Buying acreage, what do I need to know?

[JerryK]

Need to know where the property lines are, and the corners. What easements are on the property, if any. What's buried there by the previous owner, etc. Is the road to it a county road, or is it across private property that you do not own.... etc. Not trying to scare you off, but do some extra looking... [[[ ]]]

 

[bigtiller]

Look for a topographical map showing elevation and water run-off. You don't want that once in 100 year flood trying to drain through the yard.

 

[Jstpssng]

JRobyn mentioned feasibility/cost of your utilities. I always wondered why folks with tons of acreage built their homes next to the roads with all the noise, dust and loss of privacy. Well ... now I know - lol.

We just broke ground on our new home, 2500' of trench for electrical and water, and 3500' of driveway. Before anyone even shows up with a hammer, we'll be almost $50K into the project. On one hand, I'm sick about the upfront cost. On the other, it's our retirement home and I don't want to compromise the goal of seclusion. The driveway could have been 1000' shorter but with the additional length it will be totally out of view from the home.

I'll probably need to start a Go-Fund-Me page and have all you guys chip in before this is over

I'll donate what I can, now. :2cents:

 

[Clay45]

Wouldn't you have to refile for that exemption and be certain to not change the land use to maintain it? In addition to the above excellent tips I'd make my offer contingent upon a successful percolation test. Check where you are on the flood plain and any items scheduled for that location in the county's 100 year plan. Find out about all encumbrances and existing right of ways, build lines, etc. Is access guaranteed and will the county install any necessary culverts, maintain ditches, easements, etc.?

 

[caver]

$50 for a trench and driveway? What kind of driveway? That sounds like a lot.

Gravel is so much $$$ per ton and then you have to get it there. My old dump truck could haul about 6-7 tons and that's a pretty small pile of rock that doesn't go very far. Multiply that by his 3500 feet and it adds up.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

Gravel is so much $$$ per ton and then you have to get it there. My old dump truck could haul about 6-7 tons and that's a pretty small pile of rock that doesn't go very far. Multiply that by his 3500 feet and it adds up.

YEP ... Initial dozer work to establish the road & had to punch through about a 100' section of trees. The road is 10' wide and 3500' long. I'm not sure what the gravel mix is but it has some clay content and packs like concrete. It's the same thing they use on the county roads. (After construction of the house is finished, I'll hit this with a Land Leveler.)

The trench is 2400' long and 4' deep. It will contain 6" of fill, 3" conduit, another 6" fill, a 1 1/2" water line, then the dirt goes back in. The primary wire, by itself, is about $10K. The only good news here is the utility will do the pull for free. I also got them to agree to remove their old poles, about 6 of them, and the wire.

When this is finished, we will see ZERO poles, ZERO wire, ZERO driveway and ZERO neighbors from our house.

 

[MossRoad]

If you own a home and have decent equity in it, you may be able to get a blanket mortgage that ties the home and the new land to one mortgage and avoid putting any money down at all.

Lets say you have a $100,000 house that you have $75,000 paid off. And lets say the new land is going to cost $50,000. And the bank wants 25% down on the new land, so $12,500 down. If you tie the $100,000 house to the $50,000 land under a blanket mortgage, you now have a $150,000 property that you already own $75,000 worth (you own 50% of the property). So you don't need 25% down, because you already own 50% of it! Its just that simple and its worth asking the lender about.

We did it twice. Once when we bought our vacant land and again when we bought our 2nd house. It worked very well, we avoided putting any money down on the land or the 2nd house, and we didn't have to get mortgage insurance because we owned more than 20% of the value of the house. Again, its worth checking out.

Good luck with your land purchase. As they say, God isn't making any more land (volcanic islands excluded). :thumbsup:

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I've found 25 acres in Texas I am making an offer on. Will need financing, what experience can you share with me about lenders, the process of buying, and what I need to ask about and look for in land? thanks

If mineral rights do not convey, don't buy it.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

If mineral rights do not convey, don't buy it.

Wow ... That's a pretty tall order. I can only recall 2 or 3 instances in my lifetime where someone was able to acquire mineral rights.

 

[WM75Guy]

Just remember most of the time county property is not restricted or covered by zoning regs like land inside the city limits is regulated. Go to Google Earth and look all around the land you are looking at. Nothing like buying a place and finding out there is a pig farm a mile upwind in the direction of the prevailing winds. Also see if there have been any recent deaths of large tract land owners nearby. My brother bought acreage in the county and built a very nice place. Shortly there after the landowner behind him died and the heirs sold it off rather than keep running the farm. It turned into a 500 lot mobile home park.

As others have said check on the cost of getting your utilities put in. Is the electricity and water along the road frontage or will you have to bring it to the property? If DSL is a must have is it available or will you have to use an alternative like satellite? Those costs add up pretty fast and may or may not be able to be rolled into the mortgage.

Local banks are a good source of mortgages especially if you have equity in the property. They may be a little higher on rates but usually are easier to work with. Our local bank made us our construction loan and then rolled it into a mortgage. It was a 5 year jumbo note with a balloon payment but the payments were amortized over 30 years. This allowed us time to get a little more equity so we could refinance to a conventional mortgage at a lower rate before the balloon payment was due. Since we were not planning a commercial ag operation most of the ag land banks were not really interested. Since it involved acreage Bank of America, we have been customers for years, was not interested. Same with insurance, my Allstate agent could not insure anything over 10 acres. We went with the Texas Farm Bureau, better coverage at a cheaper rate.

Getting a good appraisal can be challenging. Mortgage companies now cannot select the appraiser, it goes to a pool and one is appointed. We got one that didn't understand acreage and ag operations, we have a stables and outbuildings, so we had a real problem getting a decent appraisal value. I spent $150,000 on my outbuildings but he valued them at $75,000. He told me cost of construction had nothing to do with the value, an outbuilding was an outbuilding.

Good luck. I hope you get the property you want.