I know very little, but I can say that the question on "average cost per acre" is one of those questions that will generate about 200 more questions that you'll need to answer before you can get an answer to your question.

Being that you are looking in the Carolinas, what land goes for in Texas pretty much has no bearing on where you are looking.

Same with maintenance costs - there are literally thousands of factors that can go in to making that determination. Terrain, geographical features, indigenous wildlife, cows, invasive species, type of trees and grass, etc. all play big roles into what constitutes a maintenance cost.

check auction sites if you aren't concerned about a house....you can find some nice deals on land. Also look to secure mineral rights as you never know what they'll find down the road. A few years ago the Eagle Ford area in S TX was cheap...now with hydraulic frac in shale areas farmers are making bank, bro.

One consideration that applies here in Tx that I would educate myself on is tax status of land. Don't know how they work it in Carolinas but here you need to make sure is wildlife or ag exempt and transfers with sale. You can establish those exemptions but is expensive and may take years. Again, don't know how this applies there but here you can take it cold with no lube if you don't know those answers

Just some things to ask about or consider when we look at buying land:
-are minerals included, if so all or only certain minerals
-are there any easements or right of ways granted to neighbors or utilities
-flood plain or maybe in your case hurricane coverage, it can effect insurance
-fences if any, who originally built them and who generally maintains them
-utility access both water and power. If it does not have any what kind of cost to deliver

Also forgot to add… if you are looking to build a waterfowl paradise you are getting into an area that has more federal influence. Do too good of job building a waterfowl paradise you could end up with some threatened or endangered species making its home and really effecting what you can do with the land

Based on a post here not too terribly long ago, one thing to really look into is the neighbors.

One of the great benefits to owning land is the ability to do what you want with it and not need to get approval from neighbors, POA, HOA, city codes, etc. It's also one of the drawbacks because others around you can do the exact same thing.

Like in the post I mentioned - the neighbors set up a shooting range, so the nice quiet country/weekend get away turned into the sounds of Fallujah from sunup to sundown and actually caused the owners to put their property on the sale block.

Check out the surrounding properties wherever you think seriously about buying - pig farms, dumps, crappy neighbors, etc. don't just go away.

Taxes
Access
Neighbors
Utilities
Regulations
Septic
Water access

Taxes
Access
Neighbors
Utilities
Regulations
Septic
Water access

I live in Charleston. One thing to remember if you plan on doing anything is upkeep. Stuff grows like CRAZY here. It's like the jungle how quickly everything gets overgrown.

In my land economics course we had to read a book is still have by Dr. Gilliland who is one of the bigshots at the A&M relegate center titled "Buying Rural Land in Texas". Obviously you aren't buying land here but a lot of the concepts do transfer over. Some important chapters:

1) Research the historical land uses in the area, see what other people have done with their property and how they've handled challenges.
2) Risk analysis, know what kind of problems or situations may arise with your new purchase and have a plan for some worst case scenarios, even have an exit strategy if you get in and realize it's something you can't handle at the time
3) Market trends, again you want to research historical market prices as well as current ones, the types of taxes you will be paying and how different land can be used for exemptions or even profit generation.
4) identifying legal rights and limitations, know your ownership rights, how different resources from minerals to surface water will be owned and even whether you might have an endangered spices on your property.


That's already probably more information than you were looking for and his book does have other chapters but they apply only to Texas land, like how to find the perfect spot and make use of different services around the state.

Agskeet, can you elaborate on that?

I have never heard of the Feds being able to restrict you, on private property from hunting, seeing as no avian species are nesting at that time. If that was the case then all duck and goose hunting should be outlawed around Aransas wildlife refuge for the whoopers.

Research and even meet the neighbors before you buy. A hole neighbors are not fun to deal with.

Water, water, water.

My family owns about 350 acres around the Rocksprings area. The main thing my dad was looking for was water and electricity. There is also a very active POA with rules that are actually stricter than my neighborhoods HOA or at least they seem that way. Check out the neighbors and talk to them if you can.

Agskeet said, "......you could end up with some threatened or endangered species making its home and really effecting what you can do with the land."

I don't think he meant hunting. He meant what you can do with the land after an endangered species is discovered on it. For instance, you wouldn't be able to fill in the wetlands and build an apartment complex on it. If you wish to keep the property for personal recreational use, it probably doesn't matter much.

I'll second the neighbors issue. I've posted this before but the inlaws had a 100 acre property, with a civil war era log cabin on it in east Texas, where the neighbors built a shooting range right by, and parallel to, the property line. Weekend retreat right out the door.

South Carolina where the land is cheap gets very rural if you know what I mean. I would be very cautious with neighbors. Redneck gives a whole new meaning.

If you want to hunt, the better the soil and, more obviously, natural water availability are important.

quote:

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South Carolina where the land is cheap gets very rural if you know what I mean. I would be very cautious with neighbors. Redneck gives a whole new meaning.

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I can confirm this. Spent 4 years or so in the Carolina's (mainly in CLT) but spent enough time in SC to see some very interesting people. Charleston is awesome! Can't comment on the hunting though.

you might consider contacting the local NRCS office in the areas where you are looking to answer a lot of questions about developing your waterfoul paradise. My brother worked for NRCS in Alabama and all he did was wetland restorations projects for landowners down there so they should be a good source of info.