Paul,

I'd like to add a slightly different, well intended view to the excellent ones above.

Some folks may be able to find the perfect place the first time every time...but I was not one of them, and in fact do not know any of those folks.

I'm of the opinion, that better is often the enemy of good. Sure, do your homework, find the best place you can, but view it all as a journey and not a destination.

It would be a sad thing for me to see someone in search of perfection fail to realize the joys of country living. I learned a great deal from my first property and ponds...they were not perfection, and certainly not what I really wanted, but I came to know what I really wanted through that first property...and made a bunch of money off selling it to boot! ;\)