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CoronaBorealis

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Hey all,

My wife and I eventually want to retire to our own piece of God's earth. Where is the best place to find land for sale? I've done searches online and mostly come up with websites selling thousand acre ranches. We're looking for 20 acres or so that we could build a retirement home on in the next 20 years (we're late 30's). Where would I look for something like that?
 

Okie4570

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The more rural the county the cheaper. Has it's goods and bads though depending on your lifestyle. Auctions bring more money for the seller than a private sale. Any land that has any hunting potential will bring more than land that doesn't. And of course the fewer the acres the more per acre. Which part of the state are you looking at?
 

SoonerP226

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Auctions bring more money for the seller than a private sale.
Land auctions can also be...frustrating. About 15 years ago, my dad participated in a land auction for a property that was platted out into multiple parcels. He actually had the highest bid on two of the parcels (IIRC, one was 20 acres and one was 40 acres), but after all the parcels had been auctioned, a developer came in and bid the combined prices for all the individual parcels plus $1 for the whole property and took the whole ball of wax. (For example, if the whole property was 160 acres and had been platted out into four 40 acre parcels, and the winning bid for each parcel had been $40K, his winning "bid" was $160,001 for the whole, undivided 160 acres.)

That seemed to me to be a rather crappy way to run an auction, and a terrible waste of time for the high bidders on the parcels, but that's the way it was structured. And I gather that it's not terribly uncommon. And I guess it does maximize the return for the seller.
 

Okie4570

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Land auctions can also be...frustrating. About 15 years ago, my dad participated in a land auction for a property that was platted out into multiple parcels. He actually had the highest bid on two of the parcels (IIRC, one was 20 acres and one was 40 acres), but after all the parcels had been auctioned, a developer came in and bid the combined prices for all the individual parcels plus $1 for the whole property and took the whole ball of wax. (For example, if the whole property was 160 acres and had been platted out into four 40 acre parcels, and the winning bid for each parcel had been $40K, his winning "bid" was $160,001 for the whole, undivided 160 acres.)

That seemed to me to be a rather crappy way to run an auction, and a terrible waste of time for the high bidders on the parcels, but that's the way it was structured. And I gather that it's not terribly uncommon. And I guess it does maximize the return for the seller.

Yeah I've seen it done that way every time multiple parcels are auctioned.
 

p238shooter

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I lived in Tulsa city most of my life and decided to move to the country several years ago. Yes a lot to think about. You want trees and rolling hills or flatland? Close to a lake or river? Then if you get too remote utilities can be a problem to work around with particularly water or have a well dug and all the stuff that goes with that and natural gas may not be available so you might be on propane or total electric. The best internet I can get is 25GB/mo max of cellphone connection at 4MB speed for $90/mo. You may have to be picky about what cell phone service will work where you are. Closest loaf of bread is 6 miles, closest real grocery store is 12 miles, and real shopping is 35 miles. I have a few skunks, opossums, and armadillo and coyotes around at times, but I could shoot deer off my front porch with a 45 if I wanted. haha

Saying all that, I love it here, partly because I am 2 minutes from by boat dock to get on the lake frequently in the summer, no neighbors within sight, and no one looking at my attire going in and out of my hot tub in the evenings with my fire ring in the back yard.

It does have its advantages of being peaceful, but also a few drawbacks to living in or very close to the city to go out to eat frequently. Do your research well and enjoy thinking and planning on your retirement.
 

ssgrock3

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Far western Oklahoma. Even noble county prairie land is north of $2500/acre and that was a 120 acre plot. Plain ranch land with out utilities, maybe a pond. Along hwy 64 and with a creek running through it brought 3200/acre. Teddy Roosevelt said “Buy land, their not making anymore”

Foreign buyers are buying all they can get their hands in. Think Marijuana growth and realistically, no maintenance, buy and hold or use. I heard of a. Recent sale in Texas of 150,000 unremarkable acres to a Chinese conglomerate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

cowzrul

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1) Determine the area(s) you desire. Be prepared because then you might discover nobody wants to sell. This is what I have ran into the most.
2) How much work do you want to put into finding "your" future land? You can use a Realtor because they should be able to find the answers you're looking for like available utilities, school districts, future growth, etc. In Oklahoma County you can look at the County Assessors website for free or if you want to use an app for a small fee download "LandGlide" which shows parcel boundary and ownership. You can mail or call owners and ask if they are interested in selling.
3) Quality is a unique thing to think about. Right now almost all pieces for sale above 5 acres have flood plain or covered in sandstone. I loathe both.

IHMO if your able to pay cash or at least 30% down (most require 30 for speculative purchase) I would start looking. In 2009 I bought 40 acres right off I-40 outside MWC for $5500/acre. Two years ago I bought 4.4 acres just inside MWC limits for $16,500/acre. Friday I close on 13.25 acres for $17,400/acre. So you can see the rapid progression in prices. Monday I am listing FSBO my 4.4 acre piece for $100k even though I have been advised by two friend Realtors I could get $120. Half a mile down the street a Realtor has 3.87 acres listed for $189 but he won't get that anytime soon.

I have only purchased acreage 3 times in my life but this last pursuit has taken me 3 years. My 4.4 is a wonderful piece but we wanted at least 10. Another piece of advice is don't settle from your dream list at this time. It may take you 2 -5 years and you will pay a higher price down the road but you get very few chances to build exactly what you want.
 

gerhard1

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My experience with land auctions has been pretty good. That's how I got my farm. When I went to the action, I intended to do nothing but observe, but I registered with the auction company and my uncles were really encouraging me to bid for real. I did and finally it came down to another man and me. The other man put his final bid in and I upped it by $500, and the other guy declined, so I bought the land.

I got the then 80 acres for a good price.

Just take a real hard look at what you're buying and expect to pay for it.
 

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