Recent discussions about Saskatchewan and Canada have prompted me to give my view as a non real-estate agent.

My grandmother and her family immigrated to Saskatchewan from South Dakota(late 1800"s) and before she died her sister wrote an account of the trip and early years for the family to have. Fascinating stuff! I still have many relatives in Saskatchewan who are farming and I visited as a child. I remember one year we visited in January, we had a couple of cold days, but it didn't stop us from being outside playing. I remember the "sun dogs" were out. Yes the winters are very cold if you are used to temperate climates.

Winter is a funny thing here in Canada, and I have lived right across the Country. Cold isn't everything! We have good friends in Vancouver who keep telling us to move there because of the weather, sure it's not cold but so dreary! It rains through the winter how depressing, but was i envious of the growing season! I have lived in the very north of Alberta, where there are days that you just don't go outside, and it was dim by the time I was out of school in the afternoon, but summer ball games are still going on at 11pm. My mother had lovely gardens there, did lots of canning etc we had game nights in Winter and just kept busy. My uncle has a quarter section in Manitoba, he loves it good hunting winters about the same, but mosquitos! My mom and dad grew up in Southern Ontario, granddad still grows for a huge family and gives it all away. If you can afford it my bet on best farmland is here! But it is not 'homesteading' land the cities are quite close. Yes still lots of snow, but don't forget snow is moisture! I'll skip over to New Brunswick where kent county has many homestead properties for sale, a few I have been looking at. Secluded, forested, winter snowfall puts me off New Brunswick gets lots of it and makes a living out of winter snowmobillers vacationing here! Nova Scotia is where I live now, it is over all the warmest province in Canada. We have some great agricultural land, hunting and fishing. I am at present on the south shore but am selling my place and moving to the cape breton highlands, just because. To give you an idea of Nova Scotia prices my home (1860's farmhouse) with 7 acres+/- private duck ponds, some outbuidings(chicken coop, pig pen, goat shed), gardens will hopefully sell for 80,000 that is 60,000US I believe.

Now I think it's all in what you are used to, but there is no way I could handle the heat down south. We had a few days here that were 104 and I couldn't move let alone get any work done!

Other perks up here-- no poison bugs it really creeps me out to think about back widow spiders, scorpions etc. Really bad weather is none to rare eg cyclones, hurricanes, tornadoes. I think Alberta has rattlers in the bad lands but so poison snakes elsewhere. YUK! No alligaters! I do see white tailed deer and rabbits, a porcupine crawled up the tree in my front yard and hubby had to knock him with a broom. SCARY!

And remember folks-- You can't get maple syrup without some cold!

-- Terri in NS (terri@tallships.ca), July 30, 2001

Answers

Response to Canada

Thanks for the info Terry .I love going over and shopping in Canada .The prices are good compared to some parts of the U.S.But I still beleive a better deal can be had in Northern N.Y State .No poisonous bugs or snakes .Cold and snowy winters .A good growing season where you can grow most things .Plenty of water and rich soil.Yes we have taxes , but being a farm and a good accountant get most back .We also have great prices for colleges if you are a resident .Good luck to all.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), July 30, 2001.

Yes, Terri, thanks, that was a very interesting read!

However, I am curious as to WHY your husband had to "knock him with a broom" in reference to the porcupine, and why you thought is was so scary? Porcupines are completely inoffensive animals -- not an aggressive bone or thought in them. That's why they're covered in all those spines. They have no other defense, they move so slowly they can't get away from anything, and they can't "throw" their quills. The only reason for concern that I can imagine is if you have cats, dogs, or rugrats. And for those who will tell me about all the things that porky's will chew up, yes, I know -- but that's not SCARY.

I'm not trying to put you down, Terri, or make you feel badly. I'm just very curious as to why you think they're scary.

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), July 30, 2001.

A U.S. dollar is approximately 1.5+ Canadian dollars... $80,000 Can would be about $53,000 U.S.

cheers,

-- Max (Maxel@inwindsor.com), July 30, 2001.

Sorry Joy I was being facetious. They are completely harmless, we have dogs who were very interested so we had to remove the animal. My point is that this is the about most "dangerous" wildlife that we come across. Different people have asked me if I am scared to be out in the country in Canada, I am sure it is definately not what they think.

-- terri in ns (Terri@tallships.ca), July 30, 2001.

Guess I missed something. What has all this got to do with Realtors, and Non-Realtors?

-- Ed Copp (OH) (edcopp@yahoo.com), July 30, 2001.

Terri, I live in downeast Maine where the weather is very similar to Nova Scotia. The Atlantic Ocean here is a little cooler then in N.S. but it also tempers the climate quite a bit. Love the fact that there are no poisonous snakes, etc. here!! When we first thought about a move north it had to be either upper N.Y., Vt., N.H. or Maine. Love taking the "Cat" to Nova Scotia, though!! You live in a beautiful area. And I know what you mean about the heat!!!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), July 30, 2001.

Ok, Terri, I get it now! LOL! Darn, if I could have SEEN you saying it, I bet I would have known! ;-) You're right, a porky is not very scary -- unless you run into it in the dark . . .

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), July 30, 2001.

Ed, see the earlier post titled "Homesteading in Saskatchewan Canada/Properties for sale (2001-07-29)", and others nearby. Basically, a real-estate agent from Saskatchewan who apparently is a long-time advertiser in "Countryside" found the forum on the 29th and decided to start contributing, including advertisements. He appears to think it would be an effective selling technique to tell people that they, or their friends and acquaintances, are "full of crap" (his words - not mine).

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), July 31, 2001.

I really ought to let this one go. I rarely post (read a lot of posts, though) here but have been kicking the idea around of moving north for some time. I've done a little research into western parts of Canada as well as the eastern part, New Brunswick, and also Maine. I was very interested to read about Mr. Levin's 'ad' and thought some pertinent questions were in order, based on experiences other people have had, and I expressed a couple of valid concerns. Mr. Levin chose to view these as attacks of some sort and resorted to a personal insult of myself and another person who posted.

I agree with Mr. Armstrong about Mr. Levin's sales tactics. I own two small businesses myself and am about to start a third, and I can't believe any business owner would resort to calling potential clients 'full of crap' when they had done nothing to provoke such a response other than pose legitimate concerns. This is something any business owner deals with every day. No telling how many potential customers he alienated by retorting in such a manner. And 'word of mouth' really does go a long way when you own a business, especially when they're not nice words. I'm not trying to anger Mr. Levin or anyone else here, but such remarks should not go unanswered; if unanswered the instigator then thinks it's ok to continue such rude behavior. Thanks to the 'non-realtors' and everyone else who contributed information about the area. Think I'll look farther east, maybe Maine.

-- HannahMariaHolly (hannahholly@hotmail.com), July 31, 2001.

Hey Terri, We've had us some bear sightin's on this side of the county but nothing to get worked up about since they are more interested in being by themselves..hmm..other wildlife includes coyotes and foxes but I haven't seen a coyote since I moved here. I was in the Annapolis Valey yesterday and it was warmer there than at home. I don't think I want to live anywhere but NS. As my Quebec born and widely travelled husband put it "There is no place like it". Sure the roads are a bit sucky right now but other than that I can't find a real major flaw (beside the gov't cutbacks but those are everywhere else too). See ya later, gator. Firewoods coming this AM and I will load Katie and Darian and bring them to you after that. PS did you see the ad for cashmere goats in Rural Delivery?

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), July 31, 2001.