I need some different points of view on a land purchase I'm thinking of doing. I live in "the country" - i.e. outside of the city limits, on a cul-de-sac that has 12 houses on it. 10 of us have 3 acres a piece (all wooded). The two end houses have 10 and 9 acres a piece (all wooded).

For the last 3 years I have hunted the 10 acre parcel and it has been like a dream. The land is surrounded on two sides by people who own 3 and 7 acres and on the other side by the 9 acre person so it's a good sized piece of contiguous land. I see deer constantly and have seen good sized bucks every year.

The homeowner is selling their house along with the 10 acres. Unfortunately buying the house and the acreage is not an option - it's simply not the right investment due to the downgrade from our house to that house. However, I do have the chance to buy 5 acres at approximately 5K a piece.

Pros:
1)I have secured a piece of land to hunt on for as long as I'd like. The way this land is landlocked by other owners there would not be any further building to disrupt it
2)It's close enough where I can leave my house and be in my stand in 5 minutes. This is an important factor when trying to squeeze in as many morning hunts before work as I can without using vacation time.

Cons:
1) Two out of three of the current homewners who border this land would be fine letting me recover deer on their property. The third - which would be the new owner is a wildcard... as the other two owners would become should they move. Worst case scenario isI have anti's move in who try to disrupt my hunts

2)The land is not buildable... would be for hunting only. This could be a pro or a con I guess

3)I currently have an easement to this land because of my rights as a landowner on the cul-de-sac. There is a "common area" set aside for the neighborhood (which never gets used) that this land would border.

4)Re-sale is a bit touchy if needed. I have 3 homeowners who border the property who might be interested but at the same time I don't have a lot of leverage.


Even though I already have the easement, I think it would be best for re-sale value to get another personal easement for future issues. I realize the pros outweight the cons but the #1 pro of having a good hunting area so close is a big pro. There are also a good population of turkey on this area so that adds to the useage of the land.

The big wildcard is relying a bit on the relationship with the neighbors. It is currently good but can get turned upside down very quickly as new people move in. Best case scenario is someone moves in who hates the deer for eating their garden!!

Also, have not hunted my land at all yet. I probably have 1.5 acres of it huntable in full woods. I know there are deer back there but you're talking a very short distance before they would be on someone elses land when hit.

I want to make sure I'm considering all issues so 5-10 years down the road something goes wrong and I'm stuck with no way out. I am not looking to ever make a profit on this land should I need to sell, I would be very grateful to get my initial investment back. This is where I think the separate easement would come in handy. I think for the right bowhunter, this would be a commodity if I needed to sell it.

Any thoughts or opinions on this? Thanks.