LAND BUYING Last Friday, we closed on 47 acres next to the 400 acre farm where we have rented a house and barn for the last 9 years. The land is timber-land that has been clear-cut and burned, so it's hideous to look at right now, except everything is finally starting to green up. It has a creek running right down the middle, joining a larger creek at the back of the property. We have a beaver pond that covers about an acre, with herons, ducks, and geese. There are plenty of turkey, deer, quail, and rabbits. The property fronts on a gravel road and we plan initially to build a riding ring and make pasture from several acres. Yeah, there are a lot of stumps, mostly pine and they are actually rotting away pretty fast, but we will need to bulldoze. I have been spending every morning seeding an acre before I go to work. Weekends are spent dragging brush to burn piles. There is probably enough oak on the ground for a couple of winters firewood--6-8 inch diameter stuff that you don't have to cut. We bought the land from a timber company and must replant some of the acreage that we don't make in pasture with timber. I thought I would share some of what we went through for those of you contemplating such a venture (and it ain't over yet). We made an offer last year, but the price was too high and it had not been cut yet. They cut it and we decided to make another offer last summer while we were on vacation. When we came back, it had been burned and looked awful. We made an offer anyway in the fall, and it was accepted. Then we looked for financing. Banks wanted a lot of cash down--50 percent. We eventually financed through a farm financing company. They were great to deal with and approved our loan in 10 days which I thought was a record. Then we got ourselves a lawyer which is required in Virginia. We lost a little momentum at this point which was almost our undoing. We wanted to make sure that the land would perc before we bought it. This is where all the catch-22's in the world came in. Our choices were to have the county do it or hire a soil consultant. If the county did it, we would have to submit a site plan, tell how many baths, residents, etc, apply for a building permit which would be good for 2 years and pay the accompanying fees. We were(are)still arguing over where to place the house. The soil consultant would be a little more expensive and we would still have to eventually jump through all the other county hoops. But we decided to do the soil consultant since we had no idea of a site plan. Our lawyer had recommended that we do the soil test first before we did any surveying since we wouldn't have to pay for the survey if the land didn't perc. Sounded like good advice, but the soil guy took longer than the finance folks. In retrospect, be should have gone ahead and done them concurrently. The soil perc'ed fine. So we lined up the surveyor. We chose the one who thought he could give us a better price since he could use an existing boundary without charging us to survey that side. With winter weather conditions, it took longer than the thought. We knew where we wanted the lines but had only an estimate of how many acres that would be. We had estimated 40 and it came out 47. The surveyor was good about giving advice about how far off the road to make the line, and he actually talked us into buying past the back creek so we would have control over it. Well, in the meantime, the lawyer should have been doing the title search. Not. He waited to get the survey and we were days away from the expiration of our loan agreement and the interest rate had gone up almost a point and we had spent almost $1000 in loan origination fees, so we couldn't miss that deadline. We arranged to close on April 5. My wife called the lawyer to see if everything was in order and talked to his assistant who read over the deed stuff and informed us that the sellers did not own the mineral rights. Whoa. Who wants to buy land that can be dug up by some stranger and it was a possibility since there are strong vermiculite veins within 10 miles. We put them to work to find out about acquiring the mineral rights. Well it turns out that they had actually conveyed to the owner at a later date (isn't that what title searches are for?). So we got over that hump, but when our lawyer contacted the seller's attorneys (corporate folks so we call them attorneys), they needed an approved copy of the plat with the blessing of our planning commission for subdividing. So scratch the closing date. The deadline for the financing was 5 days away on April 8. That's when my wife got on the phone to the seller's attorney's assistant (the assistants do all the work) and talked to her real nice and got her to move things along as fast as possible. The last hurdle was a signature by a corporate executive in Connecticut (we were in Virginia). I was ready to hop in the car on Wed and drive to Conn, but it turns out that he was coming to Richmond on Thursday. So, somehow he showed up and the document got signed. We spent Friday afternoon at the loan company, so now it's ours(and theirs). Now all we have to do is driveway, septic, utilities, barn, house. What have we gotten into? LAND BUYING Last Friday, we closed on 47 acres next to the 400 acre farm where we have rented a house and barn for the last 9 years. Congrats! seeding an acre before I go to work. Weekends are spent dragging brush to burn piles. There is probably enough oak on the ground for a couple of winters firewood--6-8 inch diameter stuff that you don't have to cut. Get it cut now and stacked dry. Don't underestimate the smaller 2-3 inch stuff, particularly since its oak and hickory (I'm assuming the latter), this stuff cuts up into manageable pieces with a bow saw, then you can cut it at your leisure later. Since I'm assuming you won't have much firewood after your initial gathering, figure on seven to ten years before any trees you are planting now will need culling. Unless you have a steady dependable supply, you'll want to make what you have last. we wanted the lines but had only an estimate of how many acres that would be. We had estimated 40 and it came out 47. The surveyor was good about giving advice about how far off the road to make the line, and he actually talked us into buying past the back creek so we would have control over it. This was very good advice, lucky for you you got it and took it. Now all we have to do is driveway, septic, utilities, barn, house. What have we gotten into? Snrk. Snort. Guffaw. Oh hell, oh, two, three lifetimes of never ending work. It'll kill you one way or another. The difference is what you make of it, will you die happy or miserable? Seriously, I hope you are happy with your new place and it'll be interesting to hear the further details of your experiences as they happen.