And this is critical. No perc no house. Old perc is good to have but the permits run out after a year or two.
You may or may not need permits for this but of course ask the county and/or city that has jurisdiction. I'm in the county and not in the city limits. BUT, are land is the town planning district which means that I get no services from the town nor pay taxes but they have a some control on what I do with my land. This has not been a problem and I'm sure at some point I will be taken over by the town.
Try to make friends with the county as much as possible. I have found them to very helpful if one treats them nice. I have had to deal with a nimrod but he is gone. They rest of the inspectors and county employees where helpful. They should be able to tell you what you need to do. Take a half day and go down and start talking to people starting in the health department. They should have the paperwork to tell you what permits as well as costs.
Your perc application will require you to show where houses, driveways, roads, wells, and septic will be located. It does not have to be exact.
I just read that the value in timber is falling due to less demand from house building. Now may or may not be the time to timber. If you want to timber the land, get online to the state Extension service and read up on timber and the landowner. There are some tax advantages to logging in your first year of ownership.
Get a Timber Agent/Forester to work for you to sell the trees. Don't do it yourself unless you are in the business. The Forester is like a real estate broker and works to get you the best dollar for the trees. They will inventory the trees and market them for you. The Forester will be able to explain the taxes to you. Timber taxes are as clear as mud. Bottom line is hire them to do the work since they know the market value. Many people loose large sums of money selling timber since they don't know the value of the trees.
In NC if you land is farm or timber land, you can get a lower tax bill if you do certain things. Unfortunately for you, one has to live on the land or own it for more than four years before you can get the lower valuation.
Regarding clean up. I have done alot myself which I why a got the tractor. I "bulldozed" timber slash into piles some of which I burned and other are rotting. Our house site was cleared by our septic installer. He took the timber that had value and saved me money. The waste wood went onto a pile of wood that is about two stories tall. I will either burn it or hopefully have it chipped into mulch.
You could work out a contract with the loggers to clean up. But my view is that they are paid to cut trees not clean up. That is where they make money not cleaning up.
Removing stumps is execavator work. I have done it and still do with my little backhoe but it takes time. Depending on how much money you have to spend to clean up the land you pay someone, rent the equipment, pay the equipment or let it rot.
Later,
Dan
