Hints and tips about viewing smallholdings, or other country properties with land, that are for sale:

The BBC has a lot of information on buying, selling, moving etc. Why not pay a visit to their property page?

These hints and tips are designed to help you get more out of your viewings when you visit smallholdings. They have been born out of our experience of dealing with many viewers, some of whom do not have a clue, others with unrealistic expectations. We hope this proves to be of value to you and saves time for everyone.

Here are our thoughts on viewing properties:
1) Allow time. With a walk over the land, our viewers take between 2 and 4½ hours. Add to this the time taken to get between properties. In rural areas like this you cannot do 70mph to make up time.

2) Make sure you know where to go. Some directions are good but some properties can be difficult to find. Don't rely on sat-nav. When we were first looking, even with OS maps we could not find some properties. Tools such as Google maps can help before you leave.

3) If you are unsure of the area, do a tour first before you waste people's time viewing. We had one couple who loved the place, arranged a second viewing, then decided they didn't want to move to Wales...

4) Take wellies or stout boots. We have some spares but not everyone does. Rainproof coats should be brought for tramping over the land.

We had several viewings where the husband is keen, but the wife doesn't want to know. It just wastes time. Discuss and agree to moving to a smallholding before you make any viewings.

Likewise we had a couple who wanted to bring the parents. They were keen but the parents were not (and they were required to sell their house to help finance the move). In fact the parents were adamant they did not want this. Another ½ day wasted.

Some of the viewers who have visited us haven't a clue about running a smallholding. They have a dream about "wouldn't it be nice to live in the country" but when they see the reality, they are put off.

Even if you don't do much, the land still needs some looking after. If you are used to mowing a 10ft square lawn within a 20ft garden in suburbia, then come to a property with a more substantial garden (in our case, about 1 acre), there is more work to do (although you can let it go wild). Some seemed shocked at this.

So, decide what you want, how much effort you can put into a place and what you want to do with the land. Read some magazines such as 'Smallholder' or 'Country Smallholding' to see what smallholdings are about.

Think about how much land you want or need. One tip we were given when we first started looking was "It is better to have too much (you can always let it out or leave it) than too little. It is very difficult to add to an existing holding." This person had 5 acres and kicked himself for turning down the chance of another 5 acres.

Our previous smallholding had 27½ acres. When we bought the property, we were looking for about 10-15 acres. But the house was right, the price was OK, the location was good. We didn't do anything with about half of it, except to enjoy it and the wildlife and space that it brings.

Once you have done your research, you need to decide what you want to do with the land. This then leads onto the type of land. Consider also the area of the country that you want to live in.

Do you want open moorland, woods, paddocks for horses, or a 'General purpose smallholding'?

How flat do you want the land? Or how steep can you accept? When we first started looking we wanted only gentle slopes, not hillsides. So we bought Ordinance Survey maps of the whole area and checked out the terrain and what was about. These days you have Google Maps and Google Earth to help the research.

If you have been out and about on a wet winter's day, and you have muddy boots, having a gravelled or concrete yard can help avoid bringing too much mud in. Likewise, if you have been out for the evening, or have friends or family to stay, you don't want to be walking over mud and muck to get to the door. But these desirable factors can add to the price - on a tight budget you may have to compromise.

If you intend to work on the intended property, whether it is a smallholding or an equestrian property, it is handy to have a boot room, entrance lobby or similar. This enables you to take off dirty boots and wet coats without going into the house proper and getting it muddy and wet. Some places we have seen, you walk straight into the living room. A small point but one that can spoil the experience...