I would suggest you to consult a Realtor in your area. He will help you throughout the land buying process.

Wow this thread is almost 3 yrs old

FWIW I bought my place by looking up the owner on the tax rolls

He lived out of town and we worked out a deal between us with no real estate agent
it was nice just dealing direct with out the agent being a go berween
we mutually picked a lawyer to do the close and I covered myself by making him by a deed policy and I got a survey and appraisal

Good info. I am not a vet but my dad is. He loves the vet loans bc you can get a 30yr fixed note on land. Owner financing is another great way to go if the documents are drawn up properly.

My wife and I are looking into buying some land in south texas, in the near future. We are new to buying land for hunting, so my questions are is there any cons with owner financing than going through a bank? What's the lowest offer should I begin with on a ranch for example, a ranch that is for sale at 170,000? And how motivated are ranch sellers?

Awesome thread! Trying to establish my knowledge base so I can buy smart in near future. Thanks for great insight!

I got tired of trying to find deer leases..getting screwed on the cost etc so I recently bought my own 40 acre hunting property.its not huge but 75% hardwood and cedar and has never been touched. 100s of surrounding acreage untouched as well. I was surprised that the landowner was willing to do owner finance with the right amount down.very easy transaction and I'm excited at never having to look for a place to hunt. good luck to you future land owners.

A question regarding the Ag exemption, tax rollback: Let's say someone bought land a few years ago having the Ag exemption and suddenly decided he was going to turn his property away from crops and cattle and into a paintball Extravaganza :-D Anyway, he contacts the appraisal office and indicates the land would no longer be used for agriculture. As soon as the land appraisal status is changed, would the land owner be liable for the rollback of the few years, even though the land had legitimately been used for agriculture previously? The piece I read was a bit confusing to me in the wording. Thanks....

I think it's pretty clear in the information on the Texas Comptroller's website. If the property use is changed from agriculture to non ag use, you will lose the AG valuation exemption. When that happens, you pay the rollback tax for the previous 5 years. The rollback is the difference between the taxes that were paid, and what would have been paid without the exemption each year. They also tack on 7% interest per year for the taxes that would have been paid.

You might want to consider only changing a small part of the property to Non-AG use, unless the roll back taxes are pretty small.

If you are buying land and paying cash what all closing costs would be involved besides broker fees,title ins., survey fee. Im sure there is a nickel anddime list of fees? As a buyer what all would you try to push off on seller?

who pays the closing costs are negotiable.

typcially the seller pays his poriton and the buyer pays his. seller typically pays for the title policy.

and your right, there is a nickle and dime list of fees. they will be described in your HUD statement

Let the cows stay.... would just be extra cover for the paintballers....

Since the tax office is closed for the day anybody have any info on how much acreage in collin county to qualify for ag? I was thinking 10 acres unless you have a home on property then its 11. Just curious and couldnt find on website and im sure i want get a call back till next week.

Texas land prices and ROI over time factored for inflation.

http://recenter.tamu.edu/data/rland/

That's a neat site.

Recently purchased 26 acres in east texas. Mostly hills and valleys all wooded with thick underbrush.

Problem is even with the boundary survey, I can't tell where the property lines are. All the corners are marked but the surveyor didn't make cut throughs or put stakes in between the points.

The property is somewhat shaped like a triangle with one side being 2227' long! How can I accurately establish lines between the points?

Thanks!

Ok let me warn you about another issue. I have land I purchased about 14yrs ago. I made improvements cabin lake etc. I am now being sued by some people claiming my title is not good. This land was purchased from the president of the county realty board. It was a tract out of a 5700acre ranch he owned. I used a reputable and local title company and received a survey. If I lose this lawsuit I will be paid what I paid for the property from the title insurance company. There will be no repayment for the improvements. The plaintiffs have no real assets so counter suing is useless. I can not sell my land until I settle the suit. It is a year since their filing and I still do not know what their basis of claim is. I am having to pay a lawyer out of my pocket because the title co. lawyers may chose to just pay me and be done if it is cheaper.
Anybody with 200 dollars can jack you up forever,,,, don't do it.. don't buy property
Oh by the way the guy I bought it from is dead and the title company is out of business

Wait a second...you have title insurance and you're still going through this? Unreal.

When you loss the case its mean they will pay you the amount that is shown on your ownership document and they don't pay any amount of money for improvement.And some time they don't pay more than the value that written on that agreement.

Sorry to hear that , Edward. It's very rare for something like that to occur, thank God. Your title policy should cover the amount you paid for the property. Even if the title company is gone, the policy is underwritten by a large insurer. If you have a loan on the property, the lender will most likely get involved to protect their asset as well.

The best way is to have the surveyor come back out and set stakes for you.

Surveyor/ set stakes??? it was surveyed originally. The suit is for a portion of the land. Aproximately 102 acres (refered to in veras spanish land grant term) out of 300. As stated I still don't know where on the parcel they contest the title. Right,, I have a title policy and it will pay what I paid for the land 14yrs ago with out improvements. Never mind the appreciation. I will also take it in the teeth if the land is split in two making the separated parcels worth less. I followed the rules of correct land purchase and still getting the shaft. There is no lender. I paid cash. There is no justice I bought land...

nice thread, wish I had read it 15 years ago when I retired. remember one other thing, if you don't own the mineral rights you don't own anything but the right to pay taxes. one of the worst rip offs our politicians ever put on us, letting surface and mineral rights be seperated.

agree with ken

Well......I know this thread is old but I found it very helpful in my research. I will finalize the paper work within a couple of weeks.

Here is what I learned during my purchase.

1. Land purchasing is way easier than buying a house. I didn't need a contract or any BS, we agreed on terms and shook hands.
2. Only use a realtor if that's your preference. You can find plenty of info by internet research and getting neighboring contacts from the land owner. Or go to the local coffee shop a few times and make conversation.
3. Any land that is advertised on a website, realtor, etc.... needs more detailed research. The land I purchased was only advertised by word of mouth. If a person is wanting to sell their place, they will tell people they know first. I found that, if land is listed, there is a reason why it hasn't sold yet.
4. Check the land around you for future buying availability. I will eventually have a chance to buy the land that surrounds my place, as three of the land owners are elderly. Because of the down payment, I have established equity. If I want to purchase that land, all the lender has to do is adjust the note/terms. Simple.
5. Deal with a farm lender co-op. Their specialty is land lending and they are the best at it. They offer the best rates and can close faster than a bank. I reached out to 4 banks, only one came close. Gave me the impression they really didn't want to mess with it. Plus I will get dividends within a couple of years.

Wow, great thread and good timing...looking in to buying land myself. Thanks to all for sharing knowledge!