Tips for buying raw land.

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Andres Velez

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Joined
Jan 8, 2020
Messages
3
Location
Oakland, California
Im new to this homesteading. Currently Im driving around different rural area in California looking at raw land for sale. Im curious as to what to look for. Pro and cons of buying raw land.
Can you offer a cash payment thats 70% of the value?
Hoping to start that discussion or join an exiting discussion on this topic.
 
There are some things you need to find out about raw land before you do anything else about it.
1. Look at the county and city's long term expansion plans and how it might affect the property.
2. rights of way - Are there any? If yes how does it affect your plans?
3. Are any portions of the land leased? Are they negotiable?
4. Zoning -what are the limitations of zoning on the property?
5 Wetlands - are there any? how much area do they cover? can you recover the land or is it a protected wetland?
6. Do you have any water rights? Is there a working well for potable water? If not can one be drilled?
7. Easements - are there any? Are they leased? Are they negotiable? Do they give right of way to the public?
8. Are there fences along the property line? If so who is responsible for them?

Those are some of the top questions that you should get hard written answers to. A real estate lawyer can save you a lot of money and even more heartache when looking for property.
Remember that real estate agents ALWAYS work for the seller unless you have a specific contract that overrides that rule - a lawyer is a lot less expensive.
 
Water, water, water.

Hundreds have been killed over this simple material/commodity. Is there a water source for you should power go out? Lack of water will kill you faster than no food etc.
 
Currently Im driving around different rural area in California looking at raw land for sale. Im curious as to what to look for.

A different STATE.......
 
thank you. some stuff I knew, but some new tips I haven't though of.
I'm sure another state will have less restrictions and cheaper property tax.
I've also been looking at parts of oregon and washington. I heard about klamath county but there water apparently has high levels of arsenic.
How easy is it to take well water and turn it into potable water?
Maybe finding a place with a natural spring is better. I've just lived on land near rivers and creeks and delt with ridiculous flooding
 
You would need to get the well water tested to see what if anything needs to be removed and use the appropriate filters. On both of our wells we only need sediment filters. Springs are no better and can be worse due to surface contamination.
 
Find a local real estate agent with a land consultant designation. You can go to RLI (realtors land institute) to find one in your area.

A cash offer is not as advantageous as people think. Yes, it has a quicker closing and less closing costs (for the buyer generally) but the seller gets paid the same whether from a lending institution or someone's bank account.

I do land real estate in the southeast and will try to answer any questions you have but very different market in Cali as opposed to the southeast so I recommend getting a local expert.

No skin off your back to use an agent as the seller pays the fees if they are listed with an agent already. You an run into issues if it's a for sale by owner but I find 95% of the time it's a a for sale by owner it's because the property is heavily overpriced.

Good luck ad I 3rd the "look outside of California sentiment. Those taxes are killer. Especially if you are buying close to state line where a couple miles away taxes are much lower. You'll never sell it if you have to.
 
Thank you all for the tips and this new information.

As Im visiting land in the foothills of the sierras (California) and talking to land owners and agents, its becoming more and more clear that Ill be spending tens of thousands on building permits and keeping within local county regulations.

I am officially moving my search to Oregon and other surrounding states.
If the people in this community are willing to share some more insight as to which states/counties/communities are more suitable to my needs.
  • Raw land
  • Off grid sustainable living
  • small modular living units
  • solar powered
  • composting toilets
  • well/spring water system
  • nice neighbors
Thank you for your time.

P.S. I work seasonally from April to October so during these colder months I am completely free to drive all over the west and southwest to look at land. (not a humble brag, just expressing my availability and willingness to physically look at land)
 
Property taxes vary greatly between counties in the same state. Same with restrictions on land and building. In some places off-grid living is not allowed.
Water is the key issue everywhere. Most well water is potable right out of the well. Most county websites allow you to see what the actual taxes are for similar properties in your area. Also many county websites have vast information about all wells in the county. Often you can see well size, depth, static water level, pump rate, and other very valuable information.
If you find a property and decide to make an offer, before doing so I would visit your potential neighbors first. Neighbors can make or break a place. Yes they make that much difference. They also have information that would be valuable to you, things like whether that piece of land floods or that the county is planning on making a landfill next door to the property, or other info.
I could live anywhere and I picked Arizona. I have lived in two way different spots in this state and liked them both. Arizona offers hot low desert areas or very high cool/cold well forested areas along with everything in between. Many homes are off-grid in Arizona. In many areas wells are a sure thing (and in some areas wells are impossible).
 
thank you. some stuff I knew, but some new tips I haven't though of.
I'm sure another state will have less restrictions and cheaper property tax.
I've also been looking at parts of oregon and washington. I heard about klamath county but there water apparently has high levels of arsenic.
How easy is it to take well water and turn it into potable water?
Maybe finding a place with a natural spring is better. I've just lived on land near rivers and creeks and delt with ridiculous flooding
It just so happens that my wife and I saw the results of living near rivers and creeks when we lived in Colorado and we vowed to never live in low lands where that can happen. When we bought our property here in Oregon, our building place is well up from the local creek and even if the county road gets flooded we'll be safe. We had water here from a spring that was crudely developed, but due to design flaws from the former owner, occasionally large green larva would get stuck in the pressure reducing valve coming into our little trailer, this was because the spring water storage was two 30 gallon galvanized trash cans buried in the ground that were lined with plastic trash can bags. Anyway, I redesigned the whole system and it no longer gets bugs in the line, the only thing I've run across is small freshwater scrimp and that is rather unusual considering the spring pick up is under ground and the storage cistern is covered and screened. Underground lake somewhere in the mountain behind us? Who knows, the scrimp doesn't bother us, it's probably an indicator that our water is pure enough for those creatures to survive. As others have mentioned, water, water, water, the ability to do anything you want to do, defined property lines (survey markers that you can find), an area that you can plant gardens and probably more important than you think, good neighbors. We have great neighbors, we all look out for one an other and they understand how important it is to be well armed. This is not a good area for bad actors! I've had friends that had nightmare neighbors and it just isn't healthy.
 
Im new to this homesteading. Currently Im driving around different rural area in California looking at raw land for sale. Im curious as to what to look for. Pro and cons of buying raw land.
Can you offer a cash payment thats 70% of the value?
Hoping to start that discussion or join an exiting discussion on this topic.


High and dry! We bought a place in Ga. and out horse and donkey were up to their knees in mud.
 
Try a neighboring state!
Seriously, the taxes in California will eat you alive and the land will cost at least twice as much!
 
Thank you all for the tips and this new information.

As Im visiting land in the foothills of the sierras (California) and talking to land owners and agents, its becoming more and more clear that Ill be spending tens of thousands on building permits and keeping within local county regulations.

I am officially moving my search to Oregon and other surrounding states.
If the people in this community are willing to share some more insight as to which states/counties/communities are more suitable to my needs.
  • Raw land
  • Off grid sustainable living
  • small modular living units
  • solar powered
  • composting toilets
  • well/spring water system
  • nice neighbors
Thank you for your time.

P.S. I work seasonally from April to October so during these colder months I am completely free to drive all over the west and southwest to look at land. (not a humble brag, just expressing my availability and willingness to physically look at land)
Some counties don't allow permanent living structures or residence "off grid". I was going to suggest starting with your desires which you just listed. Then as you find potential properties, you might inquire a little more as to the local laws. Would be awful to get a place and be forced to run power lines in order to live on the land. Also, we actually prefer for sale by owner listings though I know many don't - much less run-around.
 
Hire a good real estate lawyer. They will easily save you more money than they cost and it takes all of the guesswork out of buying property. He/she will know what questions to ask and what good answers are. He can make sure you don't end up with land that you can't use.
 
Well I would tend to agree Chelsie, as long as it meets the requirements. Will the soil support the structure, will it perk, and is water available / can you put in a well?
I would add air and mineral rights but not everyone cares about those two items.
 
My brother moved to OR. It is against the law to catch rain water, create a pond, or otherwise slow water to the ocean. Those three costal States (CA,OR,WA)are run by socialists. That means high taxes and way too much government control for me. If you're a democrat ignore my suggestion, all three are nice places. I have people I care about in all three.

Welcome!
 
Buying uncultivated land can be a great investment in building a home or business.
However, several special considerations and concerns when buying land need to be addressed before, during, and after buying your property. Take the proper precautions and consult with the right lawyers and professionals. You can greatly reduce the risks and increase the return on your undeveloped land transaction. After all, we all understand that one of the most important aspects is the cost to build. Your budget will need to include money for several steps that most other land and home purchases do not and the total cost of buying land.
 
Here is our experience: we wanted to buy raw land ( lived in Orlando before) and looked in 4 States we like ( NC, VA, Maine and Vermont) , ended up buying land in SW VIrginia. It had a pond, spring, hay field and woods, and some of it cow pasture. It was a beautiful piece of land.
I kept looking just to see what was out there, and found the property about half hour down the road from the other one with ALL the buildings already on it, house, guest house, barns, shop , goat fencing ( they had dairy goats) for what seemed like a really good price. We went and looked at it. Husband and realtor both said " you want to buy THIS mess??" But I thought it would be great to have everything already at least built. So we checked on how much it would cost to build a house and maybe barn on the other property and it was very expensive. You have to go by ALL the current codes, meaning we would have had to build a raised septic tank near the road as far away from the water as possible. A well drilled would have cost $10,000 , the road was on the bottom on the mountain of course, so internet would not have worked well, our phones didn't work on the bottom, and the flat hay field was on the bottom next to the road and we would have had to build on it. It would have cost WAY more than buying the other property with all the building already on it. So we made an even lower offer on it, and they came back with one we accepted.
We ended up selling the other land

Check the permitting requirements for building in the county you want to buy in. Old building are generally grandfathered in, and you can get away with anything , new buildings not.


Duh....just saw how old this post is...wonder whatever happened to the guy
 

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