For many, rural real estate is the investment to go by. Low in capital outlay, you can use minimal finances to accomplish your dream of living in the countryside or building properties for sale in the future. But rural real estate has its own challenges that prospective home owners or investors seriously need to consider.

Your first check in investment of this type would be to find out how well the area is serviced. There are still many areas across the country without basic infrastructure that burdens homeowners or investors. For example how good is the road network to the area you want to build? Bad roads mean you will have a tough time bringing your materials and traveling if you later complete the structure. Taking it upon yourself to construct the road may be quite an overwhelming task.

If you have school kids with you, you will want to consider an area with educational facilities or have good roads that school buses can ply. If there aren't, then you will have to compensate that with driving the kids to school yourself in a cross country vehicle. In extreme weather such as winter and spring, you will have to content with muddy roads or snow paved roads as you move in and out of your house.

Be very sure about your boundaries before you put up any structure. Licensed surveyors will be able to provide you with an accurate demarcation of your land so you do not trespass into another's. It will be a huge pain to build an expensive structure only to demolish it after your neighbor has complied and proven that you have built into his area.

Check with the local authorities about easement laws. In the rural area, you will be responsible for damage caused by livestock from your neighbor's farm if you do not erect appropriate fences to keep the animals out.

Be sure about what the land has been reserved for. Most states have areas specifically earmarked for agriculture. You will not be allowed to put up elaborate residences in these areas. You will also have to find out about the maximum height of the structures that are allowed on the property.

Be sure to find out about the state of water supply in the area. If there is none and you intend to raise livestock, you may want to make alternate means such as digging a well or installing pumps. You may need these alternative sources if you intend to plant crops too as some states are so dry that you will need some sort of irrigation. For residential purposes, you will have to build large tanks to store treated water for domestic consumption.

It is cost effective to buy land that is serviced with power. If the area isn't, then you will have to spend thousands of Dollars to draw power to where you are. In locations where the cost is prohibitive, you may want to consider other sources of power such as solar energy and generator.

Hinterlands may not have access to mobile communications. In this case you will need to buy land in a place where you ca have at least traditional lines to communicate.

If you are buying the land for agricultural purposes, you may to carry out soil fertility or employ the services of an expert. A land that has been overgrazed may take a long time to be restored to normalcy. This situation calls for extra expense which will add to the cost of acquiring the land. Again, the test will also determine whether the land will be suitable for agriculture or not.

Relocating to the rural area can be fun but you need to research carefully to determine the suitability of your location and initial costs associated with the investment.