We have been looking for some property for a few months now and this past weekend my wife and I went to look at a 48 acre property with a 2.5 acre pond located just about in the middle of it. We like the layout of the property, we like the amount of woods on the property and we like the shape/look of the pond.
Here are my questions because we have never done a "raw land" purchase before and the seller is selling the property himself:
1. Perc test: The seller said there used to be one (located where we "envisioned" the house) and is more than happy to write in the contract that the sale is contingent on the Perc test coming back good. No issue here.
2. What should we look for in the pond? The dam looked good with no damp/wet spots behind it. There are some small (2-3" diameter) trees on the pond side of the dam that we would remove and the backside has some bigger 6-8" trees that I would look to remove. Nothing on the top of the dam. Are any of these deal breakers? Most of the trees on the damn are pines and maple trees.
3. The property is 60% open and 40% woods. The open areas are overgrown in weeds/pricker bushes, how expensive is it to clear/plant some seed on this scale? Obviously we wouldnt do any planting of seed until it was construction time for the house. My guess is that when the earth movers are there geting the property ready for construction, that grating/clearing the rest wouldnt be to much more cost.
4. There is power to the property but not run back to where we would have the house.
5. What do you recommend before we place an offer? Talk to a real estate attorney to make sure all the correct language is in the contract? Anything specific to add?
6. Anything else to look for/be aware of?
7. Anything else about the pond? Clarity was pretty good. Maybe 3-4 feet. There was not much vegatation in the water but lots of grass just outside of it. I didnt see any fish but there were plenty of frogs. Depth LOOKED to be about 4-5 feet as far out as I could see but I couldnt tell any more than that.
I added a couple pictures to show the pond, the trees on the dam and the brush if it helps with the advice.
Thank you for any advice/recommendations. Please be brutally honest!!!
