Land values

I'm still giddy about the forty I got in 2014 in rural Michigan for $1375/acre with hardwoods, good soil, hard and soft mast and a small lake. I had it logged and got almost 40% of my purchase price back. I love this country!
 
Sounds like a great deal.my ground isn't the best but has 1/2 mile of river and around 90 acres of good cover and NWSG along with crop land.Fairly light soil but wish it had a pond
 
I wish we had the deals you guys find. We do good to find it for $3K an acre. The wife and I have been talking about buying a piece 100 or so acres if we can get lucky and find one at the right price and right location. I am patient so we shall see. I plan on waiting a couple more years to buy but when I get debt free and have the money in the bank I am not sure I will have the same patience.
 
Sounds like a great deal...

There's a pretty good story behind it if you guys don't mind indulging me for a few minutes.
I already owned 20 acres adjacent to this 40 so I used to pass by it on the seasonal road. When the leaves were off, I could see the beautiful little lake through the trees and I dreamed about someday owning that lake and putting a cabin on the small bluff that overlooked it. I never saw any activity around the place so I never made contact with the owner.
Then in 2014 I was doing an internet search for county tax information when a real estate listing came back that caught my attention. My heart stopped when I recognized the property and realized it was my dream lake. Turns out this forty had been for sale for 6 months, but no one knew it because they never put a sign by the road. The elderly owner was in a nursing home and the bills were piling up for the family, so they needed to sell this parcel that had been in their family for over 100 years.
I got my financing lined up, made an offer within a few days and had a contract signed. Somehow it leaked out to the locals that it was for sale and the listing realtor's phone wouldn't stop ringing, but it was too late for them.
The property had been neglected for decades, but with a little TLC and TSI we've already seen the deer hunting improve dramatically. We've taken two bucks off the property so far, one of them my 16-year-old daughter's first deer. This year we're putting that cabin on the bluff above the lake. I really am living the dream. :)
 
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very nice,maybe a picture of the lake sometime?I have also found that anytime making a deal on land and not signing a contract to sign a purchase agreement.I have had several times someone trying to steal a purchase that I was working on.
 
Enjoyed your land buying story Osceola! That looks like a beautiful lake; it must be especially pretty on a frosty fall sunrise.
 
Thanks, Chainsaw. I had just such a morning last November when I took my first deer from the property within a few yards of the lake.
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I'm glad as there was a couple guys that were bidding stuff up to 4K but they have slowed down.i paid 1235 and acre for an 80 last year and my other 160 I paid from 500-800 an acre a few years back

Where area are you located?


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I'm telling you it's hot for good deer hunting land guys. I got approached today on my new 40 and was asked for last look if I get an offer I want. A guy is selling another place and wants mine. I told him I am waiting for $5000/acre and he didn't blink

It's sold if he sells his. I'll find another parcel and improve and try to flip it if this happens. Kind of fun
 
I'll find another parcel and improve and try to flip it if this happens. Kind of fun

This does sound like fun. I've given it some thought, but I don't think it would bring a good return in MI.
Assume I can buy a good forty for $1500/ac ($60,000) and sell it for $2000/ac ($80,000) after some habitat improvements. By the time you figure in transaction costs, taxes, improvement costs, time and travel, there wouldn't be anything left of my $20,000 gain. Maybe a fun hobby, but not a money maker in my neck of the woods.
 
What we did several years back was bought an 80 and split in half ,raised the price a couple hundred an acre and resold it.Two people ended up with a piece they could afford and still big enough to hunt.I always said I could take a field let it grow up and get some trail cam pics and resell.If I had the time or money that is
 
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