RURAL LAND BUYERS DESERVE MORE INFORMATION

O’Donoghues First National Real Estate says that Australians relocating from city centres to regional areas, with the dream of buying rural land and setting up a working farm, deserve more information and guidance from real estate agents to understand the critical issues.
‘First National Real Estate participates in regional relocation expos, agricultural expos and small farm field days all around the country on a yearly basis’ said O’Donoghues First National Real Estate principal, Jeremy O’Donoghue.

‘This positions our “Rural Specialists” and “Lifestyle Specialists” uniquely to understand the expectations of our city cousins when they consider moving to the country and generating a primary or secondary income through farming’.

‘Some of the people we meet are prepared to invest large sums of money in their relocation to regional areas but have developed their ideas of country life and farming from lifestyle television programmes like River Cottage Australia, instead of researching more carefully’ said Jeremy.

One of First National Real Estate’s responses to this issue has been to develop a web based resource that can be used by city folk and farmers to find the answers to their questions about rural land, farms and lifestyle properties.

When buying rural land, O’Donoghues First National says there are nine important issues that should be considered:
1. The economic climate of the area. Is the land to be used for agriculture, commercial purposes or private use?
2.Whether the property has appropriate council approvals and council zoning for any external buildings, and any future development.
3. Whether your health and age is compatible with your plans. (Do you expect to need services that are found in cities but may not be in regional centres?)
4. Applicable property taxes.
5. Inclusion of any licenses such as water usage etc.
6. Accessibility of service utilities such as power, gas, sewerage, phone and Internet.
7. The presence of flood plains, areas with access problems, or water problems.
8. Easements or rights of way that may affect the property. Even though they may have not been used for some time, their use by others can affect your rights as well.
9. That effective controls are in place and work has been maintained to control noxious pests on the land, such as rabbits and noxious weeds. Eradication of these can be expensive.

‘My team spends a great deal of time pointing our prospective purchasers to the resources we’ve made available to better guide their decision making’ said Jeremy.
‘Our customers can only fulfil their dreams when we use our best endeavours to highlight key considerations when it comes to buying rural land for farms’.
For more information about buying rural property, consumers can visit www.firstnationalrural.com.au
Issued by: O’Donoghues First National Real Estate

For further information contact:
Jeremy O’Donoghue, Principal, O’Donoghues First National Real Estate, on 8942 8942.