# How Much Land?



## Huntmo1 (Nov 30, 2011)

I'll start off by saying my #1 priority is privacy...I'm not anti-social, I just want to have a home/hobby farm that I can relax on and not have neighbors too close by. So, regardless of whether I have 2 acres or 200, privacy is on the top of my list.

With that said, I have always dreamed of eventually owning a home with 40+ acres so that I could both hobby farm (small scale, just a garden, chickens, pig or two, etc.,) and hunt on. As I get a little older (41 now), I start thinking about how much I really need to be happy. For example, I could probably have all of what I want (minus the hunting) on 5-10 acres at a much lower price and/or get a better home for the same price. I guess I could always find public land to hunt on...although it would be nice to just walk out my door and not have to drive anywhere.

Anyway, I was just wondering if there were any out there that have been through a similar decision process. Has anyone wanted more land, but settled for less? Did it turn out for the best? Has anyone wanted more land, got it and then realized they didn't that much after all and would have been happier with less?

I know that there are a lot of different variables that can factor into the decision. But, again, I'm just looking for general comments.

Thanks.


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## elizaloo (Jul 5, 2010)

We have 15 acres right now. Some woods, a pond and a 10 acre field that was cow pasture at one time and could be perfect for horses. The house is an old farmhouse that we are fixing up with the intent to sell and retire to a more pension friendly state. For us, it's been perfect. We have a big garden and the dogs love to swim in the pond. We are surrounded by empty land (neighbors and their children own all of it) so it is as though we don't have any close neighbors. 

I think we'd stay here if we had to. Our plan is to have 40+ (hubs would love 100) acres so we can have the privacy we crave. Where we are now it's pretty private and neighbors won't be subdividing their land but...it still doesn't seem 'enough' for us.

We live about 1/2 hour out of a huge city so it's been nice for the work commute, and I think it will be great when we go to sell....but for us, we would love to be tucked away in some remote area where we don't have recreation traffic and commuter traffic passing through all the time. Of course age is a factor too - we might end up with a small house in town eventually but for now, we want the bigger acreage and the isolation.

So that's my perspective on land; 15 great acres now but wanting the experience of much more in the near future.


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## Tinker (Apr 5, 2004)

It is now so much how many acres you have, but where the house is located. We looked at 100 acre places where the house was right on the road or next to a neighbor, and we saw a few where the house on 5 acres was tucked back in and hidden from view. If you want privacy, I would say minimum 10 acres, probably more. It depends on what is around you. 10 acres or even 5) are fine if all then neighbor have large farms. You really have to see the place, and see how it sits.

That being said, I don't think you CAN have to much land. Buy as much as you can afford. If it seems to much after a few years, you can always sell off a few acres. But if you only buy a couple acres, and a developer buys the neighboring land and puts in a development, you will be miserable.

We look for 2 years to find ths place, and probably looked at almost 100 houses. You will know when it is right. Good luck.


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## Thejim94 (Jan 2, 2013)

No No No!! Do not buy any land!! It's a addiction! lol Serously, I bought 24 acres 15 years ago. It is great but I wanted more! So three years ago I bought 78 acres across the road. I just finished building our dream home right in the middle of it. So with all this going on, I been spying the 60 acres that joins my 24. It's all wooded but the few areas I have cleared. We shoot many deer, turkeys, and small critters on it. I have some loggers coming to clear cut some pines just to have a field for the animals I want. We have four wheeler trails all around. I love just strolling through the woods sometimes with my children and wife. I tell my children that the land is not mine but OURS. Someday, I hope they decide to raise their families near GRAMPA! I love my land and will always want a little more to pass down to my children. 

You can never go wrong with land! God ain't making no more!


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

I went through the same process and bought a 34 acre piece this past spring. You will have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find the right one. It took me 2 years of looking.

Your number one priority is privacy. I suggest you get enough land so you can build the house far enough away from the border so there can't be a neighbor within sight. It's also important that the neighboring land is far enough away so when it's developed the increased traffic won't bother you. Alternativly if the adjacent land is publicaly owned or scruffy enough it probably won't ever be developed. My 34 is bounded by 40s to the NW, W, SW, S, and SE by county tax forfited land, The 40s to the N, NE, and E are privatly owned but they have so much swamp that they will only be used for hunting land. There does get to be lots of traffic on the two weekends of firearms deer season but the rest of the year it's nice and quiet. 

I don't think you can have too much land. If you don't pasture it, then let it grow to forest and you will have a lifetime supply of firewood and a place to hunt. You will also find out that a smaller acreage will cost more per acre than a larger one. I paid less for my 34 than many 5 acre pieces I looked at.

There are also other considerations. If you plan to grow something, how good is the soil? Is the land flat or rolling or vertical? How close is the nearest hospital and shopping? Is there a good fishing lake or 20 in the near vicinity? MOST IMPORTANT-is water available on the land? Will you be downwind from a feed lot? Are the escaped prisoners from the prison over the hill going to come knocking on your door or worse? 

Unless you find some land in the middel of the wilderness, you will hear sounds from the neighbors. The mooing of cows and the whine of a chainsaw travel much further than you think.

Good lock. Let us know how the search goes on.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I had 2000 acres when I farmed, 1000 farmable and a 1000 of hils, oaks, timberland and christmas trees with 4 fields that I planted to wheat and grass seed. I had sheep and cattle running on half of that 1000. When I had to quit farming I sold all of that to friends that I farmed beside. I was able to hunt and gleann from it when I wanted to. I moved to a lot in town with a new house we built. I got antsy when my health turned around and we bought a small farm, 4 acres, big barn and a pond to fish on that backed up to timber co land that I could roam as I was able and gleann from. I could even cut wood with a permit. Then we bought an acre, off grid and built a cabin there. It has timber Co land all around it, same Co as the farm. Both are very secluded, at the end of the road. Timber Co gate just past our property line. It is all in the property and what YOU really want. I would like more secluded at times but I also know my limitations and ability to take care of a larger property. Probably no harder than taking care of all these rentals but they provide easy income. We have a beach cabin and a cabin at the lake in eastern Oregon. So I can move around and enjoy different places and things to see and do. Only you know what you want and need, different for each individual....James


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## tarbe (Apr 7, 2007)

I bought 80.

Then I bought the high ground between my place and the road...another 5.

Now a neighbor has 40 for sale and I am trying to talk the wife into it!

It never stops.....it's never enough.

Just say no to land.

(Just kidding of course....but it is kinda addicting).


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

We bought 35 acres that is well off the road. We lease the another 70 that is in front of us. We thought the 35 would be enough but as our farming operation has expanded, so has our need for land.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

Like Jwal10, it really depends on where you are now to begin with. Are you in fair, good, or great physical condition? Will you be buying machinery or doing most of the work using hand tools? A combination, if so, what? Do you want to grow/raise almost all your food? Are you considering that and also producing more for bartering? Do you want your property to provide firewood, all, or most of it? We found a little more than twice what we originally were hoping to find (6.68 acres). When I had checked into the zoning guidelines, getting over 5 acres was the revised goal. Now that we have been here for almost 7 years, I can say, yes, I wish we had more land. How much? I'd estimate another 5 Acres of forest to increase the self-sustainable firewood source. We take down as few of our trees as possible (most 2nd growth, bordering old growth), have taken down some of our neighbors trees for them (got the trees for firewood), and take any we are offered.


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## 91redford (Sep 20, 2012)

Just this last summer i was able to buy the old family farm i'd been renting for 5 years, 15 acres on a dead end, two neighbors near the main house's, it has two decent homes, i will be building a shop & yurt back in the trees & renting the homes, at least that's my plan. so i guess my point is that a smaller parcel could offer things that you need and a big consideration for me in Oregon is property taxes, a bigger piece is gonna cost more every year.....something to think about.


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## doozie (May 21, 2005)

Well, the best I can say is to really look around, let a real estate agent know what you are looking for in the area. Go and look at propreties for sale.
I only have a few acres, but I have to really go the edges of my property and look across the road to see my neighbors home from my driveway, and I cant really even see it clearly. All the homes are set back on the road, many with lots of foliage in the front yard that you cant see through.
We internet browsed properties for years and went out and fell in love with the first place we looked at. I have no regrets, but I will admit, we would consider buying the little 1.5 acre field behind us if it is ever for sale. If anything to protect our "personal space" that we like as it is. Dont settle for less acerage if you can help it, we always thought 20 was our magic number,but just fell in love with the property we looked at, and do consider the taxes bite you will pay each year for those extra acres of property.
Our place is near a state park/ lake, and the people on the lake pay extra,alot extra in taxes for the lake property, I can use the state park beach or park at the launch for a $30.00 annual sticker instead. Public hunting is a stones throw away. Some people live right across the street from acres of public hunting area. Maybe you could find something like that.


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## Quabbinite (Oct 27, 2012)

As a safety net, I always say get as much as you can afford. You can always rent out what you don't need or use. However, if money is an object as it almost always is, you should allot yourself more privacy than owned land. You can easily purchase 2 acres of land surrounded by nothing more than protected forest, for example. You just have to make sure that the bullet you fire won't cause injury/damage.

I bought 2.05 acres once when I was looking for 10 and discovered that 2 was more than enough. So much, in fact, that I actually used one of those acres as a go-kart track! The other acre left plenty of space for a huge garden, some chickens, and a large play area for kids. 

There are a large number of sites and other resources that explain how to turn even one acre into plenty of space for livestock and gardens and self-sufficiency topics. If hunting is what you want to do out of your backyard though, I would find at least 2 acres of land surrounded by nothingness, or purchase a minimum of 10 acres surrounded by other equal or greater-sized tracts.


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## SCRancher (Jan 11, 2011)

I see people saying watch out for the tax burden on land - if it's farm land you may find the tax burden is no burden at all. I have 81 acres and the property tax bill is $48 no that's not a typo I didn't forget any zero's. It's classified as farm land. I am in the process of purchasing 50 acres with house, barn, and workshop (closing tomorrow) and the tax bill is around 1,000 but that is due to the house and outbuildings, not the land since the land is farm use.


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## Quabbinite (Oct 27, 2012)

SCRancher said:


> I see people saying watch out for the tax burden on land - if it's farm land you may find the tax burden is no burden at all. I have 81 acres and the property tax bill is $48 no that's not a typo I didn't forget any zero's. It's classified as farm land. I am in the process of purchasing 50 acres with house, barn, and workshop (closing tomorrow) and the tax bill is around 1,000 but that is due to the house and outbuildings, not the land since the land is farm use.


Land always costs less in taxes than if there are any existing structures. However, the amount of money in taxes depends on several variable, the most of which depend on amount of land and its proximity to water, prime Real Estate, or even zoning. 

Farm land is definitely cheaper, and even homes can get reduced rates in some States if they have "Ag-exempt" options. The cheapest land, of course, is unbuildable land/swampland/recreation land. 

Simply put, you can ask the Realtor or the Assessor's Office what the taxes were for the previous year, and you can also get the tax rate from them as well. I wouldn't let taxes be much of a consideration in my decision-making process if land alone were the purchase I was seeking. It's the house that costs you.


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## libertygirl (Jul 18, 2011)

What a fun topic.! My hubby and I currently live in CO on 26 acres. Last February we took a trip to Missouri to look at property there. I had a big list of properties that I had found online. They were at least 20 acres and up to 100, most of them were about 30 acres. We spent 10 days looking all over the Ozarks at the properties within our means. After we saw the 60 acre places it was useless to go back for a second look at anything smaller! Hahaha, we got the "more is so much better bug" It's so nice to go out your door and see (or not be able to easily see) your borders... We are currently leasing part of the land to a young man with cattle. As we see it the possibilities are endless..
Good luck and enjoy! Go look at some potential places that are for sale, spend some time and walk around or drive around the borders, this can really give you some perspective on size. :happy:


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## LoonyK (Dec 12, 2009)

Buy some forested land since what you want to do, you can pretty much do on that. Will be cheaper, so can buy more. Trees can block a lot of views and absorb a lot of noise and create their own various noises to help drown out annoyances. 

More land and less house would be my opinion since you probably could add on house later, but not as easy to buy another person's land next to your property as you have more money.


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## CocalicoSprings (Mar 12, 2008)

Buy 1 cleared acre with a 3 row pine tree buffer around it except for the driveway cut at the road frontage. Make sure it is surrounded on all 3 sides by national forest or state game land. Be sure you are on a state road so winter maintenance will be done and you won't have to plow snow except a small stretch of your driveway. Your taxes will be lower. You can still hunt on the game land., have a garden, privacy, firewood, even chickens and small animals. Think cheap.... hobby farming gets expensive.


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## lamoncha lover (Mar 1, 2009)

I think it is all in the location of the house. We had 120 acres in Mn with the house up front by the road and pretty much in a field. Every car that went by on 2 roads could see everything. neighbors were all clearly in site.
when we moved to Tn it took us 15 years to be ready to buy land. We bought 21 acres with about 3 acres pasture up front and the remainder in woods. then we bought the 6 acres (maybe 4 of pasture)next door that adjoined our proiperty. We did it only to prevent getting a neighbor by our property line.
we built smack dab in the middle of the woods.
It cost more to get electric and water in..and sometimes we discussed building up front to offset the costs.
Our house is not finished but i am soo thankful we decided to build away from the road. I can see no neighbors from my house..although when the leaves drop for winter I can see a very tiny light from one of the houses.
we have much more privacy on these 32 acres then we did with 120. 
with 120 acres we had plenty of pasture but were pretty land poor..and we hated being in view of the world.
so the sayng location location location applies to location of your house ON your land as well. good luck!


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## tarbe (Apr 7, 2007)

CocalicoSprings said:


> Buy 1 cleared acre with a 3 row pine tree buffer around it except for the driveway cut at the road frontage. Make sure it is surrounded on all 3 sides by national forest or state game land.


I used to be of this mindset, but have come to the conclusion that my land could become surrounded by public land users who do not respect my property lines.

4-wheelers zooming around within 200 feet of my house, strangers hunting within a 7-iron shot of my wife in the garden...you get the picture.

These possibilities caused me to forget about buying land bordering public land. Just too easy for your boundaries to get lost to the users of the public land.



Tim


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