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Quick update. I was in Atlanta for a conference last week and took the opportunity to run down to Opelika for the weekend. I had previously reached out to the developer and he met me at the site on Saturday morning.
As I feared, the road came in at about 50% higher than they expected. No more development. However, I had already heard to the grapevine that they were going to offer to sell me a lot just off the highway. When I say highway, it’s more of a “farm to market” road.
The source of the rumor is a gentleman who purchased a sizable lot right next-door and has already cleared it off. Turns out that his information was correct. The developer offered 10 acres for about 25% more than my original budget which was for about half the size I had in mind.
My buddy and I spent a lot of time on Saturday talking about the pros and cons of this location. This lot has it advantages that my Plan B lot doesn’t have. At the end of the day, the total costs would probably be about the same even though we’d pay less per acre on Plan B. We wouldn’t have to contend with a dirt road, power is readily available and the well probably wouldn’t have to be as deep detail the slightly lower elevation at this location.
I wouldn’t call it a done deal just yet. My wife is in Brazil dealing with a very sick mother and my buddy wants to talk to another of his friends to get a quick sanity check of the pricing. Everything seems consistent with other acreage for sale in the area but a quick check won’t hurt anything. The developer is in no hurry and he understands my wife’s situation. Once she’s back later this week I’ll walk her through the process and we should be able to move forward at that point.
This puts us in a position to execute a five-year plan. That means we don’t have to rush any decisions but I can do certain things In the near future such as planting along the road for privacy purposes. I may even have a guy go in and bush hog it so I can make it a bit more presentable now and double-check my thoughts for the best homesite. More to come as updates occur.
Good to see that you're not rushing. Time is on your side as you said. Particularly as you said that you don't care about gated, it would seem that there are more options available to you including in Auburn. Sometimes developers will create a sense of urgency like you're going to lose out and don't you want a pick of the best plots or whatever. And that the area is booming so prices are going straight up. Blah Blah.
Have you talked with a local real estate lawyer? If it were me, I would not proceed without doing that, but that's just me. I am not terribly savvy about real estate.
Think of a bush or brush hog as a extremely large mower that will cut and chop just about anything a tractor can go through or over. The exception is rocks. Hit a large enough rock and you're looking at new blades. Large downed trees are pushed up into a pile. I imagine that the only options to remove them are to bury, burn or have them chipped up. I prefer that they be chipped and used for other projects.
It'll take land from this:
to this - after it was bush-hogged and thinned out a bit:
The first picture is the land I'd like to purchase and the second is just to the west.
Eventually, the goal is to clean it up to something similar to this - this is my buddy's land looking out from his front porch.
I don't want to remove any more trees than absolutely necessary, especially the hardwoods. I'd be too afraid to wade into it now - I imagine there are a few rattlesnakes buried in there!
My wife returned home from Brazil and after she somewhat recovered, we sat down last Saturday and reviewed our finances, my 'vision' and the contingency plan if something were to happy between now and then and we had to change our plans. Apparently, she was happy with the responses - this ain't my first rodeo with her thought process - and she's comfortable with moving forward.
After a couple of calls with the developer, we settled on a price and will move forward with an anticipated close in early December. What I like about this is that we've worked on a handshake and trust to this point. Of course, it will be surveyed, titles searched, attorney engaged, etc but beyond that, he hasn't asked for a signed contract or a dime of earnest money. I have no doubt that we'll carry this through to completion.
I also was able to determine who the next-door-neighbor is and was able to contact him. He has some unique businesses and is also a full-time firefighter so locating him took maybe 20 second. We talked for half an hour and I'm confident that we'll be good neighbors. The best part is that he has five kids, two of which will be young enough for my wife to spoil once we make the move in 5-6 years. When I told her via email about his youngest kids, she said she's ready to move now.
He also volunteers that he has a lot of contacts who can help with everything we'll need done on the land and offered the use of his tractor if I ever need it. He's a hunter as I expected and I know he was happy to know that while I don't hunt now, it's not a big deal to me.
My wife returned home from Brazil and after she somewhat recovered, we sat down last Saturday and reviewed our finances, my 'vision' and the contingency plan if something were to happy between now and then and we had to change our plans. Apparently, she was happy with the responses - this ain't my first rodeo with her thought process - and she's comfortable with moving forward.
After a couple of calls with the developer, we settled on a price and will move forward with an anticipated close in early December. What I like about this is that we've worked on a handshake and trust to this point. Of course, it will be surveyed, titles searched, attorney engaged, etc but beyond that, he hasn't asked for a signed contract or a dime of earnest money. I have no doubt that we'll carry this through to completion.
I also was able to determine who the next-door-neighbor is and was able to contact him. He has some unique businesses and is also a full-time firefighter so locating him took maybe 20 second. We talked for half an hour and I'm confident that we'll be good neighbors. The best part is that he has five kids, two of which will be young enough for my wife to spoil once we make the move in 5-6 years. When I told her via email about his youngest kids, she said she's ready to move now.
He also volunteers that he has a lot of contacts who can help with everything we'll need done on the land and offered the use of his tractor if I ever need it. He's a hunter as I expected and I know he was happy to know that while I don't hunt now, it's not a big deal to me.
All positive on every front.
Glad to hear this. It is nice to hear a good story on this forum!
A timber real estate investment trust apparently wants to purchase everything available in this area. The developer called and asked if I was open to moving down the road a bit to maintain 10 acres or, giving up just over an acre to square the other buyer’s purchase off. It’s contingent on another owner selling her 20 acres and it seems she’s willing to do that. We’re electing to stay on the acres we selected and giving up a bit isn’t a big deal. The REIT rep agreed to this also.
This gives us a good neighbor and except for the (guessing) 15-20 year harvest, the land will remain as pine. I’m guessing they’ll lease it out for hunting also. The back of the land flows down into a creek and slightly swampy area and the deer are probably abundant there.
The REIT has to close on their purchase by year end for tax purposes. Not sure when we’ll close - this has caused the developer to focus on the larger buyer. Lol We’re in no hurry...what will be, will be.
Oh yeah, we had a house plan selected and I found one that I like better. Anyone want to offer an opinion? They’re fairly similar but my wife likes one slightly better than the other. Of course, she reserves the right to change her mind two or three more times. Lol
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agreed!
