Our story
We are Rose and Clemens, the founders of RuralCheck. It grew out of our own search for an affordable rural property in Spain, a place where we could fulfil our creative dreams and wind down from stressful city life.
How it started
We spent many days scouring every platform for properties, and then two weeks driving out to see places in person. For every plot that caught our eye the same questions came up, and the answers were spread across many different sources, when they could be found at all. A good number of our visits could have been avoided had we had all the information laid out before setting off.
Rose is a physicist by day, and a designer by night and at heart. Clemens works as a researcher with maps and satellite data. Together we thought there could not be a better opportunity to put our combined skills into creating the automated reports we wished we had had while searching for properties (and by the way, we still have not decided).
Questions close to our hearts
Noise was a huge concern for us. Official noise maps cover cities and major roads, so for the quiet places we were looking at there was nothing to read. The Noise section in RuralCheck now estimates the road and rail noise at the plot itself, taking into account the hills or houses that could block it.
We also wanted to know about power lines, wind turbines or livestock sheds that could disrupt a beautiful landscape. Nuisances on RuralCheck now lists each one and shows whether it is in view, and the 3D viewer lets you take a detailed look.
Given that we also wanted to spend time on the property in winter, it was important for us to know whether the trees go bare or keep their leaves. The Trees layer now shows on the map which of the surrounding woods keep their leaves in winter or go bare, telling you how green the place stays all year.
We wanted to be on our own, and still within reach of infrastructure such as supermarkets or hardware stores. The People nearby layer maps the people living within 5 km, and the Shops/services layer gives the drive time to the nearest supermarket, doctor, pharmacy and much more.
In hot summers with heat waves, going for a swim was essential to us. The Bodies of water category on RuralCheck lists the lakes, rivers, beaches and sea nearby that a road or path reaches and that may be good for swimming (but please check).
Groundwater was something we were warned about again and again. Pulled together from public records, the Groundwater layer shows how deep the water stood in the nearest wells and boreholes on record, and when it was measured. This gives a sense of how deep you might have to drill for your own well, which has a big effect on the cost.
A plot inside a protected area usually means more rules, more authorities to ask for permission, and so a longer wait before you can renovate or build anything. The Protected areas layer says whether the plot lies inside one and which lie within 5 km.
The report
Those questions and many more grew into the report. Every number in it is derived from satellite or aircraft measurements, from simulations or from official data. The reports are not free of errors, but where there is uncertainty we say so, and we name the original source and explain our methodology.
Find land
At the beginning of our search for properties we first had to work out which regions fitted our criteria at all. For example, after travelling to the Pyrenees we quickly noticed that it was too cold there and had few evergreen trees in winter. We also visited affordable regions with gorgeous views where any sort of infrastructure was an hour's drive away on steep dirt roads.
The Find land tool provides this regional search. You choose what matters to you, such as how quiet it should be, how much sun it gets in winter, or how far it is to a village or a supermarket, and it shows the ground in a region that matches.
The 3D view
Beyond the risks, the view mattered to us almost more than anything else. The 3D viewer is one of the features we worked on most, and it lets you explore the plot through the seasons and at any time of day.
Two sliders set the day of the year and the time of day. The sun follows its path for that date, and the land casts its shadows. Snow lies where satellite records show it in that month. Clouds come as often as the month's satellite record has them and drift with the plot's average wind. At night the bright stars stand where they are for that date and hour, as many as this plot's night sky shows. Deciduous trees change colour and lose their leaves on dates measured by satellite for the region. Where we have the data, houses, power lines and wind turbines stand where they are, to give you a realistic impression from the comfort of your home.
Prices
We wanted to be able to check every plot that caught our eye, so a plan covers as many reports as you like, from €5 a week. Plans and prices