Buying Land?

[Vel454]

Realtor.com used to have a map-search feature (they might still, but couldn't find it) that used to make finding properties in specifics places easy. But this was the results from a search I did, that was by no means exhaustive. The 10 acre $10k properties I seen were from 1-3 years ago, and didn't see any (there were a lot of them listed at that time). But here's some that still fall around that price range:

~$1,500/Acre:
http://www.landandfarm.com/property/27_ ... on-317499/
http://www.landandfarm.com/property/39_ ... on-357564/

~$975/Acre:
http://www.landandfarm.com/property/80_ ... on-301568/

~$600/Acre:
http://www.landandfarm.com/property/160 ... on-305754/

Try different websites and keep an eye out for the Ferry, Stevens & Pend Orielle counties in northeast WA. Stevens primarily was where I was seeing those prices. I've also seen some cheap land in the southeast corner of the state, but the quality of land seemed lower. Okanogan and Chelan counties can turn up some lightly wooded plots for cheap too. Good luck!

[ZapThyCat]

keep an eye out for the Ferry, Stevens & Pend Orielle counties in northeast WA. Stevens primarily was where I was seeing those prices. I've also seen some cheap land in the southeast corner of the state, but the quality of land seemed lower. Okanogan and Chelan counties can turn up some lightly wooded plots for cheap too. Good luck!

Yeah. That land doesn't even close to the same as the lands in the willamette valley or closer to the cascades. I drove through that it seems mostly like scrublands where ranching or dryland farming is what the land is used for.

Then again, you get what you pay for. Fertile land with great weather and plenty of rain costs good money.

*sigh*

[Vel454]

Yep you do. And the areas I was talking about is a bit too dry and rough for me. Growing up in the convergence zone in the puget sound, I like it green and wet. But, the land is there for the price if it's something you'd be interested in.

[ZapThyCat]

I'm *actually* looking for land in the Ozarks... SW Missouri or NW Oklahoma, even SW Oklahoma (though that's technically not the Ozarks, it's another mountain range close by).

These seem like good areas to have a homestead, build a garden, raise a family, etc...

[ineffableone]

Another good source for Washington State land

DESERT LAKE REALTY
http://www.dirt-cheap-dirt.com/

They have great search functions and a lot of great land for good prices. Their listings include most of the counties in WA and you can search for the different counties. I highly recommend looking through these guys.

Some examples of their listings

Okanogan county

http://dirt-cheap-dirt.idxco.com/idx/25 ... gID=223832

Acres: 12 Price: $19,900
The views are INCREDIBLE! Come enjoy the best of what the Okanogan Highlands has to offer. Mostly wonderful grass with an area of pine trees making a great horse property for the person wanting remote. The terrain is very gently southern sloped. Electric is only stones throw away. Wildlife are abundant and include white tail and mule deer, bear, cougar, coyote, wild turkey, grouse and much more. An adjacent 24 acre parcel is also available.


http://dirt-cheap-dirt.idxco.com/idx/25 ... gID=231368

Acres: 18.35 Price: $18,900
This property would make a great hunting get-away. Lot of trees and very remote in a area loaded with deer and other wildlife. Lots of small lakes nearby. Come and enjoy the beauty and peacefulness of this area. This property boarders BLM land on 2 sides.


http://dirt-cheap-dirt.idxco.com/idx/25 ... gID=231973

Acres: 10 Price: $19,500
Very nice parcel with a pleasant blend of pine trees, open meadows and expansive views. Suitable for summer recreation or year around living. Community water available for camping, RV use, or for a cool shower after recreating in the surrounding Okanogan National Forest. Country store just a few minutes away. Great spot to watch the sun lose itself into the Cascades.

There is a lot more better than this, this is just an example for people.

[Foxen]

Whatever happens, I strongly recommend that you personally check out the property.

I know this may sound...stupid, or "duh" basic common sense, but I know investors or buyers who buy without looking or even really investigating the neighborhood.

Where I live, land is VERY tight... and time to time properties will be listed with 1 acre or 2 acres or even 10 acres + for roughly median range prices... which shoots up ALL sorts of red flags. When you actually check it out over 90% of the land is mountain...like STRAIGHT UP mountain...or uncultivated land, or part of a preserve. These days real estate listings here tend to be much much more upfront about important facts that were sometimes left out of the initial description.

Anyhow, I know this probably doesn't help, but just my contribution to the learning pool.

Fox

[NShel]

One problem I have with the Ozarkland thing, though, is its not even a homeowner's association where owners can come together and have some input. It's a deed restriction. You buy the property, but the people you buy it from still control what you can do with it. Not only that, but they make it easy for them to take the property back if they don't like what you do with it. To buy from them, you have to sign over a Quit Claim Deed, which is basically signing your interest in the property back over to them for them to keep in escrow in their own possession. In other words, you give them the right to take your property back whenever they please and there is no third party protection for you. I would be extremely wary of purchasing property from these people.

Hi, I'm the owner of OzarkLand.com lest anyone think I'm not totally biased.

However, I'd like to clarify a couple of things.

We hold a quit-claim deed in escrow while money is owed on property because we sell for no down payment and it costs upward of $1000 to foreclose when a buyer doesn't pay, even if they only make one installment. This is not some fascist plan to take back your property if you don't cross your t's and dot your i's, it's a way to make land affordable to folks of about any income level. If you really have a problem with the q.c.d. we can forego it, if you want to make a substantial down payment of pay cash.

We don't use homeowner's associations because we've found that lots of people resent them. We have certain restrictions on each location, and you should check out the particular restrictions for each one. Generally, the idea behind our restrictions is to keep the areas clean and natural so that people want to buy there. (We did make restrictions requiring log homes at ONE location because we thought it would be cool to have an area that was only log homes, but to be honest, I wish we hadn't done that, because people that don't read too closely think that applies to all of our properties and we have lots of different locations.)

Unlike homeowner's associations, we lay down certain minimal rules that never change and then get out of the way.

We're not even vaguely interested in controlling your life, we want to sell land, and our philosophy for doing that is to make it as appealing as possible to as many people as possible.

Possibly you.

Neil Shelton

[ineffableone]

Hi, I'm the owner of OzarkLand.com lest anyone think I'm not totally biased.

However, I'd like to clarify a couple of things.

Thanks for coming on and posting this. I think it is good for potential land buyers to get as much info as they can, and you coming on to post further info on what your company is doing is helpful.

[krisirwin78]

hi we just bought a homestead for 19,000. 10 achers and 2 barns with a cylo. i think it is all about ware you live. oh and half is wooded and it came with a nice 3 bed 1 bath house. i have ran into these deals a lot around us.sorry about the spelling i know i suck

[Regulator]

Snip ~ ...We're not even vaguely interested in controlling your life, we want to sell land, and our philosophy for doing that is to make it as appealing as possible to as many people as possible.

Possibly you.

Neil Shelton

Hey Neil, Nice to see you here. It’s good that the people here can hear it straight from you. Also cool that this thread has been bumped, a lot of good info here for people looking for land.

FWIW, The wife and I are very happy with the Ozark property we purchased from your company. Thanks again!

[raptor]

One problem I have with the Ozarkland thing, though, is its not even a homeowner's association where owners can come together and have some input. It's a deed restriction. You buy the property, but the people you buy it from still control what you can do with it. Not only that, but they make it easy for them to take the property back if they don't like what you do with it. To buy from them, you have to sign over a Quit Claim Deed, which is basically signing your interest in the property back over to them for them to keep in escrow in their own possession. In other words, you give them the right to take your property back whenever they please and there is no third party protection for you. I would be extremely wary of purchasing property from these people.

Hi, I'm the owner of OzarkLand.com lest anyone think I'm not totally biased.

However, I'd like to clarify a couple of things.

We hold a quit-claim deed in escrow while money is owed on property because we sell for no down payment and it costs upward of $1000 to foreclose when a buyer doesn't pay, even if they only make one installment. This is not some fascist plan to take back your property if you don't cross your t's and dot your i's, it's a way to make land affordable to folks of about any income level. If you really have a problem with the q.c.d. we can forego it, if you want to make a substantial down payment of pay cash.

We don't use homeowner's associations because we've found that lots of people resent them. We have certain restrictions on each location, and you should check out the particular restrictions for each one. Generally, the idea behind our restrictions is to keep the areas clean and natural so that people want to buy there. (We did make restrictions requiring log homes at ONE location because we thought it would be cool to have an area that was only log homes, but to be honest, I wish we hadn't done that, because people that don't read too closely think that applies to all of our properties and we have lots of different locations.)

Unlike homeowner's associations, we lay down certain minimal rules that never change and then get out of the way.

We're not even vaguely interested in controlling your life, we want to sell land, and our philosophy for doing that is to make it as appealing as possible to as many people as possible.

Possibly you.

Neil Shelton

What is being described here is a restrictive covenant or a deed restriction. These are very common in many areas and not at all unusual.

Typically these restrictions are enforced by an HOA but in some places the local zoning departments enforce these restrictions. Different states and localities have different rules governing these restrictions and enforcement.

Before you buy any property as part of the diligence process you should check out zoning, easements, covenants, restrictions and anything else that may affect your property BEFORE you sign any purchase contract.

The seller is also required in most areas to disclose these restrictions to the buyer. So they should not be a surprise to any buyer.

Some common ones:
http://homebuying.about.com/cs/deedrest ... ctions.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They can cover a lot of other things though. For instance in retirement community there may be a minimum age requirement and a prohibition against children living in the community more than a set number of days.

[Ye Olde Spook]

Suck up to some living parasites AKA bankers. My dad, brother and I split three ways on a foreclosed farmette of 56.7 acres. The parasites cut almost all of the usable timber, but the second growth actually has made for excellent deer hunting, AKA protein sources. Wild turkey, squirrels, and bunnies are abundant. 1300 feet of river bottom has duckies and a year-round water. My very own SHTF bug out location and it is within 150 miles of home.

Bought the hobby farm I am currently living on in NE Illinois by going out on weekends and driving around. Found a FSBO that worked. 1st Farm Credit services is one of the few outfits in IL that will finance vacant land. I think they have other locations at least in the midwest. Decent financing.

Best,

Ye Olde Spook.

[doitnstyle1]

I found this kind useful.

http://www.landsofamerica.com/landsconn ... arth-news/

[ineffableone]

I found this kind useful.

http://www.landsofamerica.com/landsconn ... arth-news/

Nice one, bookmarked that one.

[Benbrutal]

http://www.landwatch.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is a good site that I am using to look for some land in Texas. Pick the state, it gives you a map of the counties in that state to look in.

[JustsayMo]

My wife and had always dreamed of owning recreational property and casually looked for decades. Eventually we got ourselves into a better financial position and made the decision to actually find something to buy. It took us a few years of looking using vacation time to go exploring and getting familiar with the areas we liked and then focusing on those. I would constantly browse online listings and CL and whenever I'd have enough time off I'd take a stack of listings and go look at them.

Being patient and KNOWING exactly what we were after was key. Once we found a promising piece I would research the area wells, the septic systems, the use restrictions... When we finally did find our place we knew it was "it" moments after first seeing it. I did some due diligence and made an offer a few days later. We closed on the property within a month and we have not regretted it at all.



We've since built a cabin there which makes visiting there very easy and comfortable and allows us to use the property year round.

[offcamber]

My wife and I spent a lot of time online at first, but found that the pictures always made the place look better than they were.

The one thing online shopping helped us do was pinpoint a large general area that we liked that would suit our needs: good hunting, minimal building restrictions/codes, decent length growing season, frequent rain, good soil.

From there we went to all the local realtors in that area and gave them our specif requirements including: price limit, cleared vs treed land, fenced for livestock, a secondary water source, and a safe area to set up a 100yd shooting range. This saved us from looking, they would call us when something popped up that met our requirements.

After about a year or so of looking, we ended up with a 35 acre property (20 cleared / 20 wooded) on a dead end road with a 3 bedroom farmhouse, large barn, tool shed, garden shed, tractor shed, hand dug well, spring, nut trees, and 100% fenced for cattle. Though I wanted to have a pond or a running stream, the most important requirements were met, and the property was beautiful, so we took the plunge and have never regretted it for a minute.

Farm Credit was the only place we found at the time that would put a note on the property. They understand rural property values and look at it for the land, its potential uses, what's cleared or not, percentage of fencing, etc.. They were great to us.

Things I recommend:
1. Have a 20% cash down and decent credit (home buying sucks since '08)
2. Make sure that there is decent size town w/ a home supply store within an hour of your property.. much farther than that gets old and expensive when towing larger supplies.
3. Know what you are looking for and stick to it, don't settle
4. Don't buy more than you can afford, upkeep on a rural property is significantly more expensive and must be budgeted for
5. Start buying tools and other farmsteading stuff before you get there.
6. Employment opportunities in areas where land values are low are usually limited. Be prepared to get by with less.
7. Try to meet your neighbors before you buy. We were lucky to move into an area where the local folks accepted us outsiders with open arms, other areas you may not be so lucky.
7. Homesteading is very hard work, but extremely rewarding at the same time. If you don't like hard work, killing pests/animals, getting hurt/dirty etc. this lifestyle probably isn't for you.

[ineffableone]

My wife and I spent a lot of time online at first, but found that the pictures always made the place look better than they were.

The one thing online shopping helped us do was pinpoint a large general area that we liked that would suit our needs: good hunting, minimal building restrictions/codes, decent length growing season, frequent rain, good soil.

From there we went to all the local realtors in that area and gave them our specif requirements including: price limit, cleared vs treed land, fenced for livestock, a secondary water source, and a safe area to set up a 100yd shooting range. This saved us from looking, they would call us when something popped up that met our requirements.

After about a year or so of looking, we ended up with a 35 acre property (20 cleared / 20 wooded) on a dead end road with a 3 bedroom farmhouse, large barn, tool shed, garden shed, tractor shed, hand dug well, spring, nut trees, and 100% fenced for cattle. Though I wanted to have a pond or a running stream, the most important requirements were met, and the property was beautiful, so we took the plunge and have never regretted it for a minute.

Farm Credit was the only place we found at the time that would put a note on the property. They understand rural property values and look at it for the land, its potential uses, what's cleared or not, percentage of fencing, etc.. They were great to us.

Things I recommend:
1. Have a 20% cash down and decent credit (home buying sucks since '08)
2. Make sure that there is decent size town w/ a home supply store within an hour of your property.. much farther than that gets old and expensive when towing larger supplies.
3. Know what you are looking for and stick to it, don't settle
4. Don't buy more than you can afford, upkeep on a rural property is significantly more expensive and must be budgeted for
5. Start buying tools and other farmsteading stuff before you get there.
6. Employment opportunities in areas where land values are low are usually limited. Be prepared to get by with less.
7. Try to meet your neighbors before you buy. We were lucky to move into an area where the local folks accepted us outsiders with open arms, other areas you may not be so lucky.
7. Homesteading is very hard work, but extremely rewarding at the same time. If you don't like hard work, killing pests/animals, getting hurt/dirty etc. this lifestyle probably isn't for you.

Some very good advice, thanks for sharing.

[Perkidanman]

Man, I wish I could find some decent land out here without breaking the bank. In Colorado, if you want anything that has water on/near it you pay premium.
The area I want to live in (good schools, near nat'l park but still close to enough to the city we can go out occasionally) is in tiny little .7 acre parcels with HOAs and the like all for around $30-100k.

[Xale D]

Man, I wish I could find some decent land out here without breaking the bank. In Colorado, if you want anything that has water on/near it you pay premium.
The area I want to live in (good schools, near nat'l park but still close to enough to the city we can go out occasionally) is in tiny little .7 acre parcels with HOAs and the like all for around $30-100k.

Dude! .7 acre for up to $100K? I'd take that in a HEART BEAT! Here in the shadow of the Nation's Capitol you have a hard time finding a TOWNHOUSE for that price! We're looking 50 miles away in order to find around an acre for less than $200K, and those are foreclosures that should be bulldozed.

So, yeah, everything is relative. You want to have it all? You can get it, but you'll have to pay for it.

Good luck on your hunt, though. I've been trying to buy for almost a year now, and been within sight of closing two different times when everything has fallen apart for one reason or another.

[offcamber]

Man, I wish I could find some decent land out here without breaking the bank. In Colorado, if you want anything that has water on/near it you pay premium.
The area I want to live in (good schools, near nat'l park but still close to enough to the city we can go out occasionally) is in tiny little .7 acre parcels with HOAs and the like all for around $30-100k.

That is why we moved from CO to WV. I lived in Durango for 7 years where median home price for a shoebox in town was $400K.

We ran the numbers over and over again, and as much I we loved the southwest, there was no way we would ever be able to afford a homestead there.

[ineffableone]

location, location, location!

Being flexible in where you get land can be a good thing. Limiting where you look means you have to limit your possibilities.

[KnightoftheRoc]

location, location, location!

Being flexible in where you get land can be a good thing. Limiting where you look means you have to limit your possibilities.

Well, yes and no. For instance, while looking for a farm, I have certain criteria it must meet, besides the obvious ones of zoning, distance to town/from neighbors, etc. Like the water quality/supply/depth, and I'm really trying to make sure it has water running THROUGH it, year round, not just under it. Meeting my criteria, I actually maximize my possibilities, not limit them.

On the other hand, water is where it is, so that DOES limit my options as to which places I can look at, even if the price is a steal. If the water table is either measured in miles or listed as "above ground", then we have a problem...

So, yes, it may limit the NUMBER of properties as being possible locations, but it can also 'filter' properties by the ability to support what you want to do on them. If you want a beachfront vacation home, you don't look in the mountains, any more than you'd shop Manhattan for a hunting cabin.