I'm 24, and with the upcoming wedding this summer, and my fiance finally finishing school, I've begun the extensive legwork of home and land shopping. I grew up on 90 acres here in PA (which I still hunt), and so I always had imagined buying a nice piece of ground to build on and call my own. Well, after watching the market for a solid 7-8 months, I'm in absolute awe at the prices being asked for land in my area. The average rate is around $8,000-$10,000 an acre. Now, for those of you not familiar with this area of PA, we are fairly rural, with the median income in Williamsport being somewhere in the mid $30,000 I believe (don't quote me on that). There isn't a solid market to warrant these land prices, but the only thing I can imagine is the fact that we're sitting at the heart of a new natural gas play that saw big time leasing all last spring/summer. I'm wondering if landowners think they're sitting on a gold mine, and as such, expect an enormous amount of money for their land. Anyone who really understands this gas play, and how companies approach the land acquisition (which I do a bit as we had a well drilled on our cabin this summer) knows that the majority of landowners will never see a well, and realtor's are actually finding it HARDER to sell land that has the O&G rights retained. That's a separate story for another post. Anyways, it seems as if we're going to have to settle for a home on 2 acres or so for the time being. To many of you, that doesn't seem like to bad of an idea, but to me, it's a tough pill to swallow. I've been saving everything I can with the anticipation of buying land, only to have the prices skyrocket right at the time that I was considering purchasing. What's it like in your areas? What are the going rates for land (agricultural and/or recreational)? How many of you are landowners? Just curious to see what it's like for others across the country.
Albany areas are pretty bad unless you get about 20+ miles outside of the city. Anywhere close to Albany your looking at 10-30k an acre. West and southwest of the city prices are fairly good if your willing to drive 45 minutes or so, you can still find land for less than $2k per acre if you are looking at 50 acre patches or bigger in those areas. 3 years ago, I purchased hilltop field property in Bradford County for $1500 an acre........this is property with views for miles. If your family has been there that long in your area, I'd suggest talking to family friends and relatives, everyone knows someone with a patch they have thought about selling. That's how your going to find the best deal, word of mouth, not an agent. The real estate agents are IMHO putting false numbers on the land just to get the listings, in hopes that someone from the city (retired money) will find it attractive, or that the landowners will eventually settle for less.
Land in southern IL has been bringing $3000 an acre for the past couple of years. I've heard of some ground bringing $4k, but never verified it. I own 30 acres that I live and hunt on.
$1500/acre, huh? Wow, that's great. I was just looking at a house on 11 acres there for $370,000. Word of mouth is what I'm working on right now, and I've also come to the conclusion that it's the only way I will be able to find suitable land, if I can at all. I have leads on two or three pieces of ground, but I'm also going to tour a nice bi-level on a little over 2 acres this afternoon and a completely finished two story barn/workshop. It would be fine for a starter home if I can't find any land. If it gets to the point after a few years where things aren't changing, I will be leaving the area. I've seen pictures of your land, and you've certainly got the spot. Plus, you're also in the heart of the gas situation as well, so the timing all worked out for you. Have you ever considered moving there? I would assume it might be tough job-wise, as the that area isn't too conducive to employment opportunities.
Yeah, I've noticed the midwest brings with it the lower prices (less appeal to the mass developers compared to northeastern states I suppose). In the end, though, that would workout for hunters. I could probably purchase more land out that held the potential for bigger deer for a lesser price than I could here in PA. Granted, my land purchase isn't based solely on deer hunting. I really like it in PA, but the land prices here are out of control.
Yep, it was a deal made without involving an agent. Years before, I put a bug in the neighbors ear saying if he ever wanted to sell I'd save him the hassle of putting it on the market. I ended up getting a steal on it. I have considered moving there. My current job would allow me to do it as well and work remotely. One of our employees actually lives in Towanda and works from home, and nearly half our sales staff work from home in various parts of the country. All I need is high speed internet, a phone line, and to be willing to drive to an airport when needed. I may do it eventually, but for now Lisa is working to get herself tenured in her first teaching job, and we both have a pretty good investment into the house we have bought in NY. I hope to cash out of the house in NY in a couple years, when she has more experience, and it may become an option at that point. I may also just keep the land as a vacation spot and move further north in NY into the Adirondacks where her family is, either choice is fine with me as long as we can get out of the suburbs. We both want our own patch of property, a log home, and to be back in the country...........the house we are currently in now is what's (hopefully) going to help us build the equity to make it happen.
Land prices are high enough around here(Pittsburgh) that there is little to no chance of me buying any hunting land within an hours drive, if not more. I got a house on 2 acres. This is one of the places where the housing crunch and bad economy have not hit too hard.
Yeah, working from home might be an option for me after I finish my master's if the right position opens up (online instructor), and that would give me much more flexibility in where I could move since my fiance will be a pharmacist, and they're needed everywhere. The land and log home is also our dream as well, but maybe I'm pushing to hard for it to happen the first time around. First two houses we went to look at last night were decent, but still nothing we're crazy about. I'm still waiting to hear back about the pieces of land yet. Rybo, we looked out in western PA as well (she went to Pitt for a semester and liked that area of the state), but prices are hit or miss out there, too. Close to any significant population, and the prices certainly skyrocket.
Ag land and fields around here can sell anywhere from $3,000-$5,000 per acre, depending on the quality of the land. Land that is unfarmable (hilly pastures and timber) sell for even less, usually $1,000-$1,300 per acre. I have plan similar to yours for when I graduate. I would love to grab a piece of land and build on it, but who knows. That is a long way down the road.
