Tells us about . . .

[356]

Your first piece of property. It’s always interesting to hear how folks acquired their first piece of property. Keep the story short, and share any insights that might help new members navigate their landowner dreams!

Our was 8 acres with an 800 sq/ foot 2/BR, 1B log cabin purchased in 2012. It was about 2 1/2 hours from our home at the time. The motivation was to have a place to “get away” from the challenges of work, with hunting “my own ground” and boating and fishing nearby. The location was in SW Missouri about 1/2 mile from Stockton Lake. The property off a state highway and was just 4 miles from the small county seat. We paid about $88K for the place, and added another 5 acres for $12.5K later that year, giving us a total of 13 acres.

Those first years we spent three to four nights per month there and a week each summer. In 2013 I was on a research sabbatical and spend three months at the cabin writing. In 2014 I served as a transitional pastor at a local church, and was there every weekend for over a year. Today it may be 10 nights per year, but I still enjoy going there to hunt.

Lessons: We looked for the right place (not the perfect place) for about three months. This one checked most of the boxes, which included price (this was on the high side of our budget), a full bathroom and a minimum of 5 acres (which was the “landowner” requirement for free tags at the time). I am glad we didn’t wait for a “perfect place.”

Other than adding a fireplace, adding a lean-to to the garage and putting in a food plot, the place has not changed much in the past 13 years.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I was 26, bought 5 acres “in the country”. Wanted to build a house there. Was bordered by public land. Well 08 happened shortly after and I decided the construction industry wasn’t hitting on much so I moved to Colorado to be a ski bum. Ended up moving back a couple years later and decided to sell that property since I wasn’t working in that area any longer. He brought 29k to closing, I brought 25k to closing!! Let’s just say my first real estate transaction was a lesson learned!

 

[Natty Bumppo]

My first piece is my ONLY piece I have ever bought. It was 2001 and my future wife and I wanted to find a small home on some land. We were both brand new teachers not making a ton of money. A nice house on 7 acres showed up on the market that directly bordered my MIL's place on 150 acres. And that land bordered 4 square miles of untouched State Forest. I had already been hunting there for a few years, and she told us that if we bought it she'd give us some land to go with the house. It was way more than we could afford back then...but we went for it. She gave us 21 more acres. I built a timber frame sugar house and a 30x40 barn over the years..began clearing land and food plotting. Two years ago we bought another bordering property with a 5,000 sq. ft. house on 15 acres. So now right around 43 acres with or so with two homes on what my friends call "The Compound".

 

[Catscratch]

Wife wanted to live in the community she grew up in and give back, and she wanted to end up on the land she grew up on. I was 100% on board. Her family was very welcoming to the idea.


We bought a house in a nearby town. Ended up buying 2 more houses as rentals. Paid as much extra as we could and had everything paid off in 13yrs. Took the sum of what we had been paying and started throwing it into CD's so that when the time was right we would have a down payment. I changed careers to one that I could work in the community and started working towards "giving back" to the area like my wife wanted to do.


No credit cards, no debt except for the wife's car payment, no vacations, etc. CD's building up quickly. Saved like this for 20yrs.


Obama's economy forced the feds to drop interest rates so we jumped on a construction loan and had our house built.


When the wife's uncle wanted to sell his half of the ranch we jumped on it.


Ended up with some adjoining land too.


Both the wife and I are giving to the community as much as we can, our boys grew up here, and we live on our dream place. The land has been in her family since the late 1800's and we intend to carry that on further.

 

[SwampCat]

I spent a lot of my time fishing and hunting on a lake and NWR about forty miles from home. A guy I knew told me he knew a guy with a bunch of land down there and would ask him about selling some land. I met with him in 1995 and he said he would sell me three acres on the ridge overlooking the bottoms and would require an easement. I wanted at least ten acres so I would t have a problem installing a septic tank. He said he would sell me 1400 acres for $600,000. I thought long and hard about that but didnt do it. Hindsight - would have been some lean years but I could have done it.

In 2003, I saw the landowner again and we made another trip to look. Sold me 12 acres next to a guy he had sold ten acres, who lived their full time. He was a good guy, and I went to building a 1500 sq ft cabin. Had it put in the dry and I did pretty much everything else. $2500 per acre

A few years later, I begged for more land - he sold me 38 acres at $3000 per. A few year later, I begged for more and he sold me another 78 acres at 3000 per. I have bought land three other times - and only one time was it for sale before I asked. He man I first bought from is dead and his son cows on 70 acres I border on three sides. He told me he could t believe his dad sold me that land - said he was never going to sell an acre. He owns about 5000 acre

I have as much in my land now as I would have if I bought that 1400 acres

 

[Maddog66]

My first piece of property (40 acres) was given to me and my brothers by my uncle. It’ll be given to my nephews when we are gone.

My second piece is 275 acres that my wife and I spent 90% of our life cash savings on for a 60% DP. We then spent the next 3+ years making 4x monthly payments on a Heloc to pay it off in full. We never went on one vacation in that time except for “camping” on the land. We went out to dinner 8 times in 4 years (birthdays only).

Today, we are building our “forever” home on it. The next time I leave it will be toes first.

Buying land hurts in the moment and there will be tough times making ends meet, but now we own something that can’t be taken away. The satisfaction and contentment we feel is so deep it’s hard to explain.

 

[jsasker007]

I bought my first house in '93. House with 80 acres for 43k. Sold that house with 5 acres and kept the other 75 plus I bought another 40 acres for 16k in about '97. Built my current house on the 115 acres about an 1/8 mile from the first house. Sure wish I could find a deal like that again. At the time it was all I could handle making $400 month house payments.

 

[BIGDHunting]

It all started as a conversation over beers (too many??) with a couple family members. Two of us wanted our own place to hunt and hopefully teach our kids to do the same. The other had never hunted a day in his life! That conversation took place in early 2021 and after almost a year was closed in Mar 2022.



Our budget was roughly $90K (we went over budget) for a place that was about the same distance between all of us. We looked at a handful of places (4 or 5 in person) until this one came on the market. I walked the property the day after Christmas and knew it was now or never. So, convinced the others and for the past 3 years we have been owners of 67 acres that borders SGL on two of the four sides. When we bought it, there were 3 stands, a clearing and a whole bunch of trees. Since then, we have had it logged, added 7 or 8 stands, 2 food plots and a 900 sq foot off grid cabin. More importantly, we can take some deer, hunt with our kiddos and are making great memories every time we go.



If I could do it all again the only thing Id change is going out on this limb earlier and of course buy more than we did!

 

[356]

Buying land hurts in the moment and there will be tough times making ends meet, but now we own something that can’t be taken away. The satisfaction and contentment we feel is so deep it’s hard to explain.

That is so very true, and is the reason that there are far more landowner "wannabe's" than there are landowners. In 2021 we added another 65 acres to our place at a cost of $6000/acre--that took our breath away, but we took the plunge and now have a piece worth twice that, plus it is fun to hunt!

 

[Brian662]

In 2013 we got engaged and moved from WI to MN for work. My wife grew up on a 300 acre dairy farm in central WI and I had cut my teeth duck hunting and working my grandpa's dairy farm as a kid. We knew we wanted something rural and drew a circle on the map within reasonable drives to our new jobs.

We looked at quite a few places in the summer of 2013 and had even signed on a 40 acre fixer upper with a beautiful pole shed(it was huge and heated) . The home inspection found improper nails used on the tin roof of the shop which led to small holes around every fastener. We wanted a new roof or replacement cost and they refused, offered to take $5k off the price so we walked.

A few weeks later we visited a listing that had been on the market and reduced to within our price range. The listing was horrible, possibly the worst listing I've ever seen. We immediately fell in love with the place, but knew we could get a deal by offering low. We wound up agreeing on a price that was well below market value and the rest is history. Even got a call from the county after closing asking us if we discovered something wrong with the place, wondering how we got it so cheap. Right place, right time I guess.

We've lived there since and probably will live there until we retire to the driftless in ~15 years. Same place I have a land tour of in the forum.

 

[Catscratch]

In 2013 we got engaged and moved from WI to MN for work. My wife grew up on a 300 acre dairy farm in central WI and I had cut my teeth duck hunting and working my grandpa's dairy farm as a kid. We knew we wanted something rural and drew a circle on the map within reasonable drives to our new jobs.

We looked at quite a few places in the summer of 2013 and had even signed on a 40 acre fixer upper with a beautiful pole shed(it was huge and heated) . The home inspection found improper nails used on the tin roof of the shop which led to small holes around every fastener. We wanted a new roof ro replace the roof with thousands of holes and they refused, offered to take $5k off the price so we walked.

A few weeks later we visited a listing that had been on the market and reduced to within our price range. The listing was horrible, possibly the worst listing I've ever seen. We immediately fell in love with the place, but knew we could get a deal by offering low. We wound up agreeing on a price that was well below market value and the rest is history. Even got a call from the county after closing asking us if we discovered something wrong with the place, wondering how we got it so cheap. Right place, right time I guess.

We've lived there since and probably will live there until we retire to the driftless in ~15 years. Same place I have a land tour of in the forum.

View attachment 74439

What a beautiful place!

Maybe there should be a new rule that a pic has to accompany your post?