Have Agreement to purchase land; now I'm upset (2015, appraisal, agent)

[outdoorman]

So I've been wanting to buy land to hunt, camp, shoot on for more than 20 years...been searching and searching for affordable, wooded, quality land within my budget.
Last week, I found 20+ acres of really nice wooded recreational land and because I didn't want to use the listing agent, I decided to use a agent who showed me land before over the past year. This agent used to work for his father who did timber cutting; the agent also hunts and seems pretty familiar with the woods.
I looked up the land on the tax assessor site to view it and noticed the purchase history: the seller bought it from the county at a tax sale for about $5K in 2012. the land listed at $39,900.
So My agent and I met and walked the land; afterwards I told him I wanted to make an offer and didn't want to miss this land. he commented how great of a tract it was and the timber on it was valuable.
When I asked how much he thought I should offer he suggested $35,000 so I initially agreed but then I thought that if I offered full price, I was certain to get it.
Well 2 days later they accepted my offer and boy was I pleased.
That is until, later over the weekend when I started looking at the tax assessors site and found that the neighboring parcel of 18.5 acres sold in 2015 for $18,000.
I had walked both parcels and found them comparable in woodedness and terrain.

Now I'm so upset because I don't want to pay double what the neighboring property is worth. I also confused because all other properties in the county and surrounding counties that are this size and wooded go for a lot more than the one I'm looking at.
I'm torn between ending the deal and giving up on finding land or calling my agent and telling how upset I am that he didn't uncover this and inform me before I made an offer.
If I had known that I would have possibly offered $25000.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

A price 3 yrs ago is too old to be useful. Is the land what you want? Forget about old prices, remember all the higher prices, and be happy you finally got a plot.

[LifeIsGood01]

Don't worry about what other's paid, if you want pay for an appraisal first. 3 years ago a home that sold for $50K in my area now goes for $100K. Plus you said other properties are more expensive. If you think it's not worth it or it's gonna give you an ulcer or stroke back out. If someone buys it for $40K in a few months you may give yourself a stroke. You are paying less than $2K an acre, unless it's swamp or dessert or home sell for $5K in that area buy it.


If you bought it at a tax sale it would have been $5K, so figure out what it's worth to you. If you have doubts don't do it. If you can back out, back out and offer $25k and walk away when they say no.

[Diana Holbrook]

Oh - was going great until the second-guessing began! OK let's see if, with no real information to work with here, we can make you feel better.

Raw land is really hard to comp exactly even if both sales are fresh, but as said above... three year old comps really don't tell you anything. A piece of land can vary by the percentages you're talking about based on number of acres, terrain, wetlands, distance to road and power, timber on the parcel, view, level home site location and elevation, changing season, changing value in the area.... And different buyer and different seller. One is too small a test sample to make a definitive decision from about value. There may be much more involved in that sale and that relationship than is obvious from a distance.

It sounds like a pretty affordable 20 acres. If it's what you want, and the price was what you wanted to pay... I would not worry about the neighboring parcel... unless you want to make that owner an offer for that piece too.

[aslowdodge]

There was a lot I saw that a few years ago was so cheap the taxes on it was $5 meaning it was worth almost nothing. A few years later that lot sold for $185K
Wait for the appraisal.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Aside from the price of the other property being three years old, you don't know the circumstances of the sale.

Maybe that was a special price to a family member. Maybe it was an emergency sale, or desperation to get money for medical treatment. Maybe it was a con man taking advantage of a senior citizen .

At any rate, it is too late for you to buy the parcel next door for half price. You only get to choose from parcels that are for sale. If other similar parcels are all priced higher, I would say that you shopped until you found what you wanted for a bargain price.

[carnivalday]

Ill never understand why people give a flying flip what other people paid for something else THREE FRIGGIN YEARS AGO. If its something you have wanted for a long time, the price certainly is reasonable; they arent making any more land, if you want it, for Gods sake, buy it.

Or dont. You know what? When I bought my property, it was in an area of a lot of acreage. It was a really pretty piece of property. Id been looking and looking. It was priced way higher than anything else in the area. I didnt care. I saw it, I loved it, I bought it. Its now worth 4 times what I paid for it, but I dont care, because I bought it because I wanted it. I didnt give a crap what the people next door paid for theirs, I knew what I wanted, what Id be willing to pay for it, and I looked for a long time to find what I wanted. And Ive lived happily ever after on it. I never one time second guessed myself because the neighbor paid less for his 2 years ago.