Should I leave or remove this section of fence?

[tradosaurus]

That's worth it even in my neck of the woods. The stopped making land a long time ago. All you need is 1 bad neighbor and you are screwed.

Truer words have rarely been said. We moved from the city to the country 3 yrs ago and I am so glad that we were able to buy 45 acres with the house in the middle (see picture below). The thought of living in a neighborhood with one bad neighbor is enough to make me grimace.

The OP is so correct about buying land near him for privacy.

Personally I think you need about 100 acres to really get privacy and away from the nearest neighbor. :laughing:

 

[Fuddy1952]

I did a similar thing here and you made a good decision. I'd like to see a picture maybe over there from your house and/or driveway. My case the fence was a 35 year old woven wire with barbed wire fence, posts rotting so I took it down. Some far off sections I left that were in good condition.
Sounds like yours if in good condition I'm with ones saying put in a gate.
From the aerial picture though "I have nice pipe fence where the blue lines are. I plan to build an identical pipe fence around the perimeter of the newly purchased 5 acres shown in red."
It seems like you wouldn't need to fence off the new 5 acres, just add to what you have to include the 5 acres.

 

[dennis103]

A quick story of a bad experience I had with merging properties into one deed. After a couple generations I ended up the owner of 30 plus acres on 4 different deeds all connected. I was convinced that merging them was going to save me money on taxes and insurance. That was MISS information. The first year after merger and paying lawyers and surveyors, my taxes actually went up. Talked to the tax accessor who told me the taxes would be less after the merge and she explained that I would have to pay for 2 first acres because my business and a home were on the same lot. Opposite of what she told me when I was asking about merging. Then she told me I would only have 1 first acre not 4 because of 4 deeds. Just last year when updating my insurance on the house I had to put commercial insurance on the house because it was on the same DEED as my business. Never again will I merge deeds they can't be divided as easily now because zoning laws change as time goes on. Keep your options open and don't merge them unless there is something YOU want to do and you can't without merging.

 

[ultrarunner]

One downside here is vacant parcels, lots,commercial,rental are subject to a new 6,000 yearly vacancy tax in addition to whatever the regular property tax

Several I know have combined or dumped property held for kids...

 

[lilranch2001]

Only in Cali.......

 

[Citydude]

Holy Moly! I cant hardly wrap my head around that. I had to read it twice...

One downside here is vacant parcels, lots,commercial,rental are subject to a new 6,000 yearly vacancy tax in addition to whatever the regular property tax

Several I know have combined or dumped property held for kids...

 

[bdog]

Here are a couple of pictures of the fence in question. The view is from my property looking east. It is my property (mowed), the fence, then the tall grass is the new 5 acres.

 

[bcp]

Holy Moly! I cant hardly wrap my head around that. I had to read it twice...

Oaklandç—´ vacant-property tax takes effect, sparking hope and alarm - SFChronicle.com

As San Francisco supervisors consider putting a vacant-property tax on the November ballot, Oakland is struggling with the reality of implementing one.

Oakland voters in November approved a tax that applies to any privately owned property in the city including residential, commercial and empty lots that is not "in use" for more than 50 days in a calendar year starting in 2019. The annual tax is $6,000 per parcel for most properties, regardless of size or value. The tax for condo or duplex units or ground-floor commercial space is $3,000 per year. There are 10 possible exemptions.



Bruce

 

[ovrszd]

bdog, I'd still remove the fence and tie my frontage together. Thanks for the pics.

 

[Citydude]

Oakland痴 vacant-property tax takes effect, sparking hope and alarm - SFChronicle.com

As San Francisco supervisors consider putting a vacant-property tax on the November ballot, Oakland is struggling with the reality of implementing one.

Oakland voters in November approved a tax that applies to any privately owned property in the city including residential, commercial and empty lots that is not "in use" for more than 50 days in a calendar year starting in 2019. The annual tax is $6,000 per parcel for most properties, regardless of size or value. The tax for condo or duplex units or ground-floor commercial space is $3,000 per year. There are 10 possible exemptions.



Bruce

Gee, the inner city have nots sticking it to the people that have. Not surprising.

 

[groundcover]

The wife is on to something, I think it would look better without the fence as well.
Good call picking up that lot !
Did the same thing a few years ago. The bank owned the woods behind me with a house that they had taken. Tried to get the whole piece but we couldn’t come to a deal. I got word that they were going to develop two new house lots right behind me. Made them an offer for the land and they took it, best decision ever !

 

[CobyRupert]

I'd leave the fence. The fence is there.
Or wait a year or two and then see how you feel.

I'm from the school of "I don't need this, and can't think of any reason why I would, but I'd better keep it in case I do someday."
(Then when I find it 5 years later and can't remember what it is or haven't used it...then I toss it...sometimes...)

You can always take it down if you don't like it, but once you take it down and want (need) it....

I'd leave the fence in and add a couple 16' gates to give a 32' opening. You could leave the gates open if you want a feeling of "connected-ness". Or just add opening sans gates.

 

[EddieWalker]

Before I had horses and goats, I just wanted one exterior fence around my place. But now that I have a few animals, I see that advantage to being able to keep them in certain areas, and keep them out of other areas, and how that changes during the year. Especially when breeding and when spraying the pastures with chemicals.

You can always take down the fence in the future, but I would put it at the bottom of your list of things to do in case something changes in your plans and you realize that you want the fence there.

 

[TractorGuy]

Try to get it rezoned as timber land to reduce the taxes and let it sit as a buffer.

I did something similar a few years back. I HAD to get the property rezoned to be able to clear it. I started clearing the land in anticipation of maybe getting the adjoining land and letting our daughter to move next door. The adjoining land sold rather quickly to someone that ultimately plans to build two houses on it so the 5 acres I bought won't be enough for our daughter's animals. After many hours of hard work I have had to replant in trees to maintain the lower tax status and create a buffer between us and the other land we didn't get. Now I have to keep it maintained and mowed between the trees which makes it look better but in hindsight I could have saved myself a lot of time and money to have just left it wild.

 

[AllByteNoBark]

My choice would be to leave the fence. IT is already in place and personally I think it would provide a dividing line where if you wanted to mow at different intervals it would look better even if you do not have animals. For instance you may keep the rea around the house mowed as lawn, but only mow the extra 5 acres once a month or when it looks like it would be beneficial. Just my $0.02 worth.

 

[bcp]

Gate and white or camo paint.

Bruce

 

[Republic of Texas]

Gate or cattle guard gate

 

[two_bit_score]

No I don't. It isn't shown on the picture but there is a house on that 5 acres but it is all the way up against the NS road on the east side in the northeast corner of the 5 acres. They just have the land around their house unused and unfenced.

If that place ever comes up for sale I plan to buy it, strip off the land and sell the house.

So what did you wind up doing with the fence and the new parcel? Saw your recent post with the sackrete picture so looks like you are building new fence somewhere. Look forward to seeing your progress.

 

[bdog]

I am still undecided. We are currently building the fence around the five acres and I have cut 16’ of the fence out so it is easier to go back and forth but haven’t made up my mind yet on if I am tearing it all down or not.

 

[two_bit_score]

I am still undecided. We are currently building the fence around the five acres and I have cut 16’ of the fence out so it is easier to go back and forth but haven’t made up my mind yet on if I am tearing it all down or not.

Good deal. Wouldn’t think there was any reason to get in a hurry.