Buying land in expanding Austin areas (Point: yard, dollars)

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

That's right. I own 25 acres about 300 yards west of the F1 race track southeast of the airport. The ag exemption keeps the taxes low. I lease it out to a hay farmer.

My parents owned land out near F'burg and ran sheep on about 20 acres. The rest they leased out to hay 'farmers' (they simply came and harvested hay several times a year, so hardly call it farming, but whatever ). This kept them from having to personally keep up with all the labor necessary for agricultural use, and it was very low impact compared to cattle.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by austinite_02

With the great migration to Austin underway, is it a good idea to buy land that is (or could be) zoned for development?

For example areas with expansion potential such as north of leander or south of Austin...

Your question is, essentially, "is land speculation good for me?".

I don't know is it?

Are you debt free, maxed out on all sensible investments, such as employer match in retirement account, have kids college funds handled, and have extra left over money to invest that you're willing to put at risk in exchange for possibly higher return? If so, then sure, why not?

It's very tricky though. Land doesn't provide rental income to help cover carrying costs. So it's more of a pure bet. Buy 50 acres, then wait and hope. You don't get to find out whether your a genius or a fool until years later.

Remember when the airport was going to be moved to Manor, and the land grab? Fools. Although if they've held this long, maybe it circled back around to pay off decades later.

Steve

[Trainwreck20]

Remember when the airport was going to be moved to Manor, and the land grab? Fools. Although if they've held this long, maybe it circled back around to pay off decades later.

The location selection for the new airport was one of the more comedic events in Austin in decades. Land speculators buying around 'north' and 'south' locations (I forget the actual locations) while lobbying hard to have the airport moved to where they personally had invested. Radio ads, public figures, and articles in the paper all talking about why one location was better than the other. Then Bergstrom became available. All that lobbying money was suddenly funneled into the comical effort to deride the use of the AFB as the new location. All sorts of reasons were given, but the real one was that neither 'party' had invested any money there .

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

My parents owned land out near F'burg and ran sheep on about 20 acres. The rest they leased out to hay 'farmers' (they simply came and harvested hay several times a year, so hardly call it farming, but whatever ). This kept them from having to personally keep up with all the labor necessary for agricultural use, and it was very low impact compared to cattle.

Exactly - no headaches for me. But if some sucker.... uh, investor/developer buys it for a bazillion $$ (unlikely), then I'll have to pay 5 years of increased rollback taxes.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

Exactly - no headaches for me. But if some sucker.... uh, investor/developer buys it for a bazillion $$ (unlikely), then I'll have to pay 5 years of increased rollback taxes.

Bah! You pass those on to the buyer .

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The location selection for the new airport was one of the more comedic events in Austin in decades. Land speculators buying around 'north' and 'south' locations (I forget the actual locations) while lobbying hard to have the airport moved to where they personally had invested. Radio ads, public figures, and articles in the paper all talking about why one location was better than the other. Then Bergstrom became available. All that lobbying money was suddenly funneled into the comical effort to deride the use of the AFB as the new location. All sorts of reasons were given, but the real one was that neither 'party' had invested any money there .

That's correct. It was funny watching the spin from the pro-Manor land-flippers (Austin politicos & their "friends") trying to convince Austinites that it would be cheaper to build a new airport entirely from scratch on the land they had bought up recently than it would be to convert the now available Bergstrom AFB - with its existing massive runway & utility infrastructure already in place. lol

Their spokeman was an old school friend of mine.

Originally, those Manor investors thought they were going to make a killing just like they (or their dads) had with the Decker Lake (Lake Long) power plant land deals in the 1960s. more lol

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Bah! You pass those on to the buyer .

Well yeah.... if there's a buyer. Very little action around my place - even since the COTA was built. Lots of high asking prices around, but I haven't put mine on the market. Don't really care - the hay is doing better, and the fire ant herd continues to thrive.

[austinite_02]

Originally Posted by tom331

Purchasing a raw land (lot) is not a good investment in general due to the property tax. I purchased two lots at Lakeway area 8 years ago, I have tried to sell it for three years for way below the County Appraisal value without success. The appraisal value keeps moving up. The accumulated property tax which I have paid might be evenutally higher than my purchasing price soon. I would still lose money even if I could sell the property higer than my purchase price, but it is unlikely.

I assume these lots were purchased from a developer/builder in that area?

[tom331]

Originally Posted by austinite_02

I assume these lots were purchased from a developer/builder in that area?

No. I purchased it from a private owner and it is located at the highest point of Grave Yard. It is a flat lot and could have a nice 270 degree water view at second floor. The lots are above the 100 years flood zone.

[ScoPro]

Grave Yard Point?