Buying vacant land for recreational use [acreage question]
 

I'm considering trading a free and clear house in the city for 10 acres of land that is pretty much just what I would want ... no need to pay any sewer/water tap fees, it's already cleared just the way I would clear it if I had to clear it, it's about as rural as it can get (which is what I want), has utility services already in place - power, landline telephone, and a co-op water service which is pretty affordable, and a very usable 4G cellphone service. There is a septic tank that works.

It even has a pull-thru double RV Metal roof shelter so I can park my 43' Glamper-Model fifth wheel and leave it up there. The F-450 Dually would sit comfortably in the other sheltered space.

There are two other portable outbuildings. I don't know if they leak but they are probably good for something. There are two good-sized rooms built on either side of the metal roof - one has a water heater, washer and dryer connections, and what looks like toilet and tub plumbing connections. There is a toilet and a new fiberglass tub surround that have never been installed. There is also a very old (70's or 80's) junk fifth wheel that could be sold, moved and used as storage, or trashed.

It's fifteen minutes to the County Seat... plenty of shopping, EMS, fire, hospital are all right there. There is paved and well-marked access all the way up to the property, which has about a 1/3 to 1/2 mile dirt driveway.

Couple of security gates... just enough neighbors within a few miles to suit me... a big chain link fenced-in area around the camper which is cleared enough to discourage snakes and maybe a few other critters to protect Molly... heck, it's just what I've been looking for. If the wind is blowing just right you can barely hear a train whistle.

I know at least one of you regulars owns vacant property that you use for RV/camping/weekend getaways.

My question is, have any of you that own such property found that you regret having bought it? Either you underestimated how much/little time you would be using it, or you find you're trying to sell it and it's harder than you thought it would be, etc?

Help me avoid making a mistake before it's too late.

It sure looks like a little slice of heaven to me.

:waiting:


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I LOVE the deer moss!!




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What is the average price for an acre of land in that area?

I’ve seen $3500 an acre for land that you can’t build on or put a septic tank- up to $7500 /acre with features like stocked ponds/lakes or rivers.

I’d like to estimate what it would cost to turn a piece of vacant land into what this property is. I don’t know how to price putting in power lines, water line, phone line. Water tap fee is $2500. Lots of properties I’ve looked at have either no cell service or it’s barely usable. Fences can be pricey.

Anyone know how much a metal roof and enclosed rooms like this would cost, with a slab?

Septic tank also.

Looks like a nice little set up. If that is what you're looking for, what is holding you back? Other people's experiences may or may not match your own... :shrug:

True. I’m thinking I’d be up there quite a bit for the first few years. Other than that it’s hard to say.

I can always put a mobile home single or double wide on the first half and rent it out. I’m a professional landlord so that doesn’t scare me any. :lol:

electric supply from utility, at least 10k
phone line, say 2k (why not use cell?)
well digging, about 30-35/foot depth
concrete slab, say 6" with rebar, say 15/sf
roof structure and cover, say 15/sf
fencing, 10-25/linear foot (lower end of range for barbed wire, upper for chain link)

:willy:

Son bought land last year for $2500 an acre in a rural county. Just thinking out loud....if you bought the property you could give it a test run living on it and sell city house later. Think about 10 acres @ $5000 and think about the value of your current free and clear home. Just my .02.

Is all that fencing to keep the wife from escaping? :bigears:

No wife!


:hurray:


It’s just Molly and me.

Looks nice. My only advice would be to have all the infrastructure that is there inspected to make sure it all functions, is up to code, is relatively energy efficient, etc. Not that I would expect any deal-breakers there, but it's always good to know what may require some attention in the future.

@MEANZ06

If water power and septic already there that's a huge plus, cost of those new can be expensive and have to be to current codes. If it didn't have those price better be low.
Only issue i really had and others i have known have had was vandalism and outright theft. Anything I had on property like that better be insured and or secured very well or it gets gone no matter the neighbors. Guy 2 houses down from me had a box truck back up to frt door and empty his house before I moved out here in the middle of the day. I had a trailer they tried to steal when I was building even, tried to cut the chains wrapped thru the wheels and axles. Good chain paid for itself.
Had friends that had half their stuff stolen from paintball field, they came in a back way.

Whatever the cost is, you will make it up in just a few meth cooks in that old 5th wheel. I would just buy it.

May want to investigate the region/area really close as to others living out there, specifically public housing projects and the type of folks living close enough to know your place.....

my folks moved to a nice place that turned out within a few years to have a project built about 1/4 mile away......city folks moved in and their house got broken in and cleaned out about 6 times or more in the 30 years they were there.....thankfully they did not get attacked ......

Today, no bets on that......

:issues:

If you hear banjo music and happen to have a purty mouth, you might want to reconsider.

Get a perc test. How much road frontage? Pull some comp's on the city property and this property.

Does it come with a pit, rope, lotion, and basket or will you have to dig your own?

You might want to investigate a land loan, ag loan, farm land loan. Interest rates are low.

Just wanted to add - I don't know who the controlling authority is there, but here you can go to the County Health Dept. and find out if a permit and inspection was done on the septic system and when. They should also have on file a map of where the leach field is and any other details about the system. They do that here at no charge.

A system that was not built properly and doesn't function well can be a big expense to fix.