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I didn't actually sell it. It's easier to say we sold it than to explain the entire story. I t does boil down to we sold it and he's selling it again and we want to buy it back.
We traded value for value, Mark Kephart (a contractor who did housing on the reservation in Murphy, NC) would our middle lot, the one adjacent to our main one, into pasture, pulling all the stumps on that lot (1.4 ac), hydo-seeding, burning the brush, etc. in exchange for the bottom lot. We had been getting estimates on cleaning up and stumping that lot which had been logged and all the tree tops left laying around, ground torn up, etc, and got the idea to just trade the bottom lot for the expensive work on this one. It was going to be several thousand dollars spent to do that (hydro seeding is very pricey, over $5300/ acre on average), but Mark was amenable to the trade, work for land, and no money changed hands.
At the time, the county was trying to soak landowners for taxes and had jacked up the supposed value to collect tax revenue. Tom fought them and won, got those lot values lowered some, etc, but he had not turned the magic age and applied for a tax exemption, so they hadn't adjusted the property taxes yet. So, those two lots being separate from our main property and from each other, we didn't know they'd lower taxes on those individual lots as well as on the house, thought the exemption did not apply to those. Those taxes were pretty high on the type lots they were. So, we felt we'd just trade the lot for the extensive/expensive work on the middle lot and not have to pay taxes on that one anymore. We didn't really use it and it was before I had talked him into hiring folks to do work around here so it sat overgrown and wild. So, I talked myself into being practical, like I do at times, doing what I thought I should do rather than what I actually wanted to do.
We did that in 2015, valued the land at what we paid for it in 2003 in the trade. He did the work, we signed the lot over to him. It was his intention to put a small vacation cabin there for his daughter, but apparently, she decided she didn't want that later. It was okay when it was going to be a little used tiny vacation home, but someone could buy it and build a big house on it and be part of my view every day for the rest of my life and I wasn't thrilled with that idea. Plus, when the taxes plummeted and I realized that they were being reduced due to Tom's age just like the house was, I had a twinge of regret for letting it go. That was a couple of years back. When it came on the market at exactly the same price we had valued it for four years ago and what we paid for it, I told Tom, "I want my land back. I'm serious". It will almost completely drain one savings account, but it will be replenished in about a year, depending on nothing extreme happening during that time.
We traded value for value, Mark Kephart (a contractor who did housing on the reservation in Murphy, NC) would our middle lot, the one adjacent to our main one, into pasture, pulling all the stumps on that lot (1.4 ac), hydo-seeding, burning the brush, etc. in exchange for the bottom lot. We had been getting estimates on cleaning up and stumping that lot which had been logged and all the tree tops left laying around, ground torn up, etc, and got the idea to just trade the bottom lot for the expensive work on this one. It was going to be several thousand dollars spent to do that (hydro seeding is very pricey, over $5300/ acre on average), but Mark was amenable to the trade, work for land, and no money changed hands.
At the time, the county was trying to soak landowners for taxes and had jacked up the supposed value to collect tax revenue. Tom fought them and won, got those lot values lowered some, etc, but he had not turned the magic age and applied for a tax exemption, so they hadn't adjusted the property taxes yet. So, those two lots being separate from our main property and from each other, we didn't know they'd lower taxes on those individual lots as well as on the house, thought the exemption did not apply to those. Those taxes were pretty high on the type lots they were. So, we felt we'd just trade the lot for the extensive/expensive work on the middle lot and not have to pay taxes on that one anymore. We didn't really use it and it was before I had talked him into hiring folks to do work around here so it sat overgrown and wild. So, I talked myself into being practical, like I do at times, doing what I thought I should do rather than what I actually wanted to do.
We did that in 2015, valued the land at what we paid for it in 2003 in the trade. He did the work, we signed the lot over to him. It was his intention to put a small vacation cabin there for his daughter, but apparently, she decided she didn't want that later. It was okay when it was going to be a little used tiny vacation home, but someone could buy it and build a big house on it and be part of my view every day for the rest of my life and I wasn't thrilled with that idea. Plus, when the taxes plummeted and I realized that they were being reduced due to Tom's age just like the house was, I had a twinge of regret for letting it go. That was a couple of years back. When it came on the market at exactly the same price we had valued it for four years ago and what we paid for it, I told Tom, "I want my land back. I'm serious". It will almost completely drain one savings account, but it will be replenished in about a year, depending on nothing extreme happening during that time.
