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Small Cabin Forum / Properties / HOW To Find Land?
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WWebb
# Posted: 9 Feb 2010 11:45
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I have been looking for proper land for a number of months, but hard to find what I'm looking for. I need just a few acres of land (under $50,000 in value) in a generally undeveloped area. Most the land meeting this requirement are in soon-to-be-developed areas, or small wooded lots in sub-divisions. Does anyone have any ideas where I can find wilderness lots on the cheap? I'm looking in VA/NC (I live in Richmond). Thanks! If you have any advice, I can be emailed at w.thomas.webb@gmail.com

WWebb
# Posted: 9 Feb 2010 21:42
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I've found some ok places on LandWatch, but if is 5 acres, usually (once again) near a subdivision. What did you all use to find land? Word of mouth? Family land? Website? I really need a starting point, any help appreciated!

steveqvs
Member
# Posted: 10 Feb 2010 08:03
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For us, we looked for quite a while. There was a forested area about 2 1/2 hours that we used to go to camp when we were younger. I would keep and eye open to real estate listings in that area. Sometimes we would drive there on a saturday or sunday looking and sometimes we would find what we were looking for and many times not as most roads are barely labeled. Finally I found a listing in the area and we got some land. So narrow down the area if you can. We are on a river that is used for canoe float trips. I would float some summers and think... i wonder who owns that land? Also find out who the local rural real estate company is. Lots of places have real estate companies that specialize in wooded or rural places. Another way is to go to the county seat of the area you are looking for and getting a map of the land platts. Usually they sell them for a small fee. It lists the area and the names of the persons or land trust that own them. One last way is to get to know the locals. Drink coffee in the only coffee shop or gas station in the area! That may help. But none of this is good until you really narrow down the area...... Hope this helps!

Anonymous
# Posted: 11 Feb 2010 02:34
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A friend in Oklahoma found cabin acreages on land bordering national parks or state wildlife conservation areas (excluding public hunting areas).

In his case, the neighbor had just purchased 20-30 acres and was willing to sell off 5 acres to assist in building his own cabin. Or conversely, you might be able to purchase a larger acreage with the thought of selling off a part to help finance your own cabin.

Anyway, it gives you access to a large area public use land bordering your cabin to add to your wilderness space. You would want to position your cabin at a distance where you wouldn't be disturbed by others using that same bordering public land.

karlscabin
Member
# Posted: 8 Mar 2010 22:28 - Edited by: karlscabin
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I had to point out the obvious, but check ebay... upon saying this, I did, and found these guys, they sell on contract and cash in N.C.... www.whitnelproperties.com
On ebay search acres in real estate, and choose your state... it will provide leads...
Although my propery was not listed on ebay, the company I bought it from was, and I looked at what all they had, and found my lot, and was able to buy it fairly cheaply, with out a bank loan.

Rob_O
# Posted: 15 Mar 2010 15:14
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I found a few possibilities on craigslist. The lot I'm trying to buy now was on realtor.com, I had been watching it for about a year and just happened to notice they *slashed* the price one day. I met the realtor the next morning and put in an offer at full price

What part of Richmond are you in? My mom lived in Brandermill a long time and just moved over near Robius Rd, I stop through and visit when I'm headed to Nags Head

Scott_T
# Posted: 24 Mar 2010 14:50
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I have been looking for a few years in NC for the right location. If what you want is a property "without restrictions" where you can put a very basic/primitive cabin you may need to focus on areas far away from the city and trendy tourist areas (eg. Boone or Blowing Rock) since those areas will apply restrictive covenants on the land you develop and not to mention the price/acre is very high. I have looked at properties in Stokes, Rockingham and Caswell counties. North Carolina land values are generally quite high, but seem to be coming down, so patience is advised. Since NC is a populous state it will be hard to find a truly remote place to put your cabin (unless you locate it somewhere in a swamp in the Coastal Plain !) Check out this site where they sell land at "wholesale prices" in NC and VAURL. Also look check here URL as they have many listings in the eastern part of NC that might be more convenient if you are in Richmond, VA.

lawcount18
# Posted: 6 Jun 2010 08:26
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http://www.landsofamerica.com is a great site. At the bottom of the page you can select the state you are interested in (http://www.landsofnorthcarolina.com). Great search tools for property type, size, price, region, etc. I just did a quick search for vacant land in NC and 1,374 properties are listed. I live in Ohio and around here landsofohio.com is the standard site used by realtors and individuals to buy and sell these types of properties.

Xplorer
Member
# Posted: 3 Aug 2010 14:58
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We live in SE Penna. My wife & I just started driving till we hit what looked like the middle of no where. We found a couple of areas where the seemed to be less people & more open areas. Looked for a Realtor sign & wrote down the numbers. Made many trips afield & settled on a property that had nothing going for it but "the view" In our minds it had everything going for it....middle of nowhere. To each his own. We have to travel almost 3hrs each way, but it's worth it.

wildwood
Member
# Posted: 24 Aug 2010 17:06
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look in southwest va. lots of good land there with reasonable prices.

ruralife
Member
# Posted: 1 Oct 2010 11:21 - Edited by: ruralife
Reply 


We found our property on the regular MLS in Washington State. Usually, when searching the MLS there's options to include or not, electricity, septic, phone, etc. in your search filter. This way you'll get the raw land listings.

We bought 24.93 acres of timber land with an incredible view and a year round creek (in gold country I might add. Also, by only building on one acre, this county gives us a 90% tax break for taxes of only $59 a year! This property is accessed by private locked gate also, which really ads to the privacy. There is underground phone at property line, but no electricity so solar is the way to go. You can make a profit with a timber harvest in the spring also. I've lined up a professional timber company already to manage the harvest for us, but we won't harvest as we decided to sell. We will give that contact info to new buyer. There is a nice thick understory of trees for the upcoming forest. The tallest trees are about ready to harvest and with timber pricses only going up in the future, this is a good income to have. You don't have to harvest the tallest trees though if you don't want. The county only requires you keep it in timber not cleared out completely, and you can have one acre for a home site out of the total acres, the rest in timber.

We are now getting ready to put it on our MLS for sale as my partner has health issues and cannot be quite that far from a hospital...we are going to buy land similar to this but in a different county and start over.

Here's a link to our Craigslist ad we have now: http://skagit.craigslist.org/reo/1976558777.html
I have many pictures and info if interested, reply to the ad to reach us. Thx and good luck to all, Cheryl.
Nicholson_corners_00.jpg
Nicholson_corners_00.jpg
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Alberts_coord..jpg
Nicholson_Creek_Trip.jpg
Nicholson_Creek_Trip.jpg


Youngster
Member
# Posted: 22 Feb 2011 18:07
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as for craigslist, i agree you can find some interesting deals...

any opinions on cabin building on the outskirts of small communities of 10k people or less? i've read some of the threads about "locals" occasionally being trouble when you're away and it would concern me if cabin is so close it becomes tempting to mess with...

is there a generic rule of thumb that a cabin site should be away from a community or town? three miles? 5, 10 miles, 25 miles? also, any advantage/disadvantage to being nearby a state forest or park?

bugs
Member
# Posted: 22 Feb 2011 18:37 - Edited by: bugs
Reply 


Hick warning!!!!!!!!!!!

10k people or less?????? Wheres wees comes froms thats at City twice over!!!... Really.

I don't think the forum has come to agreement on how far you have to be out of a populated area (Counties and municipalities have a different view of course!) . After a tough day 1 km (mile for our US friends) can be toooooo far. Heck I don't think the forum brothers and sisters can agree on what a cabin is. We all respect each others vision of what "cabin" is. Cabin is what you dream and make it.

How is that Youngster for advice coming from today a "feeling very Oldster!

Hope you find your piece of paradise... The voyage is worth it with forum friends.

bugs

fpw
Member
# Posted: 22 Feb 2011 20:43
Reply 


At times counties auction off tax forfeited land, check out the counties in the area.

For example: :Pine County, MN

http://www.co.pine.mn.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={D147064F-CEA5-49B3-BA51-9FA22E7F F698}

Youngster
Member
# Posted: 22 Feb 2011 23:50
Reply 


bugs, i appreciate your perspective. :)

i currently work in a city of over 175k and grew up in a city of over 75k, so i'm what most folks on here would call a "city slicker" - the noise, traffic, crime, busyness, etc has gotten old through the years though... looking through my eyes, any town that doesn't have a Starbucks or a Red Lobster is pretty small though... hehe

i agree with you... finding your own custom piece of paradise is worth the effort... especially if you can enjoy it with friends and family...

hattie
Member
# Posted: 23 Feb 2011 01:09
Reply 


Quoting: Youngster
any opinions on cabin building on the outskirts of small communities of 10k people or less?


YIKES!! Our town has only 50 houses and about 85 year round locals. The nearest town with actual stores and amenities has about 3,500 and to us that is pretty big. *LOL* If we decide to REALLY hit the town, that is about 2 hours away with 60,000 - that is GIGANTIC!!! We don't like big cities so we avoid it whenever we can. *S*

iwhitewater
Member
# Posted: 19 Mar 2011 11:08
Reply 


I found my property in Arkansas online. There are many real estate and land services online. You can set parameters such as price, geography, locations and amenities. I used this one to look at a lot of land and I like their search capabalities http://www.unitedcountry.com/ I found my land elsewhere but that is a good place to start and navigate,

bojan
# Posted: 6 Jul 2011 08:25
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http://www.dignam.com/

try these guys, excellent deals.

AYP1909
Member
# Posted: 4 Aug 2011 11:58
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I have a 480 sq. ft. cabin, 1 bed, 1 bath for sale on a large lot near Lake Cushman in Hoodsport, Wa. Beautiful area near salt water, Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park. Many trees. Water, power, septic all in. Wood stove and outdoor fire pit. asking $79,500. Large vacant lot next door is also available with purchase of cabin
Please check with Lake Cushman Realty.

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