How to Find And Buy Cheap Land

Could this be your ideal country property?

There is more than one way to have a place to call your own. Whether you are ready to move out into the country and start living a simpler lifestyle, or just want some land you can camp on and go to "get away from it all", you will find that having a paid-off piece of land does wonders for your outlook on life. And it doesn't necessarily require hundreds of thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars to achieve. In fact, it is possible to find land for as little as a few hundred dollars.

Things You'll Need

• The desire to find a cheap piece of land to call your own.
• A sense of adventure.
• An open mind, and the patience to keep looking until you find the right place.

Instructions

1. First, adjust your attitude about property ownership. Most people, when thinking about country land, envision acres of prime pasture, a woodlot full of marketable timber, and a nice year-round stream full of trout. Sorry, but that's just not realistic for land that a person of average means can pay off up front or within a couple of years. And even if you can buy such a place outright, the county it is situated in knows what it is worth, and will tax accordingly.
   What you are looking for is more likely overgrown, steep land that is not really convenient to anything, preferably has no zoning restrictions, and a lack of public utilities to the tract would be a plus, too. Basically look for an absence of features that would make it attractive to the average buyer. If it would cost more than the land is worth just to get a powerline run to the property, you're looking in the right area. If it would cost that much again to drill a well, and public water is not a possibility, you have probably found your place. Property taxes on a few acres of such land should certainly be less than a hundred dollars per year, and preferably more like 25 dollars.

2. Once you have your mind around the type of property you want, narrow down the area you wish to search in. I am assuming that you wish to continue, at least for awhile, to live where you do now, near family, friends, job, etc. In that case, whether you are looking for a future home or just a recreational property, you probably don't want to buy much more than 100 miles from where you currently live. And if you live in an area with a relatively high population density, you probably also do not want to buy too close to where you currently live; certainly not closer than 20 miles, and probably 50 miles or farther. The reason for this is, lots of other people in that city you live in or near, are also looking for country land. This drives the price up, the county increases services to those areas and increases property taxes, more people move in, and so on.

3. You may even want to consider a neighboring state which, due to politics and population density, may be preferable to the state in which you currently reside. Be careful and do your homework however, because there may be things about that state which could be a deal-breaker, and you don't want to find out those things after you have sealed the deal.

4. Likewise, whether you choose your home state or another state, do your due diligence concerning which county to concentrate on. It is generally better to choose a county which does not contain a large city. Once you identify a county as a potential candidate, visit the county seat. Eat lunch or dinner in a local restaurant, and listen to the conversation. One can pick up a lot of information that way. Then go to the courthouse, ask for a map of the county and any brochures you can get; not only real estate and tourism brochures but also informational pamphlets from the tax office, and anything else you find that offers a bit of information about what living and/or owning land in that county would be like. Pay attention to the general attitude at the courthouse: are they friendly and laid-back, or strict and uptight? A county that wants to find and confiscate my pocketknife before allowing me access to the courthouse is probably not a county I want to buy land in.
   Look on the bulletin board in the courthouse, and write down the info from anything interesting.
   In a truly nice county, you may even be able to talk to the sheriff, tell him you are thinking about buying land, and see what advice he has to offer. The sheriff is a very good resource for insight into the good and bad points about the county, and he may even be able to steer you in the direction of some cheap land for sale. Also, if you do buy land there, being on good terms with the sheriff can be a good thing. Of course, you could possibly find, after meeting the sheriff, that you don't really want land in his jurisdiction after all.
   If everything seems to be generally positive about this particular county, one last thing you want to do on this outing is to find out if a tax deed sale is planned in the near future, as this may be an alternative way to find the cheap land you are looking for.

5. If you still have a good feeling about this county, now is the time to go home and spend some time on the Internet. Google the name of the county and read all the interesting results, and search eBay, Craigslist and any other similar sites for land sales. Also spend time reading all the material you picked up in-county, especially newspapers and free classified sales papers. Call realtors in the area and tell them you are looking for their cheapest properties. Make a game plan for your next visit. If you have found any promising leads, mark their locations on the map, and make plans to visit them.

   Every time you visit the area in which you are searching for land, take along a notebook and pen, or a laptop or other means of taking notes. Watch for signs indicating land for sale, and write down the information.
   Look at as many properties as you can, and take a different route each time, so you don't miss any promising areas of the county.

   Also try to visit the county seat on a regular basis, pick up the most current news- and sales papers, look at the bulletin board(s), and talk to as many people as possible.

6. Once you find the land that suits your needs, try to buy it outright, if possible. If not, pay the largest down payment you can manage, and finance it for the shortest time for which you can afford the payments, so as to minimise the total price you pay. The seller may finance it for you on a land purchase agreement. But before you make the decision, check with a local bank in the county where the land is located. Because the land is in their county, they may be easier to deal with, and give you better terms than a bigger bank.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are seriously considering a particular tract, try to meet and talk with some of your potential neighbors. They may tell you some things the seller isn't telling you. Besides, if you buy the land, you will be getting to know these people for a long time; you may as well start now.

• Buyer beware! Be sure to do your due diligence to make sure there are no liens on the property, or other things that could make you wish later that you hadn't bought this piece of ground.

Resources

• Possumliving.com