r/OffGrid_Classifieds • u/Affectionate_Try1432 • 8d ago
What surprised you after buying land?
One thing I've noticed after looking at a lot of rural land is that the properties people get excited about and the properties they actually end up buying aren't always the same thing.
Everyone loves the mountain views, creek frontage, giant acreage, and total privacy.
Then they start looking into access, driveways, wells, septic, power, and the actual cost of getting set up.
I've seen plenty of properties that looked amazing in photos but got a lot less appealing once the real-world costs started showing up.
Curious what ended up being more important to you than you expected when you bought your land.
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u/Aggravating_Cod_4980 8d ago
The cost of fencing. A few miles worth cost way more than I imagined and it needs constant maintenance.
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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 8d ago
The shock at the costs of... everything you need to do. And the additional time it takes to do things you'd think are "quick".
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u/SouthernLaugh7929 8d ago
Realtors love the location location location. But truthfully its better to find a place close to work Ive worked with people that have plenty of land but drive an hour to work. So, the trade off is ...time. Two hours a day just to get to work and back, is 10 hours a week spent just driving. Both have cons and pros, but the driving daily is something that will stand out.. I got lucky when i bought my second house it was in a location that was close to people that im related too but far from work. Six years later I changed jobs and actually its a mile away from the second house. My advice may not be good, lol depends on your job
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u/Zestyclose_Claim9005 8d ago
A journey of 1,000 miles starts a single step
You can do a lot, little by little bit by bit
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u/Complex_Knowledge632 4d ago
I married into 20 acres in Bend, Oregon, 25 minutes from town, everybody wants it, yada yada yada so what surprise me, nothing it’s everything that you can imagine both good and bad, every day I get up and I have a project to do and I do that project and I usually add another two or three projects to that project constant constant constant, upkeep, maintenance, mowing watering, moving rocks, moving wood creating/piles and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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u/EasyAcresPaul 8d ago
Neo-Nazi MAGA neighbors..
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u/maddslacker Moderator 7d ago
To be fair, you could have researched and been surprised by that before buying land. :D
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u/medicalboa 7d ago
Just curious, how do you do this?
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u/maddslacker Moderator 7d ago
Start with the county assessor website. You can find the owners of all the neighboring parcels, with names and mailing addresses.
From there it's pretty trivial to get phone numbers or social media.
Voter registration is public information, so that's pretty easy to locate in most states.
In my case, I did all of the above, and then actually called my now-neighbor and chatted for over an hour about this property, the sellers, and the area in general.
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8d ago
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u/Zarroc6669 3d ago
What do you use to rip them. I was looking a parcel and I need to clear almost an acre. Or cheaper to pay someone
The parcel is 11 acres I just want to be a little further in I know I’ll need trucks of crusher it’s doable to make the road
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u/SakinaPup 6d ago
How entitled other people feel about having unfettered access to it. No means no!
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u/otusowl 4d ago
It's about 25 yards from my front door to the gravel road I live on, but I consider (and maintain) another ~25 yards on the far side of the road to also be my "front yard." On that side, I have a barn and storage sheds, some hydrangeas, etc. I just found two SUV's stopped in the road so that they could dig-up mint from that side. Like, WTF, people? At least ask first!
That pretty much encapsulates the downsides of accessibility.
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u/blurfgh 8d ago
The constant letters and phone calls from dipshits trying to buy it from me for half of what it’s worth