Questions on Buying Additional Land

[lpyrbby]

Short story, we just purchased a property with a little over 4 acres. Half of that is wooded so my husband can hunt. I just did some guesstimates recently and discovered that we really only have about 1 acre left for one pasture, and another half acre in the front of the house (where a portion is the leech field for our septic).

Our neighbor mentioned them possibly selling their 4 acres soon. They have a trailer on it. Buying that land would also mean I would already have water, septic, and electricity available for a small/medium run in shed/barn with a few small amenities.

Does anyone have experience with purchasing a property with a mobile home on it already, and converting it back to mainly just land use? I'm not certain I'll be in a position to buy when they are ready to sell, but if I am, I'd like a better idea of what problems I may face going forward. We have plans for chickens and goats within the next couple of years, and in the end of 5 years, I'd like to have a donkey and/or mule or two.

Does that make sense?

 

[Mini Horses]

Land purchase not a problem. You say a "trailer" on it -- do you mean a single wide? If so then it MAY have it's own financing, with a title, like a car. Often with a large double wide it is put on a foundation and then there is normally a mortgage on the entire property and d/w, as with a house mortgage. That's the thing to determine at time you find it for sale and you are interested in purchase.

Also, the d/w will most often have a foundation and the s/w often not so. This would present more issues with moving the structure and expense. I bring this to your attention as you sound as tho it is not your desire to have the living quarters remain if you should work toward a purchase in the future.

Would you want to consider renting the unit with just a yard allowance? Then use the balance of the property for your pastures. You could always arrange for a separate electric meter for the barn, etc. Of course, rental always has both +/- issues but could be an offset to the cost of the property so long as the rental unit was in decent condition so that there were no major repair issues.

I have found that the older model units can be difficult to sell & move in some areas. At times the cost for permits & transport can make the purchase more expensive than the value....depending size of trailer, on distance, roads, bridges, etc., etc.

Hope that helps a little.

 

[Baymule]

Is the mobile home livable? if so you could buy the property and rent the mobile home to pay some or all of the note. If it's not livable, then sell it or scrap it yourself. Pile it up and burn it.

I would definitely try to buy the property.

 

[lpyrbby]

It's a single wide and they are currently living in it. I don't want the trailer at all. I want to consume as much of the open area as possible for pasture and put a little barn type structure near where the trailer currently is so I can make use of the utilities that are already existing. It would basically double our available land and give husband more hunting area, and me more room for larger hooved critters. I'm just unsure of what all nightmares could present themselves in both trying to get rid of the trailer if they don't want to take it with them, and also in dealing with managing the utilities and making sure they're safe from the equines until I can actually do a legit barn/shelter. I'm certain I could post the trailer for free and someone else can deal with removing it. Or I could do the horrible task of destruction myself to try to make some money off what is there.

I'm just concerned I'm dreaming about doing this without considering the other headaches that are sure to follow. Things just don't go that easy

 

[Mini Horses]

Yes, giving trailer away may be a good idea, if you can't work a deal to purchase without it. May be able to donate to a charity & get a tax deduction.

Remember that there is a septic & well in place and that would be a consideration for your building "whatever" or other use of property. These things have a definite and often larger value than you may think at first, so plan accordingly. There are places where current requirements may not be those of the past when a septic was installed, due to zoning or health department rulings, etc.... Just saying, plan new use so septic is not damaged OR heavy farm equipment not running over and so on. Wells-- buildings have offset distances, and so on.

Years in real estate have made me "consider future use" for resale at the time I buy.....Yeah, can be a problem. But, it's like fencing and what a difference a 3' or 4' would be to overall use. My barn was built with a foundation! And all interior dividers can be removed with no detriment to the basic frame of the building. It has a toilet and sink. So, any size stall could be configured, a concrete slab could be poured (have that in tack/feed room)...so variable use for me or another.
It could easily be used as a garage, workshop, etc.

Just saying, look at your assets.

 

[Latestarter]

A lot has to do with the purchase price and status of the land. Virtually all trailers are personal property, not "real" property (land). They are taxed and registered as vehicles. As with vehicles, they lose value rapidly over time. They depreciate like a car. They do NOT gain value like a house. But these things you probably already knew...

As such, when you go to purchase the land, you will be purchasing it as land, NOT as a residence. Land loans are a LOT higher on interest and down payment requirements. I'm not sure, but normally when a trailer is placed on a property, there are 2 loans... the land loan and the trailer loan. You'd have to ask them how their financing is set up, or perhaps they have everything already paid off.

You are right in that your biggest problem will be getting rid of the trailer. Most folks moving out of one, do NOT intend to take it with them. As a result, you will be stuck with dealing with it. I've seen many properties being sold with multiple trailers on them... the one the seller is living in (newer) and an older unit that was already there when they bought the property. In many cases, one or sometimes both are in such a state of disrepair that they aren't really salvageable... and in some cases are rotting into the property. The possibility of selling them is virtually nonexistent, and even if you sold it, it would be for pennies on the dollar as the cost to disconnect everything and move the unit would be prohibitive.

In reality, probably the better solution was mentioned above... Use the existing trailer as a rental unit to generate income. Fence off a small area around the trailer to protect their leach field/septic, and give the renter a small yard and room for a garden or pet or whatever. Place the barn you want on your existing property and turn as much as possible on the new property into pasture. I don't know why you'd want/need septic for a run in shed or barn... I can understand water and electric, but that could just as easily be run from your existing residence to whatever barn structure you build.

I hope you'll let us know what happens should you move forward with this. It may just help someone else down the road.

 

[JASTECH]

What about a Tiny House on wheels? I'm considering it, the taxes are much lower do to it being mobile. For my use I'm thinking of a 40' Fith-wheel that I'll build. Shipping containers for my shops and everything off grid, I can still build solar systems.

 

[Baymule]

So you buy it, get rid of the trailer and build a barn. Make use of that septic tank, put in a bathroom, sink and shower. Never know, you might become a host family for a WWOOF'er.

 

[lpyrbby]

My thoughts with noting the septic being in place is for the off chance of installing a toilet in the barn-thing at some point. Truthfully, I really only want to build a run in with enough room for about 4 horses, tops, with a spare room to hold tack and other supplies. If we wanted to add a toilet later, at least having the septic already there would provide us an "easy" option. I'm more stoked about the idea of having water and electricity there already.

I also am aware that a loan for land would be a bit different than your typical mortgage. I'm prepared for that.

Let me share an image of the overhead to see if it helps at all with what I'm looking at and my "concerns."

The red property line is mine. The blue is a rough line on the neighbor's. There's a bit more, but since I haven't studied theirs as much as mine, I don't recall the specific directions into the woods. My main concern is with the cleared area. The star in this is actually where the existing chicken coop lives, but we're toying with the idea of tearing it down and rebuilding in a different spot. It needs some work before I'll put chickens in it.

My thoughts are in putting the barn-thing pretty much where the trailer is now, since all the connections for electricity and well are there. Obviously, I'll need to shield them from the animals since I'd like to take the pasture to about 3-4ft from the other neighbor's property line. With where the trailer is located on the property, it would take up a huge chunk of what I want for pasture, and I'm just not sure I'm willing to deal with that headache of having a renter. I was in property management for 7 years. Been there done that. It also looks like a much longer walk to that side of the field than it really is.

 

[Baymule]

Make sure you fence off the septic tank and field lines from the animals. Every so often there is a story on the news about a horse or cow falling in an old septic tank when the top collapsed.