My wife and I are city folks who fantasize about buying a relatively small plot of mountain land – probably 3 to 6 acres – for the purpose of later building a vacation home. (We cannot afford to buy and build at the same time. But we could afford to buy the land now, and save up to build later.) The ideal plot would be relatively secluded, but it would be fine to be within (loud) shouting distance of the next house. Hills and woods are a must.
As certified city folks, we know very little about what we should look for. I would hate to buy some land and then meet with a builder who says, “Oh, you want a house on THIS land? Are you sure you need indoor plumbing?”
Anyone have any words of wisdom? I know we would need a septic system, but what are the variables that affect the cost and ease of installation of such systems? How about land covenants and the like? Any that we should avoid? Or that we would want?
(For anyone in a position to give geographically specific advice, we would likely buy in the panhandle of West Virginia; near the town of Berkeley Springs would be ideal.)
Will you be wanting electricity? Consult with the local utility and at least get a ballpark estimate for the cost of bringing power to your property. Check and see if the land between you and whatever else you need is owned by any governmental entitiy - it can be very difficult to obtain easements to bring utilities across such properties.
You MUST have : Water, sewage, electricity, access to a public road.
Learn about water wells in the area, how much they cost, reliability, etc. Check before buying.
Septic tank can be a problem if the county health officer doesn’t like the drainage your land affords. Check before buying.
Electric utilities are usually required by law to provide electrical service to a full-time residence, maybe to vacation homes too. Check before buying.
Be certain your land will either have frontage on a public road or has a deeded right-of-way to a public road. Check before buying.
All good advice - and buying land is rarely a mistake. Buy it and hold on to it - even if you change your mind, you most likely will make a profit selling in the future.
My suggestion is to try it out - rent a cabin or house in the middle of nowhere and see how you like it.
We live in a busy suburb and still have had some city-folk visit and freak out because it is “too quiet” for them.
You like bugs? Need to have a Starbucks ten minutes from home? Nervous when the wind slams your door shut? And what exactly was that other sound?!
It all seems really great tp get away from it all, but ya know, not everybody is ready for what they think they want.
By all means, talk to the county planning department. In our county there are parcels that are unbuildable due to access. If emergency services can’t get to it, they won’t let you build.
That’s just off the top of my head. I do live in the mountains and own two pieces of property.
Raw land isn’t necessarily a good investment, especially in remote areas. Many jurisdictions have a higher tax rate for non-agricultural land. There may also be other restictions, such as clearing underbrush periodically for fire prevention. You need to investigate carefully.
The problem with buying 6 secluded acres anywhere is that this type of land usually comes in 2 packages:
a) Tons of acreage at a relatively low price per acre (because of access, lack of utiltiies, etc.); or
b) Acreage subdivided as part of a bigger development, at a relatively high price per acre because the developer wants to recoup the money they doled out to build up the infrastructure).
For the reasons named above, I’d be very reticent to purchase mountain acreage in an undeveloped area; the cost of bringing electricity and water to a remote location can be crippling. And building on rock and/or a significant slope can be very difficult and costly.
I’d lean towards the second scenario. Find a realtor in the area that you’d like to buy in and ask if there are any new developments that offer what you are looking for. Ask if the developer will allow you to buy the acreage without immediately building.
Good luck in your search and in building a vacation home.
Seconded. I have lived all over Virginia, and karst and clay are common ground/soil types. Both can cause problems with septic tanks and foundations. Health Departments are in charge of checking land to see if it “perks” (drains properly) for septic. Well water in karst areas frequently contains too much sulfer, and is bad to drink and smells awful. Spring water with a proper filtration system may trump wells- and is cheaper to install and maintain.
Absolutely. In my neighborhood, the county planning department holds a dictator-like grip on what you can do with your land. They can provide a letter for a small fee that briefly describes the limitations, or if it is zoned, you can look up the regulations.
Other county, state and federal departments may have some say as well. In Wisconsin, we have a DNR (Department of Natural Resources) that will tell you that you can’t build where they say it is wetland, and if it has a puddle of standing water one day a year, that is wetland (seriously).
The problem you might have is that while it may be buildable NOW, it might not be in 20 years when you want to build. I don’t know how to tell you to keep track of developments, but if you don’t, you could find your dream house has vanished and your property become worthless. Just beware, and try to keep up with changes.
My inlaws built in Sylva, NC, on a lot that ended at a ridge, so they were way up there. They had to deal with such things as dynamiting the lot to get a level spot to build, trying to find locals who’d come when promised and do what they said they’d do, and not being able to put their driveway where they wanted due to the terrain. The second thing was the worst that they faced - since they were outsiders and they were building on old hunting land, they dealt with a certain amount of hostility. Once the house was in, they also had to deal with the occasional hunter who damn-well was gonna hunt where his daddy and granddaddy hunted! No matter that the land was bought and parceled some years before.
I don’t know that their experiences were typical, but it’s something to consider.
And for the record, they no longer live there. My MIL’s knees got so bad that she couldn’t handle the slopes, so they went back to Florida.
I have friends that have been buying land in Wyoming for years. They build a house on the property a couple years ago and last year moved out there permanently. I think the land was pretty inexpensive from what they said. From what I’ve heard it’s very beautiful but remote.
Thanks for all the tips. As for Sasquatch, rabbit-eating, and the like, we won’t be THAT far out. The Deliverance factor will be minimal – it’s very important to us to be within a few minutes of a town we like. It’s also very important to us that we are no more than 2 or so hours from home. I want to be able to leave work on Friday and be comfortably relaxing in the country that night. We’ve done some exploring of the West Virginia panhandle; unfortunately, unlike houses, it’s very difficult to learn much about specific properties without the aid of an agent (which we’re not quite ready for).
We will, very likely, buy land in a subdivided development. Something along these lines.
When you see some 5-acre plots for $20,000, and some 5-acre plots for $70,000, and you have no idea why there’s a difference, that’s when you know you need to do a little more research.
Now that you’ve gotten some of the advice you’re looking for, may I make a plea on behalf of mountain locals? Don’t build on the ridgeline, and be respectful of the folks who have lived there all their lives. Their community has a deep character that is part of who they are, and when folks from the city come in and develop the land for vacation spots, it can be deeply upsetting. Be modest and respectful in how you do this, and try to minimize both the impact on the wildness of the land and the impact on the local community.
Good point. And if you do feel compelled to build on a ridgeline, at least have the courtesy to build a low-profile house that conforms with the colors and contours of the land. Too many ridges in these parts are sprouting rows of “teeth” – big, boxy houses that destroy the beauty of the ridges when viewed from below.