Just bought 6 acre of land. Now what???

[OldMcDonald]

My wife and I close in a few weeks on 6 acres of land out in the country.

We've been racking our brains, trying to figure out which direction we go with it.

The first option is having a Barndominium built. That's just gonna depend on the time frame, budget, what the payment will be for the building loan, interest rate , etc......

I'm gonna call a local builder that specializes in them tomorrow and ask a bunch of questions, the process, and see if they can even work with what we want for a budget. (We're cheap as F--- and try to make sure our bills are covered by one income)

The second option is having a double wide on the property. We actually went out this weekend and looked at those. Found a couple we liked.

The third option is to have power, water, and septic dropped on the property. Have a 20x30 shop installed as well as a 16x40 awning and live in an RV

City water is run on the property side of the road. So, all they need to do is tap the line and install the meter.

Power and internet are across the street. So all we need to do his have a pole set.

Land has quite a few mature oaks, but they are spread out comfortably, so land clearing shouldn't be too big of a deal. There's quite a bit of scrub. So I'm considering renting a skid steer with cutter for a weekend and do some bush whacking. Then, take a week off and get a 10,000lb mini excavator with thumb to deal with the trees.

Sold my tractor a couple years ago so I wouldn't have to store it while renting Tractor also was developing issues and I was tired of tracking down parts for a Grey market kubota.

We get in and get settled, I'll go tractor shopping

Here's a couple of pictures. The property line has been staked on the sides. I'll have to get out there with a 300-foot tape, though, to see if the outside of both lots are what's staked. Or if it's just the upper lot.

I have a feeling it's just the upper lot that was staked since the previous owner was planning to build and started the process with septic and water permits.

Ignore my finger in the bottom left of the photo View attachment 785840View attachment 785841

If you were sensible you would have asked yourself "Why would I want to buy land?" Then you would not need to ask the world what to do with it.

It always amazes me the number of people out there who buy land without knowing what it is capable of producing. I retired from farming a couple of years ago after close to 70 years of doing it - initially on my father's smallholding., but latterly 5 farms in 4 different countries, the last being Portugal where land is close to free, but fairly well useless in many cases. People who know no better buy these places of a few acres and think they can live off what it produces. I knew some sad cases, often including children, within a few miles of me, and there must be many more.

Nobody buys a shop, accountancy business, manufacturing unit, etc. without first knowing what they are going to do with the asset. Why do people treat land differently?

 

[ning]

If you were sensible you would have asked yourself "Why would I want to buy land?" Then you would not need to ask the world what to do with it.

It always amazes me the number of people out there who buy land without knowing what it is capable of producing. I retired from farming a couple of years ago after close to 70 years of doing it - initially on my father's smallholding., but latterly 5 farms in 4 different countries, the last being Portugal where land is close to free, but fairly well useless in many cases. People who know no better buy these places of a few acres and think they can live off what it produces. I knew some sad cases, often including children, within a few miles of me, and there must be many more.

Nobody buys a shop, accountancy business, manufacturing unit, etc. without first knowing what they are going to do with the asset. Why do people treat land differently?

Some people just like to live on a bigger piece of land.

At the very least, they want to be out away from the city and have some quiet.

Then, they get to thinking, "besides enjoying being away from all that city stuff, what are some things I could do with this land in particular?"

I've been in that position, and I think it's a very reasonable position. I grew up on 10ac outside a smaller town and on the edge of 25 miles of absolute wilderness with very little else for another 100 miles to the ocean, and even when all you do is have a nice-sized garden, there's just general "country living" to do on that land; it's a way of life even if you're not actively farming it.

Given that this particular forum is "Rural Living" I have to suspect you're familiar with the concept - people don't have to have a particular purpose to appreciate a piece of land, but this fellow is considering what else is possible there.

Dftodd, A+ for wondering. Do nothing but upkeep, or farm it, whatever. Enjoy it!

 

[Dftodd]

Some people just like to live on a bigger piece of land.

At the very least, they want to be out away from the city and have some quiet.

Then, they get to thinking, "besides enjoying being away from all that city stuff, what are some things I could do with this land in particular?"

I've been in that position, and I think it's a very reasonable position. I grew up on 10ac outside a smaller town and on the edge of 25 miles of absolute wilderness with very little else for another 100 miles to the ocean, and even when all you do is have a nice-sized garden, there's just general "country living" to do on that land; it's a way of life even if you're not actively farming it.

Given that this particular forum is "Rural Living" I have to suspect you're familiar with the concept - people don't have to have a particular purpose to appreciate a piece of land, but this fellow is considering what else is possible there.

Dftodd, A+ for wondering. Do nothing but upkeep, or farm it, whatever. Enjoy it!

There's gonna be a large garden in the future. Once we get an area cleared for it. It's slowly coming together. I have septic and other contractors ready to roll. They are just waiting on me to finish clearing.

Hopefully they will be able to start in a couple of weeks.

 

[paulsharvey]

If you were sensible you would have asked yourself "Why would I want to buy land?" Then you would not need to ask the world what to do with it.

It always amazes me the number of people out there who buy land without knowing what it is capable of producing. I retired from farming a couple of years ago after close to 70 years of doing it - initially on my father's smallholding., but latterly 5 farms in 4 different countries, the last being Portugal where land is close to free, but fairly well useless in many cases. People who know no better buy these places of a few acres and think they can live off what it produces. I knew some sad cases, often including children, within a few miles of me, and there must be many more.

Nobody buys a shop, accountancy business, manufacturing unit, etc. without first knowing what they are going to do with the asset. Why do people treat land differently?

6 acres isn't large at all. The neighborhood I live in is 2 and 5 acre pieces; and none would consider 6 or even 20 acres a legit farm. Personally, I have been looking for while for min 5 and more like 20 acres. That's just enough for a garden, some sheds, maybe a small pasture, some hunting, and a shooting range. On the flip side, I work with people who think my 2 acres is a nice sized piece. Heck, from my porch to the neighbors property is only like 40 ft. If someone builds on it, you would literally hear what they are watching on TV... Grow up on 90 acres of mixed timber/grazing, so that influences my thoughts.

Basically I live in a "pee in side yard, shoot in back yard" area; want a "shoot in the front yard, and pee off the roof while doing the helicopter" kinda place
Got a 100 yard range, but it sure would be nice to have 300 or 500 yard rifle range, area for food plots, permanent box blind, ect

 

[Dftodd]

6 acres isn't large at all. The neighborhood I live in is 2 and 5 acre pieces; and none would consider 6 or even 20 acres a legit farm. Personally, I have been looking for while for min 5 and more like 20 acres. That's just enough for a garden, some sheds, maybe a small pasture, some hunting, and a shooting range. On the flip side, I work with people who think my 2 acres is a nice sized piece. Heck, from my porch to the neighbors property is only like 40 ft. If someone builds on it, you would literally hear what they are watching on TV... Grow up on 90 acres of mixed timber/grazing, so that influences my thoughts.

I'm actually not planning on allowing rifle hinting on the property. If one of the kids or grandkids wants to bow hunt, then no big deal and more power to them.

The 4 acre lot behind us sold around the same time we purchased our lot.

Neighbors walking their dogs up and down their driveway that borders our property on the south side. East is the road, a pasture full of cattle and plus us. So that's out.

At some point there will be building going on, on the lot to the west of us.

And homes on the ridge to the north.

I do have a feeling that our pooch will probably make some more friends with the local wildlife. She used to have a deer that would come hang out with her at random times on our last property.

 

[Eagle1]

Really I'm still figuring out what I want to with my 90 once I close the campground. I know the garden will expand, the cattle will gain a lot of ground and I'm sure my wife will find some more critters to add to the farm. Always more plans than time and money, but it is nice to have the space.....
It really helps to own both sides of the road and be surrounded by national forest with thousands of acres of forest, creek and hills.

 

[Dftodd]

Really I'm still figuring out what I want to with my 90 once I close the campground. I know the garden will expand, the cattle will gain a lot of ground and I'm sure my wife will find some more critters to add to the farm. Always more plans than time and money, but it is nice to have the space.....
It really helps to own both sides of the road and be surrounded by national forest with thousands of acres of forest, creek and hills.

That my friend describes how I grew up. Grandparents had 100 acres on top of a mountain in Vermont. Dad had 12 acres across the street.

Closest full time neighbor was a 1/2 mile down the hill at the beginning of the road we lived on.

There were two hunting camps past my grandparents place. One at 1/4 of a mile. The furthest was at 1/2 a mile and was completely off grid.

We were surround by national forest and international paper land.

Hence why I'm looking forward to getting out on our 6 acres and away from the rental neighborhood we are currently in

 

[Torvy]

Funny term 'real farm'. To me a couple of things define it, but others would certainly have other definitions. I think 40 acres is the smallest I would consider a farm. I also figure it is not a farm unless you provide more than half of your sustenance from it (eating directly or selling produce).

 

[Eagle1]

My Farm/Ranch/Campground has provided all our income for 16 years, 95% of all the meat we eat (Beef, venison, rabbit, chicken, turkey) for over 10 years. Our garden is not up to snuff but other thing have been priority. Neither of us as worked another job in 16 years, other than to help another business owner in the area. It also supplies 100% of our heating needs, all water and sewer services. I do have to pay for electric.
I guess I'm no longer a technician but much closer to a farmer.
Really I want to be a homesteader and will be once I grow up.....

We also have ducks, geese and a lot fish in the big pond, but none of that is in my eating wheel house.

 

[paulsharvey]

The acreage doesn't define a farm 100%. With a professional arc green house set up, you can produce more vegetables in 10,000 sq ft then a "dirt farm" can in 2 acres.

In Florida, Bona Fide agricultural property has some size limits, but is primarily defined as a "good faith commercial agricultural use of the land". As in, not subsistence; doesn't necessarily have to turn a profit, but has to generate income. 5 acres of berries might gross more $$$ the 40 acres of corn, ect.

Also, with animals, things like BarntoDoor open some new opportunities for small scale animals. I just picked up $475 of beef from a local farmer.