Neighbor selling his land with cabin!
- Thread starter Bszweda
- Start date
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
It is pretty hard to directly value something like that. Basically it is worth whatever someone is willing to pay. Once place to start might be the tax assessment. With homes in some places assessments are done at 100% of market value based on recent sales. In other places the assessment is a fraction of the selling price of a home. However, the purpose of an assessment is to fairly allocate property taxes based on the relative value between properties. So, it doesn't matter if the assessment is 100% of the market value or 10% as long as my neighbors assessment is the same percentage.
So, once you have the tax assessment for that land with the cabin, try to find a properties that recently sold that are about the same size. Look at their assessed value and compare it to the selling price. It should give you some rough idea. That is at least a starting place.
Thanks,
Jack
So, once you have the tax assessment for that land with the cabin, try to find a properties that recently sold that are about the same size. Look at their assessed value and compare it to the selling price. It should give you some rough idea. That is at least a starting place.
Thanks,
Jack
Bszweda
5 year old buck +
so the land is around 30K and the building another 30ish. I am more concern with what yoder was saying that the cabin is a liability then a benefit. I think the cabin is in pretty decent shape( will confirm when I walk it), and it has electrical and water. How much does 30k get you these days for a building? Its got a lot going for it since its adjoins my property and I currently have been staying at a hotel when hunting.
Bill
Administrator
Not much for $30k depending on size. If it's a pole building it might get you the shell and concrete floor in my area. That's with overhead doors,walk through doors and windows. Just depends on what it is, like Dan said.
From what I'm hearing there may be extra value in it to "you". A place to stay first. And more important in my view, if you own it you control what happens next door.
bueller
Moderator
Exactly! It's not very often that a neighboring parcel goes up for sale. If you want it get an early jump on it before anyone else. If you decide you don't want it cross your fingers that you get decent neighbors when it sells. But be prepared that you might get some real pieces of
.
dsinwi
5 year old buck +
This sounds like something of value to you provided the cabin is in decent shape. I built my shop(stick built) at my home for 20k. 28'x36', concrete floor, power, Anderson windows, double garage door, roofed and sided to match the house. That was just the cost of materials, I didn't pay myself or buddies who helped. That was 10 years ago just to give you some reference.
The asking price on my 40 acres with ~500 SqFt cabin(power,water,septic) was 150k. It was purchased 5 years prior for 99k. Again just to give you reference. Check out the tax sheet on it and go from there. You may be able to figure what the owner purchased it for and determine a price from that, provided it has not been owned for many years I suppose. As was mentioned it can come down to what's it worth to you.
Hiring an inspector is not a bad idea if you are seriously interested in it. If you are handy and have some sense of what construction, wiring, plumbing, septic should look like you can make your own determination. I'd certainly have the septic checked out, you say it has water so I assume a septic as well. Being on only 16 acres I wouldn't put too much blue sky into the cabin but I have no knowledge of your surroundings either.
Good Luck.
The asking price on my 40 acres with ~500 SqFt cabin(power,water,septic) was 150k. It was purchased 5 years prior for 99k. Again just to give you reference. Check out the tax sheet on it and go from there. You may be able to figure what the owner purchased it for and determine a price from that, provided it has not been owned for many years I suppose. As was mentioned it can come down to what's it worth to you.
Hiring an inspector is not a bad idea if you are seriously interested in it. If you are handy and have some sense of what construction, wiring, plumbing, septic should look like you can make your own determination. I'd certainly have the septic checked out, you say it has water so I assume a septic as well. Being on only 16 acres I wouldn't put too much blue sky into the cabin but I have no knowledge of your surroundings either.
Good Luck.
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ruskbuckss
5 year old buck +
I agree with Bueller. This might be a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy land that's next to you. It sounds like a win/win for you. It is really nice to walk out the door and be hunting. It would be worth it to not have to deal with new neighbors. I have a friend that is dealing with that situation now. He is almost ready to sell,because of one neighbor.
FarmerDan
5 year old buck +
Assessed at $30k and $30k? Does $5k an acres sound fair to you? And let's assume "the value" of the cabin is $30k and assume it's 900 sq ft...since we're dealing with 30's!! 30ft x 30ft = 900 sq feet. Has to be, right? So, the cabin's costing you $36 a square foot. For what it is, how does that sound to you? I'm not saying any of my hard numbers are correct, just providing an alternative means of thinking about the situation. And, how do you get to it? Will there be a road to maintain?
How things like this strike people is different. Yes, there's value to controlling adjacent land...but there's no end to that, is there? And control at what price?
I'm not one to want to overpay - for anything (I'm an economist and economics has stripped the joy from my life!). This is a hard asset that will have value now and hopefully more value in the future. Buy it right, enjoy it, and make some money in the process. Buying stuff like this that, God forbid, I might have to sell at a loss just isn't much fun.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
Boots on the ground! Go walk the land, do the deer already use it? Are there natural funnels? Does it look good? I bought my neighbors land a couple years ago, it was the best land in the neighborhood for deer, I over paid for it according to market numbers, , but I am very happy I have it, no regrets! Then a year later the next neighbor sold his land, he called me first to see if I was interested, I walked it, and it wasnt worth half of what they were asking, IMO. They sold it for asking price, minus closing costs. Do I regret not buying it? Not too much, other then having the new neighbor standing on my land hunting this past fall, but once he saw my son, he didnt return after that. The value is in the eye, not so much the papers the county has. By the way, I paid almost $2000 per acre for the land I bought a couple years ago. The land I passed on, the asking price was a little over $1000 per acre. The value of the land I bought was worth much more then $2000 per acre, the value of the land I passed on, wasnt worth half what they were asking, again, IMO.
There is a lot of value in having deer using my land prior to me owning it. Just think of the saved money not having to modify, or attract the deer. Compared to land that deer dont use, you will have to spend a lot, just to bring the deer into you.
There is a lot of value in having deer using my land prior to me owning it. Just think of the saved money not having to modify, or attract the deer. Compared to land that deer dont use, you will have to spend a lot, just to bring the deer into you.
If you were to build on your land how much would you spend to put in electric, drill a well and install a permitted septic system? These improvement costs need to be deducted from the $30K value of the cabin.
I do not understand how FarmerDan came up with his numbers. 16 acres for $30K is just under $2K an acre. 16 acres at the asking price of $60K is $3,750 per acre. I have always seen smaller parcels go for more per acre than larger tracts. It just seems that there are more buyers for a $60K property than a $600K property. Take the cost of the electric, well and septic from the cabin and then figure out the cost per square foot of it. What would it cost you to build something comparable on your land? That is how I would do the math to value the cabin.
When I found out that I could buy the land next to mine, I jumped on the opportunity. I had been looking to sell my land and buy a larger tract. All I had to do to connect the properties was to take down some pine trees and extend an already existing road to the new land. Spend the money and hire a property appraiser. You will get a better idea of value from someone in the business. Money well spent.
My experience is that the fewer neighbors you have, the fewer problems you will have.
I do not understand how FarmerDan came up with his numbers. 16 acres for $30K is just under $2K an acre. 16 acres at the asking price of $60K is $3,750 per acre. I have always seen smaller parcels go for more per acre than larger tracts. It just seems that there are more buyers for a $60K property than a $600K property. Take the cost of the electric, well and septic from the cabin and then figure out the cost per square foot of it. What would it cost you to build something comparable on your land? That is how I would do the math to value the cabin.
When I found out that I could buy the land next to mine, I jumped on the opportunity. I had been looking to sell my land and buy a larger tract. All I had to do to connect the properties was to take down some pine trees and extend an already existing road to the new land. Spend the money and hire a property appraiser. You will get a better idea of value from someone in the business. Money well spent.
My experience is that the fewer neighbors you have, the fewer problems you will have.
If you were ever thinking about building a cabin and this one would work for you, this sounds like a great opportunity to pick up some more land. The appraisal wouldn't mean much to me since it's worth whatever someone else is willing to pay. A 10 acre property with a great potential cabin site came up for sale next to my 105 acre property. I paid 3X per acre for that 10 acre property than my original 105, but to me that was still a great deal in the long run. I never bothered to look at the appraisal since I was willing to pay the asking price to prevent someone else from building a cabin there. Then a couple years later another adjacent 3 acre property came up for sale with a trailer house and garage. I couldn't justify $30k for 3 acres and an old trailer ($1000-$2000/acre is normal in my area), so I passed on that one and now I have a new neighbor. Let us know what you decide
Natty Bumppo
5 year old buck +
Until you walk the land and see the cabin you're going to overthink this. Get that done, take some pics, post them up for some opinions...then make your decision. That fact that it adjoins your land and has a cabin adds value to you and nobody else. If you're not familiar with evaluating a building yourself then yes, by all means hire an inspector. Money well spent IMHO.
wiscwhip
5 year old buck +
I can pretty much assure you of this, if someone else buys that piece who is an avid hunter, he is going to have 16 acres that he will try to hunt like it is 60. I'm not saying he will or won't trespass on your property, but I can just about assure you he will hunt right up to the property line. 16 acres doesn't give a guy much to "roam" on looking for setups. Another thing, once he gets a look at any aerial photos of his place and can ID any plots you have, you can bet there will be a stand directly adjacent to that plot right on the fenceline.
