Property prices

Land prices have always had its highs and lows. It will continue to do so. There is land to be had at a cheap price but it may not be where you want to live. If you want to live in a certain area you will have to pay the same price as the people living there. You can't blame some one else just because you want to live in an area that is very desireable to many other people.
There are many areas where the land is very cheap but there is usually a reason. If you are retired or have an income and do not have to work for a living there are places where land is very cheap. The main reason is no jobs.
Try looking in a few places where the population is low. Land is usually cheaper.

I'm with you pickapeppa - the boomers were born before 1960 in my book - out of college before reagonomics and all the horrid 1986 tax reform. They will have to sell, most are rich only on paper. They have little savings and way too many are planning on inheritance which isn't a plan at all. So I'm saving my money now and will make sure my kids are debt free coming out of college. Best to look for an area then get a local paper and get familiar with the area. Not all sell through realtors and find a place the greedy developers don't find desirable. We have time to sell out and get out. KS, yeah, cheap land, poor schools, poor roads, poor infrastructure. Land is cheap when more people are itching to leave than come. When the state (and others) join the 21st century, more might move there. But until then not an option for too many people.

Around here nobody likes realtors. they take a HUGE cut and raise the prices way above reality.

Good prices on on posters nailed to power poles, with phone numbers.

I have talked to dozens of real estate folks, and I drove around for 2 summers trying to find a place that I could afford.

It was not untill I finally started calling htose phone numbers that I began to see all these places for cheap.

I got 42+ acres for $38k, with county road access, power, phone, and river frontage, 13 months ago.

My in-laws got 105 acres!

cheap!

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FYI-

if you're not scared off of your search, I have our place listed on the Barter Board. It's a 15 acre horse farm in Central Texas, 7 stall barn, riding arena, 3/2 mobile home, 2 ponds, 15 minutes from town. Only $60,999.00 I'm beginning to think we're the last affordable property around!

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...'o shame on the mothers of mortals, who have not stopped to teach; of the sorrow that lies in dear, dumb eyes; the sorrow that has no speech... from -'Voice of the Voicless', Ella Wheeler Wilcox

'free and clear'-

I get so tired of ignorance. Your property is neither 'free nor clear'
I'm sure you have a warranty deed to your land, and not a allodial title. I'm also sure you pay property taxes on your land (probably increasing at a faster rate than your property income-on which you pay an additional tax), every structure you build on it, easements for roads and utilities, building, electrical and mechanical inspections, zoning laws, pollution laws, mandatory city sewer attachments... the list goes on... oh don't forget the inheritance tax when you give it to your kids. All of which is dependent on the current tax code and allowable deductions.

That 'free and clear' property is owned by the govt. and you have a warranty deed. What do you think backs all of the govt loans ? Your property has a 'public debt' attached to it whether you pay a mortgage or not. This is why we pay.

I get so tired of sweeping generalizations.[/QUOTE]

Rose, I would suggest that you and a handful in this country , are probably the 'exception'. You probably already know that. I should have used a statistic instead of using a tem like 'everyone'- It was implied to be 'trendy' - ie 'everyone has' an Ipod, don't you ? or.. 'everyone' uses gasoline. When in fact, everyone in existence may not in fact use gasoline. For that I am sorry.

an attempt to be a bit friendlier...
Best

Re: Inheritance taxes and all that cr*p...look good into Living Trusts.

Crazy money policies in this country. Very inflated prices because of very loose credit. Our whole economy is based on speculation and get rich quick policies. Those posting here telling you land prices will never go down probably own or are buying some very overpriced property and dont want to think about a collapse. Trouble is when collapse comes, generally the funny money the govt backs will collapse also. Around here you could buy land out in boonies for $1 per acre back in depression days. That $1 however was hard to come by and many let land go back to govt instead of paying taxes on it.

At this point I wouldnt be buying land to speculate, I think we are on track for big correction. However if you can find land that is affordable to you that you can live on, well not horrible thing IF you can get it paid for before big economic change. For me I dont care a lot whether my land is worth $1 per acre or $1M per acre. Its still the same land and can be traded for simular land. The big worry would be land taxes. Local govt has great interest in keeping land prices up since they are the beneficiaries of land taxes. Hyper inflation in land prices means hyper inflation of property taxes.

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"What would you do with a brain if you had one?" -Dorothy

"Well, then ignore what I have to say and go with what works for you." -Eliot Coleman

yep its going to get nothing but higher for a long while.

near me back about five years ago you could buy 40 acre tracts for about 25,000. a couple people bought three or for tracts for 25 and subdivided it and put a bunch of mcmansions on it and it went from dirt cheap pasture land to 30,000 and up 1/2 acre lots in a hurry. as a result now the land within ten miles of it more than quadrupled in price.

also when i bought my place on smith lake it was 35 grand for the land and home right now about 100 yards away across a small slew they are commanding and getting 100,000 plus for one to two acre lots that are so steep you about have to clime it on your hands and knees. as they sold each lot they put up a sign that said sold to"" and almost exclusively its all city folks from birmingham and huntsville. these idiots have been known to complain because fishing boats cast towards their boat docks etc. bunch of spoiled yuppies and their mcmansions.

in my area part of the state land used to be heavily wooded and cheap. i remember my dad and grandpa buying a nearby spot of land that was roughly 680 acres. they gave 500 an acre for it. all wooded with creeks etc. they sold it in 88 for 1200 an acre. a guy bought it cut the timber off and paid the loan off and out about 40,000 in his pocket and is selling it rather quickly minus the trees and a total mess in 5 acre or so lots at 3500 an acre.

We have been looking at land around the Lansing area for a couple years now, but we won't get serious until summer '06 because we'd like to have a good down payment.

How much would you say, in percent or dollars, a good down payment is?

We've found that unless the property is a narrow tract along the railroad tracks, prices are usually upwards of $3000/acre. We did find one 99 acre lot (wooded with a small creek... beautiful) that we just fell in love with at $100k, but the property came with so many rules as to what could be built and how you could decorate that it was just silly. Had to have a specific roof pitch, only white curtains facing the road, had to be at least 1500 sq ft with two stories, etc... ridiculous. Is that even legal?

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Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
Mark Twain

We are so anxious to get our hands on some good dirt (notice I didn't say cheap) to garden in and raise our own meat on that we'll probably pay whatever it takes to get a piece of property that suits us. We don't need a creek or already built structures, so hopefully that will take down the price. We do want woods we can use for firewood, shade, nature walks, and privacy - but that seems to raise the price a bit. The bare minimum we'd get is 5 acres, but it almost seems more wise to buy more (as in 100) because it gets cheaper per acre as you tack on more. What to do... what to do...

I know what you mean, pickapeppa, about out of control prices, but around here it seems more like there are only two reasons the prices skyrocket: either the land is being encroached upon by the city and undergoing subdivision, or folks who have more money/credit than they know what to do with it are buying up huge parcels of land and just sitting on it as an investment or for future use for retirement. Nothing you or I can do to stop it, though.

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Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
Mark Twain

Legal and actual are dependent on enforcement. Deed restrictions and covenants are placed on a property's title.Most have time restrictions and limits of enforcement. They can dictate development, appearance and such.

It's all a matter of enforcement. Most deveopers put them on their land to make it more attractive to buyers. Knowing joe next door won't put his rv in the driveway, or Suzie picks purple for her trim color.

In my limited experience, city restrictions seem to have more bite than a county resriction property. It's not like the police will show up. You will just get hauled to court. Normally in the burbs, there is a homeowners association that will sue you over violations to the subdivisions restrictions. If they win, you obey or pay up.

The developers in county seem to try the same thing. Ie. no trailers or horses permitted. After talking to zoning and planning in our area, they flat out told me they could care less about some title covenant and only the property's zoning laws are enforceable by zoning and planning law. Ie you can't put a car lot on a property zoned ag and such. This may be dependent on state law. Check your area. Talk to your local zoning and planning for the area you are looking.

Search the title of the property and find out who placed the restrictions. Find our of there is a homeowner's association. Then make a decision.

Also research water rights for some areas. You don't want 100 acres and the county say's you don't have rights to your own creek.

Also make sure the house you are buying is 'certified pre-owned' and not used. :]

I felt pretty much the same way about 40 years ago until I smartened up and joined the real world. We bought our place back in '77 for cheap for this area, scraped really hard to pay it off and guess what---unless forced to we will never be able to retire. My FIL retired a year ago at 89 years of age. That was because he was forced to not because he wanted to. It is only a minority who can retire and afford to live the way that you describe. Most are struggling along, doing without and doing the best that they can working with what life tosses to them. Many retired people are living the life of extreme poverty or have kids who are helping them out. You also don't mention the hordes of young people who are sitting on welfare sucking it dry. Welfare is a wonderful and much needed program, a very real lifesaver when needed---I know that there are many families who are on it legitimately and God Bless them. I would never deny a legitimate need or say/think anything bad about anyone in that position. It is the ones who refuse to work to help themselves or who were brought up on it and refuse to get off that I am talking about. Our DS is living with a woman whose kids make the 4th generation in her family to live off welfare. They are very creative in staying on it and know how to work the system. An ambulance call and---more time on welfare. I've seen it myself. One afternoon she and I were sitting and talking when an ambulance went by on the highway. I said "OOoo I hate to see that because that means someone is in trouble." She said "Yes, it is even worse when you are in it." Turns out she had called the ambulance the night before because she was constipated! In fact she has done that countless times just to "prove" that her health is bad when she is much healthier than I am and I work over 70 hours a week. I heard a conversation similar to this thread at the laundromat awhile ago. I had a bruise on my chest from my chin hitting it I was so shocked. 2 women in their 20's-30's were sitting talking about the high prices of homes. They were seriously talking about that there should be some kind of a law that forces older people out of their homes and into some elder care facility so younger people can have their houses! They thought it grossely unfair that older people without young kids had the nicest homes while many people their ages could not afford to raise their kids in nice houses in the country with land for them to play. I was 27 when we bought our place after years of scraping. I looked at their feet and saw $100 sneakers and their clothes were expensive too. Kinda tells you something.

I agree with Frugalville & Hermit John on the state of economy/fed money pumping issues. It will only get worse to the point of implosion. I'd buy that land now and try to pay it off ASAP, then make sure you can cover those ever increasing taxes. No time like the present. Prepare for the worst, hope & pray for the best.

Only people I find on the internet have the same views of the FRN's and ponzi debt situation we are in. At least some people see it.

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My oh My, what a nice day......

As much as humanly possible. It will eliminate alot of the interest. Most everything I have seen requires about 20 percent down. But like I said I would do the math sometimes an extra ten percent down will save you a ton on the long run with the interests.

Talk about "Sweeping generalizations"

LOL

Every structure I build does NOT automatically raise property taxes.

Easements do NOT automatically raise property taxes.

If your income is not raising then maybe you need to look at your income methods.


What??!!??

My new property is NOT subject to any "electrical and mechanical inspections" and I dont see how they would raise taxes.


What??!!??

pollution laws raise your taxes?

city sewer hook-up, does NOT raise taxes, your smoking crack dude.

IF your city hooks you up, then they usually begin metering that water flow and bill you for how much water you use. It is also common to use the water-flow metering to determine a seperate billing for sewer usage.

But many who are on city-water and sewer, still have their previously existing wells and leech-fields. So your only using the city's water and sewer IF you 'WANT' to. And even then your still not taxed on it.


No, no, God no.

do you really want to go there?

Inheritance tax is limited by the amount of the inheritance. If you proposed inheritance is under $150k, than your not getting taxed seperately on it.

No codes, no deductions, nada.

Codes and deductions only come into play, when your filing your personal income taxes. they only become important within the coneext of your personal tax-planning strategy.

Look IF you pay income taxes, it is your 'fault'. Your lack of proper tax-planning. Period.

Dont go blaming anyone else.

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Please consider this.

Yes you most certainly can put all your extra money into the down payment, but...

if you use the lowest down payment possible, and then wait. After closing, after doing any immediately needed tasks, you will always have other un-expected costs that arise.

then and only then after your cost-of-living stablizes again, use that 'extra' money and make a principle payment onto your mortgage. It will in the long-run have the same effect.

No forests, mountains or oceans in Kansas; and that's all that's holding us back. Schools are OK; have friends in CA that have sent their kids here to go to school with relatives due to drugs/crime there (Fresno, Bakersfield and Los Gatos). Want bad roads go to Oregon, Wyoming and Arkansas. Sure we got 'nadoes, but with climate change so does everybody else these days. And judging by the amount of folks emigrating here from Mexico due to generous state benefits and working their way into society successfully and small towns literally filling up with folks from Colorado, California and back east who can't afford to live there and fit in great here, I think we have a lot to offer. If you want cheap land, a state where homeschooling is supported vigorously, and are willing to work HARD to make a go of it, Kansas is for you. Now about our sunsets....

around here (n of seattle, wa) older folks who've finally managed to pay off the mortgage on their farms find themselves unable to pay the ever-increasing property taxes. i've run into 5 such situations in the last year - the soc security checks they've worked for do not cover the annual property taxes. then the developers show up with wads of money - some folks sell and make a profit - result: the neighbors' property value goes up (now the area is "desirable") as does the property tax (catch-22??). so that farm goes to the developer and on and on.
folks who can afford to stay find that now they can't sell their eggs, chickens, meat goats, pigs (government regulations addressing "health issues") so they lose that extra income. but they can no longer use the water from the creek that runs through their property to water the animals anyway (government protection of waterways). the inspector comes and tells them that for their protection, their house must be upgraded because the electrical system is old, the house is inadequately insulated and their septic is not up to snuff. and by the way, the water from the well they've been using does not pass inspection either so they have to dig another $20,000 well - MAYBE that water will be sufficiently healthy to please the bureaucrats. until they find potable water, the permit to live in their house is in abeyance (if the bureaucrat is "nice") and they can stay there. otherwise, their house is "condemned" for health reasons and if they continue to live there they will be fined. true horror story. what are we doing about this other than complain???

ET1 SS, I think you are living in the stone age. If you "want" to use your well and septic, tough. You are "required" to install, at your expense, water and sewer when it is available, and use it. Your well and septic will be condemned. Also, you build any buoilding, add city water and sewer, or just mow an unmowed area, that raises the market value of your property and the taxes go up. If you do nothing, and the neighbor does something on his land that makes your property more valuable, your taxes go up.
Get with the program. First, they raise the tax rate, then raise the property value, to make you pay more two ways, not just one.
As far as I know, all states require electrical inspections, and some areas even tax you on roof space because the run off from the rain cannot penetrate the ground on that square footage.
Then there is a hundred taxes in between.

I am in the process of helping my Mother sell off some of her property.

I visited it yesterday with a friend. This particular parcel is 50 acres of forested land in northern Wisconsin. Probably 40 acres of "high" land and 10 acres of wooded swampland. Some mature pine trees. Selectively logged 15 years ago. Surrounded by State of Wisconsin land on 2 sides (to the west, it drops into a wooded swamp for miles). Private land on 1 side and blacktop state highway on other side. Electrical service and telephone service runs along highway. Drill your own well. Usable road that enters the property and makes a big loop. Land currently in forest crop. Property taxes are currently $40/year.

I asked my friend what it was worth. He said $150,000. He explained that the property is highly sought after by deer hunters & sportsman, given its proximity to thousands of acres of State of Wis land.

Who will buy this property? Certainly not any locals. My father bought 40 acres of the parcel (it was at the time landlocked) for $500 back in 1959. In 1966, he purchased the remaining 10 acres for $252.50 which adjoined the property and gave him highway access. He had a road put in at that time.
2 different out of town deer hunting groups have already asked that they be given "dibbs" on the property before it is turned over to a realtor for listing.

I believe that a person must set a starting price of $170,000 on this property, so that it will actually bring in $150,000. My friend also told me that a bare bones hunting cabin (built for say $10,000) of perhaps 16 x 24' would add $20,000 to the value of the property.

The land prices ARE WHAT THEY ARE. Is this property worth $150,000? Perhaps, perhaps not. Who is to say someone won't buy it, chunk it into 10 acre parcels at $50,000 each, and walk away large?
Is this parcel a bargain? I hope not. It can only be sold once. I seek to help my mother create a nestegg that will sustain her for many years.