Posted: 10/20/2015 2:26:14 PM EDT
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Owning property has been a dream of mine for some time. It's finally coming true!
I was able to qualify for a Beginning Farmers & Ranchers loan through the USDA... We will be closing on the property around Thanksgiving. The old homestead has a dilapidated house, a couple barns that will be able to be salvaged, and an old corn crib. 17 acres of Hay, 5 acre home site, the rest is marketable hardwoods. I am guessing the timber value to be upwards of 40k now & in 20 years that may double. There is 10 solid acres of 18-20" white oak. The rest is really good hickory, scarlet oak, chinkapin oak, poplar and sugar maple. Has a major creek that borders the hay field, and a hard bottom stream that runs through the timber. Plenty of deer, wild turkey, squirrels, even wood duck on the creek. Probably shoot doves over the hay field, if I planted some sun flowers. And plenty of room for a  range.
We plan to clear the home site, and fence in part of it for a beef cattle operation. Fix the barns and build a new home. I'll use this thread to update our progress. Some eye candy... 
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Very nice! I'm guessing not from the trees growing around it but is the house repairable? 56 acres is awesome. I'd love to have more but will have to settle for my 9 acres. We have not been under the house yet, to determine if it is salvageable. It was not valued in the purchase agreement. If it can be fixed- great- if not we will remodel it with a bulldozer. |
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Very nice. What does something like that go for? What is the interest rate in that program? around 140k Loan program goes like this 50% comes from a Commercial lender ( Bank, credit union, etc.) Terms - 3.79% 3/3 ARM for 30 years 45% comes from the Farm Services Administration (FSA)  Terms - 1.5% for 20 years
5% down from us There are conditions... our loan is being secured by the timber. If I sell the timber while still under the program, 100% of the proceeds must be paid to the commercial lender or to the FSA. I have to provide tax and financial statements to the FSA and follow my Business Plan. |
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Go through that house very carefully. We are taking down the 130 year old house on our 160, but I went through that place for a few hours one day. Just found some small change and old tools/bottles, some paper shotshells, and old shell cases like .38-40 and .30-40. No cosmolined 1918 BAR, unfortunantly.
If you decide to log, get a good forester and don't let them "high grade" and take all the best trees. The logger does not care about your land. Congratualtions, one of the best feelings is to take some land and make it your own. Won't take too long and you'll start wanting more. 
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Go through that house very carefully. We are taking down the 130 year old house on our 160, but I went through that place for a few hours one day. Just found some small change and old tools/bottles, some paper shotshells, and old shell cases like .38-40 and .30-40. No cosmolined 1918 BAR, unfortunantly. If you decide to log, get a good forester and don't let them "high grade" and take all the best trees. The logger does not care about your land. Congratualtions, one of the best feelings is to take some land and make it your own. Won't take too long and you'll start wanting more. I've already had a good friend of mine( who is a forester ) walk the property. He also sells timber on the side... he didn't give me any firm numbers but,He said I didn't get hurt... I'll post some better pics of the white oak, (it's value is around 4K an acre) (it's really good). I wish it were walnut, but you can't have everything.... There is 60 acres that borders the north... I hope it sits for a while n doesn't sell, so I can get it cheap
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Well, you can always set aside an acre or two and start a Black Walnut tree farm. Might not make you money, but the kids or grandkids might make out well down the road. They actually grow pretty quickly if you can keep the deer off them. We've got some real monster Red and White Oak, but I don't know if I could bring myself to have them cut. Quite a few large Beech as well. Black Walnut, Hickory, and a metric ton of Autumn Olive that must die. There is 40 acres behind us I really want. Not for sale, and I haven't asked yet.... |
Awesome, that place has some great potential. 
I like a mix of trees and fields like that. And that's a nice creek. As another poster said, have fun going through that house and barn. No telling what you might find in there. Do you have good maps of the place? I can potentially help you out there if you'd like some. PM me if interested. |
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Awesome, that place has some great potential.
I like a mix of trees and fields like that. And that's a nice creek. As another poster said, have fun going through that house and barn. No telling what you might find in there. Do you have good maps of the place? I can potentially help you out there if you'd like some. PM me if interested. The County was recently gis mapped. I am having a survey performed, so I have plenty of maps - Thanks for the offer tho! |
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Very nice! I'm guessing not from the trees growing around it but is the house repairable? 56 acres is awesome. I'd love to have more but will have to settle for my 9 acres. My Dad is purchasing the 30 Acres that borders the southern property line... so effectively- in 25 yrs or so I would inherit his portion ( I would have to pay half to my sister - but, that's not a bad deal) That gives us a nice chunk. |
Picture without the leaves on
Survey was completed. Acreage is 52.658. Went back to relator, and asked for consideration on the price due to results of said survey. They are revising the purchase agreement 
Everything has been sent to the FSA's state appraisal office. As soon as the appraisal comes back we will be able to close . (immediate possession at closing) |
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Quoted: Closed yesterday... Marked my territory  some deer  ... I've got some acres I picked up with MA Farm Credit that I'm waiting a couple of years before I start a small vineyard on. No buildings on mine, though. BTW, your latest pics aren't coming through for me. Might want to check -em. |
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We had some really nice weather this weekend, and were able to get a lot accomplished.
Cleared approx. 5-6 acres of old pasture that hadn't had upkeep in probably 8-10 yrs. Cut down several scrub trees, and started to clear out the barn next to old house that had been the dump from all the renters from several yrs. Next to the old corn crib - found a bunch of old 30-06 military brass that I'm going to throw in the wet tumbler and see what comes out....
Home-site 
Put in a new 30' x 15" diameter galvanized culvert at the drive entrance 
Some pics of the creek that comes down the center of property 
The creek flows into a big cavern. Next time I make it up in there I'll get some pics. It's pretty cool
Found a shed from a young buck.... 
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Looks good OP. So...how long is your projects list? Be careful mowing, old farmers seem to just throw iron in random places. I filled 3 huge dumpsters with scrap steel/cast iron when we bought our land. I still find metal almost every time I mow, with the mower blades. 
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Make sure your home site drains well. There's a hill right behind your house site and that means water flows downhill. Make sure it can flow away from the house at all times. GREAT pics! Oh we will - We are having a good friend with a dozer come in to level and grade that area for drainage. This will be my second home that I have had built
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Oh we will - We are having a good friend with a dozer come in to level and grade that area for drainage. This will be my second home that I have had built Quoted:
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Make sure your home site drains well. There's a hill right behind your house site and that means water flows downhill. Make sure it can flow away from the house at all times. GREAT pics! Oh we will - We are having a good friend with a dozer come in to level and grade that area for drainage. This will be my second home that I have had built Little off topic, but what are some lessons learned after the first build that you'll be applying here? Interested because I'm looking at building on some acreage soon. Thanks |
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Little off topic, but what are some lessons learned after the first build that you'll be applying here? Interested because I'm looking at building on some acreage soon. Thanks Quoted:
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Make sure your home site drains well. There's a hill right behind your house site and that means water flows downhill. Make sure it can flow away from the house at all times. GREAT pics! Oh we will - We are having a good friend with a dozer come in to level and grade that area for drainage. This will be my second home that I have had built Little off topic, but what are some lessons learned after the first build that you'll be applying here? Interested because I'm looking at building on some acreage soon. Thanks I'll pitch in because I'm building right now. When you start getting estimates, if your builder/subcontractor(s) take forever to get back with you on estimates, they will do the same thing to you when you start building. Start planning for what you want to build NOW. Decide on what colors you want for plumbing fixtures and lighting. Find a house plan you like or have a drafting company draw one up. You can make minor changes to existing plans but you need something to start from. You do NOT want to talk to a builder with no idea of what you want to build. Buy the land and pay it off if possible before you start building. Banks love that. Build a shop or storage building on it first. It's nice to be able to store things/materials in the building as you find them on sale. We saved a lot of money buying things in advance. If we hadn't had a shop to store them in, we would have had to buy many things at full price. Find out what, if any, inspections are required. What are you allowed/capable of doing yourself and what will you sub out? Some things aren't worth doing yourself IMO. For example, drywall is easy to do but time consuming if you try to do it yourself. I hired a drywall hanging company and a drywall finishing company. They came in and knocked it out in a few days....vs me taking 2 mo to do it. They have the equipment and manpower to do it quickly and efficiently. All I can think of at the moment but ask if you have more questions. |
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so did FSA there make the business plan be able to pay the note, or do they allow outside income there? I wrote the business plan. They allow outside income. You still need good credit and a means to make the payments. If your business plan does not generate the necessary income & you have no other means of income, you're not going to qualify. For example - the first year of my business plan only generates around $2400-$3400 the first year (my commodity is Hay). Payments are more than double that... If you go to FSA's website they have all the rules for each type of loan. Also, lets say you don't meet all the criteria... if you have a good Farm Loan Manager at your local office, they will work with you. You could show that you have enough experience in one area that it kind of eliminates the need to fully qualify in another area. < If that makes sense... |
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I'll pitch in because I'm building right now. When you start getting estimates, if your builder/subcontractor(s) take forever to get back with you on estimates, they will do the same thing to you when you start building. Start planning for what you want to build NOW. Decide on what colors you want for plumbing fixtures and lighting. Find a house plan you like or have a drafting company draw one up. You can make minor changes to existing plans but you need something to start from. You do NOT want to talk to a builder with no idea of what you want to build. Buy the land and pay it off if possible before you start building. Banks love that. Build a shop or storage building on it first. It's nice to be able to store things/materials in the building as you find them on sale. We saved a lot of money buying things in advance. If we hadn't had a shop to store them in, we would have had to buy many things at full price. Find out what, if any, inspections are required. What are you allowed/capable of doing yourself and what will you sub out? Some things aren't worth doing yourself IMO. For example, drywall is easy to do but time consuming if you try to do it yourself. I hired a drywall hanging company and a drywall finishing company. They came in and knocked it out in a few days....vs me taking 2 mo to do it. They have the equipment and manpower to do it quickly and efficiently. All I can think of at the moment but ask if you have more questions. Quoted:
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Make sure your home site drains well. There's a hill right behind your house site and that means water flows downhill. Make sure it can flow away from the house at all times. GREAT pics! Oh we will - We are having a good friend with a dozer come in to level and grade that area for drainage. This will be my second home that I have had built Little off topic, but what are some lessons learned after the first build that you'll be applying here? Interested because I'm looking at building on some acreage soon. Thanks I'll pitch in because I'm building right now. When you start getting estimates, if your builder/subcontractor(s) take forever to get back with you on estimates, they will do the same thing to you when you start building. Start planning for what you want to build NOW. Decide on what colors you want for plumbing fixtures and lighting. Find a house plan you like or have a drafting company draw one up. You can make minor changes to existing plans but you need something to start from. You do NOT want to talk to a builder with no idea of what you want to build. Buy the land and pay it off if possible before you start building. Banks love that. Build a shop or storage building on it first. It's nice to be able to store things/materials in the building as you find them on sale. We saved a lot of money buying things in advance. If we hadn't had a shop to store them in, we would have had to buy many things at full price. Find out what, if any, inspections are required. What are you allowed/capable of doing yourself and what will you sub out? Some things aren't worth doing yourself IMO. For example, drywall is easy to do but time consuming if you try to do it yourself. I hired a drywall hanging company and a drywall finishing company. They came in and knocked it out in a few days....vs me taking 2 mo to do it. They have the equipment and manpower to do it quickly and efficiently. All I can think of at the moment but ask if you have more questions. Pretty much what colt said... I'll add, that this go around I am eliminating a lot of contractors... I am going with a prefab home. I'd highly recommend looking into modern prefab type homes. The only difference is that they are built indoors at an offsite location. Unless you are doing a really custom type home, modern prefab / modular builders can design your house to your specifications. I'm going with Ritz-Craft |