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jlatenight
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# Posted: 21 Aug 2012 14:24
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Ok...I know this topic has been beaten to death on here and I've read all the posts, but I feel like there's an approach to this I could be taking I'm not aware of. Like everyone else on this forum, I have always wanted a small cabin on or near water (pond, lake, stream, river) wood-burning stove, big porch, big 'ol fire-ring to sit around, etc. Loaded with tons of charm but VERY rustic. A place for my two boys to take their families. I am handy and would most likely do the construction myself with an emphasis on ecology, energy efficiency, and renewable resources. I'd use as much reclaimed/salvaged materials as possible. Like most everyone else, I have virtually no free funds for such an undertaking. So my thought is to somehow get a piece of land and slowly build it up into a proper camp while tent camping at first.
My wife shares in this dream (thank God), but she's thrown up some pretty heavy road-blocks: She needs some kind of indoor running water and some kind of indoor toilet (both doable without too much trouble, I know). She also wants electricity, which I might be able to swing with solar/generator. Now here's the kicker: she wants to be near the Ocean...yeah I know. We live in Bridgewater, MA so the obvious preference is the Cape. Which is the perfect distance since the mid-cape is 1.5hrs away (although takes a lot longer, but that's ok)
I've been looking, but any land under $100k is 1/2 acre or less and packed in a tight neighborhood. Doubt I'm going to find what I'm looking for going through realtors. I'm trying to think out of the box on how I could get my hands on a nice piece of land out there... When I look at Google maps, I see uninhabited patches of land within property boundaries that have road access. It's virtually impossible I know, but what if....somehow...I got a hold of the owner of one of those nice pieces of land and ask if they want to sell or subdivide? Even if the owner would consider subdividing, the town may not allow it. Has anyone taken this approach to find their land; tracking down the owners of random land and offering to buy it? Probably get the door slammed in your face 9 out of 10, but you never know. Maybe the owner is looking to make the same kind of camp and just didn't know where to start.
Think I should just abandon these plans and look for a lake or pond in Western MA? Any info, tips, or suggestions greatly appreciated!!
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 21 Aug 2012 14:59
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I wish you the best of luck on that; I think you may need it. As someone who already has his place in the western woods I can not imagine why I would want to split off any of what we own to somebody who comes knocking on my door.
There will almost certainly be restrictions on subdividing a small lot off bigger ones. At least that is the case out here in NM. Anything smaller than six acres, five in some places, must meet more rules that splitting off larger pieces. But that like most land rules can vary a lot so there is no country wide hard and fast set of rules.
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jlatenight
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# Posted: 21 Aug 2012 15:59
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I know I agree it sounds pretty dumb to think that would work, but I'm pretty desperate and just thinking what if someone needs the cash and would rather the land go to someone that will use it gently and not build a mcmansion or something.
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VTweekender
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# Posted: 21 Aug 2012 16:57
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I live in western MA, in the Berkshires, you can't even build a vacation camp here with the rules never mind the Cape, forget it.. I bought in VT to build my cabin....If you want to be on the ocean you can go way up on the Maine/Scotia border and get cheap land on the ocean where you can build what you want, thats your only realistic option to be on the ocean.
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Martian
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2012 07:34
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Quoting: VTweekender If you want to be on the ocean you can go way up on the Maine/Scotia border and get cheap land on the ocean where you can build what you want
Things must have changed a lot since I lived up there! Or, our idea of "cheap" must not agree. Waterfront property was getting so expensive back in '03 that lobstermen couldn't afford to hold on to it; the property taxes were just too much for them.
Building within, I think it was 500' of the water, was very expensive. Basements had to be blasted into the granite, and in order to meet the environmental regulations, septic systems required mounds be built, and runoff water had to be controlled.
I agree that it was much less expensive than say, Cape Cod, but cheap is not a word that I would use when describing waterfront property in Downeast Maine. Most of the homes we built/remodeled were owned by people from "away" as they say. A lot of them were folks that would have fit in well on the Cape, but couldn't afford to buy there. The vast majority of the houses were only used a couple of weeks a year.
Of course, one still needs to find someone willing to sell the land in the first place. Much of the waterfront has been in families for generations. They tended to hold onto it if they could afford it, and when they needed to sell it, they went looking for the BIG bucks.
I was in Jonesport; up near Machias.
Tom
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VTweekender
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2012 08:25 - Edited by: VTweekender
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Martian, you are 100% correct on all your points. But I am talking way up in no mans land, I looked up there a lot when I was in search but decided to far a drive...they pop up on the cheap up there now and then, especially across the border like New Brunswick., not prime land by any means and may not be right on the waterfront but close by, but almost no codes either.
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jlatenight
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2012 14:41
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Thanks guys, Yeah I figured the cape was virtually impossible. My wife wants nice land in a touristy area so she can go places and do stuff (touristy stores, good restaurants, etc), which isn't going to happen for the type of property I'm looking for at the price I'm looking for. I'm not planning on leaving camp once I'm there, so it doesn't really matter to me what the surrounding amenities are like, as long as there's a grocery store or general store relatively close.
We're at an impasse basically over what our family camp should be like and what it's for. Looking like it's all up to me...the idea of a man-camp with just me and my two boys (and guests) does have its own appeal  So now I'm back to my original plan of looking at either Western, MA, northern CT, up-state NY, or Southern VT & NH.
My wife's sister's husband is totally on my wavelength and wants land for the same reason as me. He's in Rutherford, NJ. Pretty equidistant to SW MA, and NW CT although we'd both be looking at a 3hr drive. If we go upstate NY, say the Catskills, we're looking at 2hrs for him and 4hrs for me. I really don't want more than a 3hr drive, 2 or 2:30 ideally. Is there any nice camp land in South-central CT? Any recommendations given our locations?
Again, I really don't have the funds to do anything right now, but if I can get my bro-in-law on-board with a particular area, or if we can't and I have to go it alone (which would open up my options) I can start the focused search, which I fully expect to take a long time, and in the mean time I'll continue saving up.
I'm not going to give up on this...my ideal family camp is out there waiting for me somewhere.
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vtbros
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# Posted: 24 Aug 2012 08:02
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Good luck, I hope you can find something near the coast but ocean front is really expensive in NE. I think you will have better luck looking to vt or nh and not mass or ct.
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davestreck
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# Posted: 25 Aug 2012 18:38
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My wife and I began our hunt for "cheap" oceanfront 8 years ago (we're also from MA), Online property hunting took us all the way up to Nova Scotia before it became truly "cheap". We bought our property 6 years ago, and love it. Beautiful, remote and easy building codes. Nice people too.
Its a 14 hour drive, though. That can be tough.
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