
LAND BUYING

Last Friday, we closed on 47 acres next to the 400 acre farm
where we have rented a house and barn for the last 9  years.
The  land is timber-land that has been clear-cut and burned,
so it's hideous to look at right now, except  everything  is
finally  starting  to green up. It has a creek running right
down the middle, joining a larger creek at the back  of  the
property.  We  have a beaver pond that covers about an acre,
with herons, ducks, and geese. There are plenty  of  turkey,
deer,  quail,  and  rabbits. The property fronts on a gravel
road and we plan initially to build a riding ring  and  make
pasture from several acres. Yeah, there are a lot of stumps,
mostly pine and they are actually rotting away pretty  fast,
but  we  will  need  to bulldoze. I have been spending every
morning seeding an acre before I go to  work.  Weekends  are
spent dragging brush to burn piles. There is probably enough
oak on the ground for a couple of winters firewood--6-8 inch
diameter stuff that you don't have to cut.

We  bought  the  land from a timber company and must replant
some of the acreage that  we  don't  make  in  pasture  with
timber. I thought I would share some of what we went through
for those of you contemplating such a venture (and it  ain't
over yet). We made an offer last year, but the price was too
high and it had not been cut yet. They cut it and we decided
to make another offer last summer while we were on vacation.
When we came back, it had been burned and looked  awful.  We
made  an offer anyway in the fall, and it was accepted. Then
we looked for financing. Banks wanted a lot of cash down--50
percent.  We  eventually  financed  through a farm financing
company. They were great to deal with and approved our  loan
in  10  days  which  I  thought  was  a  record. Then we got
ourselves a lawyer which is required in Virginia. We lost  a
little momentum at this point which was almost our undoing.

We  wanted  to  make sure that the land would perc before we
bought it. This is where all the  catch-22's  in  the  world
came in. Our choices were to have the county do it or hire a
soil consultant. If the county did  it,  we  would  have  to
submit  a  site  plan,  tell how many baths, residents, etc,
apply for a building permit which would be good for 2  years
and  pay  the  accompanying  fees. We were(are)still arguing
over where to place the house. The soil consultant would  be
a   little  more  expensive  and  we  would  still  have  to
eventually jump through all the other county hoops.  But  we
decided  to do the soil consultant since we had no idea of a
site plan.

Our lawyer had recommended that we do the  soil  test  first
before  we  did  any surveying since we wouldn't have to pay
for the survey if the land didn't perc.  Sounded  like  good
advice, but the soil guy took longer than the finance folks.
In retrospect, be should  have  gone  ahead  and  done  them
concurrently.  The  soil  perc'ed  fine.  So we lined up the
surveyor. We chose the one who thought he could  give  us  a
better price since he could use an existing boundary without
charging  us  to  survey  that  side.  With  winter  weather
conditions,  it  took longer than the thought. We knew where
we wanted the lines but had only an  estimate  of  how  many
acres that would be. We had estimated 40 and it came out 47.
The surveyor was good about giving advice about how far  off
the  road  to  make the line, and he actually talked us into
buying past the back creek so we would have control over it.

Well, in the meantime, the lawyer should have been doing the
title  search.  Not. He waited to get the survey and we were
days away from the expiration of our loan agreement and  the
interest  rate  had  gone up almost a point and we had spent
almost $1000 in loan origination fees, so we  couldn't  miss
that  deadline.  We  arranged  to  close on April 5. My wife
called the lawyer to see if  everything  was  in  order  and
talked  to  his  assistant  who read over the deed stuff and
informed us that the sellers did not own the mineral rights.
Whoa.  Who  wants  to  buy  land  that can be dug up by some
stranger and it was a possibility  since  there  are  strong
vermiculite  veins  within  10 miles. We put them to work to
find out about acquiring the mineral rights. Well  it  turns
out  that they had actually conveyed to the owner at a later
date (isn't that what title searches are for?).  So  we  got
over  that  hump, but when our lawyer contacted the seller's
attorneys (corporate folks so we call them attorneys),  they
needed an approved copy of the plat with the blessing of our
planning commission for subdividing. So scratch the  closing
date.  The  deadline  for  the  financing was 5 days away on
April 8.

That's when my  wife  got  on  the  phone  to  the  seller's
attorney's  assistant  (the  assistants do all the work) and
talked to her real nice and got her to move things along  as
fast  as  possible.  The  last  hurdle  was a signature by a
corporate executive in Connecticut (we were in Virginia).  I
was ready to hop in the car on Wed and drive to Conn, but it
turns out that he was coming to Richmond  on  Thursday.  So,
somehow  he  showed up and the document got signed. We spent
Friday afternoon at the loan company, so now  it's  ours(and
theirs).

Now  all we have to do is driveway, septic, utilities, barn,
house. What have we gotten into?


LAND BUYING

Last Friday, we closed on 47 acres next to the 400 acre farm
where we have rented a house and barn for the last 9 years.

Congrats!

seeding  an  acre  before  I  go to work. Weekends are spent
dragging brush to burn piles. There is probably  enough  oak
on  the  ground  for  a couple of winters firewood--6-8 inch
diameter stuff that you don't have to cut.

Get it cut now and  stacked  dry.  Don't  underestimate  the
smaller  2-3  inch  stuff,  particularly  since  its oak and
hickory (I'm assuming the latter), this stuff cuts  up  into
manageable  pieces  with  a  bow saw, then you can cut it at
your leisure later. Since I'm assuming you won't  have  much
firewood  after  your  initial gathering, figure on seven to
ten years before any trees you are planting  now  will  need
culling.  Unless you have a steady dependable supply, you'll
want to make what you have last.


we wanted the lines but had only an  estimate  of  how  many
acres that would be. We had estimated 40 and it came out 47.
The surveyor was good about giving advice about how far  off
the  road  to  make the line, and he actually talked us into
buying past the back creek so we would have control over it.

This was very good advice, lucky for you you got it and took
it.  Now  all  we have to do is driveway, septic, utilities,
barn, house. What have we gotten into?

Snrk.  Snort.  Guffaw.

Oh hell, oh, two, three  lifetimes  of  never  ending  work.
It'll  kill  you  one way or another. The difference is what
you make of it, will you die happy or miserable?

Seriously, I hope you are happy  with  your  new  place  and
it'll  be  interesting  to  hear the further details of your
experiences as they happen.
