Retirement Land

[laurence]

Shootin' from the porch and relieving oneself outside the front door, Ol_Rancher, you live in my version of heaven, unfortunately, any discussion of moving with DW involves, "but will my mother move there?".

One time I went hiking in back of my parents property in Colorado, crossed a line I didn't see, all of a sudden two atv's started racing towards me from a ranch house in the distance, as they got closer I saw the riders had hunting rifles strapped on back. In my limited 15 year old life I decided standing perfectly still was my best option at that point. Once the two arrived, a couple in their 50's, the mood quickly switched from tense to friendly as they saw I was a kid and I explained my "Maw and Paw" owned the land right behind me, and I didn't mean to trespass. Still, it's just plain different when you're living in a rural setting. Imagine packing when you answer the door for a salesman in suburbia!

Th, one a-hole neighbor is so true. I have 4 people I share a property line with, and only one was a problem, but it really stressed me out to the point of considering moving. They got a divorce and new neighbors moved in. Now I'm in heaven. I hope I never lose my current neighbors, I couldn't be luckier!

 

[Mr._johngalt]

So land size may help.  But one a-hole neighbor can ruin things for you regardless of how far they are away.

I agree! Happily I have excellent neighbors and so do they.
Everyone is content.

JG

 

[Mr._johngalt]

  Of course the minimum privacy test is if you can shoot guns off your porch and/or choose to use the land outside your front door to relieve yourself.

Yeehaw

I can do (have done) both. Guess I pass the "privacy test"

JG

 

[HFWR]

My little house in the 'burbs is fairly quiet, neighbors ok, although the guy on one side of me has a bumper crop of crabgrass.

I enjoy some privacy, but I'm not moving to the middle of nowhere to be "alone"; I like people... (in small doses!!)

As far as shooting guns, just firing willy-nilly in any random direction is kinda stupid and dangerous. Like all the FIs who shoot up in the air to "celebrate"...

Don't they know those slugs gotta come down somewhere...

 

[Lazarus]

No matter how nice the neighbors I wouldn't want them 20 feet away like I live now. In many rural areas there is a minimum amount of land required for septic tanks. In the area I am looking in it is 3 acres. Good rule, l lived on an acre once and the neighbors septic tank left a lot to be desired. I am thinking in the range of 5 to 20 acres would be about right. More would be better, but I don't want to tie up a lot in land. Of course 100 might not be enough if they put in a pig farm next to you. I wouldn't want to be so rural that it took an hour to get to the store. But 20 miles out of town in a rural area is 20 min. driving. Faster than I make it in the heavy traffic where I live.

 

[Lazarus]

Made an offer on a piece of land this week. Then found there were restrictions even though it was in the country. For example you have to build a 2,000 sq ft house or greater. The developer has the right to approve your plans. The “developer”, is just a family that sold some farm land and don’t want anything they don’t like built next to them. I withdrew my offer.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Made an offer on a piece of land this week. Then found there were restrictions even though it was in the country. For example you have to build a 2,000 sq ft house or greater. The developer has the right to approve your plans. The “developer”, is just a family that sold some farm land and don’t want anything they don’t like built next to them. I withdrew my offer.

Wise move.

JG

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Made an offer on a piece of land this week. Then found there were restrictions even though it was in the country. For example you have to build a 2,000 sq ft house or greater. The developer has the right to approve your plans. The “developer”, is just a family that sold some farm land and don’t want anything they don’t like built next to them. I withdrew my offer.

We are very outdoorsy and I have owned a lot of real estate. I tended to get
emotionally attached to my RE investments which the experts would tell you is not good. Anyway, I have owned some beautiful pieces of property over the years and looking back now I can see that I could have held on instead of
cashing out. Don't have many regrets but that is one.

JG

 

[Sillysal]

Another thing to think about is who will build it, for how much, and how fast. Where I live, there are a dozen or so general contractors that give so much business to the subs, that subs always do what those contractors want when they want it. And the contractors generally work in only particular developments. Thus, when someone buys some out-of-the way acreage, they can't get one of the "main" contractors to come out there, and the owner tries to be GC. Then it can take two to three times longer than normal at much greater expense to get the house built, because subs are loyal first to those other GCs.

Also, if you might want to sell the land in the future, pay special attention to zoning. Here, land zoned agricultural that is less than 5 acres can't be subdivided. So, you would generally go for the 5.1 acres over the 4.9 acres, other things being relatively equal.

 

[Lazarus]

In that area you have to have 3 acres for a septic system. I expect it to be raised to 5 acres eventually. So I would not consider less than 5. Many of the people in the country are opting for manufactured housing which helps with the contractor issues. The manufacutred housing on a basement looks like a house. Even has an attached garage. The land I was looking at was restricted to stick bult also.

 

[Lazarus]

Update to an old thread. Bought some land a little over 4 acres, soon found out the county was considering increasing the land requirement to 5 acres for a septic tank permit. The land owner was willing to sell me some more in order to bring it up to 5 acres. I am in the process of closing on the additional acreage. Looking at this old thread made me somewhat amazed thinking of 600K properties mentioned on this thread. I will have about 15K in the raw land when I finish. Electricity, water, phone and road access are all there. No cell phone, too far out now. Don’t know what I will do about internet access. Possibly satellite. No one near me except one guy who doesn’t use electricity! About 16 miles from the nearest small town. Population about 10K. Where I grew up. Not everyone’s idea of a great retirement spot. Which is just perfect for me. Don’t want a place that will become overrun by people during my retirement.

 

[W2R]

Sounds great! What a deal, and it sounds great for an early retirement.

When you grow older, do you think you may want to move closer to hospitals and other conveniences?

 

[Lazarus]

Yea, That could be a problem. About a 100 miles or so to a major city. (Kansas City), I have had this discussion many times with frends. I say you might as well move into the Nursing Home as soon as your retire! I don't know how may years of health I will have but there are many farmers in their 70's working harder than I will. Don't be old before your time!

 

[W2R]

Yea, That could be a problem. About a 100 miles or so to a major city. (Kansas City), I have had this discussion many times with frends. I say you might as well move into the Nursing Home as soon as your retire! I don't know how may years of health I will have but there are many farmers in their 70's working harder than I will. Don't be old before your time!

Good point! If and when your health begins to fail, you can start thinking about an alternate plan. And who knows? Like the health of those farmers, it might not fail for a long, long time.