buyng recreational property
- Thread starter Jamie
- Start date
more good stuff, everyone. thanks.
Joe, I don't trust anyone very much in these sorts of circumstance or transactions. I feel ya, and I've had my share of unwarranted legal issues because of some pee-on's inattention to detail. any idea how many "James Millers" there are in the world? I've been around the block a couple of more times than I shoulda been. I had my wages garnished, liens placed on my mortgage erroneously. I don't care to recalculate how much of my money and time it cost me to save my good name and credit because of a frivolous clerical error. but anyway,
My finances are in order. I own my home. My business, Nancy, and I are debt free aside from a couple of half paid car loans. our credit score is over 800. getting the money isn't a concern. getting the right property without unwanted strings attached is where I am. I'm not looking in Amish country, btw. b.o., blue pants without zippers, and funny hats ain't my thing. smallish hills, big oaks, briar thickets, low property taxes, and lot's of tillable acreage around it is what I'm after. I have some solid leads. will cost me some hunting time to investigate the properties, but I feel like this is the best time of year to see any hunting property for what it really is.
Joe, I don't trust anyone very much in these sorts of circumstance or transactions. I feel ya, and I've had my share of unwarranted legal issues because of some pee-on's inattention to detail. any idea how many "James Millers" there are in the world? I've been around the block a couple of more times than I shoulda been. I had my wages garnished, liens placed on my mortgage erroneously. I don't care to recalculate how much of my money and time it cost me to save my good name and credit because of a frivolous clerical error. but anyway,
My finances are in order. I own my home. My business, Nancy, and I are debt free aside from a couple of half paid car loans. our credit score is over 800. getting the money isn't a concern. getting the right property without unwanted strings attached is where I am. I'm not looking in Amish country, btw. b.o., blue pants without zippers, and funny hats ain't my thing. smallish hills, big oaks, briar thickets, low property taxes, and lot's of tillable acreage around it is what I'm after. I have some solid leads. will cost me some hunting time to investigate the properties, but I feel like this is the best time of year to see any hunting property for what it really is.
cspot
Member
If you have your finance in order, then you are ahead of the game. I got a home equity line of credit. Basically you can write checks out of it like a checking account. There is a cap as to what can be borrowed. You only pay interest on what is outstanding. Rates are pretty good. These take a couple of months to get if I remember so you may want to check into something like that.
What are your requirements for the property? size, location, cost, etc. Alot of people here from all around the state. Sometimes someone may know someone who is selling or drives past a nice looking place for sale.
in my head I'm thinking I can afford 50-100 acres ($200K give or take a little) in the areas I'm really looking which are Muskingum, Perry, Morgan counties, pretty much within 60 or so miles of my residence, but I'd consider anything within a couple of hours of home for the right deal. I live in Licking and could not afford more than 20 acres here.
I already have an equity line, and may well get another bigger one. I don't have any reservations about using my house for collateral, and I'm shopping for a lender, too. 5/3 bank can suck my balls. banked there for 30 years, have been less than satisfied for the last 10, and now that my mortgage is paid, I have no incentive to stay unless they are offering the best rate by a sizeable margin.
I already have an equity line, and may well get another bigger one. I don't have any reservations about using my house for collateral, and I'm shopping for a lender, too. 5/3 bank can suck my balls. banked there for 30 years, have been less than satisfied for the last 10, and now that my mortgage is paid, I have no incentive to stay unless they are offering the best rate by a sizeable margin.
cspot
Member
For 200k I think you can get something pretty nice. Landwatch.com is a really good website to look. Not sure if you have checked it out.
cspot
Member
OO2
Well-Known Member
Do any of you guys that own around public land enjoy being bordered by public? Have any negative things to say? Looking around SE Ohio for a little place that borders public ground
cspot
Member
It probably depends on where it is at. My property is only 13 acres and is bordered on 2 sides by public land Wayne National Forest. I haven't had any trouble with trespassers. Knock on wood. My neighbors that are private land are great too. Lucky to find what I did. The 1 side of my property that borders public is very steep, so I don't see many people on that side.
Personally I love bordering public land. The reason is that I can own less land and never worry about having a bad neighbor on those sides. You know the neighbor that doesn't even let you retrieve a deer kind.
OO2
Well-Known Member
That sounds pretty near perfect! Are there any resources that you found to be easy than others to find land for sale that borders public?
cspot
Member
I just kept watching Landwatch. Took about 1 1/2 years before I found a place. There was a spot or 2 that would probably have been good, but sold before I got a chance to look at them. Looked at a couple of good places that looked great, but would have taken alot of work to level a spot to build a camp. Some places had access issues like you literally needed a boat to access it. LOL. Others just didn't feel like they were the right spot.
To give you an idea on how fast that it happens. The place we got was listed on a Wed I think. Saturday morning we drove down looked at it and drove back. We loved the property, but it was listed for more than I thought it was worth. Gave it some thought and called Monday morning and after a couple of back and forth phone calls in a span of a 1/2 hour, we had agreed on a price. Signed the offer the next day and sent in a little earnest money. I think we closed like 3 weeks later. It went quick since I didn't finance the property itself. I didn't have to go thru an appraisal and approvals for the bank. I ended up paying almost 30% less than what it was listed at as well. Even though it was just listed, doesn't mean that they won't accept less. The seller was motivated to sell. Honestly from looking around what I paid was a fair price for the area. Since we liked alot about the property, I was willing to go higher than I did. The property was about perfect since it had good access, bordered public property on 2 sides, good spot for a cabin, had deer sign, close to fishing areas, and was only 20 min from the wife's sister. Also it is on a dead end road, so traffic isn't real bad. Other nice thing is even though we are out in the country, we are also only 10 min from a small town that has grocery, restaurants and stuff.
What I didn't know at the time, but found out after is that the neighbors have been great as well.
To give you an idea on how fast that it happens. The place we got was listed on a Wed I think. Saturday morning we drove down looked at it and drove back. We loved the property, but it was listed for more than I thought it was worth. Gave it some thought and called Monday morning and after a couple of back and forth phone calls in a span of a 1/2 hour, we had agreed on a price. Signed the offer the next day and sent in a little earnest money. I think we closed like 3 weeks later. It went quick since I didn't finance the property itself. I didn't have to go thru an appraisal and approvals for the bank. I ended up paying almost 30% less than what it was listed at as well. Even though it was just listed, doesn't mean that they won't accept less. The seller was motivated to sell. Honestly from looking around what I paid was a fair price for the area. Since we liked alot about the property, I was willing to go higher than I did. The property was about perfect since it had good access, bordered public property on 2 sides, good spot for a cabin, had deer sign, close to fishing areas, and was only 20 min from the wife's sister. Also it is on a dead end road, so traffic isn't real bad. Other nice thing is even though we are out in the country, we are also only 10 min from a small town that has grocery, restaurants and stuff.
What I didn't know at the time, but found out after is that the neighbors have been great as well.
at1010
*Supporting Member*
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A lot of great suggestions here, a few items I would mention.
1. Don't think short term on a deer property - think long term
2. Make a list of wants (ponds, fields for planting plots, AG fields near or far, areas for orchards, hard mast,etc).
3. Don't think that other adjacent land won't ever be for sale - be ready for it to sell and move quick!
4. Consider as many factors as you can think and make a pros/cons list - that are not deer related
5. Set a list of goals - do you want to see a LOT of deer, GREAT bucks? A mix of both?
My family bought 60 acres 10 years ago (give or take). We started planting plots, fruit trees, meeting some neighbors, etc. We do have Amish in the area but none are touching our farm. We made our hunting as good as possible and killed a couple decent bucks over the years. We always wanted to see more does so we have limited harvest on the does. At times I wished I had a farm in an area with a higher deer density but at the same time I have fallen in love with working on my slice of heaven. We were fortunate enough to purchase the adjacent 170+ acres this past summer, it is amazing how many more deer we have seen this year now that we are in control of a large chunk of ground.
My point is really think it over, don't let the "big" buck trail cameras on fancy real-estate sites make get over excited. Remember when you buy a piece of ground you are now invested for awhile, so mine as well put as much thought into as possible. If you think you want 50 acres, try to buy 75, if you want 75 try to buy a 100. If you are like me, you'll always want more.
1. Don't think short term on a deer property - think long term
2. Make a list of wants (ponds, fields for planting plots, AG fields near or far, areas for orchards, hard mast,etc).
3. Don't think that other adjacent land won't ever be for sale - be ready for it to sell and move quick!
4. Consider as many factors as you can think and make a pros/cons list - that are not deer related
5. Set a list of goals - do you want to see a LOT of deer, GREAT bucks? A mix of both?
My family bought 60 acres 10 years ago (give or take). We started planting plots, fruit trees, meeting some neighbors, etc. We do have Amish in the area but none are touching our farm. We made our hunting as good as possible and killed a couple decent bucks over the years. We always wanted to see more does so we have limited harvest on the does. At times I wished I had a farm in an area with a higher deer density but at the same time I have fallen in love with working on my slice of heaven. We were fortunate enough to purchase the adjacent 170+ acres this past summer, it is amazing how many more deer we have seen this year now that we are in control of a large chunk of ground.
My point is really think it over, don't let the "big" buck trail cameras on fancy real-estate sites make get over excited. Remember when you buy a piece of ground you are now invested for awhile, so mine as well put as much thought into as possible. If you think you want 50 acres, try to buy 75, if you want 75 try to buy a 100. If you are like me, you'll always want more.
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Thanks... I'm looking more for full time residential property.. 50-75 acres with a decent home. Wife requests not being in total seclusion.
Some solid advice. I have bought 9 properties. 3 with one LLC we have. One in another LLC. 5 in my name and my wife's name. Only 2 were thru a realtor. A trusted attorney who specializes in real estate and estates should be able to handle such transactions without any major issues. I agree with you. Screw 5/3.
yes, I'm using Landwatch and a couple of properties I've looked at I found there. My SIL is a real estate broker up in Cleveland area, and she knows a thing or two about buying and selling homes, but hunting property in southeast ohio is not really her thing. still, the process is pretty much the same.
I'm in no real hurry, but I would like to have a place by next season. has been a tough year with limited options. I'm more interested in getting the right place for me, not just a place.
much appreciate all the good suggestions.
at1010
*Supporting Member*
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