Cost of owning land...

I will admit it's enough to keep me from adding up totals. I don't want to know. Taxes are a must but everything I spend from tractors and excavator to the food plot seed and then there's the time. Time is money too.
 
Just answer the question about your spending.
I’ve bought a piece of equipment each year since owning land…shes well aware of those costs unfortunately!
 
I've accumulated allot of implements, and tools for my land project and a nice cab tractor. I would imagine I got $50 K of tractor implements and tools. I believe I could recapture those dollars if I were to sell them again.....but you do lose the opportunity cost by owning such stuff. 50k at an 8% return means that I have a $4000 cost of posessition.....as well as my shop, and cabin buildings and other improvements over the past 15 years. Like GRID POWER! OTOH....those improvements and buildings have value too.....and they likely reduce the "oportuntiy cost" to a great extent and add to my enjoyment.

Mostly I"m too old to do this chit by hand and I like having this silly hobby and operating the 'chinery in an air conditioned / bug proof environment. I do not think you can "justify" many of the things we do. It feels like the right thing...given my circumstances and ability. <----I think that becomes the determining factor. I did not spend on thsse things early in life....as I had other obligations that seemed more pressing in those times.. We all gotta judge that one for ourselves.
 
I've accumulated allot of implements, and tools for my land project and a nice cab tractor. I would imagine I got $50 K of tractor implements and tools. I believe I could recapture those dollars if I were to sell them again.....but you do lose the opportunity cost by owning such stuff. 50k at an 8% return means that I have a $4000 cost of posessition.....as well as my shop, and cabin buildings and other improvements over the past 15 years. Like GRID POWER! OTOH....those improvements and buildings have value too.....and they likely reduce the "oportuntiy cost" to a great extent and add to my enjoyment.

Mostly I"m too old to do this chit by hand and I like having this silly hobby and operating the 'chinery in an air conditioned / bug proof environment. I do not think you can "justify" many of the things we do. It feels like the right thing...given my circumstances and ability. <----I think that becomes the determining factor. I did not spend on thsse things early in life....as I had other obligations that seemed more pressing in those times.. We all gotta judge that one for ourselves.

I just got the bug free air conditioned tractor last spring. Can’t believe I spent 16 years getting sun burnt and covered in dust, sweat and sprayer drift.

Guess I’m a slow learner…
 
I just got the bug free air conditioned tractor last spring. Can’t believe I spent 16 years getting sun burnt and covered in dust, sweat and sprayer drift.

Guess I’m a slow learner…
I got one too…and now the ac doesn’t work. Don’t tell my wife it will cost more to fix it.
 
Great question - for me time is the biggest cost or benefit depending on how you look at it. For me the time spent is a benefit but I’m only an hour’s drive from my property so I get to take several trips a month out to do whatever I need or want to do. The biggest cost these days honestly is gas in my truck to get there. once you have most of the tools and equipment you need the only real expense is food plots necessities, at least for me. Our place is small and paid for and the taxes are very minimal. We also don’t have any structures that need maintaining or utilities to be paid which I’m sure for many is a large expense.
 
You can have food plots or a new corvette. Pick your poison😂😂😂

Did you know that you need a grapple for food plots? I didn’t either but by god I have one!!!!😂😂😂😂

It’s easy to go overboard. That’s mostly what I learned so far.
 
Last edited:
Did you know that you need a grapple for food plots? I didn’t either but by god I have one!!!!😂😂😂😂

See you are starting at the bottom of the learning curve ... just wait. Hours on a tractor is very inspiring as to what you need. Coming here is like having beer at an AA meeting 😉😁
 
I'm about 5/6 years in and every year there has been something "needed" that is a bit bigger than just seed/chemicals. Bigger items include: went from ATV to UTV, shipping container to store it, tow behind brush mower, sprayers, culti-packers, upgraded from a old camper to a "tiny home/shack". I'm guessing this all averages out to about 10K+ per year on average. This is in addition to all the smaller items (saws, trimmers, post hole diggers etc) and stuff like additional cameras, cellular plans, trees, seed, chemicals, driving etc prob are about 1K to 2K a year for me? Better not to think about it!
This is exactly what I'm talking about. Sounds just like my situation. I didn't even consider the property taxes in my calculations.
 
You can have food plots or a new corvette. Pick your poison😂😂😂

Did you know that you need a grapple for food plots? I didn’t either but by god I have one!!!!😂😂😂😂

It’s easy to go overboard. That’s mostly what I learned so far.
A grapple for food plots? That’s silly. 😂. I did the same thing 2 years ago.

I bought my 66” grapple from Jenkins iron and steel in MN. Awesome bulletproof attachments!

I’m probably spending between 3-6k a year on habitat improvements. That includes tons and tons of pelletized lime, fertilizer, herbicides, seed, fuel, trees, fencing, etc. If I had to put a number on my man hours for building acres of food plots out of forest and building miles of roads and access trails and planting hundreds of trees, I really don’t want to know! I live 40 miles from my 120 acres so I’m there at least once a week. It’s where I go to get my mind right and honestly 8 hours of hard work on my land rejuvenates my mind and body.
 
Ufda! The county must have figured out the value of my solar system.

Property taxes jumped up 17% this year.

Just cause you got a new Toro 32" mower and landscaping around your outhouse, people think you got money.

#Let'sGoPowell
 
But land is such a great investment!

…Only in my sanity!
 
Land is an addiction. If it touches you then you want it. 213 acre tract just went on the market that joins me at the farm. I'm plotting and scheming right now to try and figure out how I can pull that off.

Neighbor here on our homestead in an adjoining county just divided his 30 acre tract that joins me in to two 15 acre tracts. Plotting and scheming on that one as I'd like to be able to sit on back porch and enjoy the current view of pasture and cattle instead of 2 or 3 homes.

Don't even want to think about what the actual cost is at the farm when factoring in all expenses including taxes. Soon to be 67 and never have I owned anything more rewarding that land ownership. And...it does appreciate in value over time with the bonus of getting to enjoy it with family and friends.
 
Land is an addiction. If it touches you then you want it. 213 acre tract just went on the market that joins me at the farm. I'm plotting and scheming right now to try and figure out how I can pull that off.

Neighbor here on our homestead in an adjoining county just divided his 30 acre tract that joins me in to two 15 acre tracts. Plotting and scheming on that one as I'd like to be able to sit on back porch and enjoy the current view of pasture and cattle instead of 2 or 3 homes.

Don't even want to think about what the actual cost is at the farm when factoring in all expenses including taxes. Soon to be 67 and never have I owned anything more rewarding that land ownership. And...it does appreciate in value over time with the bonus of getting to enjoy it with family and friends.
I'm willing to wager 10 to 1....that if you pass by an opportunity to own that land.....you will kick yourself 20 years later. Especially if you live there. Of course, you gotta have 20 years left on your clock too.....and the ability to own the land. I sure wish I had bought more land 15 years ago. Then too.....I'm glad to own what I do. Hard to find balance sometimes.

My deer property is only 20 minutes from my home....which is really nice for day long or 1/2 day projects.
 
Top