Finding & Buying Your Place in the Country (Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country): Les & Carol Scher, Carol Scher: 9780793141098: Amazon.com: Books

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

When this book ( LJ 10/15/74) was first published, it became a definitive guide for the back-to-the-land movement. While most of the text of this new edition is substantially the same, there are also significant changes. Legal information has been brought up to date. There is also deeper coverage of alternate energy sources and technologies and of manufactured homes. Information about Canada has been expanded into a full chapter. The exhaustive lists of government agencies and information/publication sources have been expanded and updated. Numerous sample legal forms are still included. An eight-page reproducible property checklist summarizes the content for an actual search. Geared to the lay reader, this book covers every possible concern about land, buildings, and legal details in a complete and understandable way, including cooperative ownership agreements. While the hippies are gone, the electronic office that allows people to work from home and the growing number of retirees moving to the country make this a useful and relevant selection for both neophyte and experienced real estate buyers. This is highly recommended.
- Cheryl Childress, Collegiate Sch . , Richmond, Va.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Praise for previous editions:

"This book tells you everything." --The New York Times

"We've never seen such a comprehensive book on the subject…it may just as well have been called the 'bible' on finding and buying your place in the country." --Backwoods Home magazine

Although the “back to the land” movement has been going on for years, recent technological advances have made rural living a viable option for people who never before believed that they could realize the dream of leaving behind urban stress. And even those committed to city living are contributing to the boom in the market for second homes, often rural homes, farms, or ranches.

The most comprehensive information source available, this consummate guide to country real estate offers detailed, step-by-step action plans and a complete country property evaluation checklist. The authors leave no stone unturned, pointing to the potential risks and rewards of purchasing rural properties. They discuss in detail how to:

* Start the search, look for land, and find trustworthy rural real estate experts * Evaluate water, climate, topography, soil, and local amenities * Deal with complex laws relating to such rural issues as water, minerals, easements, and zoning * Negotiate the best price and finance the purchase --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

Series: Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country
Paperback: 417 pages
Publisher: Dearborn; 5 edition (September 18, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0793141095
ISBN-13: 978-0793141098
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.9 x 11 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #270 in Books > Business & Money > Real Estate > Buying & Selling Homes
- #5876 in Books > Business & Money > Economics

Would you like to update product info, give feedback on images, or tell us about a lower price?

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars

5 star		84%
4 star		13%
3 star		3%
2 star		0%
1 star		0%

See all 31 customer reviews

Share your thoughts with other customers

Write a customer review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

93 of 94 people found the following review helpful

Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country

By "fifthquarterllc" on July 21, 2002

Format: Paperback

This is a must read for the professional and novice country real estate buyer. We purchased Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country in 1974 and have used it as our source of valuable information since then. Though the cover is now a bit tattered and dated, the book has a prominent place on our bookshelf. It was this book that caused us to look realistically at a piece of property and to put emotion aside. We can honestly say that the book saved us from making purchasing mistakes that would have been financially devastating back when we had very little money. This had to do with investigating access to landlocked property. It looked like a good deal until we found we couldn't legally get to the property without going through a lengthy and costly court fight. We have purchased over 50 pieces of rural property and have used the book as a primer for each purchase. The book's contents prompt us to think out of the box and to question those things that seem to be appropriate on their face, but may have underlying problems. We suppose it's time to buy the newest revision, however, we have scrawled notes on the pages of the old book and that provides a 30-year history of the deals we have completed. It would be like getting rid of an old friend. Final note- we were prompted to take that step of living a life rather than making a living after reading the book for the first time. It gave us the confidence that 20-year olds typically lack. Thanks to the Scher's for making our lives better. We wake up every morning to the sounds of a waterfall in the stream that meanders down to our own private lake. Our dreams came true due, in no small part, to Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

51 of 51 people found the following review helpful

Great overall summary of the process.

By A Customer on June 8, 1998

Format: Paperback

Summary: Great book for people that may have bought houses, but don't know the intricacies of country property. I like this book because it is easy to read and covers all the subjects. The only criticism is that it covers too many generic topics. For example, they get into financing, and all those other topics that are not unique to country property. But in fairness, this book covers a lot of country material too and is all that you'd need to understand the whole process.
I particularly liked their explanations of what to look for in water supply, and how to install your own wells. They cover the sewer topics fairly well.
They tell you where to get your maps and other information to find, research and then close your property. Overall I would give it a solid "A" for the learning about the details of finding your property... once you knew the general area to look in.
Here's some of their advice... here's their TOP 10 things To Know Before Closing:
"1 - Remember, the seller's real estate agent works for the seller and does not get paid without making a sale.
2 - The price and terms are always negotiable.
3 - Never buy land without a proven source of adequate water, which inlcudes recorded water rights if it is from somebody else's land. Test the water for potability.
4 - Never buy land without first securing the necessary permits for installing your own sewage disposal system, or insuring that you can hook up to a public sewage system if one is available.
5 - Be certain of where your boundary lines are located by conducting a survy of the property.
6 - Don't buy land that does not have deed easement rights from the public road to the property.
7 - Be sure the zoning will permit you to use your property as you intended to use it.Read more ›

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful

Protect yourself from your own inexperience

By A Customer on May 4, 1999

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

This book is an excellent source for people who are looking to buy country property. Having lived all my life in a suburban area I was completely unaware of how many things I needed to keep in mind when examining country property. Next time I see a "great deal" I will know enough to ask if the property has had a percolation test, are there public utilities and if there is a deeded easement. Basic things, I know, but ones I was uninformed about. The price of this book might have saved me from making a very costly mistake!

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful

THIS is the book

By Dave Tulka on October 8, 2001

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

I purchased this book along with two others as we embark on our journey to move to the country. The other two books were very good at helping to identify location and prospective properties. "Finding and Buying" is the reference to winnowing propsective properties. Les Scher goes into great and well written detail on what to look for and look out for relative to the common issues of water, surveying, easements and access. Additionally, Les describes Eminent Domain, Condemnation and Adverse Posession; things to consider in a rural purchase. The model contract alone is worth the price of the book!
Les - If you ever read this, THANK YOU!

1 Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful

Excellent - Informative

By J. R. Williams on February 18, 2001

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

Buyer beware. This books descriptions on items to look for (or beware of) when purchasing land is extremely bennificial to the first time buyer of land in the country. It's descriptions of rights that may be reserved by the seller on you title, eminent domain & condemantion, and adverse possession were definitely eye opening.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

Useful book, some outdated information

By Keith Brown on May 16, 2011

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

I bought this book while my wife and I were looking for a piece of property in rural West Virginia. It was very helpful with explaining things to take into consideration when purchasing a house/land out in the country. The chapters explaining what to look for on the land and how to identify any problems with the house were particularly useful. If it wasn't for reading this book I would not have thought to drive out after a hard rain to check for flooding along the main roads. The book also enabled me to ask my realtor a lot of questions that, from her reaction at least, people don't tend to ask. Overall, I would say this book made me a confident first time home buyer (and 1st time home buyer of a rural property).

The only drawback to the book (and the reason I gave it four instead of five stars) is that the information about how to search for a house is really outdated. The author talks about contacting real estate companies and requesting house listings. Since everything is done online now, it would be more helpful to discuss useful strategies on how to search for properties and what websites are best to use (such as realtor.com or landandfarm.com). It would also be helpful if there was a discussion on other internet resources. For example, I learned on my own that Google Maps and Google Earth are great tools to use after you have found a potential property. The street views, topographical maps, birds-eye-views, and other functions of these program gives the buyer a plethora of information at the click of a button. The information in the resources section is also dated, and, once again, the web resources in these sections are very limited. Even with these drawbacks, the book is worth purchasing if you are unfamiliar with purchasing/living on a rural property.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Finding & Buying Your Place in the Country (Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country) Paperback – September 18, 2000

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

From the Publisher

Product Details

Important Information

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Customer Images

Most Recent Customer Reviews

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?