New Land!

[justinramani]

Hello everyone!

The wife and I recently purchased 40 acres in NC. We are looking at having a house built, but recently I have started thinking about buying a house in a sub-division that buts up to our land. We would be able to access our land directly from our backyard. The benefit is that we get a house right away and can postpone the final build until we are closer to retirement. We would probably stay in the house 3-5 years before building our final house on our land. We would probably keep the initial house and rent it or use it for family. Any thoughts? Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome!

Justin

 

[Farmall450]

Personally I think it's a great idea if you've got the money (and will in the future) to do it.

 

[Jawn]

As to the house in a subdivision... keep in mind what HOA rules the sub-division may impose.

And for the land behind it... your county may not allow any accessory buildings on the land if there's not a primary structure (house) on it. Check your zoning.

 

[nolimits76]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Good points have already been made that you should consider. I will throw out another potential scenario. I currently live in a subdivision where I had open land behind me. Now they are putting in a (nicer/$$$) subdivision behind me, which I hope will increase my house value a little.

Depending what happens in the next 3-5 years, you may have an opportunity to develop or sell your 40 acres to a developer to extend the subdivision and make some nice $$$ in the process -- all while having access to the land until you decide to do such, if ever.

Or worst case, you do exactly as you noted in your original plan. My only caveat is I would be extremely cautious about renting/selling to family. More times than not, it's a bigger headache than it's worth -- and rarely is it profitable like it was intended.

 

[justinramani]

Great points from all! I did forget to mention that the land already has a 42x48 pole barn. We are in the process of having it closed (right now it is open on all 4 sides). It's about 300-400 feet from the backyard of the property that I am looking at. That will give us approx 2200 sq ft for me to use as a shop/storage. I'm glad to see that some of you think it's a good idea! I thought maybe I was getting a little crazy with all my ideas. Another benefit is being able to run power, Internet, and cable to the shop before we have a house built...

 

[Catadj78]

I think it is an awesome idea!

 

[7th Kahuna]

I have long thought I would like to buy a large piece of land, develop one street (so I have some neighbors - hopefully nice ones) and then have access to the rest of the land from my yard. The added benefit would be that those neighbors would help me pay for the whole construction. I like your idea too. In real estate they will warn you not to count on appreciation, but if you have the money now, and everything worked out in the end, you might see enough appreciation in the current house to pay off or significantly pay down the construction cost of the new 'retirement' home. Then again, as was alluded to above, if additional tracts are developed around your 40 acres, you might just decide you don't want to retire there after all. In that case, you could conceivably sell to or partner with a developer to subdivide the 40 acres and use the profit to purchase a new retirement property at the then edge of town. All round, I like the idea.

My grandfather purchased 1.5 acres overlooking a lake with retirement in mind. By the time he retired, the lake had been drained and area rezoned from 2 single family units per acre to 8 multi family units per half acre. Needless to say, his plans changed.

 

[ZRX61]

sounds about perfect

 

[justinramani]

There really are just so many options. I suppose we are only limited by our pockets! I wish my pockets were deeper than my aspirations!

 

[7th Kahuna]

Oh, don't wish that, pockets should never be deeper than aspirations. Just wish for bigger pockets and leave it at that.

Sounds like you are on the right track. Have fun.

 

[MoparTrucks]

40 acres butting up to a subdivision is going to end up as 40 acres you will have limited ability to do with as you choose. If you just want 40 acres for a big lawn or to have privacy or as an investment it would be great but if they (those who cannot contain themselves from seeking toi restrict what you do on your own property) are that close your already doomed IMO.

On the flip side, 40 acres butting up to a sub division sounds like a financial gold mine since few sub division developers don't seek to expand. Buy the house as a temp solution, enjoy your 40 acres, market them to the developers, then sell out at a high profit and move somewhere else further away from anything considered a sub division.

 

[justinramani]

That's a good point. Pretty much anything is an uphill battle when it comes to zoning variances. I think we will have options, but mainly I want land to keep all of my military surplus items and to have space from other people.

 

[Farmall450]

That's a good point. Pretty much anything is an uphill battle when it comes to zoning variances. I think we will have options, but mainly I want land to keep all of my military surplus items and to have space from other people.

Is there brush/woodlands blocking said items from prying eyes? Is also make sure the 40 has it's own, seperate rate road access for zoning.

 

[justinramani]

There is about a 100ft buffer of woods between the back of the homes and the cleared pasture. As for the land - it has about 800 ft of road frontage on an adjacent road.

 

[LB-1911]

Great points from all! I did forget to mention that the land already has a 42x48 pole barn.

We are in the process of having it closed (right now it is open on all 4 sides).

It's about 300-400 feet from the backyard of the property that I am looking at.

That will give us approx 2200 sq ft for me to use as a shop/storage. I'm glad to see that some of you think it's a good idea!

I thought maybe I was getting a little crazy with all my ideas.

Another benefit is being able to run power, Internet, and cable to the shop before we have a house built...

There is about a 100ft buffer of woods between the back of the homes and the cleared pasture.

As for the land - it has about 800 ft of road frontage on an adjacent road.

Is that "100ft buffer" part of the lot or is it a Greenbelt** surrounding the development?

**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_belt

 

[justinramani]

The "buffer" is actually our land. Basically the fences in the subdivision back directly to our land.

 

[Will S.]

That's a good point. Pretty much anything is an uphill battle when it comes to zoning variances. I think we will have options, but mainly I want land to keep all of my military surplus items and to have space from other people.

In a perfect world, your plans would likely work very well. But the privacy you seek, will not be realized, as nearby residents will look at those 40 acres as THEIR playground. There will be tresspassers plenty; hunters, target shooters, kids finding your out-buildings and military surplus equipment, to play on and/or vandalize. You probably will also encounter your share of do-gooders who will run interference with your enjoyment of the property.

But I do like the potential, given enought time and all the planets lining up just right, to make money with this investment. Tough call. But if it's priced right, and you have done your homework on zoning restrictions, taxes, clear deed/no leins, then I would do it. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[justinramani]

Will,

You are on point. We have already seen signs of people on the property. It was owned by a bank for quite a while. We also had kids in the area stealing wood from the pole barn. That is one of the reasons we are getting it enclosed so quickly. I hope that our presence there will deter some. I know that it will likely be an issue, but I think we would run into that no matter where we live. We don't want to be too far from civilization - and that comes at a cost. I appreciate the insight - great point!

 

[Capt Chrysler]

Is the 40 still in the farming tax schedule? Is so do what ever it takes to keep it there. As some places that lets you get by with more or looser building regs.

Capt. Chrysler

 

[Shoester]

I think it's a fantastic idea. But as others have mentioned, beware of kids in the neighborhood (and adults) continuing to use it as a playground.

My subdivision is quite the same, and my house backs up to an undeveloped 80 acres otherwise surrounded by neighborhoods. Several families (including my own) use the land for recreational ATV rides and some of the bad-apples even use it to dump trash. You may also be opening yourself up to liability if a child were to get hurt on the land - not sure how all that works.


If the bank didn't want $450k for it, I would consider doing the same thing you are, but just hold on to it until a developer comes along and wants to finish the neighborhood.

 

[justinramani]

Is the 40 still in the farming tax schedule? Is so do what ever it takes to keep it there. As some places that lets you get by with more or looser building regs.

Capt. Chrysler

Right now the land is not getting the tax deduction, but we can still build any ag building w/o a permit. We can get it back into the ag program but it will take 3 years.

 

[justinramani]

I think it's a fantastic idea. But as others have mentioned, beware of kids in the neighborhood (and adults) continuing to use it as a playground.

My subdivision is quite the same, and my house backs up to an undeveloped 80 acres otherwise surrounded by neighborhoods. Several families (including my own) use the land for recreational ATV rides and some of the bad-apples even use it to dump trash. You may also be opening yourself up to liability if a child were to get hurt on the land - not sure how all that works.


If the bank didn't want $450k for it, I would consider doing the same thing you are, but just hold on to it until a developer comes along and wants to finish the neighborhood.

450k! Where are you located?? We were able to get ours for around 140k. It's not perfect, but it will suit us well.

 

[Hawk]

We could give you more info possibly if we knew where you were in NC.

 

[cactiki]

Sounds like a golden opportunity! I like that there are several different outcomes, and all are favorable to you. If you can afford it, do it!

 

[justinramani]

I'm really looking at pulling the trigger on this. We can get the house for slightly under market value (not by much) because the sellers are pretty morivated. I will post a map of the house/land shortly. Appreciate all of the support.

 

[justinramani]

Well - looks like we have a deal. I tried to upload a map, but it GJ said that it was too big.