Land quest....

[O.S.O.K.]

I pulled out of the last deal on the advice of the lender - who has turned out to be very good to work with.

I've been looking for another place and I think I've found it!! 51 acres with a 4.5 acre pond! Looks georgous. More money but it looks to be worth it.

I'm going to look at it this weekend after some business to attend to in Ark.

This is so nice that I might be able to convince my wife to live in a earth home if she can look out and see this pond :lool:

I'm not counting on that though :coffee:

[Mark Ducati]

Hey, there's still a few more "property lots" next to me on the river :)

[O.S.O.K.]

Kind of a long commute :)

That is nice Mark - and I really like the remoteness and being next to the NF.

You have to post some pics of the property - or an overhead arial - you can erase the coordinates so we can't find you ;)

Here's a few pics of this property:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2191/5705023317_4ccb266e4a_z.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3432/5705590648_a365531840_z.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3428/5705023379_55fa9c7624_z.jpg

The pond is long and skinny - 50 yards wide by 380 yards long - with a dam at one end. I'm really hopeful that this is spring fed and produces a steady flow of water - coming off of the dam - that I can tap into and channel through a hydro generator. That would be too much. If I see that, I'm going to have to contain myself. The water looks very clean... like it is being replenished ongoing. Or maybe I'm just wanting to see that...

That would be the best of all situations for self-sufficient power....

Anyway, have to land the fish first before I can fry it... ;)

[coppertales]

go for it................................chris3

[O.S.O.K.]

Well - tomorrow we will see the above (wife decided to come too) and another property in the same general area. And then two or three more on Saturday. All seem to be what we are looking for.

I'm still thinking the above with the 4.5 acre pond will be hard to pass up...

[O.S.O.K.]

Phwew... just got back from Miss = 10 hour drive. Actually a couple hours ago.

We decided agains the "pond" property as pictured above. Too many people around the place and one of the neighbors has been using one end of the property as their private park and beach - they've cleared and mowed down to the pond and their teenagers actually drove their truck down to the edge of the pond and hopped into two fishing boat while we were looking at the property! Also could hear the highway quite well.... so we nixed that one.

We did however pick another piece of property! :D :D 59 acres of timber - 19 year old pine and old hardwood bottoms - huge oaks and sweet gum - the place is covered up with deer! :D :D We have a contract signed - closing in three weeks. Ahhhhh, good to have it almost done.

I'll post pics of it later - too tired to tinkle right now... :)

[btcave]

ENVY!:firedevil:

[NewbieAKguy]

Phwew... just got back from Miss = 10 hour drive. Actually a couple hours ago.

We decided agains the "pond" property as pictured above. Too many people around the place and one of the neighbors has been using one end of the property as their private park and beach - they've cleared and mowed down to the pond and their teenagers actually drove their truck down to the edge of the pond and hopped into two fishing boat while we were looking at the property! Also could hear the highway quite well.... so we nixed that one.

We did however pick another piece of property! :D :D 58 acres of timber - 17 year old pine and old hardwood bottoms - huge oaks and sweet gum - the place is covered up with deer! :D :D We have a contract signed - closing in three weeks. Ahhhhh, good to have it almost done.

I'll post pics of it later - too tired to tinkle right now... :)

Well, with a shovel or two and some time you can make your own pond. :D

[L1A1Rocker]

Sounds great! Hope it finally works out right. You're doing it smart and not letting "want" rule your decision making. You'll come out much better in the end.

[old Grump]

open water on your land is great but as you already discovered it can be an attractive nuisance.

Glad you found some woodlands. good road going to it I hope.

[O.S.O.K.]

:) Thanks guys.

Here's an arial pic of the place:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2050/5727206104_b6d7069242_b.jpg

Good road access - only about 2 miles off of paved road. Power, water and phone are all nearby. No charge to bring all to the land - you only pay for the pole and meter on your land for the power, water line in (which I will do myself) - county provides a free culvert too once you decided on an entrance = there's a road in already with a gate, so that'll be the location for that.

[O.S.O.K.]

Closing is next Friday! Yeeehaw!

And the drawing above is wrong - I did the measurements on google earth and figured it covered almost 90 acres. I told the land agent about that - he said the drawing came from FSA (Forestry Services...?) anyhoo - he dug up the tax office blue line and it confirmed what I found.

The left boundry starts at about the right corner of the white box label "59 acres" and goes down at an angle to the left a bit.

59 Acres is 59 acres, so no biggy - I could also tell from our time on the land and the features that the drawing was off...

Anyway, we are areally excited about getting this land :)

[6gunsal]

That looks like a real nice piece of land, and very secluded too! Since it is all wooded, do you plan to clear a little out? Looks like a few ponds across the road as well.

[O.S.O.K.]

Thanks - yeah, it's really nice. The land on the sides and back is owned by lumber companies and leased to a hunt club I think. I will be posting my land heavily to be sure they know to keep their arses off of my little piece.

And yes, we are going to clear a road all the way around, a home site, a pond site and some food plots. I may have the pines "thinned" some too - all of this will generate $$ income from the wood.

[6gunsal]

Is there any hardwood mixed in, or is it straight pine farm? Hard to tell from the arial. There is a lot of pine farming in my area, and the symmetrical rows are not a whole lot of fun :D

[O.S.O.K.]

Here's the actual outline of the property:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2489/5762792216_c5d6a66c82_b.jpg

[O.S.O.K.]

Is there any hardwood mixed in, or is it straight pine farm? Hard to tell from the arial. There is a lot of pine farming in my area, and the symmetrical rows are not a whole lot of fun :D

It's a mix - the higher areas are all pine and the draws are hardwood. There are some very nice old oaks and sweetgum on the property. Lots of deer sign.

We are going to put a small guest house kind of thing on it to start with which will become a guest bedroom and shop area later.

We're planning on building in steps - pay as we go - no mortgage using techniques that we can mostly do ourselves - the compressed styro form blocks that are reinforced with rebar and filled with concrete are looking the best right now.

The plan is to not add any more debt while we do this over the next few years and then when we sell our present home, use the money to sink the land loan and be free and clear so that we can then save up to retire when we hit 60...

I'm also planning on planting mast trees like apples, perssimon, crabapple, etc. - need to research this.

[L1A1Rocker]

Congradulations! You need to plan on some deer proof fences though. Almost everything that looks pretty or is edible will be eaten by the deer before you can get it - sometimes the plants are killed outright as the deer like the leaves on many also.

Regarding the pond, before doing any excavation work and renting equipment you may want to talk to a geologist about the soil make up. Many times the soil will not hold a pond. A guy in Kerrville ran into this problem but kept water in his "pond" by dumping his water well into it 24/7. Know one figured this out (or maybe cared) until a major drought and his was the only pond with water in it. He would up getting some serious fines over it from the state.

If such is the case for you, you can put a layer of "drilling mud" at the base of the pond to hold water but it would not be wise to ever swim in it, the base could be damaged.

[6gunsal]

Very cool. I'm sure it will be a lot of hard work, but it looks like a lot of fun too. Sort of like a blank slate you can do anything with compared to the first piece of property with the existing pond.
I hope it all goes well for you guys.

[O.S.O.K.]

Thanks guys. The deer are in fact a problem with new trees and gardens. The locals use a low-volt electric fence wire around their gardens to keep them out of the garden and cages for the trees.

As to the pond, the locals all say not to worry - that there's rarely a problem in the area - there's a layer of clay under the loamy top soil. :)

Indeed, there are ponds all over the place - and springs and creeks. It's really a lovely area that way - very lush compared to Texas - even East TX.

There are actually too many deer - even with the "one per day" limit on them, the very long seasons and all of the hunters, too few are harvested each year. I will do my best to help remedy that in my area :firedevil: :sniper:

[TEN-32]

I am so envious! Hearty congratulations. I am looking at a 29 acre parcel with some woods and a stream for $150K. If I can entice AT&T or Verizon to erect a cell tower my nut is covered. :eyebrows:

[O.S.O.K.]

Nothing like having your own hunting preserve :)

I am really looking forward to having my own range again - only this time, it's going to have longer ranges...

Thing is, if you want to do it - you can if you just plan it out and do what you have to, to make it happen.

Good luck with AT&T :D

Is that in IL?

[TEN-32]

Is that in IL?

Kenosha County WI.

[O.S.O.K.]

I thought maybe. The Chicago guys alsways go up to Wisconsin... seems.

To vacation too.

Pretty country up there for sure.

[TEN-32]

Well I am originally from Milwaukee. I'd like to return to WI upon retirement...next 4 or 5 years. I like the Kettle Moraine area.

[O.S.O.K.]

I see that Kenosha county is just north of the IL border, bordering the lake.

I remember going to a golf resort in that area for meetings back when I lived in Iowa and was part of a Chicago sales region. Very pretty area.