Fort Wayne Indiana Country Living [FULL VLOG TOUR]

Hey there! Are you thinking about moving to Fort Wayne, but you’re not a fan of subdivisions? Are you looking for some country land with lots of acres? Then this video is for you. I’m going to give you a tour of the surrounding areas and a feel of what it’s like to live in the country. 

My name is Dave Brough. We talk about what it’s like to live, work, play, eat, sleep in the Fort Wayne area. So let’s get right into it.

We’re starting with the Southwest part of Fort Wayne.

Fort Wayne is in Allen County, which is the largest County in Indiana.

It’s big…so it can take around 45 minutes to an hour to drive from one side of the County to another. However, Southwest Allen County has a really good school system, and there are some really nice houses out here.

West County Line Road separates Allen County from Whitley County. There’s a clear distinction because the Allen County side has development, and the Whitley County side…well, it’s country. Development is spreading here, but it mainly stays in Allen County because people want to be in the Southwest Allen County School District.

While we do have some rolling hills, it’s ultimately pretty flat in our area of the world. A lot of people come to our area and fall in love with the countryside. It’s very peaceful, and it doesn’t take that long to get out here. From downtown Fort Wayne, it takes around 25-30 minutes. There’s also farming out here, and we’re typically harvesting corn.

The price of land in our area varies between $10,000 or $12,000 an acre to $30,000 to $40,000 an acre. Farmland, I believe is $8,000 to $10,000 an acre; so it’s pretty affordable. If you’re going to be purchasing land that is getting developed, with utilities included, you’re going to pay a higher price. If you purchase a standalone property in a good part of Allen County, you’re probably looking at around 18 to 25 an acre.

If you want a bigger yard but don’t want to be in the country, there are some outlier subdivision areas, like Devil’s Hollow, where you can have 10-12 plus acre lots. You’d have a ton of privacy, and a big, beautiful home. We’ve got these types of neighborhoods all around Fort Wayne.

There are other little rural subdivisions with around 10 or 15 homes. Each home has one to three acre lots, and are semi-isolated and very peaceful. There’s a flight to the countryside all across the country, and we’re certainly seeing that in our area. These homes are luxury, but if you want something nice and outside of the city, this is for you.

I listed some remote homes in 2020 that were in the country, and I was shocked at how high they sold for, and how quickly they sold. I’m not a very big hunter, but for those who enjoy it, you can purchase land in our area that you can use for personal hunting grounds. I’ve seen people that buy 50 plus acres of land for hunting. Around here, people hunt for deer, quail, birds, rabbits, and wild turkeys. 

Owning a home in the country, from what I understand, costs more because you have more to maintain. One thing that’s great about owning a rural or country property, is that you can qualify for a USDA loan, which is a government insured loan by the department of agriculture. Part of what they do is stay involved with writing or insuring mortgage loans. You can actually get a zero down loan, and most areas qualify for the loan.

A couple of things to keep in mind when you are shopping for a country home in the Fort Wayne area, is that you’re going to want to get your septic inspected. If you’re purchasing a home in Allen County, you can be pretty confident that the septic will be in better shape than other counties. This is because Allen County has more stringent guidelines on keeping up on your septic. You’ll get a disclosure specifically for this septic from the sellers of the property, and it’s important because they can get pretty pricey if you need to replace one. You’re looking at around $20,000 to $40,000 for a new system.

You should also get your well looked at. A septic is where your waste goes, so when you flush your toilet it goes out to a septic field and then bacteria eats away at it; same thing with water. You don’t have city utilities out here so you’ll have a well, and it has water that comes from the ground. Usually, there aren’t many problems with wells, but you do want to get it tested every now and then. Sometimes you can have levels of bacteria in it, or increased iron, so it’s super important to treat the water so you can get a nice filtration system.

If I was going to buy a bunch of land I would probably do it in the South to Southeast parts of Allen County, because I believe there’s a lot of opportunity for growth. Allen County definitely has the highest price, or highest values in the surrounding areas; so people want to live here. We’re already maxed out on the Southwest and West side of the County, and also on the Northwest and Northeast. 

I hope you guys liked this video of the countryside around Fort Wayne. It was fun to get out of the office and take a little drive. If you guys have any questions about moving to Fort Wayne, whether the country or the city, just reach out to me!