CountryPlans Forum

Looking for Land => Land: Buy, Sell, Find => Topic started by: sherab on May 25, 2006, 02:35:46 PM

Title: Finding land for cabin
Post by: sherab on May 25, 2006, 02:35:46 PM
Hey folks! I have been looking at CountryPlans website for several years now and have been amazed at how robust it's gotten. These forums are proving their weight in gold (well electrons don't really weigh anything but you get my point  ;)).

I live in Ithaca, NY and am looking to build a cabin here. I feel at home here and the problem is now finding land. Real estate agents ideally want to make the commission and I can appreciate that but I am not after a  place with a house already on it and a mortgage that will take years to pay off. In short I am finding every real estate agent I am dealing with to not really listen to what it is I want: Raw land, hilly ideally. I'm paying cash and frankly I don't plan on ever getting myself into the sinkhole of debt again, after traveling through Africa last year I am totally committed to a much simpler existence. I have to say I am loving it so far.

Does anyone have any advice or tips on finding land ? If it involves just driving around a lot and searching high and low on my own, then so be it. If you know a good Ithaca area real estate agent then I'd love that.

Many thanks!
Julian
Title: Re: Finding land for cabin
Post by: jraabe on May 25, 2006, 04:01:35 PM
There are two books I have reviewed in the Resource section (http://www.countryplans.com/books.html) that might be of interest. Scroll down to "Land" titles. The one below is a very valuable and fun guide to the resourceful "walking around" method of finding property.

(http://www.countryplans.com/images/cheapland.jpg)
Title: Re: Finding land for cabin
Post by: Amanda_931 on May 25, 2006, 07:23:52 PM
I bought two parcels of land here, from a brother first and the second parcel from his sister.

The brother lived out west with his wife, wanted to sell the land, really didn't want to have to move back here to do it.  So he used a realtor.

I went to the sister's son and asked if they would sell me some of the adjacent property.  They (sister and son) live up the road a bit.

In other words, especially for things like raw land, realtors may be called in for the kind of reason that man had.

But a lot of realtors don't like to touch inexpensive pieces of property. The guy I bought through didn't.

You can find what you're looking for.

(How far is Rob Roy from you--upstate New York somewhere, but that's like saying I'm close to Cookeville TN.   I'm not remotely.  And welcome to the group)
Title: Re: Finding land for cabin
Post by: sherab on June 01, 2006, 09:19:57 PM
Thanks Amanda. I picked up the recommended book and it's a good story. I'm not familiar with Cookeville but I am originally from Western Kentucky.
It's all beautiful country down there.
Julian
Title: Re: Finding land for cabin
Post by: Amanda_931 on June 01, 2006, 09:35:59 PM
Cookeville is about as far away from me as you can get and still be in Middle Tennessee.  Less as the crow flies, but for most practical purposes, 180 miles off.  (I do know people from an intentional community at least 30 miles north of Cookeville--when they visit in this area they do not drive back home that night, either camp in this area or stay with people only a hundred miles off on the way home.)

But upstate New York is at least as big.

I friends from the Western Kentucky area--Wingo and somewhere in rural McCracken county--went to school at Murray, now either living on the Old Home Place in Wingo or in Paris Tennessee.  I see them occasionally, sometimes we meet in the middle for Sunday dinner.