Got to love developments in rural areas

[dstig1]

My situation is a bit weird. We snagged 19 acres very (very) close to town, that had been proposed for a slew of condos. The township rejected it for various reasons, developer got foreclosed on, and we lucked out with the timing of our lowball offer to the bank who now reluctantly owned it.

Fully forested, nice creek running through the back half, backs up to 500 more acres of undeveloped land. But only 1 mile from the city. We hear several emergency sirens every day. Soon warm weather will mean I hear all the car-stereo subwoofers blasting again, the motorcycles racing, and those honda goldwing guys with the SUPER loud stereos playing.

But last night, I covered the evening farm chores for my nieghbors who are on vacation. We had to get the ducks and chickens into their coops, make sure the goats and rabbits had feed and water, and let their australian shepherd out to pee. As the Amtrak train came through town honking, it riled up the local coyote pack (often 15-20+ dogs) who all sang back at it - couldn't have been more than 500 or 600 feet away back in the deeper forest. More deer than you can count. My wife went exploring through the brush with my son and they spooked a flock of 40+ turkeys.

It's like living in the city and the country all at once. The night sky is rarely clear enough for many stars (generally has to be quite cold and dry). But we have a major hospital 4 miles away (and 3 more not much further), dozens of restaurants, shops, etc... Good and bad.

That is good for now, but eventually the town will expand outward and also your taxes will skyrocket as your land becomes close-in and more valuable. I've seen it plenty of times around here. The taxes get so high that the owners who have been there possibly even generations can no longer afford them, so they sell to some developer and get a monster amount of money for their land but can't stay. Enjoy it while you can, and hopefully it holds out long enough for you to get what you want out of it.

 

[3gunr]

I have lived for the last 32 yrs in the middle of a family farm , my friend and neighbor bought homes from two sisters who had decided to move away , the brother passed some yrs ago leaving the rest of the land to him, He unfortunantly owed poeple money and sold to a builder , i now have 80 homes going in front of my house that was a cornfield, Im sick , Nothin you can do, I would move but wife wont leave our daughter and grandkids who live just up the road.

 

[rScotty]

That is good for now, but eventually the town will expand outward and also your taxes will skyrocket as your land becomes close-in and more valuable. I've seen it plenty of times around here. The taxes get so high that the owners who have been there possibly even generations can no longer afford them, so they sell to some developer and get a monster amount of money for their land but can't stay. Enjoy it while you can, and hopefully it holds out long enough for you to get what you want out of it.

That's true in the East and MidWest I guess where most of the undeveloped land is privately owned. A lot of Westerners can't understand the problem until we go there and see it for ourself. We are used to more USFS and BLM public land.
rScotty

 

[JethroB]

I once saw a nice large sign placed directly across from the entrance/exit to a rural upscale housing developement in its early stages:

NOTICE: You have entered an agricultural area that includes the production of cattle, poultry, and other livestock. Be advised that the nature of these endeavors produces odors and attracts insects which cannot be be confined to a property. One should consider this carefully before engaging in activities in this area.

The sign was put up by the farmer on his land that bordered three sides of the development.

 

[m1garand762]

When the farm at the end of our road went for sale a few years ago it was divided into several lots and many developers were looking at it. The day it went for sale I placed an offer on and was accepted for the center lot that bisected the farm. The ball was now in my court and I told the developers it was a 10 figure price tag for my property. No other lots were sold. Fast forward 3 years I got the rest of the farm for next to nothing. My sister is doing the same thing on the other side of the township.

 

[Oldstuff]

M1 garand- I do not understand how your purchase of 1 lot affected the developement from selling lots and building homes? Is it because you could use that lot for an entry/exit from you land and they would find that oblectionable?

Oldstuff

 

[deezler]

That is good for now, but eventually the town will expand outward and also your taxes will skyrocket as your land becomes close-in and more valuable. I've seen it plenty of times around here. The taxes get so high that the owners who have been there possibly even generations can no longer afford them, so they sell to some developer and get a monster amount of money for their land but can't stay. Enjoy it while you can, and hopefully it holds out long enough for you to get what you want out of it.

Yes is definitely part of the long-term consideration. My plan is basically to just have enough money to never sweat the rising property taxes. I sold 10 of my acres to friends in 3 and 7 acre chunks, leaving me with just under 10 myself. And another buddy bought 11 more acres directly south of us. I convinced the county to buy the 50 acres behind all of us for a nature preserve; that probably doesn't help my tax situation long-term, but its definitely better than a 100 unit subdivision.

Here's the good news: property tax increases are capped at 3% per year in Michigan, if, IF, you don't do anything drastic to the property that would trigger a full re-assessment. So any further improvements I do to my house and property will be without permits, or else I'm kinda f^&*d.

 

[deezler]

M1 garand- I do not understand how your purchase of 1 lot affected the developement from selling lots and building homes? Is it because you could use that lot for an entry/exit from you land and they would find that oblectionable?

Oldstuff

It's probably because a developer would need to buy all the available, contiguous lots in order to apply for re-zoning as a full subdivision style development, in order to make it worth their while.

 

[TheMan419]

It's interesting in that as we're just hitting our 60's, we're thinking of now moving out further, to our property towards North Liberty, or, perhaps a lake house somewhere. My in-laws live west of town towards Crumstown. Always have had good emergency response over there. 3 miles past Mayflower.

We have a friend that's had two major heart attacks. The last one, (I may have told this story already) he was playing golf with a guy half his age. Last thing he remembers was walking up to the ball on one of the greens. Next thing, he wakes up in the hospital. Apparently, he had his 2nd major heart attack right on a green. Fortunately the guy half his age was a cardiologist and did CPR on him for about 15 minutes and saved his life. Very lucky.

Did you know an AED (Automated External Defibrillator ) costs less than $2K? Might be something to consider having around the homestead.

Don't know how much an internal one (ICD) costs. I do know our elderly neighbor had one implanted and it saved him half a dozen times. My young neighbor saw the old neighbor with his car stuck in the snow, shoveling away. So he stopped by and offered to shovel it out. Old guy said "Thanks, I think my defibrillator just went off." Young guy laughed. Old guy keeled over right in front of him.

Young guy calls 911. Before the fire department got there, the old guy was already talking to us. (I'd run out there when I saw them talking, looked away, and saw the old dude on the ground). We told him the ambulance was coming and he said "OK." When they got there, they were gonna put the old guy on a gurney, but he got up and started walking to his house. They convinced him to turn around and walk to the ambulance and took him in for observation. Tough old dude.

Anyhow, always something to think about.

Oh def had long conversations with my cardio team about an ICD. Risks for me outweigh the benefits. I have no heart damage from the event. My ejection fraction (the measure of heart health) is well within the normal range. For the ICD they have to insert a couple wires directly into your heart. Risks of infection, wire breakage and all kinds of stuff that I don't need.

My dr said since my EF is so high the risk of my having another arrest are so minimal that it is not even worth thinking about. Though I do have designs on purchase of an AED.

 

[TheMan419]

Try being on the other end of the phone. We have five deputies. Total. Day shift had one on duty, afternoons usually two. They staggered shifts all week. Most nights, no deputy between midnight and 8AM. Usually no troopers either. I'd get that call at 3AM of somebody beating on a door, or an accident with injuries, or a fight, a couple of times a shooting.

I'd have to call a deputy at home, wake them up, give them the info by phone, wait for them to get dressed, in the car and on the way. THEN there was the drive time which could easily be 45 minutes or more even at high speed, lights and siren. If for whatever reason, I didn't have a deputy on call, I'd have to call state, relay it all to them and THEY would often have to call a trooper at home. On fights, domestics, etc., EMS would roll and stage down the road from the scene, but would not approach until a deputy or trooper arrived.

230AM, phone rings, guy screaming his house is on fire and his kids are trapped inside. I hit the tones, make the announcement and wait. Wait. Wait .... did the tones go out? Did anybody hear the page ....? Do I need to re-page? Aha ... finally, somebody keys up and says page received, on the way. Then the whole get dressed, get the vehicle started, drive to the station, get the trucks started ...

There I sit twiddling my thumbs ....







We called 'em 'Foundation Fire Departments'.

Having pulled a gun on someone thought to be breaking into the house..... I'd much rather have been in the 911 call center nice and safe! I am sure my wife would have rather been there in the 911 center rather than watching me die.