Purchasing an acreage?

Wes Billups

Member
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72
Location
Central Ohio
My wife and I have found an acreage which is right outside the city limits. We’ve always thought about this but just never found the right place. We love the location and the land, but won’t be ready to build for at least another 5 years. Our kids are currently 4, 2, and 1 so living on an acreage now doesn’t make much sense to either of us. My question is whether this is a smart move. All of the acreages around this one have existing homes so there won’t be anymore bare land sold in this area. The price isn’t great but you can’t beat the location.

I’m currently trying to get some more details on the cost of getting a well and electricity on the site. We’d like to do this sooner rather than later as there is an existing 33 x 40 pole barn on the land. Our plan would be to use the barn for storage and in a couple of years move my basement shop into the building. After this is all setup begin the house construction.

Let me know your thoughts on owning some land and just sitting on it for a few years. The only holding costs on the land will be the taxes. At this point our positive and negatives list is pretty one sided to the positive.

Thanks,
Wes
 
I think this is probably a good time to buy as the market is depressed - you should be able to negotiate a good price. No one knows for sure, but it would be surprising if the market was not back to being strong about the time you want to build. Sounds like the iron is hot!
 
I know a little about Real Estate. :D

But I know nothing about your market. Contrary to the Nightly (Bad) News things are not bad everywhere. But lots of people think it is and you can get some deals that way. So as Rennie said this can be a good time to buy. Especially if you can pay cash, what have you got to loose? Odds are slim of it going down in value, BUT contrary to the rumors as many people are learning, it does go down from time to time.

All that to say I would consider it. Do your homework first, but if it is not a financial strain you probably will not loose a thing if you decide down the road you want to sell it for some reason. Odds are when you get ready to build you will be glad you bought it.

FWIW I did the same thing. I bought my little piece of dirt and it took a 2 or 3 year before I could get things together and build on it. Never regretted it a bit.
 
Wes, if you can afford to comfortable buy this land, I would recommend it. Just be sure to do your due diligence to ensure that you can build on it. I have a couple pieces of land that I have purchased in the past. One of them we plan on building on in the next year or two. The value of this land has gone up dramatically. It still is more valuable now even with the recent downturn in real estate, but we did not buy the land for investment. We bought it with the same idea you appear to have, in order to secure that we would have it available for our future use.

Again, just be sure you are taking a long approach in all of this. By that I mean, be financially able to sit on this for a while if you have to.

I feel uneasy about giving any advice like this. I suggest you maybe approach a professional that is familiar with your financial state to advise you in this purchase. What worked for my wife and me may not work for you. Good luck.

And the real reason for buying my land... someday a real shop of course.:thumb:
 
Be sure you research the land regarding any forthcoming utility upgrades like water/sewage.

Here in NE Ohio, where I live, I was looking at getting 3½ acres adjacent to my existing. I could buy the land for around $25K, but there's a planned sewage installation that would cost me $45,400 in frontage fees ($102.65 per foot, 443 feet frontage) within the next three years.

Since I'd only intended to buy the land to keep somebody else from eventually building on it next to me (Wife and I tend to be reclusive), I've gotta pass. I just can't afford a total of $70K for that luxury - especially since my existing property will also cost me just over $20K in frontage fees!
 
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Twain said "buy land, they don't make it anymore". If the price is in your range and you can satisfy yourself that you will not be prevented by law from using it in the way you want to, go ahead and buy. Market downswings are when people with liquidity make their money, upswings are just when they release it.
 
Be sure you research the land regarding any forthcoming utility upgrades like water/sewage.

Here in NE Ohio, where I live, I was looking at getting 3½ acres adjacent to my existing. I could buy the land for around $25K, but there's a planned sewage installation that would cost me $45,400 in frontage fees ($102.65 per foot, 443 feet frontage) within the next three years.

Since I'd only intended to buy the land to keep somebody else from eventually building on it next to me (Wife and I tend to be reclusive), I've gotta pass. I just can't afford a total of $70K for that luxury - especially since my existing property will also cost me just over $20K in frontage fees!


Maybe I just live in the "wrong" areas but I've never heard of this sort of cost being passed onto homeowners in such an enourmous lump. Here in our city we get a "sewer improvement" fee put on our water bill, but that amounts to something like $5/month. My mind just boggles at the price you're talking. How can they expect people to just have $45,000 to fork out!?!?
 
Maybe I just live in the "wrong" areas but I've never heard of this sort of cost being passed onto homeowners in such an enourmous lump. Here in our city we get a "sewer improvement" fee put on our water bill, but that amounts to something like $5/month. My mind just boggles at the price you're talking. How can they expect people to just have $45,000 to fork out!?!?

Yeah, it's really ridiculous.

The only 'relief' they offer is to amortize the cost over twenty years by absorbing it into semi-annual property taxes - at a 5% interest rate. It'd raise my annual property taxes by another $1,500.00! Sale of the property within that twenty year period means the whole balance becomes due and payable upon closing.

On my current property, connection to the city will cost an additional $1300 in 'connection fees' plus $250 for the digging permit, plus about $5,000 for running the line (150 feet) and collapsing the old septic system. We figured the total at about $27,500! Plus, of course, the privelege of paying 1½ times the water bill as a monthly 'sanitation fee.' Connection to the line will be mandatory within six months of them installing it, so keeping the existing system won't be an option.

The only redeeming factor to this would be that the cost of a replacement septic system - if/when I ever need one - would be around $20,000, and with the city sewage line, I'd never need that.
 
More details

Thanks for all the feedback. I probably should have included some more detail in my first post. The land is a 5 acre plot. It’s already been approved for a leach septic system and building site by the county health department. The current owners planned on building but their circumstances have changed and thus they are trying to sell. The thing that my wife and I really like about it is there is a stand of about 1.5 acres of large trees on the back of the property. This area’s too low to build on but would be a great place for the kids to play when they get older and also shield us should a development pop up in the field behind.

Here’s a satellite image of the land with it’s lot lines. This image is from 2006. There is now a home on the property just above (north) of the one we’re looking at. To me this is a positive as we now know what kind of properties will be around us. There are also quite a few young trees in the middle we would plan on getting moved near the road.

Based on everyone’s input here I think we’re going to make an offer. I’ve heard a complete well system around here will run $4000. Anybody have ideas what an overhead power line would cost to the barn which is approx. 150’ from the road. I’d also be interested to hear what a leach type septic system costs. I’ve told my wife to expect to pay $20-25,000 for all the utilities (water, sewer, and electric).
 

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You say "right outside" city limits. That bodes well for future value increases. Buying now, with small children, is an even greater motivation, in my opinion. Raising children in a rural setting has benefits beyond description. You, and they, will be better people for it.
Do look into the utilities situation, especially perk tests for septic if you need it. Where you are, that shouldn't be a problem.
If the purchase is within your budget, generally speaking, it should be a great investment.
 
May not be 'right outside the city limits' for long... and that can go either real good for you or real bad. I know folks who built 'in the country' NE of San Antonio in the early 90s that are now enjoying horrible traffic and much more 'city' than they moved away from to begin with. Their neighborhoods and 1 acre lots are 20 years old... and surrounded by new construction and explosive retail growth.
 
Paint me GREEN with envy Wes! :D

I'd be on that like white on rice :thumb:

A couple of things, how far of a commute is it for the kids to go to school?

Is there good schools nearby? Does the school bus run by the house?

About the electrical, it really depends, I remember back in the 80's when my uncle put power into his 110 acres above my hometown, he had to pay for each pole and it was NOT cheap, but it was a one time fee so :dunno:

Now he had to go a couple of miles, you only have to go 150', easy, and I hope cheap!

I agree with Frank, I'd much rather raise my kids in a rural setting, but there are some challenges as well, for one, when the kids become 14 or so, they can often be involved in a lot of sports, etc, and your lovely wife can become "Mom's Taxi Service", not a deal breaker for sure, but just be aware of stuff like that.

How far is it to the supermarket?

Good luck, I hope you go for it and never regret it. :clap:
 
hey wes, i agree with others, i'd buy it if all seems well.

check with your power company, ours ran our above ground lines for free, underground is a different story. our company is a co-op though so that might make a difference.

hope your offer is accepted.

might need a tractor to cut all that grass though...:thumb:
 
I'm stuck in the L shop and bored so.........

5_acres.jpg

Our building, the one we live in, where the Dungeon is located, it outlined in red, the land is 39 Tsubo. There are 6121 tsubo in a acre, so you would have 30605 tsubo of land, so our land is about 1.2 percent of your potential 5 acres........but, I'll bet you we would pay a LOT more for that 1.2% in Tokyo :doh:

Good luck, I hope you get it!
 
Power is an odd thing. Here when I built my house hookup was free, now to have them turn on the power is 1 grand. Per pole (35 foot) it costs you 1500 bucks, so it adds up fast. It sounds like in your case you will only need one pole as distance in the county is typically 250 between poles.

Here if we have long distances to go, we hire sub-contractors to put the poles and lines in. Then and only then will we have the power company hook up the lines to the grid. It costs a lot less in that case, but you will only have a single pole so that is a moot point.
 
The only redeeming factor to this would be that the cost of a replacement septic system - if/when I ever need one - would be around $20,000, and with the city sewage line, I'd never need that.

Jim, I agree. I wonder if any people are thinking of moving before this goes in... One other redeeming factor, depending on your situation, is the possibility of basement washrooms. I grew up on a septic tank, and it entered the house at about half-way up the basement wall, which meant no bathroom was possible in the basement.


... and also shield us should a development pop up in the field behind.

Here’s a satellite image of the land with it’s lot lines. This image is from 2006.

Wes, from your photo the other question that pops up is that long driveway to the south of the property. It's a pretty big lot back there, and I would want to find out from the city planning department (or whoever is in charge) if there was any possibility of that being turned into a road someday for someone to plop a subdivision back there. To me, that would be a huge negative down the line. Now if you're very rural, maybe this is not even a remote possibility. All I have to go on is that satellite photo.
 
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