Over the past few years, I have worked with a number of buyers and sellers who have tried to weigh up the pros and cons of living the rural life or moving into Healdsburg downtown. It is a dilemma that many people face. There are clearly benefits to both. Some people will also consider living on the edge of town, hoping to get a lot of the benefits of both but do you end up with not really compromising both rural and city living. In this blog post I will talk share the eight things that you need to think about if you are considering which one is right for you.
If you live in San Francisco or the Bay Area, you need to be prepared for rural living if you currently live in an urban or suburban setting. While some people love the idea, the practicalities can quickly take the shine off their vision of wine country living.In this post, I will share some of the realities of rural living. For example do you mind taking your own garbage 0.5 mile down the road to the garbage pick up point? Or how would you feel about seeing a rattlesnake by your pool? And what about a 40 min trip to pick up a loaf of bread.
My wife and I thought we wanted to live the rural life, we were even going to build our dream home until the fires came to the edge of our property two years running. We then decided to move into downtown, which we love. However, there are aspects of rural living which I would like to experience and which I wonder if I am missing out on. But which is right for you? And that’s what I set out to help you answer with this video so lets get started!
A Lot of people have the dream of a rural wine country property with the indoor seamlessly flowing into the outdoor space with a resort-style pool, a guest house, views of vineyards and all set in a few acres up sweeping driveway up from the valley floor. For many people this checks a lot of the boxes: views, vineyards, pool, privacy and surrounded by nature. But what is it really like owning a rural wine country property in Dry Creek Valley or Alexander Valley? If you are seriously thinking about living the wine country good life here are eight things you need to think about compared to living in downtown:
It’s easy to forget, but growing grapes is farming. It is dirty, it is dusty, it is noisy. What’s more, did you know grapes are picked in the middle of the night? If you live in the middle of a vineyard you will get woken up by farmers spraying the vines or harvesting the grapes. And If the tractors don’t wake you up the huge fans used for frost protection almost certainly will. vineyards look pretty but they need a lot of attention from the farmers.
If your home is set in 5 to 10 acres, it takes a lot of looking after. Unless you want to spend every waking hour tending to the land, you are going to want to get someone to look after it for you. If it is a second home, you are definitely going to want someone to help you manage the property on an ongoing basis. A rural property is not the sort of thing you can lock up and leave for a month if you aren’t able to come and visit.
The moment you leave city limits, you will be on a well and septic system which is both positive and negative. The good news is that if you are on a well your water is “free”. Or rather all you pay for is the electricity to pump the water out of the ground. If you live in the downtown, the city has the ability to restrict the amount of water you use. If you have a septic system then at the most basic level you need to be careful what you put down the toilet. At another level it may cause additional complications if you want to add additional bedrooms to the property. If you live in rural Healdsburg you will be on PG&E, if you live in the city of Healdsburg, you will be on Healdsburg Electric, which is awesome. Because it has it’s own electric utility company you are much less likely to lose power due to a power shut off that has become so common with PG&E. The added benefit is that 60% of all power generated by Healdsburg Electric is clean energy
Finally garbage, or rubbish as Brits say! If you live up a winding driveway, garbage trucks will not go up your driveway to collect your garbage. If you live up a single track road, you will likely have to haul all of your garbage down the road to the main road. That’s why so many rural properties have a Gator! That being said, if you don’t want to haul it yourself, there are lots of people who offer to take your garbage to the end of the driveway once a week.
It is an obvious thing to say but if you live in a rural home, you are more likely to be further away from a grocery store, bar or restaurant. It just means you have to plan ahead. My wife and I now have a terrible habit of going to the grocery store every day compared to doing a weekly shop. You definitely don’t want to be doing that if you live in a rural property. If you live in a rural home, you are less likely to head into town for a bite to eat so you will likely end up cooking more, which is great if you like cooking and are organized about your shopping!
I have a number of clients who are passionate about learning all about growing grapes and have always wanted to own a small vineyard. I have other clients who like the idea of a vineyard but more for aesthetic reasons versus wanting to become a farmer. It is important for you to be clear about your motivation for owning a vineyard. It can become very expensive landscaping! If you purchase a home with a small hobby vineyard (<5 acres) it isn’t big enough to be taken seriously by a big vineyard management company but it is still possible to have it managed by a third party.
There are typically two models for managing a hobby vineyard:
You find a small vineyard manager who you pay to manage the vineyard. You make the decisions on how best to farm it to get the best possible return. You pay all the expenses and once the grapes are harvested, you sell the grapes to a winery and take the profits (or losses)
The second option is you find a winery to take over the vineyard. They are responsible for managing it, paying all the expenses and they take the grapes. You will often get a token payment in kind of a few cases of wine.
It is noticeable that living in town makes it a lot easier to meet people compared to some of our friends who live in more rural properties who had to make more of a concerted effort to get to meet people and feel part of a community. If you live in a gated property you are a lot less likely to bump into your neighbor. Of course you will meet your neighbors but if you live in town and you walk to the plaza every day the town is small enough that you will bump into people you know the whole time. Some people like that, whereas other people like the fact that they live in their own private bubble.
You don’t get many rattlesnakes in San Francisco, but you will see them on a country property I’ve definitely had clients who freak out about the idea of seeing a skunk or a rattlesnake. It will happen. If you don’t like anything bigger than a spider a rural property probably isn’t for you. You will see mice, rats, bats, Coyote, deer, racoons, skunk and rattlesnakes. That being said, I live in downtown and I have seen a rat walking along the top of our fence and even an Opossum, which I must say gave me a shock the first time I saw one.
For some people having a home in wine country is all about having an escape that feels like it is its very own resort with a pool and bocce court. It is clearly a lot easier to find a property that lends itself to that lifestyle outside of town.
It’s not that you can’t have that in town but those properties with the space for a resort style pool are just few and far between, not to mention, pricey.
One thing is for sure, if you do have a resort-style property neither you or your guests will be likely to want to leave!
Like it or not, a rural property is likely to be more susceptible to fire especially if you are a little elevated with views. Unfortunately, fires run uphill not downhill. That being said if your rural dream home is in the middle of a vineyard, vineyards are among the best fire breaks so that will almost certainly be safer.
If you live in town, you are closer to fire services and fire hydrants and because there is a high population density, the fire service is always going to prioritize saving a house in town versus a single house. That being said, communications around fire safety have improved so much, regardless of where a property is, I don’t think you will have to worry about your personal safety as long as you pay attention to any instructions to evacuate.
Over the past few years, evacuation protocols have improved so much. The worst case scenario is you lose your house but at least you will be safe. I know it’s not great but personal safety has to be the most important thing.
There is no question a rural property will likely end up costing you more. Or rather you have many more options for cheaper properties in downtown compared to equivalently priced rural properties. To buy a 1500 sq ft property in Dry Creek Valley on an acre will easily cost over $2m unless it is a major project. In downtown you can get a very nice home at an equivalent price point.
Do you still like the idea of your dream rural property or do you find yourself wanting some of the benefits of a downtown property but in a rural setting? This is a common dilemma. Only you can decide but hopefully this has helped you think about some of the pros and cons of rural vs downtown living.
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