We have 200 acres in between Corsicana and Waco, near the border of Hill & Navarro Counties. Not prime deer hunting but a couple big uns every now and then. Great dove and duck and would be great geese if we put the time into it. Pigs and coyotes all over the place.

Our backside neighbor has a relatively insulated 440 acre contiguous tract that covers our south side with a 20 acre soil conservation site earthen dammed lake in a trust and we have been eying it for 30+ years. No house. No improvements. Only access is about 1,000’ of frontage on a caliche county road. The person who leases cattle on our land is the same as theirs so that’s how we were approached. All the heirs in the trust live out to state and just want to get rid of it to neighbors and not sell to an outsider.

No oil and gas production in the area, no wind in the area.

I have no idea about comps in the area along the Waco-Hubbard-Dawson-Corsicana area. Was thinking of going at it with $4,250/acre? I see smaller tracts for sale with no improvements for around $5k to $5.5k/acre but can’t find any sold comps.

What would your strategy be buying off market from a hands off- out of state neighbor?

send him an offer of what you would be willing to pay for it.

would probably need a new survey and I would run it thru a title company and get a title policy on it. See if you can get all or half the minerals if they own them.

Have an attorney or knowledgeable agent/broker draw up the contract. They shouldn't charge much.


I'm a Ranch Broker btw so take my advice on the survey and title company and having a competent party draw up a contract.

X 2.

In my area, $4250 would be a bargain.

^^All excellent advice. I realize the family probably just cares about the money, but I'd stress to them that y'all are going to keep it whole. Years ago in south Gillespie County, we found out the old bachelor across the road, whom we were friendly with, was selling. He wasn't the sharpest old boy, but he had a good heart. We went over, with our mom, and met with him personally and stressed that we would take care of the place the way he'd want, respect the history of the place, and not bust it up. The lawyers that were "helping" him sell it were not pleased when he told them he was selling to us. (You could see the sleaze in their eyes when we walked into the title company.) He was happy and so were we.

'Hope it works out well for y'all.

Thanks for the advice. Do you have experience with these soil conservation site reservoirs? I’m a bit concerned about the dam integrity. Very overgrown with big mesquites and I don’t know if anyone has ever maintained it.

Thanks. Yes I think the same sentiment is here and why they don’t want to put it on the market. My grandmother was friends with the selling parties grandparents. So there is that legitimate angle to this.

Get a real estate person, local in “the know”, banker or other lender that you can trust to get you actual realistic comps, and give a reasonable but on the low end of fair offer. Try to get it for free, and they may search out other avenues and it be priced high. Being in this case more than once, think about what could happen if the wrong person came in and bought it and how much it would or would not affect your current property. Lot of unknowns in these situations. Dealing with trusts can be a circus sometimes as well depending on how it is set up.

is it owned by the corp of engineers, if so, they should do periodic daminspections.

If not, I would see if the NRCS would assist with getting an inspection and they may participate in any tree removal cost

Which agency actually builds and maintains them? I have properties with DU(some trust technically) and some WRP(NRCS I think) and they do physically come out once a year to check on things. Things like wooded stems growing onto/into levees/dams

Just me, but I would ask their thoughts on price before I made an offer, if its too outragous like 10-20K per acre I wouldn't waste my time. On the other hand, out of state owners, wanting to get rid of it, I'd like to know what they had in mind before I threw out a number.

$4,250 would be a bargain dang near anywhere in Texas within an hours drive to a major city.

I talked to a realtor friend this morning. He knows my land. It is best called recreational property instead of POS. All trees, rocks, hills, etc. 133 acres of 4 wheeler country. No way to farm it or even make it productive. I’ve run cattle on it but not over 15 to 20 head and they were generally hard to find in that mess. Washed out road that a jacked up 4WD pickup would avoid.

Just South of Bowie with added white trash trailer house, outbuildings and a well. He said between $9 to $11,000 per acre. 70 miles to Fort Worth and about 25 miles to the Oklahoma line casinos.

About 40 to 50 years ago, I paid less than $450 per acre and didn’t get to see over about the first 200 yards. It was that thick with trees and had been shown to quite a few people who didn’t want it because they couldn’t get any productivity out of it.

Now 82 yoa and have been thinking about selling it for the last 10 years. Maybe someday. Wife says no. She says as my heiress, she will be the most popular old woman in Texas.

This^^^^ heirs and probate can get tricky and you’ll most definitely want that title policy. And definitely get a survey that’s more than just a boundary survey, you’ll want to know about any easements or right of ways, and that should catch a ROW for the conservation lake.