Phillip and Emily Bromley hoped to purchase 20 – 40 acres near Birmingham, Alabama. “We wanted our property to have land near water with some abandoned fields and hardwood timber,” Phillip Bromley explains. “We’d planned to use the land for recreational hunting, a mini-farm, and a mini-orchard.” Phillip looked for a place where he and Emily could escape their busy lives as nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), get away from the traffic and noise of the city and enjoy the outdoors. If they could build a barndominium then that would be icing on the cake.
“My wife is somewhat a city girl,” Phillip explains. “I didn’t know if she’d enjoy owning property or not. If we lived on the land in Sterrett, Ala., we were interested in, we’d have at least a 17-minute further drive to Birmingham area hospitals than we’d had originally. When we first looked at the land we eventually bought, and I pulled down into a field, Emily announced, ‘This is it.’”
The 40 acres the Bromleys decided to buy was unique with a couple of sloughs flowing into it and a stream that fed and gave access to a 56 acre lake. Phillip admits they were inexperienced in buying rural property. After investigating several land and barndominium financing options, a friend suggested to the Bromleys they check out First South Farm Credit.
“The first person we talked to at First South Farm Credit was very helpful and we felt we could accomplish the financing we needed through it,” Phillip recalls. “But our initial lender moved, and Daily Thomas, Jr., then became our teacher, mentor and adviser on buying rural property. Once we bought the land, we wanted to begin living on it as soon as possible.”
Daily has written before about questions to ask when buying land. Daily Explains, ” If there are already improvements on the land that you wish to purchase, land loans can finance both. If you wish to improve your land with ponds, barns, cabins, country homes, or in the case of the Bromleys, a barndominium, these are all improvements that we can finance.” Daily recommends having all of the plans and costs of improvements ready before applying to finance.
After the Bromley’s learned First South Farm Credit could finance improvements, they built a drive-through barndominium with two-bedroom living quarters upstairs. Then they could move onto the land and live there. “We planned to use the downstairs part of the barn to hold our farm equipment. In the next 5 years, we’ll build our home on the land, but during that time, we’ll live in our barndominium, which eventually we’ll use as a guesthouse.”
Ten acres of the Bromleys’ property will be used for the new house, mini-farm, mini-orchard, and the barndominium. The Bromleys plan to leave the rest of the land in the wilderness to observe wildlife, hunt and have friends and family visit them to enjoy the outdoors.
The Bromleys knew what they wanted. They found the property and all they needed to make it happen was a guide and financial partner. “We’d recommend First South Farm Credit as a lender for anyone who has a dream like ours,” Phillip Bromley emphasizes. “Daily Thomas from First South Farm Credit made our dream come true quickly by seeing our vision, helping us buy the land and becoming a part of the realization of our dream. First South Farm Credit’s personable, friendly staff was willing to teach newbies like us what we needed to consider when buying raw land, and how we could make our dream property become a reality.”
