Buying property advice

[journey137]

We’re trying to buy property to eventually build a house and start a business. It has to have a good location relative to the town we live in, paved roads, pasture, relatively flat, water source, and no crazy junky neighbors. We found a place that is 30 acres of all gently rolling pasture, has a pond and 2-3 small creeks (no flood risk because they barely have a trickle in them and the ground gently slopes downhill anyway), it’s on a paved county road that is less than a mile directly off a main highway and just a few minutes from town, electric is not far but is not on site yet, and I just got notified they will sell it with NO restrictions because they want to get rid of it since it’s been on the market for so long (I had been asking for clarifications on some of the restrictions they had listed and got that news instead of the clarifications ). They’re asking $4k per acre and that’s a bit more than we wanted to pay so we’re going to try and talk them down, but I’m excited that we might actually have finally found a place!!! I’m ready to get out of this one bedroom apartment we’ve been living in for almost two years now… not to mention the uncleaned meth lab/druggie den that’s been above us for almost a year… lol, did I mention I’m so ready to move??

Oh, and the whole point to posting this thread was to ask if anyone had tips for buying land that first timers (like myself) often overlook. If you do, please post as I am obviously eager and don’t want to miss something that should be incredibly obvious.

 

[1ke]

Check with the county regarding how the land is zoned. If it is zoned commercial or recreational you will pay more in property taxes. If it is zoned ag/residential you will pay less. If it has zoning restrictions, you need to know about them especially if you want to have a business.

If you will have customers coming on site, you need to see how the county requires that to be zoned. If it’s not alreayd zoned for that use, what does it take to get it rezoned? Will it be rezoned? I know here you can petition to get your property rezoned but that doesn’t mean it will happen.

Also, for land conservation, our state has passed laws on dividing up property and rezoning it for uses other than ag or recreational so check MO law. Also check on how your state does property tax exemptions, such as homestead and whether zoning the land commercial or having a business on the property will impact that.

Are there building or deed restrictions? Some restrict mobile homes from being placed on the land. Any restrictions on subdividing and selling if you decide to move? How much are taxes currently? What school district is it in (resale often is impacted by school distrcit)? What type of septic system will you have to have installed and how much will that cost? What will the cost be of drilling a well? Any water laws or water usage restrictions you should no about? Land use restrictions? Will there be a cost to establish electric on the premises? What are your options for heating? Check with local propane and fuel companies regarding cost. If it’s in the country I doubt you’ll have natural gas so your choice will be fuel oil, propane, or some sort of wood heater. Do a cost-benefit analysis of how much each type of furnace will cost you and fuel.

If the 30 acres is part of a larger parcel of land-- like a farm-- do you have right of way to access the road? People have been sold the “back 40” and promised it would be “ok” to use the landowners’ road for access, only to later suddenly have no access and no right of way, especially when original owners die and heirs inherit.

Also, do you have to put in a road or give up easement to the county/city for any utilities and/or road maintenance?

You also need to ensure clear title and no liens on the property, no back taxes, etc.

 

[kimmielittle]

Ask about all easements through your property.

Get a full ‘riparian rights’ clause to any water or easements.

 

[journey137]

According to the listing, it is not zoned (says “zoning… none”). I’ve asked a friend that has an in-home business in a similar location what kind of things they had to do, but have not heard back yet.

I will check the tax stuff too. Last year taxes on 70 acres was $540, but they sold 40 of them. The 30 acres we are looking at should definitely be less than that. According to the online tax records, they paid the last five years, but a trip to the city offices will definitely happen to make sure the title is clear.

There are no deed restrictions. They had some listed and I was inquiring about them for clarification purposes and was told the owner would be willing to sell with no restrictions just to finally get rid of it.

Thanks for that list of questions. I will show them to my husband later so we can take them into consideration. Digging a well and putting electric there would be expensive, but not too bad I think. There is electric very close by because the 40 acres they already sold had a house on it. The property has paved road frontage (it’s approximately a square and one side is a paved road while another side is a gravel road).

Thanks 1ke… now I just need to get the husband in a mood to talk about this later tonight. After working 12 hr days he just wants to come home and crash.

 

[jeje831]

Along with knowing the rules, don’t forget. 30 acres is quite a bit of property that will take time and care. grass and weeds don’t cut themselves, fencing always requires repair and maintenance and it does not take very long before a freshened up driveway (added gravel to sell) re-asserts it’s holes and gulleys. If you enjoy working outside there should be no problem and it might be that “special place”. Learn as much as you can about the property and why they are selling. Could be seller financial difficulties or inheritance that was more trouble than worth or it could be that the property is situated on a huge rock shelf that would have to be blasted to build a house. Ask around.

 

[journey137]

Ask about all easements through your property.

Get a full ‘riparian rights’ clause to any water or easements.

I’ll ask about the easements and the water issues to make sure, but I don’t think there are any easements. Thanks.

 

[journey137]

Along with knowing the rules, don’t forget. 30 acres is quite a bit of property that will take time and care. grass and weeds don’t cut themselves, fencing always requires repair and maintenance and it does not take very long before a freshened up driveway (added gravel to sell) re-asserts it’s holes and gulleys. If you enjoy working outside there should be no problem and it might be that “special place”. Learn as much as you can about the property and why they are selling. Could be seller financial difficulties or inheritance that was more trouble than worth or it could be that the property is situated on a huge rock shelf that would have to be blasted to build a house. Ask around.

You hit the nail on the head regarding why they are selling. It’s a very attractive property, but ALL of this area in Missouri is on a huge rock, lol. You need a pickax to dig a hole, and trying to till a garden is always interesting. This is nice pasture ground though, so there is at least some top soil already there. Keeping the pasture decent the first year would be difficult because we don’t own a tractor yet, but it’s also not like the police are going to come ticket us if it gets a bit tall Honestly we would probably get a couple animals and put them out so they could eat the grass.