Is It Just Me on Property Values?

big rockpile · #1 08/07/10, 06:05 PM

I was looking at properties seems anything over 10 acres has really dropped in value but small Lots have went way up.

big rockpile

Nevada · #2 08/07/10, 06:09 PM

Not around here. Still falling in Vegas.

jross · #3 08/07/10, 06:13 PM

Here in the socialist state of New Jersey, property values have skyrocketed, and anything with open space ( land) value is seller determined. We have a 1250 sq ft home with 50 acres and can name our price, especially to a buyer who wants great deer hunting.

TxMex · #4 08/07/10, 06:23 PM

Oh let us hope you are correct! I am currently looking for real estate

This may be the first time ever that I have been shopping for real estate that the market wasn't experiencing an all time high.

big rockpile · #5 08/07/10, 06:31 PM

Well property that was going for $2000-$2500 an acre now is going for $1000-$1500 an acre.Small Lots that were going for $1000 are now going for $5000.Just from what I was looking at.

But been seeing alot of Farms selling then improvements made,next thing you know they are up for sale again.

big rockpile

johncotexas · #6 08/07/10, 07:05 PM

TxMex, Being in north TX myself, I am afraid to say that trend is not one we can share with br. Land here has, and I believe always has had a steady appreciating rate in value. I have been searching for over a year now and it seems that my savings rate is just barely rising faster than the price of land here. Hopefully that will allow me to buy sooner than later because the values will start climbing faster once and if the economy starts doing better.

Danaus29 · #7 08/07/10, 07:54 PM

I've seen ranch style houses 3 br 1 bath on small city lots going for anywhere between $45,000 (HUD repo) to $250,000 and up. Vacant land is funny, I can't find any property in the location I want for less than $10,000 an acre but land to our southwest and northeast can be had between $1500 and $5000 an acre. If I could find 10 acres for under $2000 an acre in the location I need I would be ready to sign papers! But only if livestock is allowed (no deed restrictions).

Buffy in Dallas · #8 08/07/10, 08:30 PM

Please bring those dropping prices down here. The only thing near Dallas thats under $2000. an acre is swamp land with no utilities on a dirt road.

RJMAcres · #9 08/08/10, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big rockpile

Well property that was going for $2000-$2500 an acre now is going for $1000-$1500 an acre.Small Lots that were going for $1000 are now going for $5000.Just from what I was looking at.

But been seeing alot of Farms selling then improvements made,next thing you know they are up for sale again.

big rockpile

Well Rockpile, I'm a bit further south of you in missouri and thats the basic
trend I've been seeing also here. Even with the big drop in values, land
isn't selling well. Went to an auction nearby a month or so ago and land
that should have went for 2K an acre went for 750 an acre and thats only
because the auction company bought it as an investment.

Mark Twain · #10 08/08/10, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big rockpile

I was looking at properties seems anything over 10 acres has really dropped in value but small Lots have went way up.

big rockpile

Rockpile & RJMAcres,
I don't know about trends but we bought 30 acres south of Ava for $1500 an acre last January. I thought it was pretty reasonable considering it had a creek & a spring plus it backed up to the National Forest. I think being an hour commute from Branson and/or Springfield kept it from selling for more.
The owner had to split up a larger farm and is still sitting on forty acres that he overvalued due to some minor improvements.

big rockpile · #11 08/08/10, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Twain

Rockpile & RJMAcres,
I don't know about trends but we bought 30 acres south of Ava for $1500 an acre last January. I thought it was pretty reasonable considering it had a creek & a spring plus it backed up to the National Forest. I think being an hour commute from Branson and/or Springfield kept it from selling for more.
The owner had to split up a larger farm and is still sitting on forty acres that he overvalued due to some minor improvements.

Well my place has Electric and Well,Several Buildings,Mostly Fenced,Year round spring,next to Large Conservation area,Old Order Mennonite community,close to Bennett Spring State Park,close to Pomme De Terre,Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Lakes.I would like to get $2K an acre but I'm afraid I'm too late to get that

big rockpile

ArmyDoc · #12 08/08/10, 08:17 AM

Part of the problem is financing. I have excellent credit - the bank actually told me if I were buying a house in town for twice the price and they'd be happy to finance it for me, but not a large acreage parcel.

As a result, land is in a weird topsy turvey market. Below 10 acres, it's very very expensive - more than 10k an acre. Above 10 acres, it goes down RAPIDLY - 100 acres is 5k and acre, but 200acres is ~2k an acre, and there is one piece that is 300 acres under that.

Course, the larger lots are further out from town, and that accounts for some of it.

As for us, we're switching lenders, putting more earnest money down to get the seller to extend closing for 60 days, and praying the new lender will give us a loan before the new closing date.

txquilter · #13 08/08/10, 10:24 AM

Fellow Texans, I am in agreement and can share your pain. I have not been able to find any land prices dropping in our state. If you're willing to relocate I have noticed that prices are a bit less out in East Texas and Northeast of the Greenville area. They also seem to be lower in pockets of the Hill Country (but not conveniently located to the major cities). I think one place I saw down there had incredible prices on land (Rocksprings, I think) but the acreage is a bit remote.

I continue to search for my ideal property here in my home state but know that I must sell my home in the DFW area and have enough cash to put down before I can relocate to my dream location.

Good luck in all your land searches!

silverbackMP · #14 08/08/10, 10:27 AM

Farm Credit Services = loans for rural acerages, housing, farms. Usually have to have a very basic business plan. As basic as As I'm going cash rent it out or rent it out on shares.

ArmyDoc · #15 08/08/10, 11:31 AM

Thanks silverbackMP - that's who I'm going to go with now, so I take your suggestion as confirmation of my decision. The people we went with first said they specialized in land loans, but it sure doesn't seem that way. I suspect they are more of a broker than a bank, am not sure.

ronbre · #16 08/08/10, 12:51 PM

falling like a rock in Michigan

Txrider · #17 08/08/10, 01:08 PM

It's falling in Central Texas where I just bought.

Smaller places like lots or under 5 acres are still demanding a good price, maybe 5-10% lower than 2 years ago.. Larger parcels are falling a bit more as the size goes up, just no buyers around.

But then land where I have been looking has more than doubled in the last 10-15 years. It was pushing 10k an acre a couple years ago, and that's what people are starting at for 10 acre tracts, I got mine for about 6500 an acre, cheapest I have seen for ten acres around there is about 5500.

I lucked out and picked up a place that the owner has never seen, inherited it a few years back, and the real estate agent is a woman used to selling residential properties and from the looks of it took pics from her car and didn't know what she was selling.

So for 6500 an acre I got 10 acres with a barn, electric, submersible well, septic and a bit more value neither the seller nor agent realized was on the property.

About 6-7 acres of good pasture, and about 3 acres of 100 year old oak woods.

I do know of some acreage for about 5-6000 an acre, several ten acre tracts being broken up out of a larger tract, I was considering buying two of them for about 115k that were mostly pasture that has been cleared for 40-50 years, now just starting to grow over. No improvements or fencing on them though. Less than an hour outside Austin.

Wayne02 · #18 08/08/10, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big rockpile

Well property that was going for $2000-$2500 an acre now is going for $1000-$1500 an acre.Small Lots that were going for $1000 are now going for $5000.Just from what I was looking at.

But been seeing alot of Farms selling then improvements made,next thing you know they are up for sale again.
big rockpile

Who is it that's buying these places to flip them, and then who is buying the improved properties? I thought employment in your area was grim?

ET1 SS · #19 08/08/10, 01:34 PM

Land prices here have not changed at all.

salmonslayer · #20 08/08/10, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Who is it that's buying these places to flip them, and then who is buying the improved properties? I thought employment in your area was grim?

I dont live too far from Rock Wayne and from what I see lots of baby boomers are retiring here from other states where they did well selling thier old homes (I am one of them) and they are looking for the 5 to 20 acre homestead. Most have a retirement income and they either dont have to work or they can get buy with a lower paying job. The larger parcels are having a hard time selling because of the amount of money being asked and the difficulty of financing (my county is zoned 100% agricultural which finance companies dont like).

Its a beautiful area, its centrally located, its cheap to live here, and there are few restrictions on what you can do on your own place so its attractive to the back to the land generation as they hit retirement age (just my theory).