Looking at a piece of land
 

On Sunday we went out and looked at five pieces of rural land in Iowa.

In summary:

#1 22.5 acres, 1/2 timber, 1/2 prairie, very close to small town, bad slope (15-20%), magnificent views to south (we plan on doing passive solar), danged gas line easement running straight through the middle of the property. $4-5000 an acre.
#2 20 acres, no timber, moderate distance to town, manageable but not so nice slope, north slope (bad for wind), no view to south. $4-5000 an acre.
#3 20-some odd acres, no timber, boonies, poor access to property, annual motocross race trespasses, $4-5000 an acre.
#4 30 acres, really in the boonies, only a small part is buildable, steep timber hill takes up a large percentage, boggy stream, driveway easement through the middle, $3000 an acre.
#5 15 acres, part timber, moderate distance to town, terraced slope for workability, small stream, $8000 an acre.

#3 and #4 are right out. #1 and #2 have too many negatives to warrant serious consideration. The only one that we liked was the last one--but $8000 an acre??? That's about double the current average price for farmland. What do you guys think?

Re: Looking at a piece of land
 

make an offer on #5 at $6000/ac? Can't hurt to try.

Re: Looking at a piece of land
 

i'm from iowa, and i grew up there. $8,000 an acre in iowa is freakin' retarded. the only thing that would warrant that is if the timber is old growth or good veneer timber.

Re: Looking at a piece of land
 

It sounds pretty bad, but the *AVERAGE* farmland price right now is $4371 an acre (2009) http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agd...tml/c2-70.html

So some of the stuff has to be priced higher than that, and some lower than that. Farmland prices have probably climbed quite a bit from when you grew up there.

Another factor is that it is within an easy drive of Omaha, Nebraska (good jobs area), and a brand new spankin' bridge over the Missouri is being built, which is going to make ALL land on the Iowa side much more convenient to the Offutt AFB and Omaha crowd.

The sellers have subdivided their property (purchased in 2004), so if I make an offer I don't want to offend them by low-balling too much. I was pretty shocked by what they are asking, but it IS a nice piece of ground, much nicer and more private than any of the others that we looked at. I don't know how long they've been trying to sell the place.

Re: Looking at a piece of land
 

Low ball offers are the rule of the day. Instead of zeroing in on one property, offer 65% of asking price on several properties. Seller motivation will differ greatly so try not to fall in love with one owned by a stubborn seller.
When you get a response (counter offer) the realtor will insist you respond right away. Don't. Tell the realtor you will think about it and that you make some offers on other properties.

Ask:
Water?
Burdened by easements?
Legal access?
Mineral rights?
Neighbors?

Re: Looking at a piece of land
 

I called the assessors office and found out that the current owners bought the entire property, including a house for an average of $3500 an acre in 2004. That's INCLUDING the house.

What are they playing at? This ain't pre-crash California or Florida.

We'll try the low-ball approach and keep looking--thank you for the suggestions. It *IS* a very neat property, but we're quite put-off by them trying to make a killing on it at somebody else's expense.

Re: Looking at a piece of land
 

are you in the loess hills area?

Re: Looking at a piece of land
 

#5 is very near the Loess Hills, but not officially part of the Loess Hills district. It's less than five miles from the officially designated area though. I think #4 was probably part of Loess hills though.

Re: Looking at a piece of land
 

Re: Looking at a piece of land
 

that explains it then, i think. proximity to the loess hills commands a premium. i know people near honey creek who were paying stupid amounts of money for land in 1990.

deer antlers from bucks raised on loess a hill diet command huge dollars. it's probably the hunting premium that is driving the land up. i know of some japanese investors who bought a huge chunk of land near crescent for twice the asking price around 1990, just for the deer angle.

hope you like to deer hunt or harvest antlers :wink: