Buying land in another state and not moving for a long time

Quiver0f10 · #1 08/05/08, 04:13 PM

Has anyone purchased land in another state and not moved there for 3-5years? We are considering the possibility of moving back to Northern Maine. We want to pay off our debt and then save to buy some land. Unless my DH found a resonable replacement job up there ( making close to what he does now), we were thinking of maybe staying here and socking away some $ and then moving once we have enough to build.

If we could build for cash or near cash and had no other debt, we could afford to move there and live on a lot less, but we need his current income to work this plan.

What do you think? Is there any negatives to leaving the land empty while we are here?

seedspreader · #2 08/05/08, 04:28 PM

I am sure there will be plenty of people who have done this... in my opinion it's an open bag though, really depending on the people where you own the property as to what happens at the property.

Definitely a lot of negatives involved. I'll wait for others to share their experience.

65284 · #3 08/05/08, 05:07 PM

Kinda depends. Are you taking about raw land, or land with a house and possibly outbuildings, or agricultural land?

Ag land without improvements, which might be rented to a farmer and provide some income, would be less of a headache than having a house sitting empty, which might be uninsurable, or the aggravation of long distance renters.

Quiver0f10 · #4 08/05/08, 05:48 PM

Raw land, we wouldn't build until we moved up there.

EasyDay · #5 08/05/08, 06:03 PM

Is it fenced? Is there someone around that might want to rent it from you as pasture? It would need to have somewhat decent grass and live water.

We bought 80 acres and didn't move onto it for 5 years. 50 was woods, so no care really necessary. The other 30 was in pasture. Our adjoining neighbor wanted more to run his cattle on, so we allowed him to run them on ours in trade for him bush hogging twice a year and keeping the fences in good condition.

Had it been someone else, we could have rented it for additional income, but it was a piece of his family's homeplace, so we didn't charge him rent. He'd been caring for it prior to the sale anyway.

Quiver0f10 · #6 08/05/08, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EasyDay

Is it fenced? Is there someone around that might want to rent it from you as pasture? It would need to have somewhat decent grass and live water.

We bought 80 acres and didn't move onto it for 5 years. 50 was woods, so no care really necessary. The other 30 was in pasture. Our adjoining neighbor wanted more to run his cattle on, so we allowed him to run them on ours in trade for him bush hogging twice a year and keeping the fences in good condition.

Had it been someone else, we could have rented it for additional income, but it was a piece of his family's homeplace, so we didn't charge him rent. He'd been caring for it prior to the sale anyway.

I doubt the land would be fenced and we don't have a piece we are serious about yet as we have to pay off our debt first, but there are a few I found online that we would definitely be interested in if the timing was right! For now this is just something we are thinking about and for all we know we might end up staying in AR/MO. We do have friends in N ME who could look after the property if we do buy.

minnikin1 · #7 08/05/08, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quiver0f10

any negatives to leaving the land empty while we are here?

Every time you visit and have to leave it, it will drive you nuts.
Good luck going five years without dreaming up a way to move sooner.

Quiver0f10 · #8 08/06/08, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by minnikin1

Every time you visit and have to leave it, it will drive you nuts.
Good luck going five years without dreaming up a way to move sooner.

LOL I am already driving myself nuts looking at realtor sites. I wish we were able to do something now.

Tricky Grama · #9 08/06/08, 09:34 AM

We have land-20 ac-60 miles from us. Not anything like you're thinking of doing. We can at least go check on ours in an hour. We have a locked shed w/all mowers, etc in it but no structure for the tractor & bush hog. Our neighbors watch out for us & the area is not known for vandals, thievery, etc.
Don't know how I'd deal w/it if it was 2K miles away tho!

Patty

wy_white_wolf · #10 08/06/08, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by minnikin1

Every time you visit and have to leave it, it will drive you nuts.
Good luck going five years without dreaming up a way to move sooner.

Sadly, too true. Our little ranch is 310 miles away. DW always breaks into tears every time we have to come back. Close enough that we can make weekend trips, but too far to daily commute. Owned it since 2001.

Problem is hauling everything back and forth all the time. We are in the process of building a cabin. Makes for long trips if we haul materials all the way from home. Lose a 1/2 a day of work if I buy them up there. At the kind of distance your talking about I don't see how you could do anything with it until you decide to move.

There also comes in the problem of security. If you leave anything there it may not be around when you return. Thieves always seem to know who's home and how's gone. We also had a scare with a fire a couple of years ago with a fire. Thought about making a quick trip up there to secure what we could. Wouldn't have mattered as area was closed off before we could have made it.

Unless your friends live right next to the place your buy they can't keep that much of an eye on it.

big rockpile · #11 08/06/08, 10:45 AM

There is lots of land like this around here.Most that ever happens is neighbors use it for hunting or burn it off.But there is a place by me a Guy was clearing to build a House.I knew he didn't own it and told him.He told me to buzz off.Well i got ahold of the woman that owned it.She got ahold of the Sheriff and we went over there got it straighten out.

big rockpile

Ravenlost · #12 08/06/08, 11:38 AM

We were living in TX when we bought our place here in MS...96 acres of former pasture with about six acres of woods on it. We weren't able to move to MS for a year after we bought it and rented a house in town for 2 years before we were able to get our house built. Those were two miserable years!

Fortunately, there was no road up into our property so it kept most folks out, although I'm sure there were hunters on it (we found a deer stand in the woods). During the two years it took to get our house built we spent every weekend it wasn't raining out here on the place. We'd pack a lunch and the tools we needed and spend our time clearing out around the pond in the front yard. Those were special days that we remember fondly.

It can be done, but like minnikin1 said, it will drive you nuts!

Cande · #13 08/06/08, 12:32 PM

Well we’ve just done what you’re talking about doing. This spring we purchased 108 just north of Gate City, VA and we are still living in MS. We are spending our vacation time going there and doing what we can. Yeah, our plan was to be there in about 5 years…..well I could leave tomorrow if I could…….but I can’t. But I bet we’ll make it there a lot quicker than 5 years or at least I hope.

We want to build and not owe anyone too….. But it does give you reason to get moving on what needs to be taken care of here now so you can do more there. We are needing to have some trees cleared for a new cabin and want to “timber” that area and sell the trees and need help finding out some good “ideas” on how to…..some of this is all new to us, but that’s another thread I’ll start for help.

We were lucky with finding ours…..there are only two neighbors on the road (it dead ends into our property) and we met them first before we made our decision to buy. We knew we’d need good neighbors since we wouldn’t be staying there full time and they turned out to be the GREATEST! We’ve only left a few things there. We carry our tools back and forth. It does have a cabin already on it, but it was built back in 1854 I think…..we’ve gotten it “modern” enough that we can stay there, of course we’ve had to put our plumbing outside for now which will be tough come winter time when we get back up there but that will be ok too…. I guess we’re gonna average going about every three months or so………..

We’re going to need lots of information help………..thank goodness I found this site the first of this year…….so many GREAT helpful and true people on here.

You know if you listen hard enough, you’re only sent where you need to be. Thanks for the help you all have already given.

QuiverOf10 I sure wish you luck in your search………sometimes it seemed like I wanted to give up in my search and when I was just about to give it all up, there it was, just what I had been looking for in the right price range.......

Quiver0f10 · #14 08/06/08, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cande

QuiverOf10 I sure wish you luck in your search………sometimes it seemed like I wanted to give up in my search and when I was just about to give it all up, there it was, just what I had been looking for in the right price range.......

Thanks, we are praying and hoping things work out for us too. For now we dream and work at saving.

Thanks everyone!

GoatsRus · #15 08/06/08, 01:47 PM

We bought vacant land twice in a different state. No problems but as stated, it was vacant. I agree with all the others that you'll have a hard time leaving it every time you go up there to check on it. We did end up moving sooner than we planned and we're loving every minute of it.

MushCreek · #16 08/06/08, 03:23 PM

Our land is 600 miles away in SC. I only get one week vacation where I work (and that's after 5 years) so we don't get there very often. We have about 2 years to wait still, and it is driving me nuts. I just finished the house design- now all I have to do is find the money! We HAD plenty of equity in our current home to build with until real estate collapsed. Time will tell if we ever get to build there. It's all woods, so I don't worry about it too much. I'd like to buy an RV or trailer and park it there so we could camp during our visits, but I'm worried about theft or vandalism. On the plus side, it has already increased in value a bit in the 1-1/2 years we've owned it, so it was a smart investment. But I don't want an investment- I want a homestead!

Quint · #17 08/07/08, 02:20 AM

unless you lease it to a local you'll most likely have every tom dick and harry running all over it treating it like public property. That's just the way it is being an absentee landowner. If you find a good renter to farm it and lease the hunting rights then you have some sort of an ability to keep control of who is allowed on it.

When i was away from the homestead during my teens and 20s this place was overrun with trespassers and such. Having a local guy I trusted helped but I still had problems.

Shagbarkmtcatle · #18 08/07/08, 12:58 PM

We have one farm 3-1/4 hours away and another one that is 2-1/4 hours. We get there almost every week-end but usually only once a month to the further away one. That one is for sale but so far it hasn't sold yet.
There was no fence on the closer one, so we put that up right after we built a small cabin on it, last year. We had some trouble at first with neighbors using the property as a cut-through but not so much with the fence up and cattle running on it. You never know if there is a agressive bull hanging around and it's best not too take too many chances!!
The further away one was totally fenced and now we only use it for summer pasture. We vet check the cattle there 1-2 times a month and haul them to the closer to home farm for the winter period.
AS to when we will move, well, we've had the first farm since 2003 and we bought the second one a year and a half ago. We're waiting for God to let us know if and when we will move. So far, not yet. But I am getting ansy!!

Quiver0f10 · #19 08/07/08, 06:42 PM

Depending on the type of land we would be able to rent it to a farmer. Now sure it i's wooded though. Hopefully, when the time comes, we will be able to move when we buy rather than waiting to move there or wherever we decide to move.

Elizabeth · #20 08/07/08, 07:00 PM

Contrary to what others have said, I would not buy land out of state like that.
Unless you have a firm timetable and a handle on your finances and know when you would be moving.

I would work towards getting all of the debt paid off first, then start saving $$$ towards the purchase of property. I would invest my savings until I had enough $$$ to buy the property and build a home. If you buy the property first, you will likely "waste" $$$ trying to run up there to check on it, or visit, or whatever- that $$$ could be better saved towards your ultimate goal. Also, if you do buy the land, at the very least you will have to pay property taxes- not sure how much that runs in Northern Maine. And, you will very likely have at least some maintenance/upkeep to do while the property is vacant.

If you buy cleared land, you will probably want to keep it cleared, and that can be expensive, especially if you live a long ways away. On the other hand, if you buy wooded acreage, there may be a risk of someone coming in during your absence and stealing your timber. I know, people do it, but to me it would not be worth the risk- not when you could invest your $$ and have it earn interest which you could then apply towards your eventual property.