Dignam Mail order land in Canada

[Alasdair]

I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with the Dignam Land corporation? They sell Canadian land by catalogue.

http://www.dignam.com/

I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has experience in dealing with them.
Are their prices fair? Is it really as simple as it sounds?
The problem is that I'm in the U.K. and don't move out to Canada until the fall. So I have no knowledge of real estate values or hidden/legal costs etc. Here in the UK it would take months and expensive legal fees to close a deal on even small parcels of land.
In comparison to "rip off" Britain it all seems crazily cheap!
I have to get out of the habit of comparing prices here in the U.K. to prices in Canada and the U.S.! You might not believe it but boy do you guys have it good!

Any road, would be nice to hear from someone who has experience with Dignam

Al

[glenn kangiser]

Lot of land here, Al.  I am not familiar with the area you are looking at in Canada, but here there are still quite a few wide open spaces.

Before you leave Scotland you need to set us up with another representative there. 

[Alasdair]

lol I'll see what I can do...

[benevolance]

I am from Nova Scotia and the mail order company sells a lot of land there.. And the other company they deal with the torus company only has land in Nova scotia.

If buying in Nova Scotia it depends on what you want...The views of the highlands in Cape Breton are fantastic...There is little to no economic activity there...Tourism and logging are the only industries as there is a moratorium on fishing to preserve cod from extinction and they have stopped coal mining and china bought and removed the steel mill in Sydney. The land there is beautiful though and a wilderness cabin in the woods on a hill there would be great.

As for the land torus has in Nova Scotia... The annapolis Valley is great it has the longest growing season in the province and some of the mildest winters. The lake the land is offered on is nice... a decent size but there are much larger lakes to buy land on in the region and there are better prices also

I suggest you try www.mls.ca if you want other land sites for Nova Scotia contact me and I will be more than happy to share some I have saved over the last few years with you.

From one Scot to another Welcome!

[apaknad]

i have looked at land in N.S. and there are some beautiful areas but it is my understanding that as u.s. citizen i cannot stay there full time so i have crossed it off my list.

[Redoverfarm]

benevolance I have been to Nova Scotia three times.  Beautiful land.  Never being out on the West Coast only to see pictures it appears that the Cape Breton Trail is as close to that on the west coat line. Once I went when it was hot in the east only to take 1 pair of long pants and the rest shorts.  Once there I was washing my longer pants at a laundry mat because I almost froze in shorts. Oh I didn't mention that I was on a motorcycle. 

[benevolance]

It is not hard for a US citizen to do a little paperwork to stay in Canada as much as they want. It is a lot easier to stay in Canada than it is for a non us citizen to stay in america. So if that is all that is keeping you from living in Nova Scotia I would start looking there again.

Land on water there is insanely cheap!!! I would love to have bought our future homesite land there but Maine was the Compromise my wife and I came to.

My brother is the motorcycle guy he has 3 harleys...I prefer cars! But Cape Breton is unique... Everyone says it is a lot like the hills and higlands of ireland and scotland...I have never been to Scotland so I cannot say for sure. The West coast has young mountains that are huge, high and steep...This is a direct contrast to Cape Breton...They have old worn down slopes that are smaller and a little more gradual... Being that there are few people and the pristine atlantic ocean...It is very beautiful...There is an immense amount of wilderness and wide open undeveloped land there. Just do not go there looking to make a bunch of money...As there is not a great economy. Tourism does well.. bed and breakfasts and whale watching etc..But there is not a lot of industry or factories there.

I did not live in Cape Breton...I was born in Beaverbank NS.... and when I was 8 my parents bought a small 40 acre farm in Upper Kennetcook NS...Where I grew up it was all woods and the occasional farmer's field...And that was about it.

They have found natural gas in Kennetcook 3 trillion cubic feet of it...So I suspect that there will be some growth and industry there because of it....But mostly it is still woods and fields and not much else.

[apaknad]

thanx ben,

i have looked at the land and prices(dignam+northland retreats?) and there are definitely bargains to be had. i will check out the details of staying there a little more closely.
dan

[benevolance]

there are better deals on land than what the mail order catalogue has to offer... You need to be careful because a lot of time those mail order catalogues sell old timberland that has been clearcut...I can almost guarantee to you that the picture of the website is of nearby land and not the actual parcel you are getting.

I can post some sites where there is affordable land in the wilderness or on water in Nova Scotia if you like...need to go to my other house as it is saved in the computer bookmarks. I will be there sometime tomorrow

[apaknad]

that would be great. i still haven't picked an area to buy land and i need to be frugal as i am living on a pension.

[benevolance]

Well gasoline is expensive in Nova Scotia... Alcohol and Cigarettes are double what you pay in America also...But land is  cheap.

[apaknad]

well i don't smoke and when i find the right property i only have to drive for supplies(have a p.u. so i can really load it down and save on extra trips), the alcohol thing is my only vice.

[benevolance]

well you can always learn to make your own beer! or wine... perfectly legal in Canada... in Nova Scotia there are tons of homebrew shops that have kits and supplies... they are everywhere...It was a shock for me to move to SC those type of stores really do not exist around these parts.

[Alasdair]

Benevolence, Dan,

Thanks for the tips.  I have also been looking at MLS and a few other real estate sites for the area. Nevertheless I would be pleased to take you up on your offer.

if you want other land sites for Nova Scotia contact me and I will be more than happy to share some I have saved over the last few years with you.

We hope to buy land as soon as we can since our plans have been set back a couple of years pursuing land deals in Scotland that didn't come off. At the same time we don't mind waiting to find the "right" land as we hope to run a few different ventures from it (B&B, vegetable garden, chickens, pigs etc.) so we will just have to wait til we arrive and get to look at some places.
I just had my immigration medical yesterday which was the last box to tick before we apply for a residency permit. So all being well we hope to wrap up our work here and move out at the end of October!
As to the economy there - I've always found if you want to work you can find some. (Might not always be something you would want to do forever though!) The main thing for us is not to eat into our savings.
The alcohol prices are a little worrying tho!....

Al

[benevolance]

http://www.waterfrontleisure.ca/mapcameron.html

Here is a good site they have several dozen pieces of waterfront land reasonable.

[Alasdair]

thanks 

Al

[apaknad]

 :)very nicely put scott... and right on the money!

[benevolance]

Scott? did I miss a post here?

[apaknad]

sorry , wrong thread

[benevolance]

 

[MountainDon]

How do you get land by mail order anyhow?

[benevolance]

must be like years ago when you ordered a wife in the mail... fill out the form pick the one you want and go get it... hoping for the best when you get there