More land

[mffarmall]

We have 6 acres and have a good sized house. We have two horses and can target shoot do all the rule living things we want to do. All we wanted to do when we moved out here 11 years ago was to plant trees, ride horses, tractor around. I really don't need more land but part of me wants to buy the land that is for sale next to me.

My question is for people that have lived for years on 10-20 acres and are getting older. Do you wish that you had a smaller place to keep up or are you still grad you have that size of a place?

 

[two_bit_score]

How much is enough land?

Just a little more.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I kick myself for not trying to buy the 26 acres next to me when it went up for sale. I thought it too high at the time, but it really wasn't. 11 acres now for sale across the road, but the price is outrageous.

 

[schmism]

i want the ground around me.... just cant figure out how to pay for it.

ive got just under 5 now... trying to figure out how to buy the 12 acers behind me, and another 7 across the street, not to mention the 8 to my west that is perfect cow pasture with pond creek and barn...

 

[dave1949]

If I coulda/shoulda:

A subdivision moves in.

New owner changes the slope onto your land.

A trap shoot range is developed

ATV/MC motocross 14 year olds

Junk cars stored in your line of sight

An extended family decides a perfect place for their 3 single wides


ON AND ON AND ON.............BUY IT........God bless......Dennis

Ditto on Dennis' ideas. As to how much you wish to maintain as you age, you don't have to do anything with it, just let the trees grow.

Or, since you have horses, you could also make another pasture from some of it. Be able to rotate your horses to fresh pasture.

You didn't describe the land, but in any case, unless you would be buying a liability, can't see how you would regret owning it.
Dave.

 

[magicheater]

Yup, that's one thing that they aren't making any more of!

 

[MossRoad]

We have 6 acres and have a good sized house. We have two horses and can target shoot do all the rule living things we want to do. All we wanted to do when we moved out here 11 years ago was to plant trees, ride horses, tractor around. I really don't need more land but part of me wants to buy the land that is for sale next to me.

My question is for people that have lived for years on 10-20 acres and are getting older. Do you wish that you had a smaller place to keep up or are you still grad you have that size of a place?

That's one thing that kind of bothers me is when people think they have to maintain the land. They think maintaining it means picking up every fallen branch, cutting down every bush and weed, mowing the entire thing like a park, etc... I know lots of folks that constantly fret about their land. A branch falls down way out in the woods and they have to hire someone to go out and pick it up. Why? Just leave it there and let it rot. Lots of little critters will use it and it will benefit the soil. The easiest thing to do is maintain a nice area around the house to your liking and maintain the rest of it as wildlife habitat. Just mow a couple trails through it so you can enjoy walking around and let nature do its work.

 

[dave1949]

That's one thing that kind of bothers me is when people think they have to maintain the land. They think maintaining it means picking up every fallen branch, cutting down every bush and weed, mowing the entire thing like a park, etc... I know lots of folks that constantly fret about their land. A branch falls down way out in the woods and they have to hire someone to go out and pick it up. Why? Just leave it there and let it rot. Lots of little critters will use it and it will benefit the soil. The easiest thing to do is maintain a nice area around the house to your liking and maintain the rest of it as wildlife habitat. Just mow a couple trails through it so you can enjoy walking around and let nature do its work.

Exactly. The old timers here call that 'parking it out' - as in making your lot look like a city park - which is not a compliment.
Dave.

 

[SARG]

We are on about three acres and "just" bought the four contiguous acres to our East.

I overpaid ....... but now I have control about what it's used for.

 

[polo1665]

We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to buy the land next to ours back in December. We scraped the money together, and all in all I'm pretty happy about it. Don't have to worry about what kind of neighbors we might get, or whether or not they'll decide to timber the property, or ride their four wheelers around on a nice quiet Sunday afternoon. No extra upkeep as it is all wooded land. Extra property taxes though.
As they say, you never really own the land.
Buy it if the financial burden isn't too high. You may regret it if you have the chance and pass it up.

Mark

 

[MarkV]

If the sellers are being reasonable or are in need of cash it is a great time to buy land. Market prices are as low as we have seen in many years. The thing about adjoining land is that it may be the only time in your life it is for sale. If you were to buy and find you didn't want to care for it you either let it go natural or sell it yourself. If you sell it yourself at least you have SOME control over what happens to it in the future. Guess the value of privacy is different for everyone, for us it is priceless.

As far a maintenance, I have 30 acres of woodland surrounding 2 acres of buildings, yard and garden. I run a rake or blade over the trails a couple of times a year and the maintenance is done. Just depends how you use the land.

MarkV

 

[pharmon]

We have 25 acres around us and it's mostly trees so we don't see the neighbors. The farm behind us has been sold and is now about 25 house lots. I don't think you will regret more land if you can afford it.

 

[Trkrd]

I passed on the adjoining 10 acres to my property and will regret it for a long long time. The resulting neighbor decided to build their house (shack) 10' from my property line which resulted in me building a 40 x 60 "privacy barn" to block the view of the shack and piles of junk.

 

[SARG]

AND ..... After you acquire the add'l land ya never know what it may bring.

We are now going to start an Alpaca business. The wife loves the critters and I look forward to a bunch of tax deductions that will offset the land and even the "tractor" purchase.

 

[Rockin RK]

That's one thing that kind of bothers me is when people think they have to maintain the land. They think maintaining it means picking up every fallen branch, cutting down every bush and weed, mowing the entire thing like a park, etc... I know lots of folks that constantly fret about their land. A branch falls down way out in the woods and they have to hire someone to go out and pick it up. Why? Just leave it there and let it rot. Lots of little critters will use it and it will benefit the soil. The easiest thing to do is maintain a nice area around the house to your liking and maintain the rest of it as wildlife habitat. Just mow a couple trails through it so you can enjoy walking around and let nature do its work.

I agree, we have about 2 acres of yard all I've done to the other 11 is clear some of the brush so we can see the wildlife and walk around.

 

[jinman]

I think a lot of your decision depends on how much work the land will take and how much time and equipment you have to maintain it. If the land is flat and forested, it's gonna be easy to maintain. If it has ponds, areas of erosion, water issues with drainage, fences, barns and outbuildings it will be more work.

My wife and I have 22 acres, and that's about right for our circumstances. We had another 22 acre place down the road and I had an 11 acre tract that I mostly just maintained for wildflowers in the spring. We sold all our property down to the 22 acres with our house, and it's about right for us. I wouldn't even consider this without a very good tractor with 4wd. Our land has lots of "character." I just turned 62 this last year and I can't do as much by hand as I used to do. Even so, there are 10 acres across from us that I've asked the owner if they would consider selling to us. It's all woods now and I would hate to see it turned into an eyesore. My guess is that they won't sell the property, but rather pass it on to their son. None of them are the outdoors type and I can only guess that they look at the land as just an investment.

 

[Rockin RK]

I'm trying to buy the 5 acres right in front of me for the same reason, I don't it to turn into an eyesore or worse.

 

[MossRoad]

... a 40 x 60 "privacy barn" ...

I like that term!

 

[dodge man]

I have about 3 acres, and like everyone else, wish I had more. I agree with the comments about just letting the ground go. About half of my ground is in woods, and I have been trying to get it cleared out so I can mow it. I think it looks better that way, but its a lot of work and I'm in no hurry to do it. There is nothing wrong with just letting some of it sit.

As far as prices go, in this area they are VERY high. 20 years ago rough ground that couldn't be farmed went for less than $1000 per acre, often $200-300 per acre. Now it is not uncommon to hear about it selling for $3000-$5000 per acre. A lot of this has to do with the hunting in this area, which is known for having a lot of big deer. It is very common for farm ground to sell in the $7000 per acre range now. Who is to say where prices are going, but the trend in this area is always higher.

Ground always has some value, but you might want to look at it from an investment point of view. What are the taxes? Can you get any income from it? Would it make good ground for you horses? And the biggest reason, how bad do you want it?