>
> 1. What motivated you in the beginning. How did you get started?
Mike had lived on 35 acres just north of Colorado Springs with his first wife, so he already had a taste of 'space' and 'quiet'. I have always hated city life, even though it is all I've ever known. As a kid, my folks drove me every weekend out to a small horse ranch where we boarded my horse. It was the home of my heart for as long as we lived in Colorado Springs. I had hoped to rear my kids on acreage, but no such luck. We want to be independent of the powers that be, as much as possible.
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> 2. What type of land and what area were you looking for when you started? Did your desires change as the process went forward? What were your critera?
Our critera were to be close to family (but which ones?), an afforable price, a climate we could live with (sunny, dry and minimal bugs), and close enough for Mike to go into the office periodically. We briefly toyed with the idea of Asheville, NC because it is gorgeous and stuff grows without CPR. Then we looked at Socorro and Magdelena, NM. But the kids and the job are all here.
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> 3. (Optional) If you do not mind sharing numbers, How much money had you saved up for a down payment when you started looking?
We had nothing saved. We refinanced the house in order to have a down payment, and then we threw all the money at the land loan that we could- all told, about $30,000. This was only possible because of the refi. We are now trying to sell this house and get out from under ALL debt. (Anybody know someone who wants a house in Colorado with a soundproof recording studio and a sewing/dyeing studio in it?)
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> 4. Did you go through a Real Estate Agent? Auction? Personal Transaction? Other? Why did you make the choice you did?
We used a real estate agent because the area is not easy to know well unless you've been there awhile. Jennifer did right by us, showed us tons of land, and was very patient. In the end, we found the land through a tax sale listing in the local paper, and then asked Jen to help us follow through.
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> 5. Did you hire an attorney?
No. But if we succeed in selling our home in town without an agent, we will use a lawyer to close.
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> 6. Did you get a survey?
Yes. And the surveyor found a mistake, but none of the other land owners wanted to split the cost of a full blown fix, so we left things as they were.
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> 7. Extremely important. WHAT MISTAKES DID YOU MAKE? Please highlight your mistakes. What would you do differently if you did it all over again?
We feel that we got a great deal, even if the land is zone 3-4, and we'll probably have to grow all our food under cover. It is take your breath away beautiful, very close to a paved road, 20 minutes from town, and it will be paid off very soon.
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> 8. Other than the purchase price of the land, how much money did you spend on fees and professional services.
Just the 3% commission.
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> 9. How did closing go?
Smooth as silk.
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> 10. Please don't try to turn this thread into a sales pitch for a Real Estate company, or an attorney, or try to market a particular piece of land. Please speak in generic terms. This is intended to be a learning discussion about the land purchase process, not a sales pitch. (Papercreters is adamantly anti-spam.)
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> 11. Please share as much detail about other factors or other parts of the process as you feel comfortable sharing.
We have two ajacent 35 acre lots in the Wet Mountain Valley of Colorado. They cost us $23,000 each. That's not bad for around here. Custer County is just now looking at adopting the IBC, which is a drag. I doubt if we will be done building before it is implemented. I have no problems with health and safety issues in general, but I think people should be free to screw up their own houses without Big Brother looking over their shoulders.
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> 12. A funny story or a joke about your situation is encouraged. Keep it light. I'd rather see us "laughing and learning" than "ranting and @#%ching".
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>
> I encourage anyone to ask appropriate questions about the stories people post.
>
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