One great thing about property with a good flowing creek or river running through it is the option for micro hydro power generation. It’s hard to go wrong with that option because as long as the water is flowing and the system is built correctly, the power is being generated regardless of weather conditions. Add to that the options for ram pumping (no power required) water for livestock and garden irrigation, and the perks of living next to moving water are many. Plus the ability to harvest fish and such. You can also ram pump water up into a cistern, then just pull water out of the cistern, filter it through a good sediment filter, then purify it by boiling and meet the rest of your needs, or run a pump from a cistern through a good pool type sand filter, then through a purifyer and have running water in the house with a decent pressure tank.
Tons of options if you live by dependably moving water. And 11.57 acres at $40,000 seems a little on the steep side, but if you can get him down to $30,000 I think it’s a great deal. Seriously, that moving water option has MANY advantages. Study up on ram pumps and you’ll quickly see that garden irrigation and livestock watering will be power free. Add on microhydro power generation, and you’ll be sitting pretty on a plot of land like that.
Looking on the map at the area around Scottville, It looks like much of the property around the river could be a little lowland for building and living on without extra expense, but I could be wrong, it’s hard to tell from sattelite photos. Still likely a great deal.
Search around for someone living in the area and see if you can contact them and get an idea of what the land is like, and how hard it would be to turn it into a small homestead.