Questions on Buying Additional Land

[lpyrbby]

I could sit and stare at the overhead image for hours, trying to play out different locations for various things. For instance, I want to plant some more trees street side, because when one of the neighbors drives up his road, the lights flash into the house. I thought about putting the goats in the front yard, but I don't want their house at the street side, nor do I really want it in front of our house. And if we put it off to the left side of house, near the other tree-lined driveway, then we'd be putting it over top of the leach field for our septic. We want to have a garden too, but trying to squeeze that in with the other driveway and where I want the pasture to go is getting tricky. The chicken coop is also nestled at the edge of the woods there, so if we move it, we have to consider how we'll provide shade to the coop when it's July/August here in the south. I certainly don't want that kind of baked chicken. Taking all of those things into consideration, I just feel I'll have more flexibility in what goes where if I can get my neighbor's property. Likewise, I'm also worried about all the nuances (and expenses) that will come from trying to get rid of the trailer and deal with the connections for the utilities.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Do you like your house and property?
If you do then personally I think the location of the septic and power are not relevant
Factor the disposal of the trailer and relocation of the power into the price you pay
Septic? Are you planning a dairy?
If not most don't have toilets in their barn
But you need to up the value because it's the only 4 acres adjacent to you for sale

 

[OneFineAcre]

And here is another thought
If you don't buy it then someone else will
And then what do you have next door to you?

 

[lpyrbby]

Yes, we like the house we are in, very much.

I was hoping we wouldn't have to relocate power on the other property. Hoping being the operative word

We are not planning on having cows. Maybe 4-5 Nigerian Dwarf goats, around 8 chickens or so, and at MOST, 4 equines. I was originally thinking a couple of horses and a couple of donkeys, but now, I'm really leaning towards a donkey and a mule. That's still several years out though.

I have small visions in my head of staring out this dining room window to my pasture with my hooved creatures, doing what they do. The trailer is basically behind the tree here. I also will admittedly sit at this table and gaze out there, daydreaming of what it could be for me lol

The thought of someone else buying it bugs me too. I want animals there, not more people.

 

[OneFineAcre]

The property is worth more to you than anyone else because it is adjacent to you
It does not cost that much to extend power already on a property
You should talk to a real estate broker about the value of the combined lots with your house and the adjacent property
You could potentially go to your county and combine the two properties and refinance your house with the combined lots
Many commercial banks will not do a traditional mortgage on over 5 acres but credit unions will up yo 10
Unless the property has a problem like soil contamination or something like that then you need to figure out what it is worth
Most of your concerns are ancillary

 

[lpyrbby]

Yes, I agree that most of my concerns are ancillary I have no idea what else I'm looking at in regards to all the extra headaches and legwork that would be required to make use of that extra acreage in how I want to use it.

The house we currently live in is exclusively in my husband's name. That's fine by me and was kinda required since I'm still trying to get our previous house sold - that one is only in my name since I bought it before we ever met. I'm cautiously optimistic that whenever it sells and I pay off the ridiculous amount of debt that we've assumed over the years, that we'll be in a position to get this extra lot in just my name. That might prove to be a bigger headache to get them refinanced in one convenient package together. I'm okay with the properties remaining separate. Once the trailer gets pulled out of the equation, I don't foresee much trouble in getting the county to make adjustments on how the property is taxed since at that point, it will be just the land value - albeit, with "amenities." This particular property is just over 4 acres, so there shouldn't be a huge ordeal with getting financed for it. We just need a bit of extra time to make sure we've got the funds for the 20% down they'll want for a land loan. Property is pretty cheap out here. I think he was looking at 55-60k for the property, but that could honestly just be hearsay from the other neighbor. There's still plenty of variables out there.

I'll touch base with our agent after the dust settles on selling my house and see what he can get together for me on the nuances with buying that property. The costs to make it livestock-friendly could really impact my decision to pursue it, in the end. I'm not worried about being rid of the trailer. The scrappers in the area would probably LOVE the chance to take it apart themselves, even if I told them they had to make the whole thing disappear. What my agent likely won't know are the things I'll need to be aware of when trying to make it suitable for our purposes. I think we've given him a crash course in dealing with rural homeowners

I would need to check with my extension agent about soil testing, yes? Probably need to do that anyway on my side of the property too.

 

[Baymule]

How long has your house been for sale? if it's been too long, you might need to drop your price. We recently moved and sold acreage and a home in town. Both were basically handshake deals. Both transactions were below sales value. It was worth it to us to take less than market value, just to get rid of the headache of having a house and property 170 miles away. Could we have gotten more? Yeah, but WHEN? Six months or a year later? If you really want this land next to you, make your old house more attractive, it might mean taking less for your house.

Is the mobile home in good enough shape to sell to be moved? What about calling a mobile home sales lot and asking if they want it? And give them a date for it to be gone.

 

[lpyrbby]

The house in town has only been listed for about a month and I just received my first offer for it on Monday. I sent my counter back to them last night and hopefully it'll be confirmed soon. The soonest we'll be able to close with their loan type will be the end of February. Hopefully there won't be any hiccups because I'm certainly ready to not del with that further. I do need to make a profit on the sale though to pay off some credit cards and such.

We shall see I suppose!

 

[babsbag]

I can't even find a land loan in CA from a bank that isn't guaranteed by the USDA and even then the banks want about 50% down and it is only a 5 year loan. Just crazy.

I too want to buy land adjacent to me but my only option is to wait until the dairy is up and running and then get a "farm ownership loan" through the USDA. One of the properties has a seasonal stream on it so the USDA says "no" as they won't deal with a waterway. The other piece is 16 acres and I am going to ask the owner about a lease with an option to buy as I need to wait at least a year for the dairy to show a profit.

The property next to me has power and a well and it is 8 acres (4 usable) and they are asking 79,000. The 16 acres has nothing on it and they are asking the same price.

 

[lpyrbby]

There's also a parcel of 39 acres behind us that I'm frothing at the mouth over, but that's WAY more out of reach at this point. The current owner uses it for timber and that's just a hefty chunk of money to throw down for it. I'm hoping maybe I can fit that one into the 10 year plan lol. I may have big dreams