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I want to buy 80-160 acres about 1-3 hours outside the St Louis area in MO.
I want to build a house and will need an equipment shed.
Not planning on farming it myself but wouldn't mind if I had some tillable to lease. Also ok if no tillable, just makes the purchase less costly.
Want to be able to 'retreat' from the city, deer hunt, turkey hunt, have a place for kids and grandkids to come. Would like to set up a shooting range. Do some 4 wheeling. A jump off place to go fishing, kayaking, hiking...
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I think learning about land and the law in the area you want to buy is a good first step.
My dad taught me these things--what to look for in a property, but if yours did not, you need to learn them another way.
Things like:
1-how do you know the place won't flood? (The way my dad said to find this out was by visiting the old timers in the area, once you get to seriously looking at a place, and ask when they remember it flooding, or if they know of any other problems with that property that a new owner might need to know about. I used that method when we bought our place. There were a ton of issues, but at least I knew that going in.) If they call the area Rattlesnake Ridge, you might want to know that before you make the purchase.
2-Would you own the oil/mineral rights? Is there an existing contract somewhere that says otherwise?
3-How do water rights work in your area if there is running water flowing across your land?
4-How much does it cost to dig a well there? How deep is the water table? (This is another thing that can be found out from the people around you. Ask them how deep their wells are, and how deep they went before they hit water. Ask them about the quality of the untreated water out of their well.)
5-What about the space above your property? Do you own it? (This sounds like a dumb question, but it's actually not.)
6-What are the plans for development by the state in that area? Ten or twenty years down the road, are they planning a reservoir there? Will your place be under water? Do they plan on an enormous natural gas pipeline across the area that might end up being on your property? Do you care? Is there a major new road going through anywhere near you? So if you buy away from everything, you end up hearing tractor trailers all night long?
7-Is there grid power anywhere near? If so, can you access it? How much will that cost?
8-How deep under the surface is rock? May not matter to you unless you want a basement, a cellar, or a tornado shelter. Getting through rock to build is a lot more trouble than just digging dirt.
9-What is the soil and substructure like where you are? Is it a hard pan? Does it perk well enough that you can easily install septic? Does it perk TOO FAST to install septic?
10-What is the property tax rate where you will be?
11-What road frontage do you have and is there an existing access that either does not need improvement, or could be easily improved? Basically--how you gonna get into the property?
12-Are there any existing easements or rights of way across your property?
13-Does anybody own the right to set a tower, etc, on your property?
Those are just off the top of my head. There are more. I know there are books that help with these things. I just don't know what they are.