Posted: 7/26/2017 9:53:58 AM EDT
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I've got the itch to buy some land, maybe 80-160 acres a couple hours outside of St Louis. Have zero experience w/ owning rural property.
I've been visiting this sub-forum for the past month or so and wonder what other resources do you find helpful? Thanks |
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Google is a very good search engine. But then you have to wade through the BS. If you like books check out Barns and Noble. County extension agent and the NRCS are other good sources for up to date knowledge.
I would also get comparable sales from an independent appraiser. |
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Quoted:
What do you specifically want to do? 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... |
| I guess I don't know what you are looking for from us then. Just do it! When you come to a project or problem, feel free to check in here to get advice. Buying every tool for everything conceivable scenario isn't practical. Want to get into chickens? Check out the tracked thread or start a new one. Advice on a tractor? Ask away! No such thing as a stupid question. |
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Quoted:
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... You will need to narrow down your search some. Farm land is a lot more expensive than grazing land or mountain land slash timber. And it sounded to me like you want close to public lakes and forest land. The main thing I can tell you is don't comment to the first property you see unless it's a for sure good deal. Look around and research the area. Like I said the NRCS office is a good place to start. See if there's wildlife and timber incentives available for the area you are looking at. |
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Quoted:
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... 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. |
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Quoted:
Thanks guys, all good advice and comments. What I was trying to ask is: in addition to this forum where do you frequent to read, watch, learn about homesteading and rural land, country living? Foxfire is a great set of books, and you'll get a lot of common sense knowledge from that. I love those books. BUT..you're learning about the old school ways of survival living off the land. Building a log cabin or other shelter, how to kill hogs, how to make sorghum, etc. I don't LOVE any of these, but I have followed links to each of them, and they are all worth a look. I agree and disagree with some of what is said on most online places, BUT...a lot of stuff can be area specific. I have read a little of this blog, and it's not too bad. Living the Country Life I like these folks for the most part: Whole Fed Homestead You have to take everybody with a grain of salt as far as their politics and what they know or don't know. I have never been interested in a piece of property just for pleasure/hunting that was not on a coast somewhere, so I don't know what's specifically involved in those things. Sorry not to be more help. |
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My family lives between Columbia and Kansas City.
Land prices for tillable stuff is anywhere from $6k to $12k. Just timber and such is around $4-8k depending on a lot of factors. You're looking at half a million, easy. If it's really fertile tillable land, you could possibly make $200/acre or more on it for cash rent. |
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Foxfire, I enjoy the reading of old stuff. Have to admit I have only had pieces of it and never spent money to have it all.
Mother Earth News offers a compilation of everything. I have a dvd but when I get an updated one I might choose the thumb drive now. The new mags are anti-gun greenie weenie a lot of the time but the old issues are awesome and even the newer stuff usually has some stuff useful in it. I do have this as I said. Worth the money. Back woods home magazine, used to get the actual magazine but wanted it in electronic form. Bought a cd archive of their old stuff. For a while the stopped selling em but I think they are back to selling them. Worth every penny here as well. I will eventually buy a new one to get the newer stuff that has been published since I got the old one 10+ years ago or so. I like multiples, a house fire won't destroy my library. Carla Emorie's homesteading book, google the name and yeah I probably spelled it wrong but should come up. Lots of info. I have a huge library, a literal ton of books probably but down from a few tons last time I changed states. We have a reading section with a bunch of pdf stuff in this section of the website as well. I like to read for entertainment. The mother earth news stuff and backwoods home magazine are educational and entertaining. I don't know how much the foxfire really helped me with projects, but it does get accross a certain attitude of make due with what you have. |