buying land

[jasonluckydog]

I'm not sure about this cult will we be trying to catch a ride on a magic asteroid or something like that??

[davos]

tempting, but i want to stay in the area

buy a floating island then. goshh

[iamcline]

Just buy Lake Higgins. Fill it in, except for a small piece for your waterfront.

[Anybodyhome]

The days of real estate being an investment are over for the forseeable future. Maybe 20 years from now you can buy someting and hope it appreciates significantly. Rule #1: only buy it if you have a purpose for it.

Mortagages on land are relatively easy to get, but most land comes with a 15-year payment schedule. There is no "market value" anymore. The "market value" of any real estate coming out of this recession is only what someone wants to pay. Rule #2: realize that asking price is probably 20-30% more than what you believe it to be worth.

[PhillyB]

You sound like some buddies of mine who want to have enough land and everyone is self sufficient. There are some grass roots efforts on this going on.

A Mosquito Coast meets The Beach kinda deal.

yeah that's sort of the idea... when i was backpacking through australia a few years ago i was amazed at the number of people who bought parcels of land out in the wilderness and spent years building them up as self-sustainable properties with their own water supply, electricity by way of solar panels, gardens, etc. a lot of them even went so far as to create their homes through mostly organic substance, building kilns and firing their own mud bricks for construction, all-wood interiors, etc.

once i get enough money i'll buy an island and create a secondary commune just like the beach... hopefully minus machine gun wielding thai pot farmers :)

As long as we can watch all Panthers games, I will also join the Phillyb cult.

My mansion will of course have a game room and lounge with a bar at one end and a nice TV and couches at the other end. i already built a dry bar and liquor rack in my current home so i've gone through the trial-and-error processes of figuring a lot of it out

A top notch Micro Brewery would also be mandatory.

absolutely, a small winery as well

[PhillyB]

I'm not sure about this cult will we be trying to catch a ride on a magic asteroid or something like that??

no we all just pie each other IRL

no homo

[charlotte49er]

Find a good Buyers Agent. Their commision is paid for by the Seller, unless you find a FISBO that you have your heart set one, then they may ask you to pay commission. (Highly unlikely.)

Real Estate agents love to sell land. Usually higher commission, and no home to contend with. (Oh, I don't like the color, the layout is all wrong, I hate how they decorated it........)

They can set up an automated feed on the MLS and send you weekly e-mails that meet your criteria.

[MadHatter]

The days of real estate being an investment are over for the forseeable future. Maybe 20 years from now you can buy someting and hope it appreciates significantly.

Terrible advice and completely inaccurate.

With real estate prices at very depressed values, it is a great time to buy as an investment. It all depends on your time horizon.

If you are looking to flip property within a year or so, it is very risky. If you want to hold the property...earn rental income...and then sell for a large gain is a GREAT time to buy.

[Anybodyhome]

You're right... until you have this conversation,

"My house is worth $500k."

"Really? Who told you that?"

"That's what my agent has it listed for."

"Oh yeah? How many $500k offers have you had?"

With real estate prices at very depressed values...

Real estate properties aren't depressed, they're realistic based on the fact the real estate market has been extremely overinflated. The simple fact that banks would have no problem loaning you that $500k for a house worth $200k doesn't make the house worth $500k today.

It all depends on your time horizon.

And my statement was "the forseeable future"

Mad, you're basing your entire opinion on a completely unrealistic property market that plummeted this country into a recession almost by itself. The bottom of the real estate market fell out, the country goes into a recession based upon the financial failures of the banks holding worthless paper, and you see "depressed real estate prices" and I see almost accurate real estate prices.

[MadHatter]

You're right... until you have this conversation,

"My house is worth $500k."

"Really? Who told you that?"

"That's what my agent has it listed for."

"Oh yeah? How many $500k offers have you had?"

With real estate prices at very depressed values...

Real estate properties aren't depressed, they're realistic based on the fact the real estate market has been extremely overinflated. The simple fact that banks would have no problem loaning you that $500k for a house worth $200k doesn't make the house worth $500k today.

It all depends on your time horizon.

And my statement was "the forseeable future"

Mad, you're basing your entire opinion on a completely unrealistic property market that plummeted this country into a recession almost by itself. The bottom of the real estate market fell out, the country goes into a recession based upon the financial failures of the banks holding worthless paper, and you see "depressed real estate prices" and I see almost accurate real estate prices.

I was thinking foreseeable as the next 5-6 years. If you were talking about a shorter time frame, then I think you are correct.

I don't expect the market to go back to the levels of 5 years ago. But, if you are willing to purchase smart and hold the property for 4-5 years....I bet that you will make a nice profit.

I work with a guy who bought a house in Providence Down South just 2 years ago for $630k....and just sold it last month for $925k.

Real estate is still a great long term investment. But, just like right after the tech boom in the stick market more knowledge of the markets are required to be successful.

During that boom (as well as the real estate boom) all you needed to do was throw a dart at a dart board to pick a stock or real estate purchase that would make money. Everyone thought they were an investment or real estate guru at that time.

[Guest]

.........

i want the property for a number of reasons. i want to build an airstrip on it, i want to build what is essentially a mansion that serves as a foster care home and i want to design the property as a commune with the goal of bringing in open-minded individuals with varying skills and backgrounds, enabling, through the strength of the whole, the individual to achieve what he/she may or may not otherwise be able to do in life.

.................

Translation: "I want to build a fortress against zombie hordes."

:D

[PhillyB]

well there's that

[Guest]

Its ok to admit the fear of zombies....

Good internet in Ecuador? Feliz Navidad

[thatlookseasy]

A good place to start looking for a tract of that size is to talk to local surveyors, they know where things like that are...

This is good advice. I worked as a surveyor for a couple of summers, and you quickly figure out which areas have nice land and which places are shitholes. Plus if they have surveyed around the area before its gonna save you money when they go back and do it again