Question about buying land

[onrytxn]

I have a question of those of you who have either already purchased land or have your homestead setup. If you had it to do over again, would you prefer to purchase land with a well and septic tank already on it, or buy land and put those in yourself?

Thanks!

Kathy

[MO_cows]

We looked at vacant land and land with homes and infrastructure both before we bought this place. Looking back I am very glad we bought an existing house.

Fast forward to today, it makes even more sense because there are still a lot of foreclosures coming to market and real estate is "on sale". You can buy a lot more house than you can afford to build, generally, in today's market. A property near here, with an older "added on to a few times" house, on either 5 or 10 acres, was listed for $30k. Good land, the soil is very good here. It sold fast, no wonder. So if I had to do it all over again, I would be bargain hunting and take advantage of the money spent and work done in the past at today's lower prices.

[FarmboyBill]

At my age, 66, id rather they already be there, but not having either isn't the worst thing. The worst thing for me, is not having a barn or at least 5 acres plowable - garden - pasture.

Next worst thing is not having a house that will pass bank OK.

[logbuilder]

When I bought my land over 10 years ago, it was bare land but the owner had installed underground electric to a transformer because he planned on having a big welding rig eventually. He also had a well put in. It had the pump installed but it had never been connected to power. He had financial reasons he had to sell.

I got the property at basically the value of the land. Those two additions were another $15k that I didn't have to spend. Septic I put in myself.

Once I hooked up the well, it worked fine.

[Micheal]

Eons ago when I bought this place it was all bare land.
The advantage of bare land is that you can decide where you put the well and septic. Whereas if'n they are already there you are limited to that spot.

In turn, in this day and age the cost of installation can be prohibitive and having them already there is one less hassle (maybe dealing with codes/zoning) that you need deal with.

But, me, again I'd go for the bare land.....

[ChristieAcres]

Just a couple of months ago, we bought a property, and started over. Our biggest priority were the trees, since DH is building a log home, and wanted to utilize trees off of the property we would buy. Then, our 2nd priority, was a good well and excellent quality water (no filtering or chemical treatments at all needed). The 3rd priority was more loosely hoped for, not a make or break one - currently approved septic system.

While there were quite a few acreage properties, some bigger like we would have liked, there was only one that fit all of our criteria - the one we bought!

So, instead of taking months to start the process, having a good well, septic, and power, allowed us to focus on accelerating our building plans. Instead of dumping $15,000 - $20,000 for a well, septic, and power? We were able to buy a motorhome, our first 40' shipping container (we will buy a 2nd next month), and DH moved (11) of our fruit trees (of those, 9 are mature fruit bearing ones). He has ran electricity into the carport, also wired up the storage room, installed six outlets, insulated that ceiling, and will frame up one wall in the shipping container.

I am in my 10th year of working as a Realtor and I can tell you, Buyer's remorse is much more common for those purchasing properties without existing wells. Every time I work with a Buyer looking for vacant land, I always strongly advise they purchase property with at least an existing well. Otherwise, there is no guarantee a new well will sufficiently produce nor the water be good. When the well driller put in (5) wells on adjoining parcels, only ours had sufficient gpm and water that was pure. The well on the property next door, barely produces enough water for their domestic needs!

[MushCreek]

My only problem with existing wells and septic would be determining their condition. A well could be tested fairly easily, but I don't know about testing a septic system. An old septic system might not meet today's codes, and maybe for good reason. The rules have certainly gotten tougher. We had a septic permit for our property, and we just got it in before the 5 year expiration date. The installer said that our brand new system wouldn't meet the latest codes, but we were grandfathered in. I sized the system for a 4 bedroom house, so I think it will be adequate for two old people.

[simi-steading]

I have and will only buy with them in place.. you can go broke having them added later.. no telling how deep you will have to drill, or no telling if bedrock is in the way of your septic.. If they are in place, someone else has already dealt with the headache.. plus all the permits and stuff involved isn't your worry.

I did have one place that had a septic, but a new one had to be put in it's place.. I did all the work myself, and it saved me a ton of money, but it still wasn't a walk in the park dealing with the county and their permits and inspections.

[wy_white_wolf]

Since the septic needs to be sized to the house I would need proof that an existing septic is large enough for the structure I plan on building.

I would also need a copy of the drillers report on the well. That should tell you the depth drilled, static water level, and gallons per minute production. With an existing well you at least know what is available. Without the well you could end up paying for a dry hole.

WWW

[ET1 SS]

I bought bare land in 2005.

We have learned a lot of lessons in the process. I would do it again.

[simi-steading]

Originally Posted by wy_white_wolf

Since the septic needs to be sized to the house I would need proof that an existing septic is large enough for the structure I plan on building.

I would also need a copy of the drillers report on the well. That should tell you the depth drilled, static water level, and gallons per minute production. With an existing well you at least know what is available. Without the well you could end up paying for a dry hole.

WWW

Many places you'll never get a drillers report, unless the well was recently put in... Both places I've bought the wells were drilled probably before I was born 50 years ago..

If you want to know how deep a well and the water is, all you need is some string with a weight on the end...

[ET1 SS]

The cap on our well casing has the: casing depth, static water level, and projected gpm, all stamped on the underside.

There was never any printed or written 'report'.

[Wolf mom]

I've bought both ways.

When you buy with septic and well already installed, you have a more limited choice of where you are going to put your house. Your septic also has to be sized to the number of bedrooms in your house, so there's another limitation.
If your well has a submersible pump you may have a smaller HP one than what you would have chosen given the amount of land.

Depending upon the type of septic and well would determine the costs. That would be assist me with my final decision. Having them already there was a lot less costly than having to come up with a large chunk of change to have them installed, although I really like the idea of placing them where I want.

[ChristieAcres]

We paid for a Well CO to come out, test the well, and also run a battery of tests on the water. There is no way, I would go off of an old well driller report (we were given that, too). Why? Wells change over time, can be become contaminated, also...

Septics? That is an easy one. A Septic CO is paid to inspect and pump the septic, if necessary. Here, he is required to submit the Septic Report to the County. The Seller paid for that to be done on our property, before listing it. It is approved for current use!

Choices are great, but the topography of our property and the natural springs also dictate where a home can possibly be built. The well and septic were installed exactly where they should be. We still have multiple home sites to choose from.

Last time I checked, you can still do a lot with $15,000 to $20,000... Since we also found a property with the right trees for our home, that is saving us a bundle, too. The purchase price was extremely reasonable, considering how much we are saving.

Neither DH nor I are the gambling types... We are both conservative with our money.

[Xplorer]

Originally Posted by wy_white_wolf

Since the septic needs to be sized to the house I would need proof that an existing septic is large enough for the structure I plan on building.

I would also need a copy of the drillers report on the well. That should tell you the depth drilled, static water level, and gallons per minute production. With an existing well you at least know what is available. Without the well you could end up paying for a dry hole.

WWW

on our well, all the info was written on the underside of the cap on the well itself. Take a look to see if it's listed on the lid on any property that you would be interested in.

[ET1 SS]

Originally Posted by lorichristie

We paid for a Well CO to come out, test the well, and also run a battery of tests on the water. There is no way, I would go off of an old well driller report (we were given that, too). Why? Wells change over time, can be become contaminated, also...

I had to hire a well company to come out and inspect our well. The original well driller did not properly install a 'pitlass adapter', so 4 years later it failed, and had to go through a process to get the right part installed, the well had to be sterilized and the water was tested afterwards.

It is a good idea of get your water tested.

... Septics? That is an easy one. A Septic CO is paid to inspect and pump the septic, if necessary. Here, he is required to submit the Septic Report to the County.

That sounds about right, for PNW.

We lived in Bremerton for 5 years, and while there we shopped for a retirement homestead, on the Olympic Penn. But we never found the right place, and taxes seemed high.

Septic pumpers here are not required to submit anything to the county. They just do their job.

A good septic system should last 40-years without needing to be pumped.

... Choices are great, but the topography of our property and the natural springs also dictate where a home can possibly be built. The well and septic were installed exactly where they should be. We still have multiple home sites to choose from.

Sounds Great

... Last time I checked, you can still do a lot with $15,000 to $20,000... Since we also found a property with the right trees for our home, that is saving us a bundle, too. The purchase price was extremely reasonable, considering how much we are saving.

Neither DH nor I are the gambling types... We are both conservative with our money.

For $20,000 how many acres are we discussing?

We bought two adjoining parcels here. One is 42+ acres with 1/4 mile of river frontage that was listed for $35k. The other is 105+ acres for $35k. Both are dense forest. Taxes on 150 acres is roughly $157.50

It is smart to around.

[rambler]

In my state a good well is much cheaper to buy as existing on the property than to dig your own. So you save a lot of money, but you are limiting yourself on location and such a bit.

Electrical service is another big one, some areas you get a pretty cheap install, other locations installing an electrical and phone setup is a bank breakers. Again, buying an existing place with a meter installed is going to be much cheaper than starting with bare.

Septic used to be similar, but the past 20 years my state and especially my county has made this a non issue, they change the septic rules every 2 years so as to require anyone doing anything to have to put in a new septic for $10-20,000 just because they can. I belive this issue is going to become more serious in coming years to more areas of the country, as EPA and NRCS and other fedral agencies become more agressive on the septic issue. If you can buy a good working setup that you are allowed to continue using, it will be much cheaper than building a new one to whatever the code is this year on new setups.

In summery, a place with a good well, an existing electrical hook up, and a septic if your state isn't nuts, will be much cheaper than trying to put those in yourself. Add on a driveway as a bonus too, gravel and dirt work isn't free either any more.....

Paul

[big rockpile]

Around here if you have 3+ acres you can have a Lagoon, Well and Pump is going to cost you at least $10K.

We have found most of the time with price of land you can buy property with Septic and Well cheaper than buying without.

big rockpile

[tarbe]

Originally Posted by simi-steading

.. plus all the permits and stuff involved isn't your worry.

Permits? What's a permit?

[ChristieAcres]

Originally Posted by rambler

In summery, a place with a good well, an existing electrical hook up, and a septic if your state isn't nuts, will be much cheaper than trying to put those in yourself. Add on a driveway as a bonus too, gravel and dirt work isn't free either any more.....

Paul

We got everything in your paragraph, when we bought our property