17 acres is 5100.00 an acre too much.

[killingtime 41]

I've had text from some unknown phone number wanting to know if I'd sell. What it is are big investment groups trying to gobble it up to build on. Or to buy and sell if it go's even higher in price. I told them I wouldn't sell them an outhouse. If I was desperate for money I would think about it. But the way I see it is. If I have my land anything can happen and I can put a camper on it to live if things get to bad. If I sell anything well then I got money but everything else is insane on prices. So can't see how I'd make out. Prices are higher than the local economy can bare. And most home and land values are based off that principle. So in the future go figure if your investment will have you owing more than it's worth or actually having an asset. That's the hard part.

 

[BSK]

Were can I find some of this land? I'm willing to drive the 6.5 hrs from my end of the state for a cheap hunting land.

Two tracts near me sat for over a year without selling. Both were large tracts (800-1,000 acres). One didn't sell even at $800/acre. The other sat for over a year at $1,700/acre. I don't know what it finally sold for. My cousins' property (270 acres) sat for 6 months at $1,700/acre. I posted it on here and the only responses were, "It should be listed at $4,000/acre." Well, it wouldn't and didn't sell for $1,700/acre.

 

[DeerCamp]

I am look for my own little piece of land to put my Camper and hunt. I will have to put septic and water in. Going to head out and look at it it's in East Tn. I guess in the end it's up too me.

All depends on where it is.

We are closing on a 40 acre property tomorrow that we paid 2,800 and acre for. It is fully wooded and has a decent amount of mature timber.

 

[BSK]

There's 2,200 acres for sale, that stretches from Highway 70 near Waverly all the way to the Duck River, at $1,100/acre, and it has sat for 6 months without selling.

 

[DeerCamp]

Two tracts near me sat for over a year without selling. Both were large tracts (800-1,000 acres). One didn't sell even at $800/acre. The other sat for over a year at $1,700/acre. I don't know what it finally sold for. My cousins' property (270 acres) sat for 6 months at $1,700/acre. I posted it on here and the only responses were, "It should be listed at $4,000/acre." Well, it wouldn't and didn't sell for $1,700/acre.

I think the issue there is just the total amount of land! Thats a million dollar investment. Not something most people can swing.

If it was 40 acres at $800 or $1700 an acre, it probably would have been gone in days.

 

[BSK]

If it was 40 acres at $800 or $1700 an acre, it probably would have been gone in days.

Probably true.

But I keep hearing about all this big money buyers buying up land. Not in my area.

 

[DeerCamp]

I've had text from some unknown phone number wanting to know if I'd sell. What it is are big investment groups trying to gobble it up to build on. Or to buy and sell if it go's even higher in price. I told them I wouldn't sell them an outhouse. If I was desperate for money I would think about it. But the way I see it is. If I have my land anything can happen and I can put a camper on it to live if things get to bad. If I sell anything well then I got money but everything else is insane on prices. So can't see how I'd make out. Prices are higher than the local economy can bare. And most home and land values are based off that principle. So in the future go figure if your investment will have you owing more than it's worth or actually having an asset. That's the hard part.

While I was researching different properties for us to buy, I noticed this trend.

Several of the properties we looked at hold sold within the last year and then were relisted. In every one of those cases it was an investment group out of Chicago or Nashville that bought it simply to flip it.

 

[ImThere]

Two tracts near me sat for over a year without selling. Both were large tracts (800-1,000 acres). One didn't sell even at $800/acre. The other sat for over a year at $1,700/acre. I don't know what it finally sold for. My cousins' property (270 acres) sat for 6 months at $1,700/acre. I posted it on here and the only responses were, "It should be listed at $4,000/acre." Well, it wouldn't and didn't sell for $1,700/acre.

270 x 1700= $459,000 that's a hard sell for a lot of people. I bet if he split that in 1/3rds or 1/4ths and raised the price it would sell. (Depending on proximity to big city)

 

[Chapman]

A friend of mine was looking to buy some forest land in Louisiana for a tax exchange on property he had sold. He said that land without a deeded right of way was a lot cheaper per acre. He really wanted a deeded right of way and was able to find a property before his time ran out to do the exchange.

 

[ImThere]

I think the issue there is just the total amount of land! Thats a million dollar investment. Not something most people can swing.

If it was 40 acres at $800 or $1700 an acre, it probably would have been gone in days.

this is true. Larger tract sell less per acre than smaller tracts.

 

[ImThere]

A friend of mine was looking to buy some forest land in Louisiana for a tax exchange on property he had sold. He said that land without a deeded right of way was a lot cheaper per acre. He really wanted a deeded right of way and was able to find a property before his time ran out to do the exchange.

Have to be careful with that. There's a lot of landlocked properties. pain in the butt

 

[Ski]

I think the issue there is just the total amount of land! Thats a million dollar investment. Not something most people can swing.

If it was 40 acres at $800 or $1700 an acre, it probably would have been gone in days.

That's exactly it. 50 acres at $1700/acre is $85K, and when you factor in even a modest interest rate you're looking at over $100K by the time it's paid for. Mortgage on $100K depending on interest could be anything from $600-$1000/mo. With sacrificing some other luxuries and tightening the budget, that is a plausible sell for some hunters who earn upper middle class income. Not worth the sacrifice for most. But to multiply it by five by listing 270acres you're looking at a monthly nut that surpasses a lot of hunters' income. Only the wealthy can afford recreational property like that.

I was recently looking at 180 acres in a big buck area of a big buck state, listed for $2K/acre. I was very, very seriously considering pulling the trigger on it but I can't bring myself to adding upwards of $1500/mo debt to my monthly budget. The stress would outweigh the enjoyment. I'd never live there nor would I even visit it more than a few times per year. How many deer would I have to kill and how big would they have to be to justify the cost? Owning the land is the cheap part. It'll need a cabin, electric, sewer system, and running water. Then I'll need to start working the habitat & managing the ground. Otherwise what's the point in owning it in the first place? I'm not going to spend nearly $400K just so my name can be on the deed of a property I rarely step foot on. For somebody else that might be a drop in the bucket. For me it sure isn't. But even in that area that produces numerous booners annually, that property was on market for 6mo last time I looked. It still might be. Right now bigger property isn't moving very fast anywhere.

 

[megalomaniac]

That's exactly it. 50 acres at $1700/acre is $85K, and when you factor in even a modest interest rate you're looking at over $100K by the time it's paid for. Mortgage on $100K depending on interest could be anything from $600-$1000/mo. With sacrificing some other luxuries and tightening the budget, that is a plausible sell for some hunters who earn upper middle class income. Not worth the sacrifice for most. But to multiply it by five by listing 270acres you're looking at a monthly nut that surpasses a lot of hunters' income. Only the wealthy can afford recreational property like that.

I was recently looking at 180 acres in a big buck area of a big buck state, listed for $2K/acre. I was very, very seriously considering pulling the trigger on it but I can't bring myself to adding upwards of $1500/mo debt to my monthly budget. The stress would outweigh the enjoyment. I'd never live there nor would I even visit it more than a few times per year. How many deer would I have to kill and how big would they have to be to justify the cost? Owning the land is the cheap part. It'll need a cabin, electric, sewer system, and running water. Then I'll need to start working the habitat & managing the ground. Otherwise what's the point in owning it in the first place? I'm not going to spend nearly $400K just so my name can be on the deed of a property I rarely step foot on. For somebody else that might be a drop in the bucket. For me it sure isn't. But even in that area that produces numerous booners annually, that property was on market for 6mo last time I looked. It still might be. Right now bigger property isn't moving very fast anywhere.

Gotta service the debt... cut timber to offset, parcel out and sell a portion, etc.

but yes... buying land and financing is tough unless it has future development potential and the real possibility of subdividing in the moderate future (5 to 10y)

Strictly for hunting, much better off taking that $250,000... get 5% return, and spend half of that on a hunting lease or paid hunt elsewhere.

 

[ImThere]

I don't think of land as an asset. It don't make you any money unless you lease it out? Then you don't get to use it as you intended. It cost you money from the day you buy it until the day you sell it.
If I owned land far away like that I'd likely lease it out to make money off the land.

 

[Ski]

Gotta service the debt... cut timber to offset, parcel out and sell a portion, etc.

but yes... buying land and financing is tough unless it has future development potential and the real possibility of subdividing in the moderate future (5 to 10y)

Strictly for hunting, much better off taking that $250,000... get 5% return, and spend half of that on a hunting lease or paid hunt elsewhere.

That's precisely where I landed. It had been timbered before being listed, plus it's in a quasi remote area that is impoverished, hence the low listing price. Nobody's going to develop it. There's no timber left to harvest until the remote future. And I'm not interested in subdividing it. To me (and likely most prospective buyers) the value is in having a semi-large hunting tract. I assume that's why it never sold even at a fairly low price per acre. Not all properties are created equal. Sometimes the most logical buy is to not buy at all.

 

[BSK]

Gotta service the debt... cut timber to offset, parcel out and sell a portion, etc.

Biggest problem I see in my area is timber companies buying a big chunk of property, making payments for just a year while logging the entire property, and then sub-dividing and flipping the property (that now has very little timber value) to hunters for almost what they paid for the property (and sometimes more). The hunters are able to afford the smaller chunks of land, but they now have land that has no offset value from selling timber.

 

[Falconi]

I wouldn't count on prices dropping without some kind of financial crisis that forces people to dump unnecessary mortgages. That will happen at some point but I sure wouldn't count on it happening in the near future. If there's land you want right now and can afford right now, then there's no better time than right now to buy it.

Middle Tennessee doesn't seem to be affected much by the interest rates and recession concerns. My house in Vegas is down $100k from the peak in June (15%). My Columbia property is up during that same time period.

 

[BSK]

Middle Tennessee doesn't seem to be affected much by the interest rates and recession concerns. My house in Vegas is down $100k from the peak in June (15%). My Columbia property is up during that same time period.

In suburban Nashville, home values have plummeted. My house is down 25% from the peak early last summer. My father's home in the same area just sold for 27% below what it was valued at during the peak.

 

[Falconi]

In suburban Nashville, home values have plummeted. My house is down 25% from the peak early last summer. My father's home in the same area just sold for 27% below what it was valued at during the peak.

Wow!

 

[Falconi]

In suburban Nashville, home values have plummeted. My house is down 25% from the peak early last summer. My father's home in the same area just sold for 27% below what it was valued at during the peak.

I checked a house in Murfreesboro I had looked at in June. It sold for $700k (it was listed for $730k). Looks like it's now about $640k. That tracks with what you're saying. Things seem to be moving south in the Nashville area so perhaps Maury county is maintaining value relative to the suburbs. Dunno.