Any advice on buying land?

[SvilleKid]

Echoing many of the things said above. However.....

I own 6 acres, neighbor has 60. 10-12 acres, especially with woods, IS enough to hunt and camp on, easily. Lots depends heavily on if the property is zoned, or subject to zoning, if it is in city limits or not. Most cities have laws limiting or totally restricting the discharge of firearms. This is one of the main reasons the city of Springville borders my property, but does not include my property. And, the county I live in does not have zoning laws. So no limits on the use of my property. And, I have a nice herd of deer that cross and bed down on the back of my land. Heck, last winter, they were spending time all the way at the front of the property, eating my dog's dry dog food, of all things!!

Another consideration about city limits verses non-city is that there is a definite tax advantage to NOT being inside of city limits. I save money on car tags and ad valorem taxes because I'm not paying the extra mils that the city location would add to those bills. If no structures, then the insurance costs shouldn't be an issue. My house insurance is a bit higher due to fire protection differences, but the volunteer fire department rating that covers me is almost identical to the city's rating, and our volunteer dept has a reciprocal agreement on coverage that also helps. In all, the costs for insurance difference is still less than the extra taxes I'd pay if I was in the city limits. Just another thing to keep in mind!

Land, because it doesn't provide a return on investment (other than appreciation of value - a questionable thing in this economy) is indeed, one of the worse investments you can make, financially wise. However, if you are buying for personal enjoyment, totally disregard the investment side of the equation. Just make sure you don't pay above market value. As a real estate appraiser, I give people this same advise everytime I appraiser vacant land for their potential purchase. Not everything is about the future financial gain. If you are careful in what you pay, you should be able to get back out in the future, plus get the personal enjoyment out of the use over the years. Think about not only your enjoyment, but your kids, and maybe their children. My children (son and daughter) spent many happy hours playing, camping, hunting and yes, riding ATVs on the land (plus the adjacent lands). While 12 acres isn't enough for long rides, you would be surprised how many ways youth can find to drive ATVs around 12 acres!! The enjoyment benefits can be almost beyond measurement.

As to mineral rights, it depends totally on what the deeds read, and local and state laws. If zoning exist, it may very well preclude any type of ability to exercise those mineral rights! Also (at least in my area), the mineral right owners can't exercise on the mineral rights without the consent of the surface right owner, if they intend on using the surface to access those minerals (and, there is usually compensation that is paid to the surface right owners for any access). So, check to determine what restrictions the mineral right owners face in getting to any possible minerals. If there isn't any mining present in the area, and no past history of minerals being mined in the area over the last 100 years, it is probably safe to assume that there's not (currently known) minerals existing that would be profitable to mine. Doesn't mean something won't show up. However, it they existed, chances are really good that they would already be evidence of past mining or drilling. I don't own the mineral rights to my land, but there is no concern that there will ever be any exercise of the mineral rights, because there is no past such activity in the area, at all!!