Land Purchase Questions

[Bone Collector]

I live near Nashville (originally from Clarksville area) and have thought for a while about buying a property for hunting and hanging out with my kids. Obviously it ain't happening anywhere near where I live, which brings up some questions I'd like to hear your opinions on:

1) how long have you found you're actually willing to drive to a hunting property regularly? I have a couple friends with family farms about 2 1/2 hours away, and neither of them get up there as often as they hoped.

2) what's the smallest acreage (let's assume hardwoods) you'd be comfortable buying purely as a hunting property? I know that a lot depends on what's around it, and that this question has been batted around before, but hey.

3) for anyone who has bought recently away from home, are you happy with the choice? Any advice or thoughts?

Unless I get hit by a very rich man's car some time soon, I'd be looking at relatively small acreage at least a couple hours from my house. I waffle between the belief that rural land is at a premium that will make its way down, or that if I don't start planning now it'll only get worse.

Mods feel free to move this to the general forum if that's where it belongs.

look on Real tracs or other sites that list land lots. I see some decent priced land in Montgomery county, but the cheapest I can find is in Cannon County. I found one tract listed at $3,777/acre. It was 89 acres for 339,000.

There were smaller tracts for $150K my search was for 25-100 acres.

 

[deerhunter10]

I am fortunate to own a farm I live on. It's 50 acres. I drive to a lease that is 45 minutes away that if all goes right I will own in the next 2 years it's 450 acres. I've hunted it my entire life it's always been a place I wanted. I would be hard for me to drive 2 hours 1 way regularly without a camper or someway to stay on the property. With that said I encourage every single person if they can somewhat make it work buy land it is not only a great investment but it is crazy rewarding. It's a nice comfort knowing it's yours and Noone can sell it or do anything crazy with it. Minimum I would say the right 20 acres would do depends on what you are wanting exactly to do with it. Buy as much as you can. My home place has went up to a stupid amount in the last 5 years it's mind blowing.

 

[Ski]

Without really understanding all the details of your unique situation it's impossible to offer advice. But I will say owning land is very, very rewarding and most generally worth the money spent. Worst case scenario is you realize it's not for you, so sell it and almost certainly make a return. I bought mine for $1100/acre and my dad thought I was crazy for spending that kind of money. Not only has it since exponentially gained value but it now also has a cabin, small barn, and a shed. I could sell it today for many multiples of what I paid, but it's not even a consideration because I love that place. We were there over Thanksgiving and I drove my 17yr old son around on the SxS to check trail cams before heading back home. Standing up on the high point knob looking forever in every direction, seeing the wonderment in him was worth every penny. I have zero doubts he'll have his children up there as well and they'll be just as awed. Hopefully I'm alive to be with them.

I say buy what you can and expand as you can, or even sell out to buy bigger/better if opportunity arises. Land value doesn't drop. It sits stagnant for stretches but doesn't drop. If you wait for it to get cheaper you'll never buy because it won't happen. Never has. However, good deals do pop up here & there so you never know.

 

[Boll Weevil]

^This. Land value doesn't drop…buy as much as you can comfortably afford. Also think long term when considering distance to drive. At some point I'm done with the daily grind and be on the farm as much as I wish. Driving whether 30min or 3hrs is temporary in the grand scheme of things (at least for me).

 

[7mm08]

Just remember IF the government wants YOUR land they can take it . It sucks , but it's true.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

I saw land value fall off a cliff locally after 2008. It's happened several times before that as well. Early 90's was another big drop here. Land that had sold for 10k an acre prior to 08 was back down to 1k. Yeah it's back up now but crashes absolutely happen.

 

[BigCityBubba]

If you set up a site with a cabin or some kind of shelter where you can stay the whole weekend, driving a few hours isn't that big of a deal. Go up Friday night and come home on Sunday afternoon shouldn't be an issue. On a side note, the nicer the site, the more time you will spend there. As for the amount of acreage, that depends on the location and what the surrounding properties are like. If you bought 5 acres of hardwoods that is surrounded by soybean and corn fields, you could kill allot of deer off of that 5 acres. That being said, buy as much as you can afford and buy as soon as you can afford it.

 

[DoubleRidge]

If you wait for it to get cheaper you'll never buy because it won't happen. Never has. However, good deals do pop up here & there so you never know.

Bill Winke has a series of episodes on YouTube about this very topic....he tells the story about how he started with a 40acre purchase using a truck as collateral....ending up many years later with around 1,000 acres....but he explains step by step things to consider. Hes obviously in a different region than we are...which can bring different opportunities...but its still an interesting series with things to consider....and he sold his "dream farm" recently to move and be closer to aging family...so hes starting over with dream farm 2.0 and one of the young guys who works for him is also trying to buy his first piece of property so they are discussing that as well....may not all be applicable...but some interesting information for prospective land buyers to consider.....but he said the same thing...if your waiting on land to get cheaper...it will never happen.

 

[WilcoKen]

If you buy some land you intend to hunt on pay VERY close attention to the neighbors. Especially if neighoring property is rental. I bought my place to live and hunt on 15 years ago. Its a great place and has gone up in value tremendously. BUT...neighbors to my right are horrible when it comes to messing up the deer hunting. They are pretty junky too--crap strewn everywhere. It's had probably 6 different renters in the 15 years I've owned it and most of them have been bad. It's sad because when I bought the place that neighbor was an elderly retired widower and good neighbor. He died about a year later and his kids sold it to a guy that buys places to rent out. The latest occupants over there have been the worst yet. To the point I'm seriously thinking of listing my place.

 

[Ski]

If you buy some land you intend to hunt on pay VERY close attention to the neighbors. Especially if neighoring property is rental. I bought my place to live and hunt on 15 years ago. Its a great place and has gone up in value tremendously. BUT...neighbors to my right are horrible when it comes to messing up the deer hunting. They are pretty junky too--crap strewn everywhere. It's had probably 6 different renters in the 15 years I've owned it and most of them have been bad. It's sad because when I bought the place that neighbor was an elderly retired widower and good neighbor. He died about a year later and his kids sold it to a guy that buys places to rent out. The latest occupants over there have been the worst yet. To the point I'm seriously thinking of listing my place.

That's horrible. Great point though and in certain situations the most important factor of all. If you can't have a good hunt on your own property then what's the purpose?

I'm fairly fortunate with mine, although I don't think I could ever live there. One of two neighbors has in recent years began breeding pit bulls. His kennel is bigger than his house and those dogs never stop with the noise. Deer don't mind it but man it's annoying when I'm trying to hunt. Everything in that hollow echoes like they're right next to me. It's not bad in the next hollow but I'd really like to enjoy the entire property, not just part of it. Nothing I can do about it without creating a rift with an otherwise good neighbor.

 

[Omega]

If you buy some land you intend to hunt on pay VERY close attention to the neighbors. Especially if neighboring property is rental. I bought my place to live and hunt on 15 years ago. Its a great place and has gone up in value tremendously. BUT...neighbors to my right are horrible when it comes to messing up the deer hunting. They are pretty junky too--crap strewn everywhere. It's had probably 6 different renters in the 15 years I've owned it and most of them have been bad. It's sad because when I bought the place that neighbor was an elderly retired widower and good neighbor. He died about a year later and his kids sold it to a guy that buys places to rent out. The latest occupants over there have been the worst yet. To the point I'm seriously thinking of listing my place.

I wouldn't let neighbors run you out, especially renters. Where I live, I have renters next to me and they are mostly ok, but it took almost a year to get a tree that fell over cut up, while the fence between the houses (his portion) is still down for over a year now. My small hunting parcel has a house on one side, and a trailer, way down the road, on the other. The lady that lived in the trailer has moved in with the son I think so it stays empty, though someone hunts the place now and then. The house has had a few renters that have been decent folks, and the last owner which turned out to be horrible, trash everywhere and crackhead looking people all over the place. The new owner is cool, he and the wife are pretty nice folks, and considerate when it come to hunting. I am glad I didn't get rid of the place, though I thought about it when the crazy lady moved back in with her crackhead guests, but I am so glad I waited them out.

 

[BSK]

That's horrible. Great point though and in certain situations the most important factor of all. If you can't have a good hunt on your own property then what's the purpose?

I'm fairly fortunate with mine, although I don't think I could ever live there. One of two neighbors has in recent years began breeding pit bulls. His kennel is bigger than his house and those dogs never stop with the noise. Deer don't mind it but man it's annoying when I'm trying to hunt. Everything in that hollow echoes like they're right next to me. It's not bad in the next hollow but I'd really like to enjoy the entire property, not just part of it. Nothing I can do about it without creating a rift with an otherwise good neighbor.

I've got a few neighbors with dogs that bark 24/7, but the most unnerving neighbor problem is my off-griders living on their junked-up 1 acre. The guy is a drug addict and has severe mental issues. In the mornings, when he is coming down off his nightly meth or zombie high, he starts screaming. And I mean screaming at the top of his lungs. He screams so loud I can hear every word he says from a full half-mile away. And it isn't pleasant stuff. Although from time to time it adds comic relief.

My favorite scream to date occurred after he had been on an hour-long tirade aimed at his wife. He went silent for about 15 minutes, and then out of nowhere came: "WHY ARE YOU SO FAT!!!"

 

[Lost Lake]

I've got a few neighbors with dogs that bark 24/7, but the most unnerving neighbor problem is my off-griders living on their junked-up 1 acre. The guy is a drug addict and has severe mental issues. In the mornings, when he is coming down off his nightly meth or zombie high, he starts screaming. And I mean screaming at the top of his lungs. He screams so loud I can hear every word he says from a full half-mile away. And it isn't pleasant stuff. Although from time to time it adds comic relief.

My favorite scream to date occurred after he had been on an hour-long tirade aimed at his wife. He went silent for about 15 minutes, and then out of nowhere came: "WHY ARE YOU SO FAT!!!"

I remember you telling us about that in another thread.

You could have fun with him by screaming out answers to his questions during his fits. He'd think the Spirits were coming for him!

 

[DaveTN]

I live near Nashville (originally from Clarksville area) and have thought for a while about buying a property for hunting and hanging out with my kids.

Is a job what's keeping you from moving?

 

[Lost Lake]

That's horrible. Great point though and in certain situations the most important factor of all. If you can't have a good hunt on your own property then what's the purpose?

I'm fairly fortunate with mine, although I don't think I could ever live there. One of two neighbors has in recent years began breeding pit bulls. His kennel is bigger than his house and those dogs never stop with the noise. Deer don't mind it but man it's annoying when I'm trying to hunt. Everything in that hollow echoes like they're right next to me. It's not bad in the next hollow but I'd really like to enjoy the entire property, not just part of it. Nothing I can do about it without creating a rift with an otherwise good neighbor.

We've had some doozies as well. One stand near a small pasture about 150 yards from the property corner comes to mind. The lady that lived there had about six dogs and 10,000 roosters. The dogs started barking about a half hour after sunrise until when at precisely 8am every morning, she'd step outside coughing up a lung and scream, " FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING HOLY, SHUT UP!" She was a heavy smoker and drinker, so that stand was named, "Cigarettes and Scotch."

We all knew when it was 8am. No need for a watch.

 

[BSK]

You could have fun with him by screaming out answers to his questions during his fits. He'd think the Spirits were coming for him!

Oh my gosh, I hadn't thought of this! Great idea!

 

[notgreg]

I've got a few neighbors with dogs that bark 24/7, but the most unnerving neighbor problem is my off-griders living on their junked-up 1 acre. The guy is a drug addict and has severe mental issues. In the mornings, when he is coming down off his nightly meth or zombie high, he starts screaming. And I mean screaming at the top of his lungs. He screams so loud I can hear every word he says from a full half-mile away. And it isn't pleasant stuff. Although from time to time it adds comic relief.

My favorite scream to date occurred after he had been on an hour-long tirade aimed at his wife. He went silent for about 15 minutes, and then out of nowhere came: "WHY ARE YOU SO FAT!!!"

See I knew I was missing out.

 

[notgreg]

Really appreciate the feedback everyone. Plenty to think about. Y'all are a heck of a resource.

 

[AT Hiker]

I'm not a land investor, partly because I'm stir crazy and have zero patience. Also, I'm going through some issues with family property and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

However, think about this. The US purchased hundreds of millions of acres from France and Russia for less than 5 cents per acre. Pretty good investment if you ask me. In today's world, capitalism is most likely the better investment (companies that produce widgets) but I don't think raw land is a horrible endeavor. Especially If your goal is to recreate on it.
Having the capital to do so obviously makes it easier. The idea of buying, selling and upgrading seems like a good idea to me.

 

[BigAl]

I have 5 acres that I live on, not hunt. Great area and neighbors. But properties on both sides were fine. Now they have changed hands. One guy runs a feeder (CWD area) and hunts deer at night with a spotlight. The other side has basically become a junkyard. Now I can live with both, but I don't care for it.