Land search and purchasing

[calfroper_06]

I know this has been posted time and time again. The price of land is all over the place. Its hard to keep that american dream of owning your own place when you're working so hard to finally purchase only to find that land within a budget has risen thousands more per acre.

I'm on the hunt to find something within 3-5hrs of College Station, Texas. Has anyone had any luck finding or know someone that can help. I'm looking for 50 to 150 or so depending on price. These places going for 10-20k an acre just are not reachable.


That being said, for those who have purchased land, what are some of the things you wished you looked more into when purchasing? Electricity, water, game, land access, etc etc?? Thanks for the help

[DapperDan]

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[twosixteens]

A few years ago the wife and I were looking for land back home in Missouri. When we started looking we looked over a huge area in my opinion a huge mistake. Pick an area you like or would like to be in and then find an agent would be my advice.

[Throwin Darts]

That being said, for those who have purchased land, what are some of the things you wished you looked more into when purchasing? Electricity, water, game, land access, etc etc?? Thanks for the help

I think you hit the big ones on the head. Utilities are very very important, especially water. Pay special attention to their availability because getting them run later can be very cost prohibitive.

Land access is also very important. Owning it outright is obviously preferred over easement access.

When I was in the market I was looking for parcels that had very little, if any, road frontage because I didn't want a lot of road noise cutting down on the huntable acreage.

Also pay attention to fencing. The last thing you want to do on the tails of buying a place is turn around and have to cut another big check for fencing.

[KactusKiller]

I would look to limestone, freestone and leon county. Decent prices and beautiful country. My land is in navarro but prices are climbing.

[E.TX.BOWHUNTER]

I would look to limestone, freestone and leon county. Decent prices and beautiful country. My land is in navarro but prices are climbing.

Correct. Look eastward.

[Hogmauler]

Good luck with that. Grimes county is getting $10,000 an acre now! People have lost their minds. You may try Dominion Ranch Their ranches start in the $150,000 with the smallest lot being 50 acres. It’s a turn key operation with all the roads etc and they have the contacts for drillers , fencing etc. they also have cabins you can stay in on the ranch until your place gets built. In addition they will also help you get your wildlife exemption or whichever kind you want. The ranch itself is game managed with just about any kind of exotic you want. So I’m figuring you have an allotment based on game count and your lot size. It is also managed by a wildlife biologist. We would have bought a place there but it was a little too far out for my wife to drive into work. Maybe an hour to F Burg.
Kimble county has some decent prices as well as Mason if your looking for larger tracts.
We were in Kerrville this past weekend looking at property. Mostly 20 acre tracts. These developers have deep pockets and payed cash for most of these places. Consequently, they are not in negotiating mode. So they can keep their property.
P m me if I can help ya.

[gtsticker]

The farther north in the panhandle or west Texas are the cheapest. Be careful west with the anthrax and small cut up subdivisions. I am buying a place 5.5 hours away but I am getting 160 acres vs 20.


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[CabezaBlanca]

Definitely check utilities and fencing. You might pay $3,000 an acre with no utilities with poor or no fencing. You get all that installed and the next thing you know you're into to it for $6,000 an acre.

[ramrod]

I would shoot for less than 3 hours from the house, even if it meant less land. A 5 hour drive every other weekend would get old quick, not to mention the fuel.

[Draco]

I would just get your ducks in a row, have several realtors looking and wait it out. Go in with a friend so you can get an even bigger piece of property and the price will be cheaper for both of you. My wife and I looked for almost 2 years. We only wanted around 30 acres as that is what we could afford. A friend sold a piece of property and told me he wanted to go in with us to try to get a bigger piece of property as it would be cheaper that way. We ended up buying half of 223 acres for what we were going to spend on 30, and it was in the same general area as we were already looking.

[tps7742]

Access to property, available water (water quality also), availability of electricity, fencing, ag exemption, no further than 3 hours, type of maintenance required to keep the place up.

[ken800]

I know this has been posted time and time again. The price of land is all over the place. Its hard to keep that american dream of owning your own place when you're working so hard to finally purchase only to find that land within a budget has risen thousands more per acre.

I'm on the hunt to find something within 3-5hrs of College Station, Texas. Has anyone had any luck finding or know someone that can help. I'm looking for 50 to 150 or so depending on price. These places going for 10-20k an acre just are not reachable.


That being said, for those who have purchased land, what are some of the things you wished you looked more into when purchasing? Electricity, water, game, land access, etc etc?? Thanks for the help

Same as your house... location, location, location. I'm on my second piece of land. Second most important is price, of course. You want it just far enough off the beaten patth that it is quiet and peaceful but close enough that you will actually go regulary. You definitely want at least some rolling hills and topography. Ideally being surrounded by larger pieces of land keeps your wildlife quantity high and your remoteness... remote.

I personally have found that regular visits had to be within 1 hour of my residence or I just couldn't make enough time to truly take care of the property and enjoy it often enough to justify it.

Things that are/were important:

20-30 minutes from some small town with at least basic amenities like food, gas and hardware.

Some kind of pond, tank, lake, etc. with year-round water. Building a tank is a $30K plus investment and you need the topography to do it.

At least 1/2 of it with mature, heavy trees so wildlife has a place to hide/bed down.

Well or water access and electricity are huge. Septic is also important, but can be done relatively expensive.

My first place had all three but I wasn't really happy with the area. I sold it and made a tidy profit and now I'm on my second place. I didn't look into the cost of electric as I made a couple of assumptions which was a HUGE mistake. $20K to run a few poles... Not going to happen any time soon. 10-12K for a well and similar for a quality septic and I'd be around 500-750 per acre net cost so price your acreage accordingly as these things DO have value.

Walk every square inch before you buy - at least twice - and don't get emotionally attached and make a hasty decision.

[BTLowry]

Keep looking and have a budget and the down payment and be ready to pounce

Drive the area(s) you want to buy in and look for FSBO and other non traditional sellers (no realtor) too.

We bought the neighboring place a year ago and I did not even know it was for sale until the heirs sent me a greeting card with the listing because they were reaching out to surrounding neighbors (realtor told them that never works, guess they got to eat some crow ) and it had been on the market for months.

One small sign way down a dead end county road

But I was not actively looking to buy

Partnering up is an option but can get sticky to downright nasty in some cases.
Definitely get a lawyer involved if you go that route.

[TX_Hoghunter]

Remember there is a difference in asking price and what the real price is. I know a lot of places around here listed for $7,000+. In reality most sells for about $3,000. I often laugh at some of the land that gets listed in the classifieds here. Especially the places around me. They ask an insane price. Lots of people from Dallas post about what a great price it is and how it won't last long.....a year later it is still for sale. Don't drink the kool aid.

-john