cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Jul 6, 2011 18:24:45 GMT -5
I found a piece of land I don't need on the internet. I already have a house, don't need land.
It is 11 acres of lake front for 59,900 asking price been for sale over a year. I love the lake, it has bass and lilypads and an island named Goat that is empty. I saw goat island for sale once but you couldn't build on it.
If I was to buy the land I would hook up electric that is at the street and might put in a well and add a garage, there isn't a house.
I would keep my 10ft boat and a hand full of fishing tackle there and use the garage as a tent for camping, put in some cots.
I plan to retire in two years and it would be fun to have lake front to go to on weekends or longer after retirement. I could build a real house or put in a trailer of some kind.
I am thinking 100K total cost then 710 a year in property taxes and maybe 200 for power.
I know I don't need it but I like to get out of the city and don't like waiting for my boyfriend to take me. I could go to the lake and camp alone or take other people. I like campfires and fishing and this is forested.
When I get tired of it I could sell it so it isn't totally cost of recreation.
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gobermitcheese
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Post by gobermitcheese on Jul 6, 2011 18:36:32 GMT -5
Sounds nice if you can afford it, and based on your past posts you probably can, why not go for it? You can't take your money with you when you die.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Jul 6, 2011 18:37:56 GMT -5
I agree. If you'll still be on track for retirement, why not? 11 acres is a perfect size, and you can't beat being right on a lake. If you were struggling with finances I wouldn't advise it, but it's nice to have a getaway place.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Jul 6, 2011 18:39:01 GMT -5
Oh, and since it's been for sale for a year you could probably offer them a little less, especially if you make the offer with cash.
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daisylu
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Post by daisylu on Jul 6, 2011 18:45:06 GMT -5
I say go for it, If you die with a bunch of money, you still die
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❤ mollymouser ❤
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Post by ❤ mollymouser ❤ on Jul 6, 2011 18:45:28 GMT -5
As long as we can come hang out and camp, I'd say sure!!!! Got pictures?
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jul 6, 2011 18:48:44 GMT -5
Go for it.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Jul 6, 2011 18:50:27 GMT -5
Crone, how far is the property from home? If it's within an hour or two, it's close enough not to get to be a hassle to come and go. Is the lake/this property suitable for swimming (future sale to families)? Is the lake big enough for water skiing? How many feet of shoreline would you get? Could the property be sub divided in the future? Would a solar installation provide you adequate power more cost effectively than pulling in electric service? What is the history of selling prices for property on the lake? Is this a good deal?
As the old saying goes, "they ain't building more lake shore property". This could be a good long term investment that provides a lot of near term benefits, too.
By the way, I like your thoughts about building a basic bunk house, maybe with some storage space for the boat and a bit of gear. Inexpensive and low maintenance.
Your post made me think about a guy I met who bought an old summer camp as a lake property for his large family. Property had the old farm house, a six unit or so motel like building, and a few cabin type structures. The property came complete with a small utility tractor with a brush hog to mow the grass. This set up was big enough to accommodate his 9 kids and their families. Sounded like a cool family place, to me.
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Plain Old Petunia
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Post by Plain Old Petunia on Jul 6, 2011 18:58:29 GMT -5
You have to go see the land before you decide on this particular piece.
But if you want a piece of land on a lake, go for it! Life is short.
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haapai
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Post by haapai on Jul 6, 2011 19:03:57 GMT -5
I'm not really grasping how you got from spitting distance of $60K to $100K. A nice little garage or camping rig is one thing, but building a road and electrifying a remote site is quite another. Is this something that you could finance or something that you would be paying for out of pocket?
My goodness, that's a low ratio of property tax to purchase price. Why hasn't someone else picked up this property yet? Is this an area that you know well, or something on the periphery of your understanding? Why isn't someone else speculating on this? Why hasn't someone younger or better-heeled than you with a correspondingly longer time horizon and possibly fatter wallet grabbed this property yet? Is there something about the zoning, access, or taxation that you have missed? Would you have to move to this area and claim it as your primary home/homestead in order to get taxes that low? Is it possible that you are overestimating what you could sell this property for once you tire?
I've recently become infatuated with a quiet and tiny piece of property that I discovered on the internet, so I can cast no stones. I may share your weakness for semi-wild money pits and sweethearts that don't actually carry their own weight.
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phil5185
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Post by phil5185 on Jul 6, 2011 19:09:27 GMT -5
If I was to buy the land I would hook up electric that is at the street and might put in a well and add a garage, there isn't a house. Sounds nice. Maybe a double garage with power, water, bathroom/shower. A refrigerator, TV, the cots, some lawn chairs. Go when it's nice so you don't need heating/cooling. Just roll the boat out, set up the cots & lawn chairs. A fire pit outside.
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on Jul 6, 2011 19:17:02 GMT -5
It's not wasting your money if you're buying something nice for yourself. That was really the point of working so hard and saving so long, so that someday you could kick back and enjoy some of it. Once there's a road and electric, the property become much more interesting to future buyers.
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haapai
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Post by haapai on Jul 6, 2011 19:31:42 GMT -5
Mosquitos! I'm from a different part of the country that's plagued by mosquitoes, black flies, and horse flies, pretty much in that order, every year. I have no idea how my grandfather ever built his retirement home (at the age of 65, on higher ground) with those flying nuisances. They really shorten the building season and kill your incentive to spend any time outside. Have you considered this angle?
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Jul 6, 2011 19:37:30 GMT -5
www.meadowsgroup.idxco.com/idx/7125/details.php?idxID=037&listingID=There are 9 pictures, this is all I know about it. It has a volcano near by that has huckberry picking and not far from a herd of elk. The garage would be what Phil said or I might do a separate bath house like in state parks when you camp. I would put a small woodstove in the garage for heat and we don't need air conditioning. The lake is for fishing not swimming or watersking. The part that this is on has way too many lily pads and crappie and bass are all we would fish for but they have grass carp I think and maybe trout. We haven't fished there in years because the dam was leaking and we heard the water level was way down but now hear it is good again. I might wait until after Labor day to go look at it. I can afford the land without selling investments if I use my HELOC and will still be past my saving goal for retirement and still plan to work 2 more years. I will check for building permit availablity, perk test and odd of a good well before thinking much harder about this. I don't want to live there it is about 150 miles from home but a nice big garage to camp in and maybe a 30 used travel trailer to use for a little house to have bathroom, kitchen and bedroom then guest can bring a tent or use a cot in the garage. Imagine a big fire pit with a nice picnic table and benches and lawn chairs with people coming to roast hotdogs. One coworker said she and her 3 kids and SO will come, they have tents. I need to figure out why it is so cheap, from the map it might be near a dirt bike track. It has a creek and meadow land so might be heavy wetlands with bugs and soggy ground. I didn't plan to farm it so just want a place with deer and birds to watch. You guys were supposed to say don't do it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2011 19:39:16 GMT -5
Just me, Crone, but I am fairly similar in age to you. When I get in my 60s, I will be ready to downsize stuff, rather than add more. A $100,000 is a large chunk of my retirement savings outside my pension.
I bought a truly cheap timeshare once. It was $700 with $450 a year maintenance fees. I LOVED it. I loved everything about it. And Gatlinburg is definitely in driving distance from where I live. But I ended up going there twice (I only had one week each year). I kept it a few more years, but I never made it back. I did manage to trade it a couple of years for maintenance work, but I was glad to get rid of it this year even though I basically gave it away (less than the maintenance fee I had already paid but no one wanted to go there with me).
Would that happen to you? Would you get older and no one would use the property? Yet it would be difficult to sell?
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constanz22
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Post by constanz22 on Jul 6, 2011 19:45:13 GMT -5
I'm not saying "don't do it" but I do think there's a lot to look into. My mom has an undeveloped lake lot that has been in the family for years and years, and will probably never have anything built on it in her lifetime. The costs to run utilities, drill a well/septic, etc are astronomical. Even building a small rustic cabin could easily run well over 200K with this added in. Many lakes have some type of association so I'd also look into what is and isn't allowed. I know a camper is NOT allowed on our land.
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haapai
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Post by haapai on Jul 6, 2011 19:49:49 GMT -5
The link that you provided is yielding an error message.
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on Jul 6, 2011 19:58:34 GMT -5
That's reserved for the people who didn't make good financial decisions. ;D
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Jul 6, 2011 19:58:43 GMT -5
no one wanted to go there with me
That is what I worry about, my brother and his daughter bought campsites 75 miles the other way. Everyone goes there. I would have fun fixing up the land and building stuff but how much do I want to camp alone?
ISO likes to take Harley rides so might come just for a day ride or sleep over but other times he works weekends or wants to go to other lakes with the other boat so might only want to go once or twice a year.
I need to think this over before I look at it or make an offer. Shopping for a garage and bunks and dishes and stuff seems fun but if I don't go it is all a waste.
Now on weekends he works so I don't go anywhere most of the time and play on the computer in a room like a hermit. It might be good go for long drives and it is near OR so I can go shop without sales tax.
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Jul 6, 2011 20:04:06 GMT -5
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Sharon
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Post by Sharon on Jul 6, 2011 20:20:17 GMT -5
Do the roads get closed down when Mt. St. Helens decides to act up? Make sure the pictures where taken after Mt. St. Helens blew and not before.
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Sharon
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Post by Sharon on Jul 6, 2011 20:28:53 GMT -5
You may not be able to get insurance etc. for the land due to the proximity of Mount St. Helens. I would look at this very very carefully. I am pretty sure they also close down that highway when St. Helens starts erupting.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2011 20:39:27 GMT -5
Can you stay nearby for a few days to get an idea of what's going on in the area? Besides taking a look at the property itself I'd make a trip to the County planning dept and spend some time in the local diner.
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❤ mollymouser ❤
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Post by ❤ mollymouser ❤ on Jul 6, 2011 20:43:43 GMT -5
It's lovely
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Jul 6, 2011 21:07:55 GMT -5
Can you stay nearby for a few days to get an idea of what's going on in the area? Besides taking a look at the property itself I'd make a trip to the County planning dept and spend some time in the local diner. Good idea we have stayed at the resort before in a tent but they have cabins and might allow a camper, there is a state park nearby too. I have heard before you even make an offer on land you should go chat with the building permit people. Let them know who you are and what you are thinking. Then if they have a problem they will be the one who already said you shouldn't have a problem. They will be nicer than if you barged ahead without them then asked them to bend rules.
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Havoc
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Post by Havoc on Jul 6, 2011 21:08:11 GMT -5
Can you stay nearby for a few days to get an idea of what's going on in the area? Besides taking a look at the property itself I'd make a trip to the County planning dept and spend some time in the local diner. Ding-ding-ding!!!! Winner!!! I absolutely love shopping for rural land, and while most of it is for timber we do have a "recreation spot"... but you should definitely take some time to go up there and nose around for a few days. Land is not created equal, and an hour or two visit with the realtor or broker might enhance the magic of it, you should spend some time in the area (although it sounds as if you are already familiar with it from fishing?), coupling it with a few trips to the property (ask the realtor if it would be OK for you to pitch a tent for a night, spend a day there - might say "no" because of liability issues, but worth a shot). That will give you time to assess *How accessible the "private road" is to the vehicle you and/or the people who you would like to visit you drive. *What haapai said: is this in a particular area that is an absolute skeeter metropolis? *checking with development office to see how possible it is to get a building permit, sink a well & septic, etc. Rules can get a little funny when you're building new stuff close to water.... and lots more boring-but-pertinent things. Like don't you guys have a problem with some kind of pine beetle out there? It might have been sitting on the market because there is something wrong with it... but it might just be the economy.... or the owner might be asking something outrageous in comparison to other marketed properties. I've got a piece near our farm that has been on the market for nearly FOUR years.... and while land prices have come up, he is still nearly 30% over market price. So checking out some other properties in the area, esp. other "water lots", would be good too. But, financially, if you can swing it, and the pieces all fit - go for it!
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Havoc
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Post by Havoc on Jul 6, 2011 21:10:02 GMT -5
I have heard before you even make an offer on land you should go chat with the building permit people. Let them know who you are and what you are thinking. Then if they have a problem they will be the one who already said you shouldn't have a problem. They will be nicer than if you barged ahead without them then asked them to bend rules. Absolutely. And it seems the more rural the area, the more this holds true.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Jul 6, 2011 21:16:13 GMT -5
I say go for it if you think you will like it and use it. You are only in your 60s. There is still a lot of living left. My Grandparents got a HUGE motorhome when my Grandpa retired.... well they kept upgrading. Started out with a 21 footer, than a 26 footer and finally ended up with a 31' before deciding the motor home was a bit much as they approached 80. Grandpa retired at 58 so they had lots and lots of years to enjoy the motor home. He past away at 85. My Grandma is still annoying the crap out of me at 87. Your late 70s are for downsizing. Your 60s are for enjoying life.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Jul 6, 2011 21:23:01 GMT -5
I'm a city girl - surrounded by concrete and steel - and I don't know nothing about camping or boats... unless it's Motel Camping and it's a dinner cruise.... but: Do you need a 'boat launch' type area or something? Would you have to add a pier (so you can park your boat on the your lake front? What kind of water front 'rights' do you get and what kind of rights of usage do you get on the lake? It looks lovely AND scary to this City Girl - where are the street lights!!
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brdsl
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Post by brdsl on Jul 6, 2011 21:29:23 GMT -5
Do the research...water, utility, building, etc.
If it pans out and you still want it...go for it.
Personally, buying this type of property is my plan when I am 55. Build a nice garage with living quarters and relax.
The only reason I would not go for it if I were you, is if you are not healthy enough to enjoy it. To me, that would be torture.
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