Matthew Farnell's Public Library

We're in the middle of a USDA Rural Development Direct loan.  We hope to close sometime soon.  When we were looking at properties, there were many many that we came across that had too much acreage.  The rule for Direct is that the acreage cannot be so large that the property can be subdivided.  And THAT is specific to the County, Town and in some cases, even the property itself. 
 
We were told to keep things to approx 1-2 acres...not exactly an easy feat in rural NY where everybody has more than 1-2 acres.  We settled on a property with, we were told, 3 acres.  Turns out it's actually 2.4 acres.  No matter...we were required by USDA to have a written notice from the county assessor that the property could not be subdivided. 

When homes have acreage, the number of acres included with the property must be determined to be reasonable for the area. Generally, the value of the acreage should not exceed 30% of the total value of the purchase price. The local RD office makes this determination. Keep in mind, RD finances homes, not farms or ranches. Just use common sense. Call us or your local RD office if you have questions about acreage.