The positive points of owning land are obvious. Here are some "caution" points for everyone to consider:

-Everyone I know who owns land seriously underestimated the amount of work that goes into it. It is fun work, but still work. If you own land east of I35 (especially I45) you are probably going to need a tractor with a brush hog. You will need to mow at least 3 times a year. If not, your roads and camp grounds will be overgrown in no time. If you have a tractor, you will need a place to store it.

-Learn about long term future development plans around your property. If you buy in an area expected to grow, you might get used to the idea of having a Wal-Mart, neighborhood, gas station, RV park next door.

-Fencing is crazy expensive. If your property is poorly fenced or not fenced at all you need to think about the cost of fencing.

-When you own land, you become paranoid about people trespassing....and people will trespass.

-You will worry about drought and fires in ways you have never worried before.

-If you buy land that is currently Ag Exempt, and you fail to keep it Ag Exempt, you will be responsible for 5 years of roll back taxes.

-If you land is currently not Ag Exempt, you will need to show 5 years of continues Ag use before you can obtain that exemption.

All that said, I love owning land, but it inst for everyone.

[This message has been edited by PineTreeAg (edited 8/16/2013 1:39p).]

Fences: We had a great neighbor, we went 50/50 on new boarder fencing. Agexemptions can be different on a county basis. Call your county agent. Great neighbors are essential. Ours ran 35 cow/calf pairs on 110 acres, fertilized, cut hay, looked after the place like it was his own. We never had any worries and I hope the neighbor made out well also. Salt of the earth. Most rural folks hate big city weekenders and some weekenders deserve that. Just like anything.

So what advice do you give to avoid being a big city weekender stereotype, even if that's exactly what you are?

That's a tough one. The smaller the community, the more polarized they are. I've been around it since I was three years old. I'm more rural than city, but have always been a weekender. One thing you will find out of the city is plain talking god fearing honest people that you can trust with your life. These are typically the land owners and your neighbors.
As long as you don't do anything idiotic, they tend to give you a fair chance.

It's typically the lady at the tax appraiser's office and the coop and the title company that's keeping an eye on you crazy city folks.

HECUBUS:
You sound a lot like someone I know. Were your family places in Washington and Fayette Counties?

Yes, from '63 'til now minus the cattle since '89. Good times.

Heard you were thinking of selling your place, if I'm guessing right.

Those Herefords were good cattle.

Some were, except for ole number 811.

So, you going to sell? I know it's not any easy choice. We must have done it wrong, we were sad when we sold our boat and happy when we sold the ranch. Go figure.

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And, in my case, the annual cost is less than some of the leases I was on.

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I'd like to see the breakdown on this.

I would buy 1RancherAg's place if I was looking, had the money and it was for sale. It's got everything.

I remember that cow. Good thing you were a quick tree climber back then.

No, I changed my mind, I just can't part with the place.

Then you'll have to invite me over since we are without. If you need someone to shoot any of those deer I see in the photos or fish some of your tanks, don't forget us.

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And, in my case, the annual cost is less than some of the leases I was on.
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I'd like to see the breakdown on this.

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My personal finances are none of your business. If you'll read my statement, I said "in my case". Your case may be different.

Somebody is a little pissy.

Just what did you expect.

One other thing to consider is easements through the property or to get to the property. I tried to minimize both as I felt it just increases the opportunity for issues with neighbors and potential trespassing on my property.

HECUBUS:

Seriously, let's plan on it. Give me a call or email me when convenient.

he might have expected some brief tips on say...tax strategies that might make owning land more affordable? Something other than just wildlife and ag exemption?

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It's typically the lady at the tax appraiser's office and the coop and the title company that's keeping an eye on you crazy city folks.

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I applied for wildlife tax excemption in April. Was never notified about whether I was approved/denied by the CAD until I called first of June to inquire about when a decision would be made. They told me that had I been denied, they would have notified me by mail. Thanks.

This week I was notified that they needed a key or combo to access the property to inspect it. I told them go ahead, but that I was a bit surprised that they were inspecting two months after I was notified of approval, and at this point in time they won't find much. Birdhouses are purchased, but not hung yet. Photos, documentation and receipts are in a folder at home.

I can tell that dealing with the CAD is going to be fun.

I think it's all pretty much been stated.

Ag exemption and you pretty much don't pay property taxes.

Claim a business, write off mortgage and improvements.

Or, claim a second home and write of mortgage.

No matter what, talk to a good tax accountant with your plan.

You do also get to not pay sales tax on farm use purchases.

Then I would suggest that the person ask for that specific information instead of making a request that sounds like he is doubting someone's word and asking for their personal records.

Looking forward to seeing your place in person, not looking forward to little league, soccer and school starting next week. Will definitely find a time.

I have had weekend access to a gorgeous piece of property in northern Fayette or southern Lee county, about 350 acres. This place has multiple tanks including one which has an electric pump that can be turned on and fills the tank with cold clean well water. After playing on this land for a year or so, I can't stop thinking about getting my own land. I know I won't be able to afford property this large or this nice, but I want to start somewhere.

The main thing that I'm having trouble with right now in my decision-making process is what should I compromise on? I have pretty much determined by following LandsofTexas for the last 6-7 months that I can't afford what I want. So, now I have to figure out where I can be more flexible.

Distance? I really wanted somewhere no farther away from where I live than ~2 hours so that I will actually use it.

Size? Was hoping for something at least 100 acres so that I could explore on it some, but maybe better to buy smaller and hope that neighboring land becomes available at some point in the future?

Water on the land? The main things I want to do on the land are ride 4 wheelers, let my dogs run around and play, do some dog training, and explore, and gradually make improvements as I'm able. I think that having water on the land will be really important for helping the dogs stay cool, but maybe digging/filling a tank wouldn't be so bad?

Quality of land? I've heard that clearing off cactus and mesquite is a *****, but maybe this could fall into the "gradual improvement" category.

I've already decided that presence of house/cabin/other building, existing electricity/water hookups, mineral rights, etc. will probably have to be compromised.

Any advice on what I might be able to make do without that might not be a big deal?

Rachel

If you know the area you want, look for local Realtors instead of lands of Texas. Sometimes they have their listings on Realtor.com.

Get your ducks in a row, sometimes people put property up for sale as an impulse decision. Be ready for when that happens.

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I have pretty much determined by following LandsofTexas for the last 6-7 months that I can't afford what I want.

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I've been told that the properties you see on Lands of Texas are generally priced very highly for what you get. You can probably do better if you do some digging in a targeted area.

What kind of digging, Buck? Other websites? Local realtors?

MLS, online newspapers, realtors in the county. LOA is typically high to rediculous.
Found our place in Lampassas County on Austin MLS. When I get around to it, I'll post some land data links.

From an email I sent to a friend who was just starting to look for land. The links didn't make it so you'll have to google if you find something of interest.

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The Web Soil Survey is amazing. You can see if the land can support a pond/lake, what grows best, the entire profile. The Rural Land Market Trend link will give you a good ball park price for what the land is actually selling for. The real time river and stream data might be best for fishing, but it's amazing that you can check the height and flow of almost any river/stream on the map.


US Web Soil Survey

US Real-Time River and Stream Data

US FEMA Flood Maps

US Topo Map

Texas Rural Land Market Trends

Texas Brush Control

Texas Mineral Rights

Texas Parks and Wildlife

Texas Department of Agricultrure

Texas State Historical Association

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[This message has been edited by HECUBUS (edited 8/17/2013 10:40a).]

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MLS, online newspapers, realtors in the county. LOA is typically high to rediculous.
Found our place in Lampassas County on Austin MLS. When I get around to it, I'll post some land data links.

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From my experience, many of the small town and county realtors are posting properties on LOT.

How big of a deal is it to have property in a flood plain? I found a semi-promising piece of land that is almost completely in a flood plain (there wasn't a legend on the map that I was looking at, but about 1/3 of the property was shaded dark blue and about 2/3 was shaded light blue - I'm assuming these corresponded to 100 year and 500 year or something like that).

I know that this would most likely affect insurance on any future improvements, but was thinking that depending on the type of flood plain it could possibly be overcome by building up on something?

The property has a creek at the back property line but in the photos the creek doesn't look very substantial, so I wouldn't think that flooding 95 acres would be very likely.

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What kind of digging, Buck? Other websites? Local realtors?

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Besides the good ideas already mentioned by other above, I would try to locate a really good local broker working your target area and just have him/her start researching for you. It may take many months or even 2-3 years to get the right parcel at the right price. If the broker is good, they'll know of tracts that can be bought that may not even be listed for sale yet. I knew of one 300 acre ranch that was available for purchase a full 18 months before it was publicly listed for sale. For whatever reason, the owner hadn't engaged a listing broker even though he fully intended to sell. A sharp broker who knew the area land owners well could have brought him a buyer and made the sale without the ranch ever officially coming on the market.

If you see a tract that you just gotta have, you can even look up the land owner in the appraisal district records for that county and make him an offer. All they can do is say "no thanks".

RM98: I think the flood plain is only a real problem if you have improvements like a house of barn in the flood plain. I personally wouldn't worry about a ranch with some flood plain as long as and structure was well above the base flood elevation. In some cases, the flood plain might even be a negotiating tool to get the price down.

Just finished Phil Robertson's book and he said he specifically wanted a property in the flood plain for duck hunting purposes.

It doesn't matter how small the creek "looks" if it's in a flood plain. It may drain a large area or back water up. You can build up a pad or build on piers, but just know that the "500 year" flood plain is not a measure of high the water CAN get, and flood maps are useful only for determining who has to buy mandatory flood insurance.

Property 100% in the flood plain is Russian roulette when it comes to running cattle, or storing equipment, etc. You could lose tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in one night. You bet your ass it's worth less to all but a handful of recreational owners (or farmers who can insure their loss).

[This message has been edited by swcbonfire (edited 8/18/2013 2:45p).]