nbadger23

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.

kevin1

Sounds a little iffy , have you looked at other parcels in the region since this would be used for hunting only ? If I were buying "hunting only" land I'd want more than what you described and a better price per acre even if it involved a drive to get there . I'd also like the parcel to be buildable in case my current Shangi-La suddenly got a development surrounding it(depressingly common these days) that prevented me from hunting my own property anymore . Your current set up sounds tenuous at best , I'd keep shopping .

My own situation is that I live and hunt a ten acre wood with good game , it's situated between a similar parcel with non-hunting neighbors on one side and 80 undeveloped(and very unlikely to be) acres of scrub woods . It's the only cover other than windbreaks for at least a half mile in any direction . Recently , the landowner who owns the land on the next road over auctioned off several lots totalling about 150 acres at auction . They were sold in sizeable lots , but my concern is that a developer may have bought them and plans to put in high dollar yuppie barns and their stupid covenant restrictions , which could affect my hunting , or maybe even multiple single family homes . The patches on either side of me are relatively safe , but the influx of potentially several hundred humans could impact game movement and possibly even get my area declared a "no discharge area" . I have plenty of other places to hunt , but I like getting up at my leisure and wandering into the back yard for some laid back meat hunting .

This scenario could easily be yours , I'd keep looking .

nbadger23

Kevin,
Which part are you saying sounds "iffy"? The surrounding land cannot be built on as it's all parcels attached to houses. The land staying the way that it currently is is actually the least of my concerns. I understand what you are saying at getting a parcel that may not be as close.. but that is easier said than done. Wooded land is virtually non-existant around here.We looked at the 7 acre parcel that borders this before we bought our current house and it went for 120K before putting the house on it to give some perspective. I have to balance the proximity of the land with the price. I'm basically trying to add 5 acres to my current location without it actually bordering it - but at the same time being a very short distance away.

Fieldmouse

Residential hunting is my favorite subject.

Well if your in the position to buy 5 acres why not buy all of it and rent the house. Your loan would before only 20 years max. I would hope you could break even on the land, IE rent covers the the bank note (FYI the bank feels break even is note = to 75% of the note payment). If you don't break even now, can you look at your out of pocket expense as justification for great hunting? The reason why I say this is a good option to look into is for retirement. You'll have rental income when you retire. A place to hunt regardless of who lives there. Great tax shelter. The last one ties in with my first comment is the fact of retirement. The goverment limits you on how much you cam contribute to an IRA or 401k. They don't limit how many rentals you can have. All three are great for making retirement easy.

I learned the hard way, never sell property always rent it!!!!!!!

nbadger23

Fieldmouse... that's actually something we tossed around. The problem is that we just purchased this house last year and it was a significant step up in mortgage costs from the previous house. We're still in kind of a "feeling out" period on finances. In doing the math, we'd end up with about 700+ a month out of pocket until we could get the principal down a bit. We just didn't feel right about extending ourselves that much right now. It may very well bea decision I regret down the road but that's the way it goes.

I do LOVE residential hunting.. if you can get around the stickiness of staying on good terms with the neighbors it's a gold mine

kevin1

What about the land surrounding those parcels ?

I'm working on the presumption that it's farm land of various types from your description . If that land suddenly develops you could find yourself "landlocked" and unable to hunt if bunny hugging yuppie types move in around all of you , it's happened in my region more often than I care to think about . Try looking at the parcels you're describing from a satellite photo and then see them through the eyes of a developer , if the land is sufficiently remote and isn't close to a larger town you're probably safe .

My home is 30 miles NNW of Louisville , Kentucky . The yuppies took over nearly all of the available "country" land within 10-20 miles of Louisville on their side , destroyed it , and are now looking across the river at my state . The two counties immediately adjacent to Louisville are already heavily populated , and "mini estates" are beginning to crop up within the easiest reach of nearly every off ramp on I-65 and I-64 . There are even a few on the two podunk highways that lead to where I live , some are now within 20 miles of my home . As small farms continue to fall to the gavel this process will only accelerate . I figure that within 15 years some developer will be making an offer on my little patch , and since the hunting will have been destroyed by then I'll probably just sell out and move further out .

My point is twofold , buy as much as you can afford for as cheap as you can , and look further than the next fence to see what the future holds .

nbadger23

Kevin,
I may not have described the property very well. There isno farmland involved. The area is already developed with most people owning between 3 and 10 acres (all wooded). From the platts that I have looked at, I don't seea large tract of land able to be subdivided at this point... the lots are pretty much set with the houses, it will just be a matter of what types of people own them.

Orion in IL

How much did you last new vehicle cost and how long did you have it for?

$25k for 5 acres of what you call "a dream"???

It's is a no-brainer to me.
Buy it.

Worse case, you get a few years of hunting out of it and have to sell it.

Some one will buy it from you in a few years...property value rarely goes down.

A bird in the hand...

Fieldmouse

Here is your next option. If you can't afford the whole property but the land, can you build on the land down the road? I know a lot of people who have flipped property and made a lot of money. You can keep 500K tax free after 2 years living there. Maybe you buy the land live in you house for awhile, then start building a new one on this property. You are full of options now.

I can play this several ways. My best advice is for you to think what will you do when your 65. I'm no accountant but I am a person who is addicted to having fun.

nbadger23

Orion - that's actually a thought that just went through my head.. cause the payments would be similar to a vehicle payment. I like that logic.

Fieldmouse - I wish I could build on it but from what I know the covenants of the association would prohibit that. I will know more as we go through the approval process of the survey and the split.