buying land

[PhillyB]

for various reasons i want to purchase a chunk of land, between 30-50 acres preferably, more if the price is right. i'd like to keep in in guilford county, preferably a bit south of greensboro, waterfront is a plus but not a necessity.

realistically it won't be for another couple of years, but i'm starting to look into stuff now just to see what's out there. anybody got experience purchasing/building on large tracts of land? any advice on how to get started, what to look for, what to avoid, etc?

[CarolinaNCSU]

Never purchased any myself since I'm still young, and you may already know this, but the best bang for your buck will come near Alamance/Chatham County lines I'd think. Lake Mackintosh area maybe if you want waterfront.

Are you wanting that much land for any specific reason?

[pstall]

thats a very sizeable plot of land. if you are thinking of breaking off small pieces to a developer that is a good idea. if buying to build a dream house and then chill that won't be cheap but i'm sure you know that.

really depends on your goals and what you are willing to spend for taxes evaluations etc.

[PhillyB]

prices drop significantly in rockingham county just north of here, but i don't really want to be that far out in the sticks. i'm trying to find a healthy balance between being close enough to civilization to do stuff there daily, but also not over-pay for the distance. keeping in mind, of course, that this property is a long-term deal and the city limits will continue to spread across currently-empty areas over the decades.

i want the property for a number of reasons. i want to build an airstrip on it, i want to build what is essentially a mansion that serves as a foster care home and i want to design the property as a commune with the goal of bringing in open-minded individuals with varying skills and backgrounds, enabling, through the strength of the whole, the individual to achieve what he/she may or may not otherwise be able to do in life.

it's developmental. realistically it'll be four years down the road before i can do anything with the property itself (or even buy it, really), and the concept surrounding it, will take a lifetime of work.

[Shufdog]

So you're starting a cult?

[mav1234]

I'd join a PhillyB cult.

[PhillyB]

So you're starting a cult?

lol i get asked this all the time.

the main difference i tell people is that cults are by nature insulated and isolated from outside influence and thought, whereas the fundamental underpinning of this group would be that it is a deliberate attempt to bring in open dialogue, competing discourse, the free and constant exchange of ideas. not to institutionalize, but to ask questions and seek answers and to constantly approach new methods of thought and new information.

and it's not like it's the dharma project or something weird where i'm "recruiting" people to come in based on various traits or abilities. in all honesty it'd be more like me and a bunch of friends i already know living in various locations on the same property drinking scotch and discussing philosophy like a bunch of elitist snobs in my huge library/study with low light and a frescoed dome and art collections.

[Davidson Deac II]

prices drop significantly in rockingham county just north of here, but i don't really want to be that far out in the sticks. i'm trying to find a healthy balance between being close enough to civilization to do stuff there daily, but also not over-pay for the distance. keeping in mind, of course, that this property is a long-term deal and the city limits will continue to spread across currently-empty areas over the decades.

i want the property for a number of reasons. i want to build an airstrip on it, i want to build what is essentially a mansion that serves as a foster care home and i want to design the property as a commune with the goal of bringing in open-minded individuals with varying skills and backgrounds, enabling, through the strength of the whole, the individual to achieve what he/she may or may not otherwise be able to do in life.

it's developmental. realistically it'll be four years down the road before i can do anything with the property itself (or even buy it, really), and the concept surrounding it, will take a lifetime of work.

The airstrip part will not be easy. I live in Davidson county, just south of Winston Salem. My neighbor was a pilot for US Air before he retired. He owns 28 acres of land behind us. He tried for years to get the county zoning board to approve building a landing strip, but they never did. He talked about it once when I first moved in. There were a multitude of reasons it was never approved, including neighbors that didn't want to deal with the noise or the threat of an airplane crashing in their yards. There was also some problem with the power company, I don't remember the details of that one.

[PhillyB]

The airstrip part will not be easy. I live in Davidson county, just south of Winston Salem. My neighbor was a pilot for US Air before he retired. He owns 28 acres of land behind us. He tried for years to get the county zoning board to approve building a landing strip, but they never did. He talked about it once when I first moved in. There were a multitude of reasons it was never approved, including neighbors that didn't want to deal with the noise or the threat of an airplane crashing in their yards. There was also some problem with the power company, I don't remember the details of that one.

wellllllllllllll honestly all i'm worried about at this point is something i can land an ultralight aircraft on, which wouldn't need any kind of zoning if i recall correctly. if i have the money one day to buy a cessna or something i'll just pony up the cash to rent a hangar at a local airfield.

[Kevin Greene]

Fug a parcel, buy an island somewhere.

[PhillyB]

Fug a parcel, buy an island somewhere.

tempting, but i want to stay in the area

[pstall]

You sound like some buddies of mine who want to have enough land and everyone is self sufficient. There are some grass roots efforts on this going on.

A Mosquito Coast meets The Beach kinda deal.

[Darth Biscuit]

As long as we can watch all Panthers games, I will also join the Phillyb cult.

A good place to start looking for a tract of that size is to talk to local surveyors, they know where things like that are...

[Kevin Greene]

As long as we can watch all Panthers games, I will also join the Phillyb cult.

A good place to start looking for a tract of that size is to talk to local surveyors, they know where things like that are...

A top notch Micro Brewery would also be mandatory.