy and pertinent and a great read.