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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,764 posts, read 58,200,174 times
Reputation: 46265
Quote:
Originally Posted by Giesela
I agree in the main - go for it - if you can afford it. ...
I look at land on Zillow all the time. It is a dream for me as well but probably out of my price range. I want to watch wildlife walk through my yard.
There is cheap land out there but its cheap for a reason. Wildlife land should have water if possible.....
6 doe and 4 fawns in my frt yard this morning, just need to be careful to not stumble over a skunk at night!
I have a 400' long pond that is finally full (after drought), 2 Wells and plenty of shop space for 8n. Have a windmill, but no time to set it up, yet....
I bought an existing place and rent the main house for 2x payment and live in a cabin that is out of view from home and road. (Pre-fix-up). I also keep 2 of the 3 shops exclusively for me. Bought the view acreage across the street for my 'doze-and-go'*. Have 'doze-and-go' offers standing on 3 places within 1/4 mile. https://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...althrabbit-335
Land is $12,000 to $60,000 for 1 - 5 acre site.
I prefer to buy a legally placed trashed mobile on a view lot. Dozer or excavator will take care of trashed mobile home in under 4 hrs. Most buyers flee the trashed homes.... I love to smash them and recreate a new place (many options for that)
That way I get; (for free, and no 'build time' required of me
Replacement permit is EZ and MUCH FASTER and cheaper than 'build from scratch'
Well
Septic
Power and meter
Road
Grading
Fences
Landscaping
Sheds and barns
Water systems (hydrants around the farm yard)
It takes a lot of time and money to do the above list of infrastructure. I do not have enough lifetimes to do all that again (done 3 rural places from scratch).
*With my 'doze and go' method, I can do all that stuff and have a beautiful homestead in one yr. That leaves a 'free' yr before the every 24 month $500k tax free profit taking, to enjoy or travel and find the next one. Very 'recreational' way to subisidze retirement income. How hard is it to operate a dozer? My 73 yr old widow neighbor can doze and bobcat very well, she is taking down a bunch of trees this morning!
At this age, we can all use a 'free' yr. this one has been our unplanned RTW, and it has been great, just went where the wind and econo airfare directed. Only used 2 hotels!
Best wishes to enjoy your plans.
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 09-03-2016 at 09:33 AM..
Technically, I don't know if I'm in the correct forum but this is where I can get the most opinions from those of retirement age.
Here it is:
I'm 60 and I've always wanted land. For over 30 yrs, I've looked but refrained from buying because I had a family and was concerned about diverting money that we might need.
Well I've raised them and they are grown and on their own and my wife left me several yrs ago and still I want that small wooded piece of paradise.
I still work fulltime, own my home and car and live without other debt.
I love to fish, hunt, camp, kayak, ride my bike and just about anything outdoors (I know what your thinking...he needs a woman in his life)
Well, I'm financially able to buy that land without affecting my retirement. In fact I've found about 40 acres with nice woods, wildlife and a internal road system and small streams that is about half way between where I and my brother live.
So, in your collective wisdom would it be foolish to purchase land at this age?
For what purpose (?) would be my first questiion.
Living on an acreage out in the boondocks is a lot more difficult than living in a Condo/whatever in a city. You say internal roads in your OP. Will snow removal, muddy roads be something you can handle?
You are sixty. Will you be able to get around when you are 70,80 or older?
Investment? God only made so much land.
Do you want to be isolated? Some folks can handle it but many can't.
The (right) Woman can be a HUGE asset in the quality of life. But there is the flipside.
Another vote for buy it!!! And don't buy a tractor, you can hire that work out if needed and you don't have to maintain / fix a tractor which are always breaking down.
I, too, used a Ford 8N for my small tractor chores ... bush hogging, raking hay, sickle bar mowing along my irrigation ditches and fences, and to run my manure spreader.
But the allure of using an older low HP gasoline tractor wore very thin for all those chores in due course.
Sold the 8N for $2,000 and never looked back ...
Replaced it with a 35 HP TYM diesel. Much more reliable, easier to use, a fraction of the fuel consumption per hour, and with the live 3 pt I don't have to worry about Mrs Sun crashing fences with the bush hog driving the tractor forward when she tries to stop or maneuver around an obstacle. Equipped the TYM with a Woods loader which is far better than the old Detroit drop bucket I had on the 8N. Also, the hydraulics on the TYM lets me use a 12-wheel V rake and raise/lower it as needed when raking hay compared to the 8N where I had no hydraulics and could only use an older ground drive IHC rake which was not raised/lowered at the ends of my swaths; I can rake 80 acres of hay for baling in 1/8 the time it took to rake it with the 8N.
Of course, the new diesel tractor was substantially more money than the 8N, but worth it to me when it also came to doing stuff like drilling post holes or removing old posts with the 3 point.
If you're looking at Kubota, do take a look at the TYM. IMO, TYM is a better value and as well built as the Kubota, with similar performance, durability, and ergonomics. Both very user friendly tractors, easy to service.
Technically, I don't know if I'm in the correct forum but this is where I can get the most opinions from those of retirement age.
Here it is:
I'm 60 and I've always wanted land. For over 30 yrs, I've looked but refrained from buying because I had a family and was concerned about diverting money that we might need.
Well I've raised them and they are grown and on their own and my wife left me several yrs ago and still I want that small wooded piece of paradise.
I still work fulltime, own my home and car and live without other debt.
I love to fish, hunt, camp, kayak, ride my bike and just about anything outdoors (I know what your thinking...he needs a woman in his life)
Well, I'm financially able to buy that land without affecting my retirement. In fact I've found about 40 acres with nice woods, wildlife and a internal road system and small streams that is about half way between where I and my brother live.
So, in your collective wisdom would it be foolish to purchase land at this age?
What do you plan to do with the land? Build a house or some kind of dwelling there? Put in a deer blind or similar (and sleep in a camper when you're using it?). You haven't really spelled that out. Or told us whether the land you're thinking of buying is appropriate for what you plan to do with it (in many places - you can't just pitch a tent and camp out on land - even if you own it - you need to have stuff like running water). Just buying land for the sake of buying land without really thinking through what you're going to do with it doesn't make much sense to me. Regardless of your age.
You've mentioned the activities you like to do. Can you do most or all on the land you're talking about? I would tend to doubt it. For example - small streams usually aren't suitable for kayaking. Also - what are the hunting restrictions where you live/where the land is located? I live in NE Florida. And - although we have a lot of hunters/hunting here - there are pretty limited seasons for most things:
My BIL is a deer hunter in Michigan (he uses a bow). About your age. Still working. There's a limited deer season in Michigan too. He goes out a few times a year with friends to hunt. Can't recall whether he hunts on public or private land - or what kinds of fees he pays to hunt - but I'm sure they're less than he'd pay to own hunting land.
When you come right down to it - 40 acres is a small amount of land when it comes to hunting and fishing and similar. There are private hunting preserves here in north Florida - and in southern Georgia - and they're usually thousands of acres. As an aside - I have an acre of land in a suburb - and even I have (very unwelcome to me) deer in my back yard (they eat my garden). Other wildlife too. It's not that hard to come by wildlife in one's yard these days. I have trees too. Expensive to keep them in check.
As for fishing - places with really good fishing waters can be very expensive. What kind of fish are in the streams on the land you're talking about?
I think you kind of get my point. If you like outdoors stuff - you might be better off using the money you would use to buy the 40 acres to do the things you want to do in the best possible ways. For example - my dentist (in his 40's) goes out west every year for a week with a small group of friends to camp out in the wilderness (think Wyoming) and hunt "little birds". Just like my BIL goes out with his friends to hunt deer in Michigan. My husband and I went on canoe trips all over Florida (when we were younger). We know lots of people who fish - in various places and ways.
BTW - I think too many people here assume you want to be some kind of farmer - and I don't get that impression at all. Robyn
Oh my gosh - go for it! What are you waiting for? My husband and I are in our early 60's and just finished building a house (through a contractor) and then hired a pool company to build a pool. 60 is not the same as it was when our parents and grandparents were in their 60's.
6 doe and 4 fawns in my frt yard this morning, just need to be careful to not stumble over a skunk at night!
I have a 400' long pond that is finally full (after drought), 2 Wells and plenty of shop space for 8n. Have a windmill, but no time to set it up, yet....
I bought an existing place and rent the main house for 2x payment and live in a cabin that is out of view from home and road. (Pre-fix-up). I also keep 2 of the 3 shops exclusively for me. Bought the view acreage across the street for my 'doze-and-go'*. Have 'doze-and-go' offers standing on 3 places within 1/4 mile. https://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...althrabbit-335
Land is $12,000 to $60,000 for 1 - 5 acre site.
I prefer to buy a legally placed trashed mobile on a view lot. Dozer or excavator will take care of trashed mobile home in under 4 hrs. Most buyers flee the trashed homes.... I love to smash them and recreate a new place (many options for that)
That way I get; (for free, and no 'build time' required of me
Replacement permit is EZ and MUCH FASTER and cheaper than 'build from scratch'
Well
Septic
Power and meter
Road
Grading
Fences
Landscaping
Sheds and barns
Water systems (hydrants around the farm yard)
It takes a lot of time and money to do the above list of infrastructure. I do not have enough lifetimes to do all that again (done 3 rural places from scratch).
*With my 'doze and go' method, I can do all that stuff and have a beautiful homestead in one yr. That leaves a 'free' yr before the every 24 month $500k tax free profit taking, to enjoy or travel and find the next one. Very 'recreational' way to subisidze retirement income. How hard is it to operate a dozer? My 73 yr old widow neighbor can doze and bobcat very well, she is taking down a bunch of trees this morning!
At this age, we can all use a 'free' yr. this one has been our unplanned RTW, and it has been great, just went where the wind and econo airfare directed. Only used 2 hotels!
Best wishes to enjoy your plans.
Two sets of twins and a singleton in my front yard all summer. More across the creek in the pasture.
Technically, I don't know if I'm in the correct forum but this is where I can get the most opinions from those of retirement age.
Here it is:
I'm 60 and I've always wanted land. For over 30 yrs, I've looked but refrained from buying because I had a family and was concerned about diverting money that we might need.
Well I've raised them and they are grown and on their own and my wife left me several yrs ago and still I want that small wooded piece of paradise.
I still work fulltime, own my home and car and live without other debt.
I love to fish, hunt, camp, kayak, ride my bike and just about anything outdoors (I know what your thinking...he needs a woman in his life)
Well, I'm financially able to buy that land without affecting my retirement. In fact I've found about 40 acres with nice woods, wildlife and a internal road system and small streams that is about half way between where I and my brother live.
So, in your collective wisdom would it be foolish to purchase land at this age?
You've worked hard. You deserve to have your dream, now that you can afford it. If you tire of it later, you can sell it. In the meantime, you'll have your dream. Maybe it won't live up to your expectations, but maybe it will. I am a nature lover, too. You can't go wrong spending time in your own wooded piece of paradise. I would love that.
Warning warning. It might get awful lonely out there. So invite some people to go out there with you sometimes. But tell them no three-wheelers allowed! That would spoil any piece of paradise.
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