Buying land

[Echelon]

Not sure if this is the appropriate forum, but I know we have plenty of know it all's here, so I figured why not

Wife and I have been looking at land for a while in the West Central IN area, nothing outrageous, something in the 10 acre range that we would eventually build a house on.

Any tips for buying land in Indiana? Things to avoid? (besides the obvious... swamps, flood zone, no means of access, large sink hole, Indian burial grounds)

If you have purchased land in Indiana, did you pay cash? take a loan? If so, who did you get the loan through (if you don't mind sharing)?

Anything else I should know before getting into this adventure?

 

[jjordan2840]

Do you have a ideal location picked out? Do you want wooded or pasture? I just bought 10 acres in tippecanoe county, but it has a small house on it. I have a buddy that just bought ground in Montgomery county. I have friends and family in Putnam and Owen counties. If you have a more specific area, I can ask around for you.

 

[ghuns]

Yeah, avoid them Indian burial grounds. Ever see/read Pet Cemetery? Scary stuff.

Try for wooded and hilly. Anything tillable will cost big $$$. With crop prices at record highs, farmers are buying land like there's no tomorrow. I am not located in the area you are interested in, but the 80 acre farm that borders my family's farm sold for 10K/acre recently. A 60 acre farm a couple of miles away went for 12.5K/acre. Both were paid for with cash. With last years drought, it might drive prices back down a little but probably not by much.

 

[upalot]

Check to see if water / sewer is available, wells and septic system are quite costly. If no sewer system, will the ground perk for a septic system.
If it is a wooded parcel, when was the timber last cut, if in the last 20 years the price should be cheaper. Taxes vary from one county to the next (quite a bit in some cases), somthing to think about.
Also don't assume that electric service is available without great cost to you, there was a couple acres close to where I live that seemed to be a really good deal untill the guy buying it found out it would cost him over $8000.00 to get power to it.
Good Luck in your hunt.

 

[xcalibur]

I'd watch for crazy neighbors with guns........
or crazy liberals without them......

 

[Dirty Steve]

Planning and zoning is nice to check into as well. Now I am not opposed to a guy being able to do what he wants with his property,...but on the other hand if I just dumped north of 500K (or whatever you dream budget for this is) into a property and house I'd be a little upset if the next door neighbor started a junk yard and salvage business or opened up a rock-crusher plant next door to me.

Dirty Steve

 

[Signal23]

You can get a loan for just land
if you're going to build in the future make sure you have access to utilities , and look at what it will cost to bring them onto your property .
electricity is the 1 to watch the most

 

[irishhunter]

Require a survey , all corners and points in between before purchase. You would be surprised at what people think they own and what they really own.....

Make sure you own the mineral rights

Check all easements / power companies , state, what ever

 

[HavokCycle]

have it surveyed. if you're looking at farmland, there are some farmers out there that LOVE to encroach on fencelines and plant further and further over every year.

 

[Echelon]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Never bought land before, and I don't really know anyone who has (that i'm aware of anyway). I know a survey is a must, as well as septic testing, though I never thought about mineral rights... also never really considered that there would be anything valuable under the dirt besides water.

jjordan2840, we are (ideally) looking for a wooded or partial wooded lot, basically anywhere within about an hour or so of Plainfield. Basically anywhere SW, W, or NW in a band within an hour or so of Plainfield.

upalot, I figured everywhere had power at this point? guess I'm wrong! This is why I started this thread

Dirty Steve, this has actually been the biggest challenge for my wife, we are both born and raised from the suburbs, and she has mentioned a few times while driving around that the "neighbors" look like they are running a junk yard She has yet to get used to the country version of "storage".

Thanks everybody, and keep 'em coming.

 

[Dirty Steve]

All good points. I am in the "business" of land development. You would be amazed at the number of folks who buy without having a survey, without looking at easements on the property, without looking into utilities, without looking at adjacent land development or roadway proposals, without looking into septic service, without looking into existing covenants and restrictions, without looking into previous use of the property...and then come to us with their problems.

Absolutely demand a certified boundary survey or offer to split the cost. Have a title search done as well. A title policy will reveal things about the property that are not physically evident (easements, back taxes, liens, mineral rights, grants, restrictions, etc...) Also, walk the crap out of the property looking for evidence of previous use or dumping. You don't really want to buy and then find out that old Uncle Earl used the property to bury his junk and cars for the last 50 years and let the neighbors haul in junk and bury it too. If it's an incredible deal way below value, there is a reason for it that you are not seeing. Just like anything else, folks don't "give" away their good stuff but they will give away their problems.

Ask elderly neighbors if they know anything about the property. You would be surprised at how much folks know about their neighbors land.

One other thing to consider: If you can afford 20 acres but only need 10, buy 20. You can always subdivide a piece off later if you need the cash and can put covenants and restrictions on the piece you sell to insure like quality to what you build. Once you are satisfied you have covered all bases, pull the trigger. They aren't making any more land.

My wife too came from the suburbs, but she loves the country now. Have lived out here 25 years and wouldn't have it any other way. It's really nice to be able to shoot, hunt and fish on your own property and not be stuck looking at the side of your neighbors house when you are standing in your bathroom taking a leak. Kinda fun to be able to take a leak off the back deck 24/7 or walk out to get the mail buck naked if you want to.

Dirty Steve

 

[Field King]

I have my eye on a couple of pieces of property in southwest Indiana. I called Owen county state bank and they require 20-30% down on "land only loans".

 

[HavokCycle]

its the covenant part that always gets me. **** off with your rules about what i can do with MY land. on more than one occasion i've killed a GOOD land deal because the covenant was tyrannical. i'm buying farmland, and you tell me i can't have horses? **** OFF. i'll kill the deal and make sure no one ever buys it, because you think you can be lord governor of your spit of land.






i might have a slight problem with authority <.<

 

[jjordan2840]

I have my eye on a couple of pieces of property in southwest Indiana. I called Owen county state bank and they require 20-30% down on "land only loans".

I've had good experiences with Owen county state bank. I used to get all my auto loans through them.

 

[dukeboy_318]

I myself am just getting into this process. Ive been doing lots of research, rented books from the local library. Luckily I'm buying from real close family and the land I'm buying has been in the family since 1887. So I know the land very well. But do get a survey done. We just did and found that the old 6 strand barbed wire fence that everyone thought was the property line was actually cutting us short about 30 yds on the perimeter, costing us about 4 acres total. And we found our neighbors had cut the edge of the woods back to farm more of their ground, but also took about .25 acres of ours. It's a mess. So do go find a quality surveyer and check all county land records. Usually the county office building would have those records.

 

[jmattox50]

20%-30% is the norm now for a down payment on vacant land/farm ground.

 

[jjordan2840]

[QUOTE

jjordan2840, we are (ideally) looking for a wooded or partial wooded lot, basically anywhere within about an hour or so of Plainfield. Basically anywhere SW, W, or NW in a band within an hour or so of Plainfield.[/QUOTE]

It seems to me the farther north you go, the more expensive land is. It's high in tippecanoe county. We were considering moving to Montgomery county. We lucked into our ideal land in Lafayette. 10 acres, mostly wooded, close to town. I would have liked to be further out, but this will work. I grew up in Owen county and would love to be back. It's a very rural county. Landscape and people, but that's the way I like it. It's a better fit for me, but jobs is in Lafayette.

 

[Rocket]

We found some land for $652/Acre of course it is a bit of a drive, about 12.5 hours from here. We bought it as an investment prop that someday we will build on and move to, Hopefully before this all comes crashing down. I talked with Zoning and planning, DNR, local power COOP, The County and asked lots of questions before getting serious. I talked to contractors for well and septic, got High end estimates so I had an idea of what it might cost. We researched the Property, its owner a Bank that had repoed it 2 years ago. Length of time on the market. Then we loballed them and got it for half what they wanted for it. Paid cash two signatures later and it was ours. The power thing is big. On the first property we looked at it was going to cost 14k to get power there. The one we bought will be $850.
There will be some awesome hunting there. I saw Black Bear sign, Deer, Snowshoe Hares every where, Pheasant, Grouse, And A stream with river Trout in it on property