Some more land advice please

Lt. Wombat · #1 09/02/04, 05:25 PM

We have narrowed the relocation of our medical practice to the below states. PLEASE offer your opinions and advice on them, especially regarding taxes and land ownership BUT super especially area to avoid like the plague.

We will never live in a city again but would like to keep the commute into a city under an hour due to one of us always being on call.

Missouri:

Arkansas:

Oklahoma:

Alabama:

Mississippi:

Texas: Even with all my education I am having trouble understanding the "ag exempt" statutes of Texas.

1) What must a person have/not have or do/not do; in order for property to be “ag exempt”?
2)Just how much of a tax break is ag exempt land?

Thanks, Kevin and Sandy

**Terri** · #2 09/02/04, 05:28 PM

I have been to Columbia, Missouri a few times and I enjoyed it.

Columbia IS growing rapidly, however. You may need to keep that in mind.

DayBird · #3 09/02/04, 05:36 PM

Come to Alabama. I need a good doctor.

fordy · #4 09/02/04, 06:02 PM

.....................For rural land (in Texas), if you own atleast 10 acres I believe your land will be taxed on it's ag status which amounts to about .02 \per acre. Nothing , in essence. OTOH , if NOT ag. status you will pay dearly just as most of us do that have small tracts (<10 acres) . If you buy <10 acres the local tax authority will ...Automatically...TRY...to , ineffect ....change the status of your land to the normal NONag tax status . They may also try to charge "Roll Back" taxes wherein they ...Retroactively ....go back 5 years and figure the taxes at the NON ag rate. If, this happens, the Previous Landowner is the one who Should PAY.....as THEY were the one who enjoyed the AG status tax rate which amounts to nothing .
..................The ag status situation applies to sales tax....ANYthing that you buy that is related to agricultural activity is TAX FREE . License plates for Ag trailers will cost you $6.30 ayear .
..................If, you buy land in Texas, you need to be very diligent in monitoring the Particulars of the realestate transaction as the sellers agent will NOT act in your best interest , so you may want to engage a "Buyers Agent" for your side of the Transaction......fordy....

SteveD(TX) · #5 09/02/04, 06:10 PM

In Texas, you have to apply for an agricultural exemption in the county where the land is located. The land must be used for ag purposes, and there are no breaks on houses or structures. In theory, the appraised value represents the capitalized value of the ag related income that is capable of achieving. For instance, for cattle grazing, if you can run one cow per 5 acres, and the net income from one cow over a typical one year period is $300, and the ag cap rate is 15%, the value is $300 divided by .15 or $2000 for the 5 acres. You are taxed on the $2000 value, even though the true "market value" might be $5,000 per acre or $25,000.

Cyngbaeld · #6 09/02/04, 06:10 PM

You really don't want to live in the OK panhandle. PHEWWWW!!! Pig farms and no apparent regs to keep em clean. I've been told there is a pig farm right close to me here but never smell it. Person doing the telling said the town insisted that it be kept clean or it goes. Air here is good. Water is good. People are kind and friendly. Seen some fantastic bargains real estate wise. Taxes don't seem too bad. Can't really tell you much about the weather because everyone says this summer hasn't been typical at all. Been awfully nice tho. There is a hospital here and my neice says they could use some good docs. I've not been over there for anything. Utilities seem reasonable. Good DSL service and I have unlimited long distance domestic for 20 a month.

Lt. Wombat · #7 09/02/04, 06:33 PM

Fordy and Steve: Now you see what I mean. I have randomly called 4 counties in TX with the exact same question and received 4 very unique answers. What happened to good ol’ B&W? We would probably be looking at purchasing between 100 and 300 acres for our (her) sideline business/hobby with the goat dairy. With those amounts a few dollars or cents makes a big difference.

Cyngbaeld: Wife is a little freaked by the tornado issues with the OK/TX border areas. I keep telling her that if there are old historic places standing then the stories can’t all be true.

Daybird: How are taxes in AL? We saw a nice 880 acres ranch on United Country website but it didn’t list the taxes and the agent hasn’t written me back.

Terri: We had some folks move in about 4 miles up the road from MO, I guess it’s time to stop by and shake hands with them and ask about MO.

fordy · #8 09/02/04, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lt. Wombat

Fordy and Steve: Now you see what I mean. I have randomly called 4 counties in TX with the exact same question and received 4 very unique answers. What happened to good ol’ B&W? We would probably be looking at purchasing between 100 and 300 acres for our (her) sideline business/hobby with the goat dairy. With those amounts a few dollars or cents makes a big difference.

Cyngbaeld: Wife is a little freaked by the tornado issues with the OK/TX border areas. I keep telling her that if there are old historic places standing then the stories can’t all be true.

Daybird: How are taxes in AL? We saw a nice 880 acres ranch on United Country website but it didn’t list the taxes and the agent hasn’t written me back.

Terri: We had some folks move in about 4 miles up the road from MO, I guess it’s time to stop by and shake hands with them and ask about MO.

..................My , info is obviously dated . I would defer to Steve in this area of taxes as HE is a Professional and is obviously up to date .
..................I will make this observation.........if you draw a Line North\South thru Abilene , Tx humidity\annual rainfall will be increasing EAST of Abilene and Decreasing WEST of Abilene . Most of the Topography around Midland\Odessa is rather featureless and Flat . They say you can SEE the Big Enmena(sp) tube spiriling up into the Sky from the Midland\Odessa area but it must be Awfully thin cause I never saw it personally . There is a difference in the Attitude of folks in west texas versus the people in central and eastern texas in my opinion . West texas people are not quite as "urbane" as those from the east . West Texas has more old time "Beer Joints" where you know automatically to pick a corner table by the emergency exit in case the Beer bottles start "flying" . Hell , a good fight is more entertainment than the local red neck band usually . And, any west texan knows that Tornado's can't outrun a good Pickup . You just have to stay sober enough to beable to drive to escape.......fordy....

Ravenlost · #9 09/02/04, 07:41 PM

We just moved to MS from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area two years ago. The taxes on our 96 acres run under $500 a year. Next year we'll get to file for Homestead Exemption. And we just found out that our property has allotments for cotton and we are eligible to receive several thousand dollars a year as long as we don't grow fruit/vegetables on the acreage allotted to cotton. I'll know more (and understand it better) when we go back to talk to the Farm Service Agency people.

We're 30 miles from Memphis where hubby works. Property values were terrific here, it's very pretty and the temps in the summer are much lower than they were in TX (although the humidity is much higher).

charles · #10 09/02/04, 08:49 PM

Northern MS about 80 miles from Memphis. Hilly, mostly forested land with small valleys. Counties are the taxing entities once you are outside of city limits and city school districts. Agricultural land is reduced tax rate. Forested land is cheapest arable land is a little more. I pay $200 per year on 80 acres for county and school taxes. I get my monies worth in road and bridge repair.

There is sales tax about on everything including food but not medicine, 7 to 9 percent is typical. No tax on ag commodities like feritlizer and feed. Reduced tax on farm equipment and reduced tax on farm tags.

Insurance got high and hard to get for doctors because of the precious tort lawyers. Recently though, the State put caps on jury awards, I think.

Are you a GP or do you specialize?

Stand_Watie · #11 09/02/04, 09:01 PM

Texas agricultural exemption requires that you have had your land used for agricultural purposes for the last 5 out of the last 7 years. If you are taking land that hasn't been claimed as an agricultural exemption for the last few years, you will have to wait five, and then will be at the mercy of the county appraisal review board. Talk to the neighbors of any land you are considering to find out how merciful or merciless they are, unless you have the money for a lawyer to fight having your property assessed at residential rather than agricultural rates.

Lt. Wombat · #12 09/02/04, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charles

Northern MS about 80 miles from Memphis. Hilly, mostly forested land with small valleys. Counties are the taxing entities once you are outside of city limits and city school districts. Agricultural land is reduced tax rate. Forested land is cheapest arable land is a little more. I pay $200 per year on 80 acres for county and school taxes. I get my monies worth in road and bridge repair.

There is sales tax about on everything including food but not medicine, 7 to 9 percent is typical. No tax on ag commodities like feritlizer and feed. Reduced tax on farm equipment and reduced tax on farm tags.

Insurance got high and hard to get for doctors because of the precious tort lawyers. Recently though, the State put caps on jury awards, I think.

Are you a GP or do you specialize?

We just returned from a scouting mission to MS. It is the favorite on my list just because they stood up to the trial lawyers. If more states do the same you just might see a lowering in healthcare costs, but I doubt it as it will take decades just to re-coop the losses for forced care given to illegals.

To answer your question I am an Orthopedic Surgeon specializing in knee and hip disorders, my wife is a Nurse Practitioner and works as my assistant and office manager. Because of this we both have to carry high dollar malpractice insurance.

The area of MS I fell in love with was Lumberton and Hattiesburg … the very rural part that is.

Ozarks_1 · #13 09/03/04, 06:39 AM

There are a lot of folks from this board here in the Yellville, Arkansas area.

There are hospitals in Mountain Home (to the east) and Harrison (to the west) about 25-30 miles away. The Mountain Home area consistently rates as one of the Top Ten retirement areas.
http://www.baxterregional.org is the site for Baxter Regional Medical Center (in Mountain Home).

FWIW - Quite a few folks in this area raise goats. There is even a small goat milk processing plant in Yellville. (My aunt is the secretary for the local goat association.)

Ravenlost · #14 09/03/04, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lt. Wombat

We just returned from a scouting mission to MS. It is the favorite on my list just because they stood up to the trial lawyers. If more states do the same you just might see a lowering in healthcare costs, but I doubt it as it will take decades just to re-coop the losses for forced care given to illegals.

To answer your question I am an Orthopedic Surgeon specializing in knee and hip disorders, my wife is a Nurse Practitioner and works as my assistant and office manager. Because of this we both have to carry high dollar malpractice insurance.

The area of MS I fell in love with was Lumberton and Hattiesburg … the very rural part that is.

You need to come north and check out our part of Mississippi! Much nicer up here and slightly less hot and humid in the summer! I live in Tate County and it is very rural with easy access to Memphis (Hwy 78 and I-55). And you would fit right in at the Campbell Clinic where I just had my CT surgery. They have clinics in the Germantown area of Memphis and in Southaven, MS which is only 23 miles from Tate County.