Purchasing Land

[Low Angle Life]

With the season winding down and many of you seemingly enthusiastic to talk about things like cabins, land, recreation properties and the like, I figured I would throw this one out into the cosmos for fun and maybe some insightful information. I've been saying for sometime now that when the opportunity presents itself I will buy a large parcel of land, preferably in Vermont or New York. The purpose of the land would be 80% for recreation & leisure and 20% utility, food and timber harvest, maybe a business, and certainly a place to hermit up if I ever make it to dropping out of society. I'm still pretty young, young enough to be some of your kids from what I've gathered but thats neither here nor there, I bring it up only because I am looking for seasoned advice. In New York I'm a big fan of Delaware, Greene, Columbia and Essex County, in Vermont Windsor, Rutland, Addison and Washington County. Forest Stewardship programs for tax benefits interest me though I am not sure I would have the budget for a parcel large enough to qualify. Building on said land would be a priority, being on grid is not. Room for private mountain bike trails is a must, sugarbush would be a huge plus and access to a creek or pond would be a killer bonus.

So let's have at it, I want to hear thoughts, opinions, personal experience, why it's a great idea, why it's a terrible idea, pretty much anything any of you have to share. I enjoy this topic and it seems many of you do as well.

Final point of reference, I am in no rush to make any moves on any of this but have been looking and thinking for almost 5 years. In the meantime I've been privileged enough to utilize 16 acres in Greene Co whenever I please. The parcel is owned by a close friend, has stream frontage and is surrounded by Forever Wild .

 

[Campgottagopee]

when the opportunity presents itself I will buy a large parcel of land

How many acres do you think you'd be looking for?

 

[Scrundy]

Idk, I’m probably older than you and used to want the same. I’ve been blessed and live smack dab in middle of 135 acres of my father’s land, I only have 7.

Problem with land is you don’t really own it your only renting off the State / county / town, don’t pay your taxes you’ll see who really owns it. Taxes are high in NYS

Unless you’re planning on logging to pay taxes, that will only help not gonna pay them every year. If you’re doing it for a investment, that’s hit or miss depending location.

I’m getting to the point of retirement in next ten years and think I’d be better off throwing money into retirement then land.

But if money is no concern go for it. I’ve been taking care of his land for years and find peace doing it. I couldn’t think I’d be happy living on a lot. But gotta say it’s getting harder and harder every year to do upkeeps

One other note, country folks are a odd bunch so pick your neighbors carefully

 

[Campgottagopee]

Unless you’re planning on logging to pay taxes, that will only help not gonna pay them every year. If you’re doing it for a investment, that’s hit or miss depending location.

Then when you log that income will put you in a different tax bracket so they'll get ya there as well.

I'm with you, Scrundy. I think a person would be much better off with a small chunk (5 to 25acres) that has access to state land. Why pay the taxes if you can use land you're already paying taxes on.

 

[Campgottagopee]

One other note, country folks are a odd bunch so pick your neighbors carefully

This made me laugh only because it's true.

 

[tirolski]

They ain’t making any more of it.
Remember Katie Scarlet O’Hara?
Are ya Irish?

 

[Harvey]

With the season winding down and many of you seemingly enthusiastic to talk about things like cabins, land, recreation properties and the like, I figured I would throw this one out into the cosmos for fun and maybe some insightful information. I've been saying for sometime now that when the opportunity presents itself I will buy a large parcel of land, preferably in Vermont or New York. The purpose of the land would be 80% for recreation & leisure and 20% utility, food and timber harvest, maybe a business, and certainly a place to hermit up if I ever make it to dropping out of society. I'm still pretty young, young enough to be some of your kids from what I've gathered but thats neither here nor there, I bring it up only because I am looking for seasoned advice. In New York I'm a big fan of Delaware, Greene, Columbia and Essex County, in Vermont Windsor, Rutland, Addison and Washington County. Forest Stewardship programs for tax benefits interest me though I am not sure I would have the budget for a parcel large enough to qualify. Building on said land would be a priority, being on grid is not. Room for private mountain bike trails is a must, sugarbush would be a huge plus and access to a creek or pond would be a killer bonus.

So let's have at it, I want to hear thoughts, opinions, personal experience, why it's a great idea, why it's a terrible idea, pretty much anything any of you have to share. I enjoy this topic and it seems many of you do as well.

Final point of reference, I am in no rush to make any moves on any of this but have been looking and thinking for almost 5 years. In the meantime I've been privileged enough to utilize 16 acres in Greene Co whenever I please. The parcel is owned by a close friend, has stream frontage and is surrounded by Forever Wild .

I could have written this with some changes.

I bought 5 acres, kind of on a whim back in 1997. It was pretty cheap and in a relatively good neighborhood if there is such a thing. We built a camp, 12x18 with a wood stove and enjoyed it in winter, skiing alpine (Gore) and nordic and BC. Each year we'd spend some money (tax return) on "improvements" like driveway, well, septic, shower etc.

Then in 2012 I heard a rumor that land adjacent to me, a big piece that borders me on two sides, was going to go on the market. I reached out to the owner and he wanted a lot. Way less than he paid for it, and way more than I had. I went to the bank to ask about a refi on my house. It was a 30 year mortgage with maybe 4 YEARS left on it. I told them I want to borrow as much as I could without a higher interest rate.

Then I asked my wife. This is kind of crazy huh what do you think? To my surprise she was all in.

I made my low ball offer and the guy who owned it said he had to think about it. After hearing nothing from him for several months he took my offer. We put in 2 miles of nordic/mtb trails, it's up around 1900 feet so we usually get over 100 inches of snow.

I'll be honest we don't get there enough, maybe 30-40 nights a year. But when we are there, it's magic. We love it so much.

Now we're trying to work out house plans to build and move there full time. (2024 or maybe 25).

This is not for everyone, but it sounds like it might be for you.

Here's what I wrote on the topic in 2009:

Building a Ski Cabin

We learned a few things in the process.

nyskiblog.com

 

[Low Angle Life]

How many acres do you think you'd be looking for?

Thats up in the air, my experience at my friends property in Greene County makes me think that 15 acres is probably on the small side for what I would like to do. That said I'm not looking to purchase a former dairy with a timber lot either. I brought up the forestry tax breaks knowing very little about them beyond its a minimum of 50 acres to qualify in NY. Does the state handle harvest and take profit in those arrangements and does managing your own timber harvest cut you out of those tax breaks?

 

[Low Angle Life]

I could have written this with some minor changes.

I bought 5 acres, kind of on a whim back in 1997. It was pretty cheap and in a relatively good neighborhood if there is such a thing. We built a camp, 12x18 with a wood stove and enjoyed it in winter, skiing alpine (Gore) and nordic and BC. Each year we'd spend some money (tax return) on "improvements" like driveway, well, septic, shower etc.

Then in 2012 I heard a rumor that land adjacent to me, a big piece that borders me on two sides, was going to go on the market. I reached out to the owner and he wanted a lot. Way less than he paid for it, and way more than I had. I went to the bank to ask about a refi on my house. It was a 30 year mortgage with maybe 4 YEARS left on it. I told them I want to borrow as much as I could without a higher interest rate.

Then I asked my wife. This is kind of crazy huh what do you think? To my surprise she was all in.

I made my low ball offer and the guy who owned it said he had to think about it. After hearing nothing from him for several months he took my offer. We put in 2 miles of nordic/mtb trails, it's up around 1900 feet so we usually get over 100 inches of snow.

I'll be honest we don't get there enough, maybe 30-40 nights a year. But when we are there, it's magic. We love it so much.

Now we're trying to work out house plans to build and move there full time. (2024 or maybe 25).

This is not for everyone, but it sounds like it might be for you.

Here's what I wrote on the topic in 2009:

Building a Ski Cabin

We learned a few things in the process.

nyskiblog.com

If you don't mind me asking, what is your total acreage?

Your process seems similar to what interests me. Start slow, don't build right away (or until I can afford to) and with the intention that it might be a retirement property in the future. I would be curious to know what were the factors that lead to to finally pulling the trigger and making the purchase?

 

[Ripitz]

IMO making money off a large timber harvest isn’t realistic. If you plan on clearing it anyway it will help offset some costs but there is also plenty of land available that’s already cleared with stumps and all. The original price a logger gives you for standing timber always mysteriously decreases when they get to the mill and the lumber is graded. Get a portable bandsaw mill and saw what you need and sell it when you’re done. If you plan on sugaring you definitely won’t be snowboarding as much. You can splitboard around the sugarbush but real sugarers never leave the fire.