1885 & 1890s Houses Not Producing :shrug:

[DirtyDeedsDugDirtDeep]

Angelic,
Like the others have stated, landscaping, previous hunting, or just good old fashion poverty can limit success on what looks like prime real estate.
One thing I've learned is, look at the trees.
What kind are they ??? Are their roots exposed ???
A prime example: Silver Maples: they grow incedibly fast compared to Oaks.
So if you see an older home with huge Silver Maples, they could be no more than 50 years old.
If you see a home with huge Oaks, they could be a 100 or more years old.
If you see a property where the trees look like telephone poles sticking out of the ground, you can be pretty sure there's been landscaping done.
A tree that is 75-100+ years old will have a huge root system, provided the soil depth allows it.
If left undisturbed, the base will flare out into the soil, and numerous roots will be poking above the grass.
Not to say landscaped yards won't produce; they may only have a few inches added.

And If you are scoping out old farmhouses, another landscaping giveaway is, if the front door is at ground level.
This isn't 100% guaranteed; but a lot of early farmhouses, especially back East ,had door steps a foot or more higher than ground level.
Why? Because it kept the rain,snow, and dirt out of the house.
As money and time permitted, maybe porches were added; or just as likely, dirt was hauled in and a new yard was built up to the door.
I've found a lot of old farm home improvements seemed to have taken place right after the major wars.
I suppose the farmers made good money selling produce to the government ?? I don't know.

 

[mcb613]

Guys, just 2 yrs ago silver peaked at above $49/ once. Just for a day or so. Waiting fir it to come back and allow me to retire early.

 

[AngelicStorm]

Angelic,
Like the others have stated, landscaping, previous hunting, or just good old fashion poverty can limit success on what looks like prime real estate.
One thing I've learned is, look at the trees.
What kind are they ??? Are their roots exposed ???
A prime example: Silver Maples: they grow incedibly fast compared to Oaks.
So if you see an older home with huge Silver Maples, they could be no more than 50 years old.
If you see a home with huge Oaks, they could be a 100 or more years old.
If you see a property where the trees look like telephone poles sticking out of the ground, you can be pretty sure there's been landscaping done.
A tree that is 75-100+ years old will have a huge root system, provided the soil depth allows it.
If left undisturbed, the base will flare out into the soil, and numerous roots will be poking above the grass.
Not to say landscaped yards won't produce; they may only have a few inches added.

And If you are scoping out old farmhouses, another landscaping giveaway is, if the front door is at ground level.
This isn't 100% guaranteed; but a lot of early farmhouses, especially back East ,had door steps a foot or more higher than ground level.
Why? Because it kept the rain,snow, and dirt out of the house.
As money and time permitted, maybe porches were added; or just as likely, dirt was hauled in and a new yard was built up to the door.
I've found a lot of old farm home improvements seemed to have taken place right after the major wars.
I suppose the farmers made good money selling produce to the government ?? I don't know.

All of them are huge oak trees with some of them having many roots exposed where the ground is hard and some having roots sticking out the grass. There is even a place where the sidewalk and walkway is being lifted way up because of the roots.

Funny that you mention scoping out old farm houses. I just got through finding a couple of pre-1825 farmhouses that look very promising. Not sure what the door to ground level is, but I will be checking one of these farmhouses out tomorrow morning and see what happens. Thanks for the information. Every little bit helps.

Guys, just 2 yrs ago silver peaked at above $49/ once. Just for a day or so. Waiting fir it to come back and allow me to retire early.

You must have tons of silver saved up by now. I've noticed silver slowly dropping for a little while (well since I last looked) and so maybe it's getting ready to skyrocket.