location,location,location

[sneaky_pete]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( going up to Bastrop this weekend to hopefully buy 20 acres asking price is $2925 per ......it's in the boonies just far enough that we might have to pump in sunlight ....PERFECT! .. 1 lane road with grass growing up in the center in places, nearset phone line post is 2 miles away... couldn't fit me better if I'd ordered it made that way ... 5 - 6 acres of pasture - the rest mixed oak & cedar with just a couple of big pines. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )</font>

Good luck on your purchase, sounds like nice land for a great price. If it makes you feel better, wooded land (mostly Post Oaks) in my area is going for $15-20,000/acre.

 

[mikim]

OK ... so here's the plan ... I buy this 20ac for 3k per acre then move it to your county and sell it for 20k and retire early! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[JerryG]

Mike,
That really does sound like the perfect place.

 

[BigGary]

Well Pete, a house lot (1 ac.) in our area of central MA. brings about $100K. Twenty Ac. of decent land would be in the $250-300k range provided it can't be subdivided for some reason.
Then they build a 3000sq. foot Mcmansion on it (the 1 Ac.)and the taxes are $5-6000/year.
Cool huh! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[JRobyn]

This piece is still for sale next door to me in central TN. Asking price is $98k.

 

[mikim]

It's not quite off grid ... we do have elect ... but it's the last pole .. at the very end of the line ... btw .. we got it. The paperwork is in the title company's office as of noon today. Should close on it by the end of Feb. (my math was off in the previous post though .. it was $2975 per ac. ... it's what I get for trying to work in my head) Here's a quick pic of the entry going into the property. The previous owner used it as a deer lease and cut a drive in just to reach to his deer stand & camp trailer. At the road it's mostly cedar - but in the middle and back are big oaks - a couple of big mesquite and a few pines. Wife says we now have enough land to warrant buying her a Mule like Jim & Kathy have ..... JIM ! .... looks like ya gotta buy another one /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif (she'd like to pick her color) /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jinman]

Very nice! Don't get "locked-in" to the Mule though. There are lots of possibilities and you want to make sure you test them all.

I looked at your cedars and my eyes started burning and I think I'm gonna sneeze. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Just kiddin'. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif I am a little allergic to them. Wait 'til you see my posty-oak woods in April. I have just enough cedar to have something green to look at in the winter. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Purrrrr-fect. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[sneaky_pete]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Wait 'til you see my posty-oak woods in April. I have just enough cedar to have something green to look at in the winter. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Purrrrr-fect. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )</font>

Jim, Do you know what other kinds of trees will grow well in our sandy soil? I too have a ton of Post Oaks, some Water Oaks and elms, but no cedars or much of anything else. I would like to plant some other varieties but the sand the Post Oaks love is too much for a lot of other kinds of trees. My neighbor has tried Magnolias and some others without much sucess. I tried my County Extension Agent but they have no specific advice for sandy soil. Any ideas from your experience?

Pete

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Jim, Do you know what other kinds of trees will grow well in our sandy soil? )</font>

Pete, thinking of my stomach as usual, I'm tempted to say peach trees. Those Parker County peaches are sure good. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

About 10 miles east of me there are lots of native liveoaks, but I have none. In Denton, sycamore trees grow like weeds in sandy soil, but I (thankfully) have none. My girlfriend has red clay down about 3' and then white limestone sand. She has a maple tree that has grown very well. Along creeks and low creek and river bottoms, there are lots of pecan trees. There are also lots of cottonwoods, but they get big and dangerous, plus I hate that springtime cotton. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I like red oaks and pines, but both of those will probably be in stress in our soils. I know this isn't much help, but if you look in old established neighborhoods, you can probably see what trees have survived the best in your area. Those are the ones I'd choose. Crape Myrtles are almost universally a good choice, but they don't make very good shade. I'd still choose them over Bradford Pears for decorative trees just because they bloom in late summer when not much else is blooming.

This ramble hasn't helped much, but it's tough to find a good tree here. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[sneaky_pete]

Thanks for your thoughts. Out here there are mostly Post Oaks and Cedars. I might try some Burr Oaks; I had some of those at my last place (in a different county) and they are very nice trees, great shade, and supposed to be tolerant of soil conditions. I've heard of a nursery in Stephenville that specializes in native trees, so one weekend I might have to make a run down there.

 

[Panache]

Longleaf pine will grow good in sand. There are sources of LL pine. find one similar to your environment. I have to get mountain LL. South of me they use coastal LL. Kind of a different shaped tree but huge cones and fire resistant. I am planting 16 acres of it next winter.

 

[thegreatrandini]

I LIVED OUTSIDE OF COLORADO SPRINGS IN ELBERT COUNTY FOR 5 YRS OR SO 5YRS AGO. WINTERS ARE NOT SHORT. ELEVATION IS OVER 6K EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE EAST OF CS. I THINK IT WAS 1997 WHEN WE HAD A 4 DAY WHITE OUT BLIZZARD 12 FT DRIFTS. YOU COULD GET LOST BETWEEN THE HOUSE AND BARN. 7FT FENCES WERE BURIED. THE HORSES JUST HAD BOWLS OF SNOW TO LIVE IN. ON THE THIRD DAY I CRAWLED OUT AND FOUND THE TWO CALVES.. DUG THEM OUT OF SNOW. DUG THE SHELTER OUT. I DRUG A BALE OF ALFALFA AND MANAGED TO GET THEM A DRINK. ON THAT DAY I COULD SEE 20FT OR SO. I HAD TO CRAWL OVER THE DRIFTS WITH A GRAIN SCOOP USE AS A SNOW SHOE IN ORDER TO NOT BREAK THROUGH THE CRUST. SNOW BLEW IN THE SOFITS OF THE HOUSE AND A LIGHT FIXTURE FILLED WITH WATER. BIG MESS. SOME DAYS IT TOOK ME 2 HRS + ONE WAY 20 MILES TO WORK.. TRAFFIC WAS ALWAYS BAD. YOU GET ALOT OF NICE SUNNY DAYS BUT IT CAN BE NASTY FROM SEPT TO MAY. IT IS NICER TO LIVE AROUND TOPEKA. A DIFFERENT KIND OF PRETTY. IF YOU HAVE BIG BUCKS AND CAN BUILD FIRST CLASS BARNS/ARENAS ETC.. I WOULD SAY CS IS OK IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORK.....

 

[thegreatrandini]

ALSO THE PASURE GRASS IS BROWN MOST OF THE YEAR AROUND CS. MUCH BETTER AROUND HERE.

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I might try some Burr Oaks )</font>

Don't they have acorns the size of golf balls? Oh well, at least you didn't say bois d'arc. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I like Shumard red oaks, but many people like the chinkapin oak. They both will tolerate our soils. Bur oak will too, but I don't want to mow over those gigantic acorns every fall. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif