I had wanted to build a geodesic since the early 70's, and knew I would have an easier time if I was in a non-inspection area.1. What motivated you in the beginning. How did you get started?
I wanted a minimum of 5 acres, as far out of town as practical considering I would have to commute to the office. Texas has many areas without inspections, though they do fall under the state codes.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?
$1,800.003. (Optional) If you do not mind sharing numbers, How much money had you saved up for a down payment when you started looking?
I have a friend who is an appraiser, and he works with realtors and land management companies. I told him what I wanted, and he found it.4. Did you go through a Real Estate Agent? Auction? Personal Transaction? Other? Why did you make the choice you did?
No5. Did you hire an attorney?
It was done by the title company. Also, a title guarantee is important to get.6. Did you get a survey?
Though I bought 15 miles outside city limits, I should have kept going. Seventeen years later it is getting populated around me, and everyone who moves out here puts up multiple flood lights. Goodbye, milky way.7. Extremely important. WHAT MISTAKES DID YOU MAKE? Please highlight your mistakes. What would you do differently if you did it all over again?
Don't remember exactly, probably less than $300 not counting the 10% down. I got a low interest rate for the time and 7 year financing. Of course I paid it off as fast as I could manage.8. Other than the purchase price of the land, how much money did you spend on fees and professional services.
9. How did closing go?smooth and easy
It was all straightforward and relatively painless. Since I was working with a friend who was an "insider" he knew all the pitfalls and how to avoid them.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.) 11. Please share as much detail about other factors or other parts of the process as you feel comfortable sharing.
When I first looked at the property my friend wasn't sure exactly which one it was, since it was surrounded by vacant land and not marked in any way. Before the survey I took my kids camping in the area, though we didn't know which parcel we were interested in. Later after closing I found the ashes from our campfire, almost center of the property. I had a driveway cut in, but didn't have funds to compact it or add engineered fill, so I had a really soft sand driveway. I put a used RV at the back of the property and found that I could drive in and out as long as I didn't try to turn around because I would get stuck. For the first several weeks I was forced to back out 800' to leave. After a couple of snows and driving over the wet driveway it finally compacted and that problem was solved.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".
I encourage anyone to ask appropriate questions about the stories people post.
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