Comparison...

[mandelyn]

What's the difference between 56 acres and 5.6 acres besides the obvious 50.4 acres? We want to buy land, but we don't want to live like 2 hours from the city. I found this place... it's not 50 acres... but it's enough for what we want to do I think. Plus it has an 8 stall barn and indoor arena, 3 pastures, and a tiny wittle 2 bed/2bath house which makes it in our budget. Everything else has a monster house and is priced over $600,000.

All we want is space. Could we really use that much land? I could for trails. We're not farmers. Couple of dogs, couple of horses, couple of sheep, couple of turkeys... nothing in large numbers. A garden, small projects.

Thoughts?

 

[PineappleMama]

Sounds divine to me... the 50 OR the 5.

You can use extra woods for trails firewood if nothing else... any extra cleared land could be hayed or even leased out... lots of ideas. If you end up buying it you can always start asking on here for thoughts on what to do with the excess.

Overall, If you like it, and it suits your needs, and is in your budget... I'd say go for it.

 

[sourland]

Extra land = privacy! I read all the posts about neighbor problems, and I am so happy that I live where I do. I only have 11+ acres, but my home is secluded. In the Autumn and Winter, I can see my one neighbor's home, but the rest of the year is complete seclusion.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

As a general rule you should always buy as much land as you can afford. Never known anyone to say they wish they bought less land.

 

[yomama]

Quote:
x2! Land appreciates!!!Besides, I know some people that have way more land then they can use. They have their home and some acreage on some of it for their own use, and lease out the remainder to someone for Christmas tree farming. Some people also rent out the extra land as horse or cattle pasture. The amount paid by the leasee(sp?) each month is enough to pay the home/land owners mortgage! It's a win win. And I agree, the less neighbors, the better.

 

[mandelyn]

Well, it's the driving that gets me. Moving out to the country would be quite the adjustment. Can't just pop out the door for 5 minutes and get coffee creamer in the morning. Shopping with a list would be important, can't make a return trip unless it's a need. Gas consumption would increase. I'm looking for pros and cons.

I found 167 acres advertised as hunting land with water and electric at the road. So it would need everything starting I guess with septic? I don't know all those details... I just move into a house and everything is there already. LOL Never built one, never lived outside the city limits. The privacy would be AWESOME. It was just as affordable as an unremodeled house in a bad neighborhood.

Lot's of farm land for sale. If you have a million... you can get thousands of acres.

Just always had it in my head that we wanted 50 acres. Been looking for awhile... we're picky. We'd stay there a long time and invest a lot into it. A hill for the house, not a steep one. Maybe part of it could be steep. But I've seen some houses that just blend with the scenery right on a hill, really pretty. 80% trees if we got that much land.

If something was planted with corn or another crop, you could lease it for that, or chop it up, add fertilizer, and spend what, 1-2 years reseeding for a hay field/pasture?

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Without asking prices here's a little info.

Land here goes for 1 to 2 thousand an acre. Selling trees to a lumber company so they can clear cut pays 1 to 2 thousand a acre. I have known people to buy all woodland an turn around an sell the trees an pay for it an actually make a little profit + now owning the land outright. Now not saying you could do that but you may stomp a mud hole in your mortgage this way.

If a house is on the land no matter how bad a shape you expect that to add $50 thousand +. But you can build a 30 by 40 house yourself for around $40 thousand. You can also get a nice almost new 28 by 40 mobile home that has been repoed for less than $10 thousand.

 

[mamawolf544]

I have 12.5 acres and we live on about 2.5 of it. By we I include all the animals 2 houses and a barn.
The other 10 is fenced off and we usually lease it out but we just got the last horses off of it so we are putting a few head of cattle out there.
And my reasons are privacy and the #1 reason is nobody can tell me what to do.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

I would buy the 50.6 that fits your budget.

1. Space to breath and expand at your leisure.
2. 5 acres does not give you enough for the Farming exemption. (I have the 3 animals but not the 10 acres).
3. Space to breath.
4. Live in the house while you later build what you want.
5. This means you are not just buying land, but time also.
6. Space to breath
7. You can rent the unused land out depending on the lay of the land for growing or grazing. Or just let it be.
8. Plans and things change as you get older. This gives you room to stretch those ideas and gives you more options later to deal with changes in your life that are going to happen.

Used to live in Cincinnati so am kind of familiar with the lay of the land in that area of the country. Given a choice of 5 acres or 50.6 for a given price. We would have already bought the 50.6 acres and framed out the 3rd bedroom. You may never get another chance.

 

[annaraven]

Check zoning. See if there's a difference in zoning laws on what you can and can't do on the smaller vs the larger piece. Other than that, if you can afford the larger, AND want the extra space, get it. If what you really want is the smaller land, then don't feel bad about turning down the larger one. Remember, extra land requires extra maintenance (depending on what's on there), and extra property tax (depending on location). In the end, it depends on your priorities. If you might want to graze a bunch of animals or hunt the land, then the 50 acres would be better.