Is there such a thing as owning too much land

I own 100 acres, personally that's enough for me. It keeps the neighbours away and gives me enough room for trails and walking through my woods etc. Chris

I'm under the opinion that you can't own too much adjoining land. Our farm has 128 acres on it, and when 12 acres of adjoining woodland came up, I bought it.

Adjoining that land and some of my original land, a 200+ acre tract went up for sale without my knowledge. It was owned by a coal company based out of Kentucky, and I had even wrote a letter to the president about 8 years ago that if it ever went up for sale, I would like to be notified. While the land isn't much - mostly trees with some steep hills (it was coal mined years ago with tunnels underneath it), I still would have like to have had it. 2 men went together and bought all 200+ acres for around $75,000.00 - somewhere around $375.00 / acre. Not a bad deal. Now I see that gas wells are being drilled on that property, so I'm guessing in about 5 - 10 years they will have their money back, still own the land, and continue getting gas royalties.

BUY IT!!!!!

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Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania

"Everything happens for a reason."

An old man said he didn't want all the land in the world just what joined his.

Land ownership is only as much work as you want to make it out to be. If you can afford it, and the yearly taxes, however much you want to do or not do with it is entirely up to you. Management of property is relevant only from one's personal perspective. Nobody else's opinion matters. If I had the money, I'd buy up as much bare land as I could, and probably not do a stinking thing with it, but I'd be happy it was mine.

Provided that the price is right - e.g., not a local bubble - then buy as much as you can. The price of land goes up except for those odd bubbles that burst in speculation areas. Bonds, stocks, etc are all just paper. Land can support you in good times and bad. That is where I put my money. If I had more money I would buy more land. I will.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

It depends on the taxes and any potential costs that are not immediately evident. The property should , at least, be able to "support itself".

just my 2 pesos worth,
Bruce (who has dealt with various types of real estate over a period of 40 years.)

I would have 200 acres in a NY minute, or 400, or 4000.

To me, this represents privacy. However, it depends on what assets the land has, or can carry. Personally, I wouldn't want 4000 acres without water. 200 acres of trees isn't a bad idea, but 200 acres of swampland has limitations. If your purpose is to just own it, and can afford the taxes, whyever not? "Managing" land can be as complex or as simple as you chose-depends on your efforts and what you hope to accomplish with it-if anything. Some people are perfectly happy to just pay the taxes and say "I own it"

I went from living on a corner lot to a five acre parcel and rest assured, that piddly little five acres is NOT enough, lol!

I believe the late Will Rogers said it best.

"Buy land. They ain't makin' any more of it."

Pony!

I would buy it...in a hearbeat. Now I dont know what I would be doing with it all but Im sure I would figure it out!

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Be the kind of woman that, when your feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"

Tammy

my DREAM (like if money was no object) would be to own about 100-120 acres, and build a small community of neighboring homes where the family would live (our parents are getting older). I can even envision it in my head

Right now, we are looking at purchasing about 40-70 acres ideally. To start out, we will mostly be farming/ranching the land, but I'd also like to set aside at least 2 acres for this little dream of mine to one day come to fruition

We owned 20 acres in MI and when we decided to move to MO we knew we had to have more land....now own 120 acres....about 30 cultivated and the rest woods; some wild and barely accessible. And our taxes are 1/4th those of MI. If any adjoining land ever becomes available we'll buy it up,too. We love our privacy. DEE

In a heartbeat! Unless it was in a hot southern state, or desert land...But I'm a Yankee at heart, so take my advice with a grain of salt...

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"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ~ Gandhi

"A mind once stretched by imagination, never regains its former dimensions." ~ Anonymous

I own 120 and would like to add a couple 0's to that!

Truth is why not have as much as you can without it being a burden?

yes and you can never have to much land
and while you stated its not farm land trust me when I say this.......You can farm anywhere. It doesnt have to be farm land to farm on it.
You would be suprised where and what you can farm if you only try.

ABSOLUTELY!

I would cash rent/lease any of the land we couldn't utilize efficiently on our own. We have plenty of young farmers in this area, looking for land to put crops/cattle on..

I would love to have several hundred acres if I could...Preferably mixed open and wooded.

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Stephanie

They say you are what you eat. Nuts must be more common in diets than we thought.

Being a confirmed "city slicker", I have a concern about owning woodland. Here in Arizona we are constantly under the risk of forest fires in the dry summers. Crews are sent in to clear the underbrush in the national forests in order to reduce the fire risk, although it seems every year we still have fires. I've heard of this kind of thing being done in other places as well, but don't know if it's as big of a concern in areas where rainfall is abundant and the underbrush doesn't die.

I probably wouldn't buy it if I were 55 and thinking about retirement in a few years. You've got to be thinking about retirement income. Let's say this land costs you $100,000. If you don't buy it, you'll have $100,000 in the bank or stock market (assuming you can pay cash -- if you can't this is even worse financially), and you could be earning $400 to $600 a month. This monthly income can be used to pay for your retirement expenses, like food, fuel, health care, etc. Now you might think, this land is going to really appreciate, and we'll make a bundle if we sell it. Two things, land appreciates, but historically not as much as you might think. Second, if you're going to live on this land in retirment, are you really going to be able to sell it? The only cash crop this land how now is timber, and that probably won't generate that much income. Sounds like nice property on the lake, but it's a luxury.

Does any one else think that owning too much land is kinda greedy? I would define too much as being more than what it takes to support a family. Which could vary from 1000 acres plus out west to maybe 5-10 acres here in the east. When people snap up land left and right, it drives the price, making it harder for young folks like me to get into farming. After a while, I am sure some that would have made great famers/stewards of the land give up and just go for the suburban life because it is easier to get started in. Sure, unused land is probably better for the wildlife, but I'm just playing the devil's advocate for a moment...

Yes I do think it is greedy.

For the most part, I think the majority of the answers given on this thread were written with little thought given to the implications of their desires. In my opinion, I feel it is irresponsible to think you can buy 100's or 1000's of acres without planning on the management of that land. I suspect the majority of the responders do not have the experience of owning more than 50 acres, and therefore can not imagine the responsibility of their wishes. It is quite easy for them to say, sure I would like to own x number of acres, without having an understanding of what that entails. I loved the comment..

"Now I dont know what I would be doing with it all but Im sure I would figure it out!"