Buying land

[twohands25]

Just wondering how many of you guys have purchased small tracks (less than 100 acres) and been happy with it. I'm moving to TN and deer leases seem to be pretty hard to come by. I'm looking in the counties that seem to be well thought of for deer (south- central part of the state) and trying to find a tract surrounded by other tracts. Would much rather lease, but want to make sure I have somewhere decent to hunt. Just looking for the upsides and downsides from guys who have been there with small tracts. Thanks for your time, Scott

 

[poorhunter]

If you're looking only for hunting/recreational land I'd look to lease. If you're wanting something to build a home on and keep in the family for generations then I'd buy. You won't have much control on the deer/turkey hunting unless you have way more than 100 acres.

 

[Grnwing]

I bought 45 acres and have been extremely pleased with it. I bought in SW TN and have had excellent deer hunting. I picked up the property to do habitat management and improve the old fields and maturing forest. It is a lot of work but I am seeing it pay off. You have your work cut out for you in selecting a property as it will be critical to know how your neighbors use/hunt their property. I spent 3 years looking for the right piece of land and feel that I have done a good job. I do not only hunt my property but spend most of my time on public land around the mid-south(ITN/AR/MS), but if I just have a time for a quick morning or evening hunt, it is nice to be able to have some place to go.

 

[Bone Collector]

I purchased 32 in Mid Tn. it is surrounded by several other small tracts, most of which are hunted. I admit when i bought it i was looking at the possible resale value at a later date as I have 1850 ft of road frontage on a pretty major highway.

The good news is so far my neighbors that do hunt don't hunt much, and don't kill every deer that walks by, so i am lucky there. It has been a lot of work, but I am seeing it pay off. I also got lucky on genetics. There are a lot of good bucks in the area and really a lot of deer period. Also got lucky in that there is a pretty good flock of turkeys that use my land.

That being said, like others have said, you can't just hunt 1 small tract of land all season, unless you are the type that hunts around 8-10 times a year. With that in mind you may want to purchase in an area that has WMAs close by, so you can utilize public and private lands, which is what i do.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

I buy and sell and buy and keep pretty frequently. I've got 5 tracts at the present time. I keep tracts in a certain area and sell others. I don't like having to ask for permission to do everything so it's worth it to me.


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[Realtree]

I'd love to own around 50 - 100 acres for hunting. Leasing is ok if you can secure it for several years.

 

[user 14220]

I been pretty happy with our 42 acres. It's almost a perfect rectangle and our house is right in the middle. At first I thought the plot was pretty big but now I would just consider it adequate. We can do anything we want without asking permission or worry about losing our privacy. We don't have a holes for neighbors so if we wound a deer I am sure we could retrieve it on their property.
Knowing what I know now I wouldn't consider any plot under 40 acres for hunting and building a house on. The shape of the plot is as important as the size of it.

 

[csi-tech]

I have a 96 acre parcel and a 300 acre parcel. The smaller property had two bachelor groups with larger deer (biggest was 140"). There are very few trees on the smaller farm and just a couple of old livestock ponds. The larger property has 250 acres of timber, tons of cover, lots of browse, sanctuary in spades, a 10 acre beaver pond, old logging roads and oaks up the wazoo. Biggest deer we saw all year was 120" 11 point. I have had plenty of luck on small parcels. It just has to be the "right" parcel. There is a 5 acre property here in the city. When I patrol at night it has consistently held monsters. It is the "right" 5 acres. A poacher got caught there dressed in black one year. He killed a 170 class deer. TWRA caught him. The rack was towering over the bed of his pickup at the jailhouse.

 

[FLTENNHUNTER1]

I love my property and walked a half dozen or so before I purchased it. It is surrounded by larger tracts and deer and turkey are abundant. It's almost 80 acres and I love it. I also bought it as an investment, future logging is an option if I ever get strapped for cash.

 

[darn2ten]

Fact is, the right 40 acres is better than the wrong 200 any day. Just like with any real estate, it's location, location, location! I looked at many over 100, but none of them quite suited me. I settled on a 70 acres piece and couldn't be happier. You got to look at the big picture. Like satellite imagery of the whole area around you. What and who boarders you is extremely important. I've got multiple farms I hunt, and everyone of them is bigger than mine. Though most are quality places I'd still rate mine the best. With smaller tracts you have to hunt smart and minimize your pressure. I live on mine, so the deer are use to everyday noises which helps. I hunt mine regularly from the beginning to the end of the season and have no trouble.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

There's nothing better than owning your own hunting property.you have somewhere to go whether you go or not.it's a great feeling

 

[tickweed]

I buy several a yr. I bought a 50 acre tract near jackson, and put in a pond, plots. Great deer and turkey. My heart is waterfowl however, and these tracts are much harder to come by. Lots more expensive as well. Good luck.

 

[rem270]

Been hunting on 81 acres since i was 9. In 2014 when i was 27 i was able to purchase it. Best thing i ever did. It's a great feeling knowing that no one can kick me off, lease out from under me or have control of what i can and can't do.

Am in the process of adding 6 more acres that borders it also. I am going to try and keep my finances available where i can keep buying around it if at all possible.

My land has never been farmed, well at least it hasn't since the 60's or so. So a farmer hasn't came in and cleared the woods out for an extra 2' of crops. That in return makes me have the most woods around and why i am able to hold them. I have CRP fields along with food plots and I manage it to my standards.

I will always suggest to buy land instead of lease. Been there done that on the lease thing and although I'm not 100% against it i would buy (if i could) before i leased.

 

[diamond hunter]

the way I see it is if I have a rifle and some land,I can feed my family,I can de-stress and hunker down if need be.

 

[twohands25]

Thanks for all the replies. We have decided to buy. Now have to decide where. Looking forward to the land shopping process.

 

[BULL MOOSE]

All this land talk during last couple of months has me itching to purchase some. I called farm credit got some figures and have done some drivebys but not walked the land or made any offers.

I know it is in my best interest to find a broker not listing the property? But, what about another realtor in same firm who does not have the listing?

What are approximate closing fees on a 50,000 piece of unimproved land?

 

[rem270]

All this land talk during last couple of months has me itching to purchase some. I called farm credit got some figures and have done some drivebys but not walked the land or made any offers.

I know it is in my best interest to find a broker not listing the property? But, what about another realtor in same firm who does not have the listing?

What are approximate closing fees on a 50,000 piece of unimproved land?

Closing costs are a lot cheaper when buying land then when buying a house. Mine was $90,000 and closing was something like $1500 i think. I'm in the middle of closing on 6 more and I'm looking at between $900-1200 for it.

Out of curiosity did farm credit quote you an interest rate yet? I'm considering looking through them to refinance mine once i get the other 6 acres closed.

 

[BULL MOOSE]

From farm credit in middle tn....
10 year loan:
We can finance 80%
You would put 20% plus closing costs into the deal
Approximate Interest rate: 4.6%

15 year loan:
Financing 75%
You put in 25% plus closing costs
Approximate interest rate: 4.8%

20 year loan:
Finance 70%
You put in 30% plus closing costs
Approximate interest rate: 5%

All of the % financing are based on the appraised value or the purchase price, whichever is less.

 

[rem270]

From farm credit in middle tn....
10 year loan:
We can finance 80%
You would put 20% plus closing costs into the deal
Approximate Interest rate: 4.6%

15 year loan:
Financing 75%
You put in 25% plus closing costs
Approximate interest rate: 4.8%

20 year loan:
Finance 70%
You put in 30% plus closing costs
Approximate interest rate: 5%

All of the % financing are based on the appraised value or the purchase price, whichever is less.

Thanks for the info! I am in that range with my bank so I don't see it being much better with me doing that. But if i ever buy more land I will look into the farm credit for sure.

 

[user 14220]

You can visit this site to determine previous selling prices:
http://tnmap.tn.gov/assessment/

Be aware of relators when looking for land. They often will charge around 10% to list and sell it. You can pretty much figure their fee's are part of the lands selling price.

 

[fairchaser]

I gave up on the idea of buying land to hunt on. When you consider the cost and the small amount I could afford, it's just not enough to hunt. Then there is taxes and insurance not to mention running off poachers all the time. But, you guys have me thinking about it again. I would love to hear any success stories about the investment aspect of buying small plots of land.

 

[BigSatt]

Be aware of relators when looking for land. They often will charge around 10% to list and sell it. You can pretty much figure their fee's are part of the lands selling price.

I'm a realtor and my broker charges 6% typically.

 

[user 14220]

Be aware of relators when looking for land. They often will charge around 10% to list and sell it. You can pretty much figure their fee's are part of the lands selling price.

I'm a realtor and my broker charges 6% typically.

Guess there are no standard fee's. We bought our property 2.5 years ago and the agent charged the seller 10%. I thought 6% was standard but the agent told me he charged more for land sales. Go figure.

 

[twohands25]

I saw another thread about deer numbers using a particular piece of property. I understand that is just about impossible to tell. But in general terms, do the south central counties have more deer or just more hunters. I have started looking for land and just want the potential to see a good number of deer when I go to the woods. How are deer numbers in the eastern part of the state? I'm going to live close to Manchester, and would like to find some land fairly close by. Thanks for any help, Scott

 

[rem270]

I gave up on the idea of buying land to hunt on. When you consider the cost and the small amount I could afford, it's just not enough to hunt. Then there is taxes and insurance not to mention running off poachers all the time. But, you guys have me thinking about it again. I would love to hear any success stories about the investment aspect of buying small plots of land.

My plan is to buy that one piece of property to buy and re-sell. I have done it on 2 houses but want to do it with land. The 87 acres i have now i could sell it and easily clear 6 figures in profit but it's one property i will absolutely never sell. Luckily i have enough equity in it that when i do find that property to do a quick turn on that i can use that to get my start.

As far as the investment aspect I didn't buy mine for an investment. I guess it's its own investment as land prices will do nothing but keep rising. But I'll never see the investment aspect unless i sell it. I don't have it farmed out and do not have it in the CRP program. I considered the CRP program but that 10 yr contract scares me some. I like being able to do what i want on it and not have to worry about breaching that contract in any way. No telling what i'll be doing to it in 10 yrs with it.

I know a guy who has made in the high 6 figures if not closer to a million in profit on buying and selling properties. He got his start in 1997 and hasn't stopped yet. I am one of his victims right now as I'm buying some from him .

The worse thing on us average Joe's is the farmers are paying $5-$7k per acre around here and makes it impossible to buy for an investment property to just hunt on. Not sure if that's the case in your area or not. Stick with it fairchaser you'll find the right one at the right price!

 

[landman]

You can still buy good hunting tracts below $2,000/acre and some at $1,000
Just depends on the Time and Location, 2 most important things effecting real estate prices

 

[Hunter 257W]

As for the investment aspect of buying farm land, the 94 acre farm beside mine was bought about 10 years ago for $890,000. It sold last year for $630,000. Don't think you can't lose with land. That unrealistic expectations that a "Bigger Fool" is going to keep coming along to pay an even higher price, is what knocked the whole country for a loop recently. I say buy it because you want it or be realistic about the investment potential.

It's hard to give advice to somebody else about whether or not they should buy land to hunt on. I don't think I could ever justify it myself. I'd want around 100 acres and that means you are going to realistically spend $200,000 or a lot more by the time all the smoke settles just for a hobby. Is this something just for yourself or can the whole family enjoy it? IF they can't can you truly justify spending that much on yourself? If my farm wasn't a farm where I am going to live and if it didn't join the farm where I grew up - also mine now - I'd never have been able to spend what I spent purely to deer hunt. Also mine makes money with row crops and hay unlike pure hunting land. Of course to be fair there, hunting land costs about half what I had to pay.

I suppose if you wanted to later recover your initial investment after buying hunting land, you could sell the property at some point in the future but to me that would be harder to do than to talk about. Think about it. You've hunted this place for 20 - 30 years and now you are going to just walk away and sell it to somebody else. Id have trouble with that. I guess what I'm saying is that to justify buying hunting land, I'd have to live on it too. That way it is a home you are paying for and the deer are merely an extra.

Another negative of hunting land that you don't live on is trespassers. They will pattern you when you don't live there and hunt it more than you do if you're not careful.

 

[AT Hiker]

I gave up on the idea of buying land to hunt on. When you consider the cost and the small amount I could afford, it's just not enough to hunt. Then there is taxes and insurance not to mention running off poachers all the time. But, you guys have me thinking about it again. I would love to hear any success stories about the investment aspect of buying small plots of land.

In my dream world I would purchase an affordable small tract of land/cabin that bordered an excellent piece of highly controlled public hunting ground(think a western state with year round recreation) I would then establish residency post retirement and have a most excellent and affordable place to finish out my days.


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[landman]

As for the investment aspect of buying farm land, the 94 acre farm beside mine was bought about 10 years ago for $890,000. It sold last year for $630,000. Don't think you can't lose with land. That unrealistic expectations that a "Bigger Fool" is going to keep coming along to pay an even higher price, is what knocked the whole country for a loop recently. I say buy it because you want it or be realistic about the investment potential.

It's hard to give advice to somebody else about whether or not they should buy land to hunt on. I don't think I could ever justify it myself. I'd want around 100 acres and that means you are going to realistically spend $200,000 or a lot more by the time all the smoke settles just for a hobby. Is this something just for yourself or can the whole family enjoy it? IF they can't can you truly justify spending that much on yourself? If my farm wasn't a farm where I am going to live and if it didn't join the farm where I grew up - also mine now - I'd never have been able to spend what I spent purely to deer hunt. Also mine makes money with row crops and hay unlike pure hunting land. Of course to be fair there, hunting land costs about half what I had to pay.

I suppose if you wanted to later recover your initial investment after buying hunting land, you could sell the property at some point in the future but to me that would be harder to do than to talk about. Think about it. You've hunted this place for 20 - 30 years and now you are going to just walk away and sell it to somebody else. Id have trouble with that. I guess what I'm saying is that to justify buying hunting land, I'd have to live on it too. That way it is a home you are paying for and the deer are merely an extra.

Another negative of hunting land that you don't live on is trespassers. They will pattern you when you don't live there and hunt it more than you do if you're not careful.

Just think theirs more to the story of the 90 acres, 10 yrs ago
farmland wasn't bringing $10,000 per acre for just land.
Sure land values can go down, has timber been cut, development stop,etc
That's why LOCATION and TIME is the most important factors in property values
NOT location,location,location

 

[user 14220]

It all depends on how you look at it if it is worth it. When we bought our 42 acres we wanted a place to build a house on and where we could hunt and shoot. All the land had to be useable, that is no really steep hills or extreme drop off's. We also did not want a parcel that had been recently timbered off. It took over 2 years after we bought it to build the house, workshop, and have all the utilities connected and buried and brought to the house.
The piece of mind knowing we can do what we want when we want is priceless. I wouldn't sell our lot for 3X what we paid for it.

I do not know anything about buying land for investment purposes but common sense will tell you if you get a decent deal on good property in time the value will increase simply because they cant make any more of it.