Heather Johnson w/ keller-Williams reality
817-891-4089

I have some serious questions about buying land. We have located a small parcel that we can afford, but we are getting a little skeptical on some of the terms.

1. Survey - seller is not providing. Should this typically be a cost born by the buyer?

2. Mineral rights - not coming with the land. The land is ~7k an acre around Sam Houston. When looking at HAR for acreage in the same quantity and general features, it seems comparable. But none indicate they come with minerals. Does it sound right to not receive mineral rights at that price point?

3. 100 year flood zone. How do I find out if the land, or parts of it are in the zone. Went to the fema.gov site and it seems like a worthless site. Why is there not a feature in like google maps that just shows the flood zones? They can map and photograph the US roads, but not show us something as critical as if it has a high/low probability of flooding? I would like to see the flood zone before actually putting my hard earned money on the line.

Pm me and I will be happy to answer your questions

I'll go ahead and answer your questions here

first off, Seller should have a survey. he might have one that is outdated, but he should have one. If it is not available, one will have to be provided to the title company. it may be outdated and not acceptable to the lender so it may have to be re-surveyed anyway. in most cases, the seller provides a survey but this is a negotiable option. cost of survey will depend on the size of the tract.

Mineral rights: Are they retaining what they own and how much is believed to be owned? if they don't own any they can't convey what they don't own. Without seeing the size of the tract its hard to say whether or not the tract is priced fairly without minerals. Comparable sales will be key in seeing if its being bought in line with the current market. Is there any production in the immediate area? if not, its hard to place a value on non-producing minerals

100 year flood plain. some counties have FEMA maps, some do not. any parts of the property located in the flood zone should show up on a new survey. FEMA has an online program that shows the location of the floodplain, you should be able to find that out online. I have used it in the past. The county courthouse may also be able to provide some help in that area

http://heatherjclay.kwrealty.com/
My realtor, she can answer any qeustions you have, and has a great lender cloes them fast as 2weeks

I hate spammers.

This has been a very informative thread and you come and spam it, like you have done any number of other threads here.

Is your sole purpose to come here and spam the board with this agent's website?

Sorry to offend anybody, New member here...and was just trying to help...as most realtors can only work certain areas in there MLS regions...I was extremely stoked when she went out of her way for my little peice of Heaven... 149acres Bosque county...drove every back road helping me find right spot, she actually cut her commission to lower the price so i could get approved! Not many agents do this...Least i could do is refer her out!
I guess i Thought we was here to help eachother out....

My first "land buyer" was an oilman from Houston. Picked him up off a call on a ranch listing I had in La Grange. I traveled all over Texas for this buyer. I showed him and his wife probably 50 ranches. They were so unrealistic with their expectations, despite hours of meetings, phone calls with them explaining market data, demand, supply, real estate economics ,etc...and he was no dummy. Just a cheap [censored]. I managed to make 3 offers on their behalf; 2 fell through because the sellers lied about mineral rights or other issues and there were major conflicts I uncovered for them through my own due diligence. The other one, the sellers broker and I offered to eat a percent of our commissions to try to get a deal done. They hemmed and hawed and backed out under option because they got cold feet.

After 8 months of my devotion, time away from my family, driving from Sutton down to Webb up to Montgomery counties and all points in between, these people ended up writing a check for a FSBO they found in Kerr County that their friend told them about.

The moral to the story:

1) Not all realtors are lazy and greedy. A lot of them will go above and beyond to help their clients and a good land agent can save even savvy buyers time, money, and potential heartache .
2) At the end of the day, buyers and sellers are going to do whatever they have to do to get the best deal.

Buyer, seller and Agent beware.

I am NOT a realtor but a forester and a landman. Over the last 22 years, I have bought/sold/leased thousands of acres of land, timber, timberland, ranchland, royalties and minerals. I can answer your questions about buying land, leasing minerals, leasing land, selling land, etc.

But I cant keep up with all the questions - PM me and I will be glad to answer any questions you may have - no strings attached ... unless you have a bass lake I can fish in!!!

Glad to see I'm not the only landman on here!

We own a surveying company- And while I can't speak for every surveyor I can help explain some things msot might not understand with their first land purchase- you can PM me to if need be- no strings-

Why is it better to have road frontage?

It gives you direct access to your property. If you are relying on an easement, you may have to go to court to enforce it. Might also turn out that the easement isn't valid, didn't transfer with the land, expires, has use restrictions (like no utilities) or whatever else. And you can't always rely on the land owners the easement is on being cooperative even if you talk with them in advance. They might die or decide they want your land and not giving you access to it is a good way to get you to sell cheap.

I would also say that if you are looking at land that has easement access, it should be deeply discounted relative to general price in the area.

Great Post

Very helpful thread....haven't read all pages so this may be a repeat...land I found has an old 'fixer upper' that I may just tear down....would that qualify for a home loan vs. land? Thank you.

do you all know of any land near dallas looking for 50 to 100 acres

PM me. I can call you and we can talk... I would like to help you if I can.

Does a wildlife exemption regulate what you can do with the land? I am from Montana and if you register for the Wildlife exemption there you cannot build on the land that is qualified and you need to return any of it to original state if there are building or other improvements on it. How does it work inn Texas?

Good thread here with lots of helpful info...now to just find a small 100 acre piece of property within about 2 hours of San Antonio

You can build on it. Just need to get with the county appraiser to okay anything you do first so it doesn't change the plan originally setup. The main thing is the land must have been under an ag or timber exemption for 5 of the last 7 years prior to converting to wildlife exemption. One good thing about cows is they reduce fuel for wildfires.

I didn't read this whole thread obviously but why does the Texas Land Board say it only requires you to put 5% down but everyone on here is saying 20% and higher?

I assume you meant Tx VLB = Texas Veterans Land Board.
The "TX land board" is a veterans program, the only way non vets /general public can buy through them is their forfeited tracts.

Less down = higher monthly payments & greater lender risk.

Conventional financing through most lenders will require 20% down unless the property is being sold considerably below market/appraised value, or you have a fairly long history with the lender.

Vets don't have to put as much down and get a lower interest rate.

I have 425 acres for sale in Crockett County, above the Pecos River canyon. This place has electicity installed, 30x54 pole barn, water, and is ag exempt. Great hunting. dssewell425@msn.com

We have a Wildlife exception on our place 90 acres taxes around $140 year. Takes everything said in previous threads posts. The other side is we spend a good chunk of money out for things to meet the Wildlife plan. IE: feed, feeders, water, nest boxes etc.. Plus all the logging and record keeping. Some counties are tougher to get one approved also. Edwards for us was a 2 year run and gun battle of bureaucratic paper work and reviews, but in the end we did get it. I am over simplifying the process here but, basically you have a pretty good size list of Wildlife Practices that you have to select three off and implement on your place. Another FYI: maintain good records the county has the right to contact you and inspect to see if you are doing it. All this to depends on which county you are in.

For us it works out to be only slightly cheaper than just paying the accessed values. The main reason why we do it is at least the money spent is on YOUR place and not going to the county's coffers. We have been doing our plan for 3 years now and I have to say the animals are looking great. Ironically the Axis deer a non game species seems to absolutely thrive and multiply also. Hope this gives you some insight on the matter. Good luck and wish you nothing but the best in your efforts.