Buying Country Property

[rjsmit1]

My wife and I are giving consideration to giving up our lease and purchasing a property of our own for her horse business. We are thinking about a plot in the 10 to 30 acre range with potential to put in a barn, riding arena and quite a bit of fenced pasture (if they are not already in place). We have purchased homes in neighborhoods, but we have never bought acreage. We were looking for some pointers to help us avoid making some big and/or expensive mistakes. Thanks in advance.

 

[Boondox]

Learn the regional euphemisms. Like wetlands = mosquito breeding ground. Easy access to snowmobile trails = incessant noise at all hours from November thru May. Also look for old (abandoned) roads on the property that have never been officially "thrown up" by the town and are therefore subject to being renovated at any time. What if any easements exist on the property. How is the surrounding land zoned. Are there any restrictions on development and modification, i.e., scenic ridgeline restrictions or historic overlay districts."

Pete

 

[DocHeb]

At least, talk to your potential neighbors. As you can see, neighbors generate significant volumes of posts and comments. They can always go bad after the fact - but if I were to do it again I would investigate a little further before buying. Some of the more memorable threads from the past:


Another Neighbor Problem - 180 replies.

Maybe somebody can advise me. - 86 replies.

Help! I need legal advice re: easements. - 627 replies!

Neighbor use of my land Question - 81 replies.

Rural Living Adaptation of a City Dweller - 58 replies.

 

[DieselD]

Try to get enough land so you can't see your neighbor.
Run off (rain, snow, trees from wind) getting to the house in bad weather.
Taste the WATER.
I built the house, did this , did that everythings going perfect.
Till the day I finally moved in, and the wife went for a glass of SULPHUR Water.
Danny

 

[dmccarty]

rjsmit1,

Make sure the land will perc so you can build on it.

Check for easements and covenents.

Make sure the county/city/township will allow you to do what
you want.

Start reading the local paper(s) to find out what is going on
in the area. You don't want to buy and then find out they
are putting in a major highway/powerline/racetrack/dump/etc.
on one of you property boundries.

Find out who your neighbors will be by spending some time in
the courthouse. You can find out how long people have been
living on the neighboring land. The people in the courthouse
might even tell you some things they have heard. The GIS or
whatever the map people are called in your area might be
able to tell you that Oh yeah, they are building a strip mall
over there. Check the planning board as well.

Find out what you have to do to build on the property in
question, i.e., the permit process. Find out how much it is
going to cost for the permits.

Later,
Dan McCarty

 

[BubbaJr]

Before we purchased our 23.25 acres, I did some investigations. 1st I went to the county engineers office, and made sure that the land was not in a flood plain or had any flooding issues. I had them show me on a map where the high and low elevations were. Then I had a test hole dug (with the owners permission) to check on the water table (we wanted a walk-out basement). I wrote letters to the abutting property owners asking them about high water, animal smells (lots of MAJOR hog and chicken operations in this area) and any other problem issues. I checked with my insurance agent to see if flood insurance was available (there is a creek that forms the northern boundry of my property). If it was not available for that location there must have been a reason. I got a copy of the survey and walked the boundaries and marked the location pins. And I had the land appraised by an independant appraiser. For my personal situation I think all these steps were worth the trouble and I had a much better understanding of any potential problems. So far there have been no surprises since we moved into our new house 1.5 years ago.
Good Luck /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[rjsmit1]

Thanks guys for all of the terrific input. The wife and I looked at a property this evening that we think is a preliminary winner - primarily becuase it has all of the structures needed to do the business- barn, fencing, riding arena, outbuildings, etc. The price seems reasonably good for the area, which is high growth and prices are going up. The property is on the market due to a divorce.

One problem, the realtor who showed it to us is the listing agent. She is a friend of the family. I am not sure if this is an ideal situation because of the split loyalty. There is also a contract on the property, which is divided into 3 subdivided parcels, one of which has a house on it, the second has all of the horse infrastructure and the back 30 is pasture and trees. The potential buyer has a contingency that says the barn parcel has to pass a perc test or he walks. His interest is in buying the whole package and selling the house and horse stuff for enough to pay off the who deal. I am interested in the whole deal as well and I am a lot less concerned about the perc test. (It seems like it should test out OK as the property is adjacent to and similar the piece the house sits on.) Realtor says that if we make an offer that does not have this contingency, we get the property- I assume however, that this is contingent on the first contract having a chance to counter. It's a lot to chew on and in the mean time, we have to decide on the quality of the location from a customer standpoint (horse riding lessons), line up financing for a farm that we do not intend to live on at this time, etc. Further thoughts are very much appreciated.

 

[yooperdave]

I would get a different realtor.

I have had lots of unethical conduct with this group of people.
They rank up there with unprofessional contractors, immoral lawyers, shotty doctors, etc.

Knowing that this realtor already represents the seller, and is a friend of the seller - the bells and sirens should be going off good now /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif!

You deserve better - you are also not doing yourself any favors by using their realtor. Please move on to someone who will represent only you.

Good luck

Yooper Dave

 

[theboman]

Water... water... water. As we call, will you have "city" water or well water?
Utilities. It's 21st century... Cable/DSL availability?
Those horses. Pasture?
The neighborhood... If you raise horses and it's in the country what's the coyote population like? Wild dogs?
Roads? How are they? Wide enough to safely trailer animals to and from the farm?
Party...when you but the place when's the party?

 

[OkeeDon]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( One problem, the realtor who showed it to us is the listing agent. She is a friend of the family. )</font>

Well, of course, this could be a problem as yooperdave suggests. However, it is actually pretty common in real estate, and 9 times out of 10 it isn't a problem. The only way to avoid this problem is to hire your own agent to work for you. The problem with this is, you have to pay your agent yourself. The way real estate commissions work, any agent who shares in the sales commission is a sub-agent of the listing agent, and therefore has the same fiduciary relationship to the seller, because the seller is the one paying for the service. There is no divided loyalty; by law all the loyalty goes to the one paying the commission.

In practice, however, this is rarely a problem. First of all the Realtor has a vested interest in making both sides happy so the sale will go smoothly. The Realtor also has a legal obligation to inform you of any problems of which he/she is aware; and the property owner has a legal obligation to tell the Realtor. If you find a problem later that they should have known about, it can be the basis for a successful suit. Again, that rarely happens, simply because the agent knows it can.

In short, I wouldn't worry about the agent unless you have observed something to make you suspicious. It may be too late, anyway, as the agent is the procuring cause for the sale, and even if you bought it through another agent representing you, the original agent may be entitled to the full commission.

Best thing you can do is treat the transaction as a business decision rather than an emotional attraction. Unfortunately, most real estate deals become emotional; the buyer "owns" the property in his mind and starts letting emotion overcome good sense in order to complete the deal. Be prepared to walk away without regret; I guarantee you another property will come along.