How much does an acre of land go for in your area?

[Ken]

I bought 8 additional acres by my home for $5000 an acre a couple of years ago but this was an unusual deal.

Where land is subdivided into 1 acre lots here they sell for about $80,000 per acre but they had a couple of 200+ acre spreads selling for $16,000 per acre.

Land 1/2 mile away from me across the Mississippi is selling for $400,000 for a 1/2 acre lot.

I have 160 acres of timberland in the Ozark National Forest in the mountains of Northwest Arkansas with great deer hunting and a site where a home could go with a great view bordering on a creek and with blacktop access. I have had it listed for sale for a year now and only want $1000 per acre but so far, no buyers.

Give just a little more information on location of the NW Ark. land
I'm in the North Central part of the Ozarks.

 

[tallyho8]

Give just a little more information on location of the NW Ark. land
I'm in the North Central part of the Ozarks.

It's in Johnson County on Hwy. 123 bordering Little Piney Creek in the Piney Creeks WMA.

 

[Gordon Gould]

This is the scariest thread I've ever read. How do people make ends meet ?
I bought this 170 acre place for $500 an acre in 1999 and in my mind thats propably about what it is worth today. Plus the 1300 sq-ft house my wife and I built on it ourselves. I am glad we like it because we couldn't afford to go anywhere else from what I see here.

 

[Ken]

It's in Johnson County on Hwy. 123 bordering Little Piney Creek in the Piney Creeks WMA.

Check for a private note from me thanks
ken

 

[grsthegreat]

The wife and i paid $2,000 an acre for my place (20 acres) with 10 additional across dirt street. We bought in 1993. In 2008, an acre here was selling for $40-50,000 per acre....i kid you not. My taxes went nuts. It was all due to nutty Californians coming here and buying whatever they could with the ton of $$$ they got from selling their 3 bedroom house in Calif back then.

Since then, prices have come down alot. But their still high. Near my place theres 7 acres without a house selling for $179,000, and its a crummy lot near a train track and intersection. Mine is all treed and weve built a nice house, shop, barn and carrage barn.

I'm fortunate to have bought when i did, as i couldn't afford to do it now. Everything is paid off and no loans over my head. If i had to do it today (and if any bank would loan $$) the payments would be unbearable.

I'm at a loss how today's kids will ever be able to afford their own home. its truly sad.

 

[grsthegreat]

I may have misread... isn't the $77,500 for the entire 25.69 acre parcel?

The reason I ask about property taxes is that is my biggest expense and one way to be forced from your land if the taxes become unaffordable...

Right now, my taxes property tax is $9,000 ($750 per month) for a 1725 square foot home built in 1956/57 with the original Formica Counters and Linoleum Floors on 1 acre with a public 20' easement bisected the property...

When my job was on the chopping block because the company where I work was being sold... I looked to Washington State... the property taxes there went up 80% two years after I bought and are now over $13,000... almost doubled the assessed value for what I paid and this is for a home built in 1977 and land...

I fear property taxes the most because it is something that happen to property owners and not a lot an individual can do other than fighting it every year... not how I want to spend my time.

Not independently wealthy... still working for a boss like most everyone else and on call 24/7 should anything happen... I started paying in Social Security at age 12 and very good about saving... not cell phone, cable, Video Games, Flat Screens, etc... in this house... did buy a new car once and it is 11 years old now... daily drivers are my 85 and 91 Chevy Trucks...

you searous about the taxes??? I pay $1,200 per year for taxes on 4500 sf house (new in 1996) a 30x40 shop, a 48 x 60 barn and a 30x60 carrage barn. Id shoot myself if i got hit with a 9K tax assassment.

 

[JimRB]

A few years ago which I suppose means 5 years ago the school system bought land 2 miles south of me for a high school at I think $18k an acre. 1.5 north of me closer to town someone is asking $600k for 100 acres. We paid $4k an acre for our little 9.3 acres 20 years ago and overpaid I guess because we did not have cash.

By the way no cell phone bill and no $160 a month tv bill. I get mad at a $80 satellite bill. I bet there is lots of fluff in some folks budget. I know I have fits of blowing money buying tools or going off bicycle racing. Then i have sanity for a few months.

 

[beppington]

This is the scariest thread I've ever read. How do people make ends meet ?
I bought this 170 acre place for $500 an acre in 1999 and in my mind thats propably about what it is worth today. Plus the 1300 sq-ft house my wife and I built on it ourselves. I am glad we like it because we couldn't afford to go anywhere else from what I see here.

Just wait till your property taxes catch up with everybody else's ... which I expect will happen at some point, since one way politicians take the easy way out is to say, "Oh, look, they're solving their problems that way, so we might as well, too. In fact, we'd be lagging behind if we didn't." It takes real mettle to not do what everybody else is doing, & politicians ain't got that kinda mettle.

 

[ultrarunner]

you searous about the taxes??? I pay $1,200 per year for taxes on 4500 sf house (new in 1996) a 30x40 shop, a 48 x 60 barn and a 30x60 carrage barn. Id shoot myself if i got hit with a 9K tax assassment.

Unfortunately yes... to be exact, the 1721 square foot home dating from 1956/57 is $9300.

People say California has a low tax rate... well the rate is only part of the equation and doesn't mean much with Bay Area prices coupled with the fact addition taxes were routinely approved by the voters of my fair city.

The one saving grace is California Taxes do have some predictability thanks to Prop 13... unlike WA where individual assessment do not.

On the bright side, the WA assessor notified me today my assessment has been reduced so I am only 20% higher then what I paid for the place... much better then the 80% it jump to 18 months after I bought.

Like Idaho, the WA assessor pointed to a property, someone from CA bought for a huge price and it affected everyone... now that the guy lost the property and it still hasn't sold... assessments have slowly dropped.

Idaho was a top destination for folks from the Bay Area and many took the insurance money from the 3,000 home Oakland firestorm and resettled around Sun Valley.

 

[ultrarunner]

I'm at a loss how today's kids will ever be able to afford their own home. its truly sad.

Not to get too far off topic...

I know young couple just starting out that have had no problems buying homes...

Just to give you an example.

They are married and 25 years old... she is a Registered Nurse making 135k and he is a Police Officer making 110k... almost a quarter million between them...

As a side bar... thousands of Bay Area Nurses are striking as I write this... the typical nurse at the 800 nurse Children's Hospital earns 135k per year... and yes, they are striking because management wants the employees to give back paid sick days and contribute more for Health Insurance.

I hope the Nurses didn't misjudge public support... the strike affects 33 Hospitals.

I know a specialty nurse working two jobs bringing in 200k... she works three twelve hour shifts and one Hospital and weekends in another.