how many acres do you own/want to own someday? Motivational thread -- get in here!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - how many acres do you own/want to own someday? Motivational thread -- get in here! (Page 1 of 4)

Posted: 8/14/2014 1:59:27 PM EDT

I'm finishing up my last year in college. I'm planning on moving to TN next year when I start a Master's degree and working full time. I come from a small town in S georgia where my family, at one time, owned 1200 acres (three way inheritance from my grandmother to my dad, his brother, his sister). Due to dividing interests with the essential six different owners (mom and dad, aunt and uncle, aunt and uncle) it was sold.

My life-long goal is to now someday own my own property as soon as I can afford to. I realize that owning 1200 acres is likely way out of the question unless I hit it big someday. My main goal is to have a place to hunt, fish, and have a small cabin. I might do some slight recreational farming but it would be minimal for personal consumption. Priorities will be a nice range/small field with mostly wooded areas. Pond, creeks, water is a plus. I'm reasonably expecting to own between 100-200 acres to satisfy my requirements but the more the better.

So, with that said, how many of you are saving for land, own land, or about to purchase land? How much do you want to own? How much do you think you'll REALISTICALLY own? Any advice for me is welcome.

This is now a motivational/picture thread as well. If you own land please post some of your best pictures to keep us who are saving/dreaming with our eyes on the prize!

Posted: 8/14/2014 2:32:20 PM EDT

[#1]

Own one.... want to own as much as possible.

My father in law owns 160 acres about 15 mins from my house that I get to use for whatever I want so that is really nice.

Posted: 8/14/2014 2:50:53 PM EDT

[#2]

Own 47. Want to buy the 50 behind me.

Goal was 100. Might not reach that.

ETA: More important is what is around your land. Conservation land? Game Lands? Sub-division?
My 47 abuts 100 acres of conservation land. so it feels like a lot more.

Posted: 8/14/2014 2:53:34 PM EDT

[#3]

Own 3 right now, want at least 30+, prefer more. Really want to build my own rifle range on the property.

Posted: 8/14/2014 2:54:22 PM EDT

[#4]

Own 180 in the hills. Will inherit another ~180 in the hills and ~100 row crop farm.

Will attempt to buy any bordering properties as they come up for sale. But I won't be too concerned if I miss out on them.

Posted: 8/14/2014 3:19:03 PM EDT

[#5]

I own 0.4 (with house) in subdivision right now. It kills me because I come from a 1200 acre grain farm where my family owns just shy of 500... but that doesn't help me when its several hundred miles away from my house...

I hope to own 120 minimum someday. The importance for me isn't really the amount, it's more about how I can use it for my desires. I have a "goal", and "threshold" of usability. I would like to meet the goal, but for me to consider property it has to meet the threshold.

Threshold value: Must be able to construct 500 yard shooting range that is convenient to a building location. Must be able to build dream home. Must be able to have a barn with small-scale livestock for personal use.
Goal: No neighbors visible. Can construct 1000 yard shooting range that is somewhat convenient. Build dream home affordably and conveniently. Lots of recreational land and active timber growth.

I've determined that 120 ac. is going to be the minimum amount to accomplish my Threshold, but 200 ac. plus may be required to hit my goal.

I am actively saving for a down-payment on land. I've owned my home/lot for less than 5 years now and I already trimmed my 30 yr mortgage down to less than 8 years remaining. I have over 60% equity in my home and the rate is so low that I've decided to stop paying extra on the mortgage and start saving for a down-payment on land so when the right parcel comes along I'm ready to jump.

Posted: 8/14/2014 3:21:13 PM EDT

[#6]

Have about 35 right now.

Would like to add on another 20 behind my property some day.

Posted: 8/14/2014 3:50:46 PM EDT

[#7]

Only about six acres split between two states.

But I own both free and clear.

Posted: 8/14/2014 3:51:03 PM EDT

[#8]

Have about 50 - hills and woods. Surrounded by more hills and woods. Would like to have more. 100 would be nice. 50 allows for a lot of roaming for the kids, shooting in my yard, hunting, etc.

Posted: 8/14/2014 6:37:51 PM EDT

[#9]

I have 5, I wish I had 80.

Posted: 8/14/2014 7:01:31 PM EDT

[#10]

i just wanted 1 acre to live in it allllllllllllllll by my self

Posted: 8/14/2014 7:07:01 PM EDT

[#11]

58 split between two states, 42 in one and 16 in the other.

Posted: 8/14/2014 7:22:52 PM EDT

[#12]

I own half an acre. Realistically, I could own 10-20 in the future.

If I'm dreaming I'll have 100+ acres someday.

In fantasy land I'll own a few thousand acres and create and run an outdoors/shooting paradise for a living.

Posted: 8/14/2014 7:25:08 PM EDT

[#13]

I'd be thrilled to have 5 again.

Posted: 8/14/2014 7:32:17 PM EDT

[#14]

20 farmstead...look us up Blacksheep farmstead.com

Posted: 8/14/2014 8:50:50 PM EDT

[#15]

All of them...

Well, the serious answer is that you shouldn't want to own the whole county, just enough to own all of your neighbors.

Posted: 8/14/2014 8:59:14 PM EDT

[#16]

100 acres of wilderness and carve out 10 acres for farm/pasture and 5 for actual house and yard.

Preferably land that for some reason, was a tax eyesore but a beauty to me.

Posted: 8/14/2014 9:05:21 PM EDT

[#17]

40 acres is my goal. not a lot but not a little..... just right....
will have to work my butt off, to afford it.

but to me, its worth it

Posted: 8/14/2014 9:29:59 PM EDT

[#18]

We have 98 right now and are trying to work a deal to purchase one of the lots directly next to us.
The guy that owns the two lots next to us 98 and 102 acres lives in Florida and will soon be looking to sell the one directly next to us.
Hopefully it works out that we get one lot (98 acres) and soon thereafter the other (102 acres).
We also have friends and family interested in the next lot over which is 204 acres. Essentially we would soon own 298 and either good friends or family would own the next 204. Most of these lots are forest and easy to maintain. The taxes are also cheap

Posted: 8/14/2014 9:35:35 PM EDT

[#19]

All of them

Posted: 8/14/2014 10:57:23 PM EDT

[#20]

I was up to about 1500 acres in four states before the Great Recession. Now I'm down to about 400 in Colorado, one mile x one mile on the county roads so plenty of room to shoot if it weren't for the douchebag laws.

10 in South Carolina and 5 in Florida. I would like to get rid of the SC property and about 1/8 acre in Florida, both are for sale.

At some point I would like to to pick up some in Wyoming or Central Washington and dump the Colorado land to be closer to some family and better tax / gun laws but the farm land in Colorado is actually making money.

Posted: 8/15/2014 2:57:10 AM EDT

[#21]

On 3/4 of an acre now in a subdivision. Nice little place, but I'm looking at a 20 acre spot up in the hills.

Posted: 8/15/2014 3:48:58 AM EDT

[#22]

Got 9 acres that we plan to build on one day when we sell our current house. Would love to have more but land isn't cheap. At least we own it free and clear.

Posted: 8/15/2014 6:48:28 AM EDT

[#23]

38 acres in SC TN at the end of a one mile private gravel road. Nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away; 2nd closest is just under one mile.

TN sucks, don't move here!

Posted: 8/15/2014 7:58:56 AM EDT

[#24]

Have 5, 75% wooded.

I would like to buy the 5 next door just to prevent someone else buying it and building.

Posted: 8/15/2014 8:24:57 AM EDT

[#25]

Have 0 right now but am keeping my eyes out for land in North Idaho/East Washington since we will be moving up there. Realistic goal for us is about 50 acres, would love a few hundred through.

Posted: 8/15/2014 8:52:46 AM EDT

[#26]

House Barn Shop sits on 10 acres: 4 ac fenced for horses and 5 ac hay production, house/buildings/yard is the rest. The 20 acres next to us is (supposedly) coming up for sale soon, and we'll try to buy at least another 10, if not the whole thing so we don't get another neighbor.

We own another 120 with a friend to run cows on/hunt along the NE/KS border about 50 miles south of me. Its about 80% pasture, 10% trees, and 10% creeks/ponds with site built dams. Great whitetail/turkey hunting, not so much for ducks/geese. Bought before land prices skyrocketed around there. Still paying for it, but we bought it to hunt, cattle are a side business for me.

Inherited (well, wife and her sister did) 600 pivot irrigated acres in south central NE via trust, cash rented to locals as we live about 40 minutes away and neither wants to farm. Its pretty much flat and treeless farm ground. Small debt to cover some new pivots, but it cash flows extreemley well. We sold the house/hog production buildings shortly after taking it over. Yeah, I married up and never would have been able to buy this if not for family.

Posted: 8/15/2014 10:50:14 AM EDT

[#27]

My brother and I own 61 acres that was given to us by our Grandpa.

We've got 10 head of cattle and two ponds, one of them with fish.

Posted: 8/15/2014 11:56:50 AM EDT

[#28]

I want 50-100. I'll settle for 25. Saving up to make a purchase in the next few years. Getting the land is easy moving on it will be the difficult part.

Posted: 8/15/2014 12:09:05 PM EDT

[#29]

I am stuck in sub division hell. I would love to have 1 acre or more to raise my 6 year old here in my little town of Medina,TN. The prices of land have skyrocketed.

Posted: 8/15/2014 3:29:09 PM EDT

[#30]

I have 36 at the end of a gravel road and all my neighbors have large tracts so it feels like more. Thought that was enough but after spending some time on my friends farm, he has 520 acres, I definitely want more, at least 100. I will probably have to wait until I retire and move to a completely different area for that though. I'm too close to Atlanta so the land prices are prohibitive, and then there is the culture that is creeping out my way...

Posted: 8/15/2014 5:44:59 PM EDT

[#31]

This morning I had 20, the today the bank accepted my offer for another adjoining 20 in foreclosure. (Knocks on wood.) This 40 will be where I put my hobby vineyard, small orchard, large garden, and clover fields for the honeybees. And my barn and retirement house. It does have an easement for the powerlines, but that is why I could afford the land.

oh, and the 1/3 acre my current house is on, about an hour away.

Posted: 8/15/2014 10:17:47 PM EDT

[#32]

We only have ten, but this is what is behind us, an 800 acre tract in a land lock trust never to be developed.

Posted: 8/16/2014 8:20:57 AM EDT

[#33]

Just got my little dream place in May of this year. 4/2 2500 sq ft house with 21 acres of heaven in the back. All wooded with pines and hard woods and bordered by a creek on one side. Like to pick up another 30 adjacent to me if I could.

access road into the woods when I first got it:

</a>" />
access road after some work:

</a>" />

Posted: 8/17/2014 11:31:21 AM EDT

[#34]

does any one know what current use is? i see it a lot while looking at land online and not sure if its bad or not.

Posted: 8/17/2014 5:40:11 PM EDT

[#35]

Quote History

Quoted:

does any one know what current use is? i see it a lot while looking at land online and not sure if its bad or not.

View Quote

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_use

Current use is a phrase used to describe the present condition of land use and corresponding scheme for property tax incentives for qualifying land owners (typically rural) who wish to preserve open space and avoid having their property assessed at the "best and highest" use that could be made of it (i.e., a housing development or a commercial use). The statutes provide significant savings when the land is currently in use for farming (agriculture and horticulture), silviculture, or comprises wetlands, or even unproductive woods or barrens.

Posted: 8/17/2014 5:48:54 PM EDT

[#36]

I own the 4 acres my home is on.I am in the process of paying for the 40 acres with cabin, that i bought in feb.I love the land, but there is alot of work maintaining it.I dobt think i would want to have much more.I really love the freedom of being able to do what i want with my land.

Posted: 8/19/2014 10:19:06 PM EDT

[#37]

I got 215 in central texas, 170 of it is crop land. It helps make land payments

Posted: 8/21/2014 1:07:13 PM EDT

[#38]

Our minimum that I would like to get is 20. I would prefer at least 100 just to have it but I would settle for 20.

Posted: 8/21/2014 2:04:53 PM EDT

[#39]

I want 50+ acres

Big enough that I can see them coming from a long way off!

Posted: 8/21/2014 3:52:04 PM EDT

[#40]

Own 20 - and now that the wife are getting a little 'long in the tooth' it more than keeps us busy.

A few tips when you start looking - other folks chime in here.
Buy as far away from a population center as possible. Our place was in the woods when we bought - ever expanding city limits have overtaken us. We used to be 1 of 3 houses on our road - we now have subdivisions around us and an elementary and middle school close by.

Learn how water rights work - we used to have a spring fed pond - maybe 1/2 acre. Fucking developers killed the spring.

Get the mineral rights - ( do they still do that now )

Know your neighbors BEFORE you buy. You don;t want the 100 or so acres next to you getting passed down to worthless offspring who will only sell it to a developer.

Buy once - cry once. Tractors / equipment / etc. Don't cheap out.

ETA - SECURITY !!!!! Fucking thieves are everywhere !!!!!

Posted: 8/21/2014 4:09:49 PM EDT

[#41]

77 acres here, almost at the end of the road. Would like to get the last few small lots that were cut off mine before I bought and that would put me right over 100 and I will build on it in about 8 years. Thinking about putting a garage/apt for right now.

Posted: 8/21/2014 4:26:54 PM EDT

[#42]

100 acres now

Will approach the neighbors about 256 more that borders us (two neighbors 100acre parcel and 156 acre parcel)

All bare land, no utilities yet, we have a well though. Building home next year....

WDS

Posted: 8/21/2014 4:29:15 PM EDT

[#43]

My house is on 20 acres. Have a nice 100 yard rifle range on it, small pond, garden, few acres of woods. Suits me just fine.

Posted: 8/22/2014 1:20:18 PM EDT

[#44]

Like you I am in my last semester of college. I am lucky though as I have my house and 40 acres secured for after graduation. I am currently renting it, and will be buying it in March of next year.

5 acres is wooded, 2 for lawn, and the rest is currently a hay field that my future father in law farms.

Wouldn't mind owning about another 50-100 in the UP though.

Posted: 8/22/2014 5:09:26 PM EDT

[#45]

I wanted 900, but could only afford 9 acres

.

Posted: 8/22/2014 5:51:54 PM EDT

[#46]

Best wishes with your pursuit. I had similar dreams and finally got there last year. One thing to think about when talking acreage is how much you are willing take on as far as work/improvements go. We bought 20 acres which is nice but I'm young and motivated. I could take on more if my pocket book would allow. My neighbor is getting up there in age but still has his health. He wishes he only had about five acres to maintain.

Here's some photos of what I've worked my ass off to obtain.

Google shot

South view

Introducing some fire back to the landscape

Some boys hanging out last winter

Bonus!

Springtime

Grid tied power system

Relaxation

Posted: 8/22/2014 8:15:38 PM EDT

[#47]

1000 acres , 80 head of cows, 5 bulls. 1 horse, 1 Donkey, All free and clear, The only thing I owe on is my tractor which will be paid for in 11 months, big garden, 2 generators , lots of fuel, and preps, I actually am feeling pretty good about where I'm at.

Posted: 8/25/2014 4:03:11 PM EDT

[#48]

I feel so inadequate compared to what the rest of you have.... I'm in the process of buying land for the first time, and our big piece of land we're buying is under 12 acres.

Posted: 8/27/2014 12:07:53 PM EDT

[#49]

Own 41 acres. Angling on 50 directly behind me.
Ideal would be 200-300 but I'd have to leave the socialist paradise that is NY to do so and that can't happen for at least another 6-7 years.

Posted: 8/27/2014 10:09:07 PM EDT

[#50]

Own 20 acres in NJ.
Looking at about 188+ acres here in FL in the next year or two. But i will by as little as 15 acres if i had too.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - how many acres do you own/want to own someday? Motivational thread -- get in here! (Page 1 of 4)

Outdoors » Homestead, Farm & Garden

Warning

Confirm Action

About AR15.COM

Stay Connected

Newsletter

Contact Us