What part time home owners can do with all that extra land

Here in the Hudson Valley, there is a very good second home market made up mostly of New York City residents looking to escape city life to a second home out in the country.  One of the most sought-out property-type is the old farm house on a large land parcel.   As a Hudson Valley real estate agent, one of the things I do is to prepare the city dweller for their new life in the "sticks".   I dedicate a good amount of my due diligence process to explaining the differences between city life and country life so there aren't any unexpected discomforts after the purchase. 

One of the biggest differences between city life and country farm house living is in the amount of property you need to care for.  For part-time homeowners, keeping up with 100 acres is no easy task.  If money is no object, it could be easy to hire a property management company to care for the land.  This becomes especially important if your newly bought farm has a good amount of open fields and meadows.  Open areas such as these can quickly turn into over-grown brush fields that seriously inhibit your enjoyment of the property.  A property management company can have a landscaper or local farmer mow the fields a few times a year to keep them manageable. 

Another big difference in country living vs. urban survival is the amount of wild life, more specifically, coyote, bears and deer.  At first, the wild life is an attraction for the new country home owner, but after a few dumped over garbage cans and some chewed up landscaping, country home owners look to find alternatives to wildlife cooperative living.

A very good option for country homeowners is to have their property managed by a Quality Deer Management expert (QDM).  The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) is a national association that brings together landowners and hunters for the good of the white-tail deer.  Quality Deer Managers primary goal is to create biologically and socially balanced deer herds.  While most quality deer managers are hunters, they are conservationists first and look to perpetuate the species by strengthening the deer herds. 

The process by which they manage the herds is a complex system of habitat management, food supply and harvest selection.  Each system is different based on the type of property you are attempting to manage.  In most cases, food plots are strategically planted on the property to keeping wildlife away from areas where they can damage landscaping or run out in front of cars.  Selective harvesting of the deer herds contribute to the genetics of the remaining deer while keeping the over all herd in control limiting the chance of disease usually associated with over population.

The benefit for the homeowner is astronomical.  More times than not, the QDMA will do the management for free.  The property gets maintained by a professional who really cares about the environment.  Fields don't become overgrown and unmanageable.  The deer, bear and coyotes will stay away from landscaping, roads and pets.  Finally through the process of deer management, the homeowner can feel good that he/she contributed to the good of the species.

Here in the Hudson Valley, the Hudson Valley Quality Deer Management Association (HVQDMA) is very active and ready to talk to landowners of any kind who have a similar perspective on wildlife and conservation.   While QDM is a great solution for second home buyers in the Hudson Valley, landowners everywhere can benefit from having local QDMA branch talk to you about managing your property.