How much land do you have

[Nateums]

We've got 24 acres, 10 of hardwoods and the other 14 in fields.

If you are mainly interested in being more self sufficient - your own gardens, orchards, hunting, animals, even 5-10 acres is plenty.

 

[FramerJ]

Sounds like maybe a property around Springfield's bedroom communities like Rogersville or Ozark would be a good middle ground. In the countryside but literally 10 minutes or so from Springfield.

Youre exactly right Grizzerbear. The wife does like that area and I have been looking at sites for sale online for some time. Something in the 10-50 acre range. She is a city girl but has playfully mentioned she would like to raise donkeys and goats because theyre "cute". Hey, if thats what it takes to get the ball rolling to live out in the country its a start. Its like someone posted above, it started with buying a wood insert, then a better chainsaw, then a splitter (friend gave it to me) then c/s/s 2 chords of wood. Now I want land with access to more wood. And maybe a cabin or place to set up a camper/TT. And a shed. And pecan trees. And orchards. And trails. And a pond. And toys. And......

Thanks for sharing all. Some of you sound like you are living in your version of paradise. And some of you look like it as well. Beautiful pics guys. Good for you.

 

[mar13]

A friend's wife bought 40 acres of oak/doug fir land about 2 hours from here. My friend and I would go up there to grab dead oak and thin the fir encroaching on the oak stands. It was as much for entertainment as for wood, because the drive was so far & tedious. She eventually sold the land because pot growers had surrounded the property ruining the tranquil wild feel. I think some eastern European guy bought the land to add to his pot grows paying 3 times the price that she had not many years before. I had to quit looking at the Google Earth images because it broke my heart seeing clearings made and hoop houses and pot plants pop up around the land.

Anyhow, the yearly property tax on the land was probably greater than the worth of the wood we'd haul off the land each year. After that, the hunt became more for where to buy good wood at a fair price - not as fun, but economically more sensible.

 

[mar13]

Seriously though, I started out with a 1/4 to 1/3 acre in town and quickly ran out of room. Didnt like that the neighbors were right there. Currently got a few acres in the country. Always looking for more!

Good neighbors are critical.

 

[Bad LP]

14 acres with the Maine North Woods in my backyard.

 

[SpaceBus]

We bout our broken down old house because it came with 25 acres, already had power, well, and septic. Buying raw land with no utilities is tough. It can be very expensive and time consuming just cutting in a useable driveway and getting power. Sometimes the 25 acres doesn't seem like enough, but I'll be amazed if I can manage this lot in my lifetime. Eventually I want to buy out my neighbors when they go to sell. One side has 85 acres, much of it north of our lot, and the other other side has 15. Not that we really need that much land, but it would prevent loud people from buying and developing the land.

 

[peakbagger]

Bad LP brings up a good point. The land you own is very much affected by the land and neighbors or lack thereof .

One of the reasons it took me so long to buy my woodlot was I wanted to make sure that the land around it would not get developed or poorly managed. My back property line abuts a town forest, one side line is a spaghetti lot (long and skinny with minimal frontage). It can not be further developed and probably would not be worth cutting due to the terrain and access. It also has a terrain limitation (steep slope) that would make it difficult to develop beyond selling a few frontage lots. Its an obvious addition to the Town Forest should the family ever elect to sell it. The town forest, the biggest in NH can be logged but its generally done for long term timberstand improvement. Being a non profit separate from the town they can manage it for multiple uses and as long as the cover expenses profit is not a motive.

 

[johneh]

Many years ago a good friend told me
Buy Land they aren't making any more
So I did and never ever regretted it

 

[Grizzerbear]

Not that we really need that much land, but it would prevent loud people from buying and developing the land.

I hear ya. That's the sole reason I bought the five seperate tracts I have over the years. I call it peace and quiet lol. Personally I would also like to have a place to leave my kids where they can have a little elbow room if they choose when I'm dead and gone as well. To the east of me is all state conservation land but to the north of my property i have a neighbor that has a 130 acre tract that I would like to get a hold of some day if it becomes available. It is very likely that if it ever does come up for sale that the state would try to buy it.....which wouldn't be so terrible. At least then it would never be developed.

 

[SpaceBus]

I hear ya. That's the sole reason I bought the five seperate tracts I have over the years. I call it peace and quiet lol. Personally I would also like to have a place to leave my kids where they can have a little elbow room if they choose when I'm dead and gone as well. To the east of me is all state conservation land but to the north of my property i have a neighbor that has a 130 acre tract that I would like to get a hold of some day if it becomes available. It is very likely that if it ever does come up for sale that the state would try to buy it.....which wouldn't be so terrible. At least then it would never be developed.

Honestly most of the land around our property, neighbor's large lot included, is just marginal anyway. Lots of boggy areas, few mature timber species, coastal zoning rules, and general lack of access should keep us safe, but I'd still rather own the land. The large lot adjacent/north to ours that is owned by our neighbor is being logged/thinned/maintained right now anyway, so it should be even more affordable for me to buy it when the owner moves on.

 

[Matt B]

Not much. We had 2.5 acres in the California desert that we sold last year. Our "in town" home has about 1.5 acres.

The place where we have the wood stove? No land! It is a Forest Service cabin, so we only lease the footprint.

At times, I would like to have a chunk of land somewhere, but I don't think we would have time to use it. Even retired, we stay so busy!

 

[Grizzerbear]

The large lot adjacent/north to ours that is owned by our neighbor is being logged/thinned/maintained right now anyway, so it should be even more affordable for me to buy it when the owner moves on.

Sounds like it's very similar to the lot to the north of ours and I'm likewise hoping if it does ever come up for sale that It should be fairly reasonable price being that it was logged about ten years or so ago.


You can see where the yard and brush hogged field ends is where my property ends and the neighbors begins. They virtually cut just about everything on it and it's nothing but brush now. They own around 1000 acres and this 130 acres is just one tract of their property which has no easy access so it's not likely to ever be developed but I would also rather be safe than sorry. This was the only pic I had of it. I was taking pics of storm clouds for the wifey. We are weather nuts.

 

[SpaceBus]

Sounds like it's very similar to the lot to the north of ours and I'm likewise hoping if it does ever come up for sale that It should be fairly reasonable price being that it was logged about ten years or so ago.

View attachment 278077
You can see where the yard and brush hogged field ends is where my property ends and the neighbors begins. They virtually cut just about everything on it and it's nothing but brush now. They own around 1000 acres and this 130 acres is just one tract of their property which has no easy access so it's not likely to ever be developed but I would also rather be safe than sorry. This was the only pic I had of it. I was taking pics of storm clouds for the wifey. We are weather nuts.

I have no good photos of our property, but it is mostly wooded. There is a area about two acres that has been cleared, but one acre is a blueberry barren on a hill and the other acre is boggy clay. There's about 15' between the house and trees on two sides, one side opens to the blueberry barren, and the other to the driveway. The rest is trees minus a small area I cleared with my tractor to act as a log yard/milling area. The previous owners let all the nice flat useable ground get reclaimed by trees, but hey also didn't live in the house and just let it rot for 40+ years.

 

[kennyp2339]

I'm sitting on just under an acre here, I kick myself in the but now, but about 5 or 6 years ago there was a 90 acre parcel that was selling for 125k across town, I could swing the mortgage at the time though, now I wish I would have figured something out, that same land doubled in value in the last year.

 

[brenndatomu]

Had ~9 acres when I bought the place, but couldn't afford to keep it all, so I had arranged for a neighbor to purchase about 7 of it right from the get go...so they own on 3 sides of me, and 2 of those 3 sides are now all junked up with old rusty farm equipment...to the point that our other neighbors say they feel bad for us. I really regret not trying harder to keep that property, or at least put some restrictions on it...only thing I can do now is to outlive him, as I would take a beating to sell my place now...fortunately he is almost 30 years older than me...

 

[ispinwool]

My Honey and I live on an acre on the edge of a little town (apx 3500 residents) right by the creek and across from 5
acres in the flood plain (so no houses going in!). It's cramped and can get noisy (neighbors)---so we bought 30 acres about
15 minutes away. It's wonderfully quiet!! Lots of trees. Can't see the neighbors. It gets used mostly for hunting.
We cut and burn the fallen wood in the fire ring while we're there but haven't had the need to bring any home...we
get plenty from friends that need fallen trees hauled away.

 

[thewoodlands]

So I have been reading a lot of posts on this forum lately. Lets be honest, its better than anything on the internet and I dont like TV. Plus, you can learn some things on this forum. Anyway, I am generally intrigued....and a bit envious about how much land some of you have. It sounds like some of you have some really nice pieces of property. Also sounds like some have land that have been in the family for generations. I happen to live in the suburbs of KC on 1/3 acre. Dont laugh-- Im making the most of it. Its not my ideal situation but I am slowly wearing my wife down to possibly buy some wooded acreage in the Ozarks. I think she would go crazy living there full time but I would be in heaven just walking around in the woods. For the time being I will just keep saving up.

We have 5.5 acres the house sits on and our bigger lot is just over 136 acres.

 

[andym]

I wish I would have figured something out, that same land doubled in value in the last year.

That is only an advantage if you sell. If you don't sell it just means your taxes will go up.

 

[peakbagger]

Property taxes are another point to complicate things. Many states use a "carrot and stick" approach to encourage or discourage different types of land use. NH has "current use" laws to encourage open space and discourage development. Ag land and forest land are taxed at the current value as ag and timber land versus what someone would be willing to be for it (to presumably develop it). The taxes on my wood lot are minimal under the current use program but to discourage short term speculation if I elect to develop it I have to pay a penalty to take it out of current use.

 

[SpaceBus]

Property taxes are another point to complicate things. Many states use a "carrot and stick" approach to encourage or discourage different types of land use. NH has "current use" laws to encourage open space and discourage development. Ag land and forest land are taxed at the current value as ag and timber land versus what someone would be willing to be for it (to presumably develop it). The taxes on my wood lot are minimal under the current use program but to discourage short term speculation if I elect to develop it I have to pay a penalty to take it out of current use.

My plan is to submit the proper forms to have our property taxed as a farm. In Maine this means proving you brought in $2,000 annual in gross earnings. Maine considers chicken eggs you harvest and use yourself as earnings, among other things. I suspect some of the properties sold in Maine this year probably came with a hefty tax lien as some people cannot make the $2,000 gross from their property.

 

[kennyp2339]

That is only an advantage if you sell. If you don't sell it just means your taxes will go up.

That was part of the reason why I couldnt buy it at the time, I was afraid of being tax poor, I would have had the property registered under the farm assessment / tree preservation bracket with an actual forestry plan that would have been submitted w/ a qualified forester's signature (I actually work with a guy that has all the certs to do that) and I would have stuck to the plan on cleaning things up and making habitat for wildlife, but I wasnt at the time financially prepared to make that type if investment, nor mature enough to realize what it all means to own something that large. Now that I'm a little bit older I realize what stewardship means and on a better path with life itself, so I'm sort of kicking my own behind but also saving for the next opportunity when it comes along.

 

[peakbagger]

I think Maine also has tree farm designation which lowers taxes but I think there are other requirement to qualify. Maine Woodland Owners (used to be Small Woodland Owners of Maine) may be worth checking out.

 

[mcdougy]

Farm property taxes here in Ontario are 25% of the residential mil rate. A 50 acre farm sits at about $1200 per year with no structures in my municipality. Once a house is built you pay full residential mil rate tax on the home and 1 acre. All based on assesed value of course.

 

[EbS-P]

My plan is to submit the proper forms to have our property taxed as a farm. In Maine this means proving you brought in $2,000 annual in gross earnings. Maine considers chicken eggs you harvest and use yourself as earnings, among other things. I suspect some of the properties sold in Maine this year probably came with a hefty tax lien as some people cannot make the $2,000 gross from their property.

That’s a lot of eggs. What’s the price of organic goats milk or quails eggs? Legal creative accounting could go along way.

 

[EbS-P]

Our lot is 1 acre in the middle of the city. It is bordered by university property in the back that is designated as green space for the next 30 years for what ever that’s worth. City just bought 10,000 sq ft drainage easement to re-channel the stream which means clear cutting that space and sits on the property line between us and the university. We will loose some really big tulip poplars but when the project is all done it will move the house out of the flood zone ( really just fixing a map error). It hasn’t been safe to explorer any since all the hurricanes. So it’s a loose win win I guess. Everyone is surprised when they see our little oasis in the city.
Evan