Cheapest area for land in Southern Wisconsin?

[beorning]

We're a few years away from buying, but I'm starting to research right now. We're looking for inexpensive acreage in Southern Wisconsin that is reasonably close (45minutes drive maximum) to a decent sized city with a hospital (the wife is in nursing school) Probably looking to build on a site rather than buy a liveable house, though some old farm buildings would be great for recycling lumber, etcetera. We'd be looking for 50-100 acres depending. There is family that might want to buy in with us and then split up the land amongst the families and share some resources.

Anyone done any shopping in the area and have advice? POinters to helpful websites would be appreciated as well.

Thanks.

[dcross]

Forget anything close to Madison or Milwaukee.

[cab]

We have 80 acres in SW WI (Grant co.) we bought 10 years ago for around $1200 an acre. The locals said we were nuts....taxes were about $400. Now, land around here is $3000~$4000 an acre and my taxes are $2300. The cheapest I have seen land for anywhere around the SW part of the state lately has been about $2700 or so an acre. Anything within an hour or so of Madison is going to cost a lot more...My advice would be to buy as soon as you can as the prices are going to keep climbing, along with the taxes...

[Hoop]

The least expensive land in Southern Wisconsin will be found in the SW area. Completely forget about anything inexpensive in the SE area, as these areas are becoming bedroom communities for Milwaukee, Chicago, Madison, Beloit, Rockford, etc.

LaCrosse, IMHO, is one of the pearls of Wisconsin. Its absolutely beautiful with its rolling coulees and terraced farmland. And its location on the Mississippi River insures plenty of recreation, fishing, swimming, jet ski, etc.
Land in outlying areas from the city may be purchased for as little as $2500/acre when purchased in 40+ acre parcels. My sister & her husband own property in Viroqua (about 25 miles from LaCrosse). Dairy farms used to be big in the Viroqua area, and, like every farming operation in the country, are being sold/consolidated/lotted off/etc.

[hunter gatherer]

I would second the idea of SW Wisconsin, especially the area around Viroqua. Viroqua ( pop 4500 ) even has a decent size hospital. Though land is affordable now, I can't say what the prices will be in a few years. Everything is going up.

[Rowenna7]

In the Grant County area of SW Wisconsin the price of land is starting to really climb. We've been looking for a place for quite a while now in this area and most places are WAY out of our price range, not sure what yours is so maybe this info will help. What I've been seeing averages maybe $3000 to $4000 an acre, a very few (for huge parcels of land) are lower, some are quite a bit higher.

[beorning]

We'll probably be looking to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-200 K total on land and building. My wife is an RN and will want to work full time post purchase. The homestead will be my full time occupation and her hobby. We're probably going to build a small house from scratch, as inexpensively as we can. I'm a nut for recycled building materials, so if there were some derelict old buildings on site with usable timbers, I'd be pretty happy. I'll be building the place myself with professional assistance when needed. ( concrete work, oversight on electrical and plumbing and likely a general contractor consulting throughout the process to be sure code is adhered to) We own a place right nownear Madison that we will have a sizeable chunk of equity in when we are ready to make the move. It's increased in value by 30k in the last two years with no improvements. We'll be selling it.

I have a brother in law and his wife who want to arrange some sort of neighboring farm situation. I think we can probably muster around 300 k together to buy a chunk of land. We'd want to subdivide it into two or three parcels immediately though, so I need to do some research as to how feasible that is, versus finding three parcels together somewhere with existing division. I think we're all wanting as much land as possible, versus a smaller chunk with nice improvements allready in place. Sounds like we'd be able to hit the target of 80-100 acres pretty easily with our combined resources in SW Wisconsin.

Thanks for the info. It will help me narrow my search a good bit.

[Madame]

Originally Posted by beorning

I'm in the process of convincing the wife that Madison isn't the utopia she insists it is and she is slowly coming around. good thing I have five years to work on it I was thinking LaCrosse/Viroqua area. The land there suits my aesthetic much better than eastern parts of the state. I'm not a fan of flat.

I think Madison is wonderful, but what the heck, it's only 70 miles from Platteville (in Grant County) so it's easy to visit when you have a yen for the big city. An you'd only be 20-30 miles from Dubuque.

I live in Lafayette County and have looked at land in both this cty and Grant cty, and the price is rising steadily. If you want it, buy now. I'm hoping to find work in NE WI in another year - closer to family and some areas the land is still cheap.

Having said that, this area is lovely - green, lush, rolling hills - it's the prettiest part of the state. Your wife would love it here.

I hope you find something wonderful. Good luck.

[VernaVox]

We live in the Viroqua area and yes, it's gorgeous. It's also a close, kind-hearted community. Land is averaging about $3000 per acre now, but sales seem to be slowing down. (We were lucky to buy a few years ago and got a pretty good deal at $1400 per acre.) We also moved here from Madison, and many others are doing the same.

Here are some local real estate Web sites, in case you haven't found them:

http://www.billbrookerealty.com/
http://www.htcrealty.com/
http://www.hallrealtyco.com/
http://www.viroquarealty.com/
http://www.hillcountryrealty.com/
http://www.oakwoodrealty.com/

**Be aware that the state is planning to put in a bypass for Hwy 14-61 between Viroqua and Westby soon (not sure exactly when), and many properties in its path are currently for sale! Seems like sellers would have to disclose this, but just in case they aren't...

And as another poster mentioned, Viroqua has a great hospital - the new addition should be opening soon.

Best of luck on your search.

VV

[deb]

Originally Posted by beorning

We're a few years away from buying, but I'm starting to research right now. We're looking for inexpensive acreage in Southern Wisconsin that is reasonably close (45minutes drive maximum) to a decent sized city with a hospital (the wife is in nursing school) Probably looking to build on a site rather than buy a liveable house, though some old farm buildings would be great for recycling lumber, etcetera. We'd be looking for 50-100 acres depending. There is family that might want to buy in with us and then split up the land amongst the families and share some resources.
Thanks.

A few years away? I'm not sure if any advice you get now will be of any help when you are ready & able to buy. The Madison housing market is so hot that housing developments are eating up the nearby farmland and the Madison "suburbs" stretching farther out.

Here's an example: I live 55 miles from Madison and I bought my house & land 3 years ago. At the time I was doing my search, I couldn't find any listings from this area in the Madison newspapers. I had to drive up here to get a local paper for ads. Flash forward 3.25 years: There are a lot more cars on the road and a lot more houses going up in my area. Someone brought the Madison Sunday paper into work and out of curiosity I looked at the real estate section. I was startled to see that my country is now considered a suburb of Madison and some listed houses were 75 miles away from Madison!

So my advice for now is "start saving"!

When you're ready to buy and want less expensive land, then look at the counties with the highest unemployment rate. Beware of polluted ground water as many rural wells are testing as being contaminated & undrinkable.

deb
in wi

[FrankTheTank]

I live JUST outside of LaCrosse (right next to the river). I would say land avg's around 2500/acre CURRENTLY. If interest rates start going up, i doubt land will keep going up. Sooner or later we'll probably start to see a drop in prices (somewhat). We paid 18000 for 62acres in the early 90's and could've bought land cheaper, but take a look @ interest rates back then! I would say its still a sellers market for hunting land, although it does seem house sales have slowed down SOMEWHAT locally. I would look maybe around the Viroqua area, maybe Sparta? Lots of Amish over that way. Could also check SE MN too.

On the way back from Madison one time i took a different route through Gays Mills. OMG that was a gorgeous area. WOW the apple trees were everywhere and the bluffs, streams (CLEAR and COld)> Trout fishing is excellent. Somewhere down in Grant county i believe there is a stream that actually comes gushing out of a side of the hill. Amazing! Jobs might be scarce? I know a few people who work @ Organic Valley down in that area.

[beorning]

A few years away? I'm not sure if any advice you get now will be of any help when you are ready & able to buy.

Agreed, to some extent. I ask now because we are doing this with other people and I'm attempting to research a rough area to suggest we look for land. We will all have to relocate and everyone will want to know of advantages, disadvantages , and most importantly cost.

The Madison housing market is so hot that housing developments are eating up the nearby farmland and the Madison "suburbs" stretching farther out.

I don't have any interest in living anywhere near Madison. My wife has ties here, but I'm hoping I can convince her of the benefit of relocating a good clip away from Madison proper. I'm hoping that surging housing prices will help us out considerably when we sell the house we own that is near Madison.

Thanks for the unemployment suggestion. I hadn't thought of it, and it makes sense.

And thanks for the links, VernaVox. Much appreciated.