1. What motivated you in the beginning. How did you get started?
The state decided the road needed to be 4 lanes instead of 2.
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?
I just wanted a few acres in the country.
3. (Optional) If you do not mind sharing numbers, How much money had you saved up for a down payment when you started looking?
Nothing however the state gave me 3,500 for my 30 year old mobile home. They also gave me 16,900 for the replacement value of my home and, 5,500 for moving expenses. All but the 3,500 was a spend it to get it deal. So I had 22,400 for a down payment.
4. Did you go through a Real Estate Agent? Auction? Personal Transaction? Other? Why did you make the choice you did?
Provided by the state.
5. Did you hire an attorney?
No.
6. Did you get a survey?
No but I ended up doing so later.
7. Extremely important. WHAT MISTAKES DID YOU MAKE? Please highlight your mistakes. What would you do differently if you did it all over again?
Get a survey and inspection of the home.
8. Other than the purchase price of the land, how much money did you spend on fees and professional services.
2,000 closing cost and, 3,300 for a well.
9. How did closing go?
Painless.
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.)
I won't.
11. Please share as much detail about other factors or other parts of the process as you feel comfortable sharing.
I had to deal with the State of Ohio during the process. The property I purchased was actually my 4th choice because of the hurry up and wait. That the state put me through. It was about 14 months between the time I got paid for my old home and, received the OK to purchase a new one.
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".
This was not funny then but, I laugh about it now. It has 2 parts
Part 1
Into my second year of ownership. I received a letter from an attorney addressed to occupant or tenet at my address. It said that a credit union that I never heard of was foreclosing on my property. I first called the Title agency that handled my closing and got them looking at it. I then called my savings and loan that held my mortgage. They knew nothing about it. It turned out that my neighbor had gotten a mortgage on his property. After he had sold this parcel to someone else. It was mistakenly included in his collateral. For some reason yet to be explained. There was a 3 month period between the time this property was closed and, the time that the paperwork was filed with the county.
Part 2
About a year later on the day the neighbors property was auctioned off. A young couple with there child drove up my driveway and parked. They started wandering around the house. I came out and asked if I could help them. They asked me how much rent I was paying for the place. I smiled and told them that I was not paying any rent. They told me that would have to change. So I told them to take that up with my savings and loan who held my mortgage. At this point the guys wife started crying. She said " But we bought 2 lots". I replied " You may have bought 2 lots but, you didn't buy these 2 lots"
A few months later was when I finally hired a surveyor. My new neighbors had taken a measuring tape and marked what they thought was the property line. Which came right to the corner of my duck pen. As it turned out he was claiming about 10 feet of my property. I raise Golden Pheasants, Chickens, Ducks, and goats. Now this guy has moved a mobile home almost in my backyard. He wanted to know when I am moving my bird pens. He thought that since he put his house there I would have to move the birds. I told him that the birds where there long before he was. Besides he had 10 acres to put that place. If he didn't want them in his veiw, he should have picked another spot to put it.
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