Hunting land

[EricD]

I posted this on the hunting forum too but I thought I'd ask here as well.I've been toying with the idea of buying a little hunting land up near my cabin near Waubun and I'm not sure how to begin. I've looked at some and walked some but I have no idea if it's a good investment or what decent land should cost. I'm not looking to make any real money but I don't want to lose my shirt if I have to sell. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Code-Man]

Just do your homework. I too am interested in purchasing land but the lady has other ideas on order of purchases if you know what I mean. I have been checking different sites online especially DL/Frazee/Waubun area. Check the real estate websites and see what is out there and what perks your interest. A good HSOforum will have all the information like size legal description and tax information. After finding one I like I will use Google Earth to see what the neighboring properties are like. Google Earth you can understand a lot of the property and if it makes your short list then make an appointment for a showing of the property. When looking around just see what the going rate is per acre...obviously if a person has put time into a cabin/stands/food plots/tree stands you will pay for the convenience factors. Land is something that holds its value but don't expect to double your money in five years but in 10 to 15 you never know. The banker I talked to said you better have 30-50% for a down payment depending on your banker. Hard for the bank to stretch their neck out with the market the way it is on a piece of property that don't bring in money but if there is any income (CRP/Tillable Acres) that percentage will drop.

Good Luck!

[EricD]

Thanks for the advice. Most mixed land up here seems to be running around $1000 an acre asking price. And most of that has limited access - forest road closed in the winter. Seems a bit steep but not enough gets sold, it seems, to get a good fix on what the selling prices might be. I can come up with a healthy down payment but the prices themselves are hard to nail down.

[Code-Man]

I have been told to bank on 1000 an acre for hunting land. If you can get it for 700 an acre that is good but usually when the acres increase the price per acre drops some. Seems 400-600 is prairie and 1200 is prime estate. Some time you can check the papers and what not or talk to farmers that want to get rid of odd land.

[shae1986]

Land prices are at an all time high, pretty easy to figure out. Call the local county office and ask for recent sales, they will send it out to you in excel format. It will list acres and if like Norman County there will be a tab named hunting or wooded land. That will give you a good idea on what the actual sale price is and not just the asking price.

Remember that price differs for different areas. In the valley anything thing with agricultural producing land will cost more. The only benifit of that is the income that comes from renting the land. You don't have to go very far east to find cheaper land, not extremely cheaper but $700-$800 per acre. But then you run into the access troubles and lack of forage for the deer (I'm assuming thats what the land is for). But even in the rocky and sandy soil a food plot will still grow well.

I still think that land prices will stabalize and come down. When? Well if I knew that I would be buying and selling land. For the short term future (2011 and first half of 2012) Land prices should either hold or rise some due to commodity prices. After that is a guessing game in my opinion.

My last word of wisdom (or lack thereof) would be if you do purchase land now do your homework. Look at the health of the animals, what the land you purchase has to offer for area wildlife and you as a hunter. Be very picky and don't settle for less. This is a major investment that if land values come down you could be "underwater" on in less than 2 years.

Andrew

[C10]

We bought some in 2009 after many years of searching. I think the advice so far has been good and would add:

-Don't buy anything before at least walking it in-season. I personally wouldn't buy before hunting it.

-Talk to ALL adjacent landowners beforehand. You don't need a new best friend but at least make sure you can get along.

-Don't buy a piece that is merely 'good enough'. We came across several of these and I'm very glad we waited.

-Don't expect to make any money. Actually, expect to spend a little after the purchase on stands/equipment/plots/trees/etc.

[EricD]

Thanks, all. Great advice all around. I'll be keeping my eyes open. The place I was considering is about 80 acres at about $900 an acre. I looked at it briefly last fall but only walked a part of it. It looks like the previous owner had cleared about an acre for building but didn't get any farther than that. It's on a well maintained forest rosd (turns snowmobile trail in the winter). I imagine you can't get money to build with that kind of access. It's bordered on 3 sides by county land. It looks like there's good wildlife in the area - grouse, deer and bear. But the lack of a 911-style access should make it cheaper than that. I don't plan to build but I'll have to keep that in mind when considering price. We'll see how it goes.