Original Post:

"My desire to invest lies in the management of timber, expanded land use and future building opportunities for myself and my (future) family."


Excellent discussion for this topic. I appreciate the thought you are putting into it. Revisit my original post. My #1 reason for investing is probably is the timber on the land. It has overgrown hemlock, which the landowner believes to be "junk". It was logged for the valuable cherry trees 8 years ago, but they will be coming on and gaining plenty of value.
The landowner / neighbor hasn't given me a sale price yet, but when he does, he is just going to give me a $ per acre figure. He isn't even going to factor in the difference between forest land and fields. May help me or it may hurt the price.

**I accidently hit the edit button instead of reply, thats how i screwed up my own post**

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rickjames629,

quote:

What pitfalls are there in land acquisition?

Property taxes and emminent domain.

Uh, they don't make it anymore?

Advantages: Your own personal firing range. They ain't making any more land,(Charlie beat me to that one ) but they are making guns every day. Land usually only appreciates in value.
If you are going to build in the near future, the purchase should be contingent on the land passing a perk test.
Around here (Madison, that is) is generally $4000-$6000 per acre if you're lucky.

The pitfalls are tying up your capital resources, your "opportunity cost," in a dubious investment. But if as you suggest, there's merchantable timber or the prospect of same, or firewood, or ?tc. from the woods, and if you can produce some income from the field (perhaps without actually farming it yourself) such as leasing it for grazing, sharecropping --there's almost everywhere a market for hay --- or maybe Xmas trees, a relatively low-maintenance crop, then you can hardly go wrong if the land can generate enough income to cover the taxes and debt service. Otherwise, it may be just a pleasurable self indulgence.

quote:

Originally posted by sparky9:
Around here (Madison, that is) is generally $4000-$6000 per acre if you're lucky.

I've been quoted $2500 to $4000 per acre by the land owner, depending on which parcel i'm interested in. I fear that if I don't act soon, I'll be looking at $4-6000 / acre.

rj629

Land can be a great investment if gone into wisely. I don't want all the land in the world, just what joins me. You can do your own research. Go to the tax assessors office (some are available online) and find recent sales in the area. Talk to realtors, look at other listings of similar size and utility. Check on requirements if you want to develop, subdivide, and zoning restrictions and/or covenants. Soil types and limitations, utilities available and cost, schools, highest and best use. Location is key to value. While being adjacent might be a great value to you, it may have little value to others. Study and try to be objective. Just a few things to consider.

Good Luck!
S&W ucla

Land has been to the top.

If it don't pay me rent, dividends or royalties - it ain't an investment.

To a rural Southerner, land ownership is second in importance only to the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ. You may think I'm kidding, but I'm not. When I started to school in the middle fifties I wore overalls and flannel shirts to school. When I wore shoes, they were either US Keds or Sears-Roebuck brogans. I knew with a certainty, though, that I was the social equal of the sons and daughters of bankers and merchants because my Daddy owned 115 acres of the richest land in the county. The town kids knew it, too.

I bought 18.35 acres adjoining my wife's 50 acre farm two years ago. I paid $2000 per acre. It is a beautiful piece of land, almost a perfect rectangle, with a couple of gentle slopes. It is about 10 acres planted pines and the rest a nice open field. It is located about 90 miles South of the Capitol Building in Atlanta. I got it cheap because it is land-locked, and the seller didn't want the other adjoining landowner to have it.

It is very expensive to keep land up and to pay the taxes on it. I have a big problem with several non-native invasive species. (Kudzu, Chinaberry, and Japanese Privet) If I didn't have a farm to keep up, though, I would be lost. I just can't imagine not owning a farm.

My brother and I still own the farm we grew up on, too.

A food-plot picture and a bird hunting picture from the 18 acres:

quote:

Originally posted by HOUSTON RICK:
If it don't pay me rent, dividends or royalties - it ain't an investment.

Raw land is comparably a very poor investment.

Now, if you're talking about recreational land for which you need no appreciable return, then that's different.

But in order for it to be a good "investment," it has to be in a place where people will want to live. A "demand" is what constitutes a good investment. Rural areas typically don't fit that description.

quote:

Originally posted by tomhenry:


Raw land is comparably a very poor investment.


But in order for it to be a good "investment," it has to be in a place where people will want to live.

Some pretty good answers so far. I like them.

First, the point made above about it being next to your present property is well taken. Thats its main and probably only value to you. That feature has little or no value to others. The only reason (and a good one) you want to own it is to deprive others of having it. You're paying a premium to keep them away. Having a subdivision of lousy neighbors next to you can seriously damage your enjoyment of the present property. Thats presumably why you're willing to pay the premium to buy it.

Its not an investment in the sense we normally view it. You need to sell it to realize any profit. If there's road access, you might be able to keep a strip that adjoins you and at some future point sell off some of it. That depends, of course, on how the property is configured.

If you've got the money lying about and need to spend it, thats a whole lot different from taking out a loan to buy non-productive property. So what it comes down to are your present financial circumstances and how self indulgent you are.

quote:

rickjames629 wrote:I am from Western PA. 1.5 hour car drive to closest real city.

You must drive slowly and I mean really slow!

That said what seems like a good idea at the time may be the best decision you ever made or it could turn into drudgery. I own land more than what I would have owned if I’d have remained in Pennsylvania. This is where I’m going to live for the remainder of my life. What the land gives me is a certain amount of privacy.

The down side is location adjacent to a recreational area. It gives the property a certain amount of value. As the “city” water lines inch ever closer the rural environment transcends to urban sprawl.

Rural land ownership is more of a way of living much more so than an investment for monetary gain.

Can't speak for Pennsylvania, but I was faced with the same decision a few years ago when 55 acres of vacant farm land came up for auction on the south and east sides of my 10 acres. It was either buy it or let a couple of local speculators fill it full of cheap houses and house trailers. I had to bid a little more than the going rate for the time frame, but the land has more than quadrupled in value over the last 15 years, so I can't say it was a bad investment. Even if there had been no value increase, I built a nice 100 yard shooting range, I have the isolation I want, my granddaughter loves to play at the small creek branch that runs through it, and although I no longer hunt, it's about half wooded and half open fields and there's a nice variety of game up to and including white tail deer.
In Ohio, the land qualifies for the farm tax breaks plus the homestead exemption for us old folks, and total taxes are only 66 bucks per year additional to my original home and 10 acres.

Here in Texas, no county or city can make a law to prevent you from shooting on your own property if you have at least 50+ acres. If you have at least 10 acres, they can't stop you from shooting a shotgun.

The Mrs.& I have 51+ acres in E. TX. Hardwoods on one side, planted pine on the other. A spring fed creek starts on the property and meanders through it.

The only building code or inspections that's required is the septic/drain field. Other than that you're on your own. If you want to use cardboard for your roof, go ahead. You're the one that's going to get wet. Taxes are about $700 a year.

As to your original question, to us, it's an investment in tranquility.

Here's a third of the of the rifle range.