Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Land hunting, any tips?

Paul,

I've bought and sold a few rural pieces of land, but I'm no expert at it. Finding a good realtor really makes a huge difference. I contacted dozens and dozens of them until I found one that thought the way I do. Not to be too negative on realtors, but there is a huge difference in what they know and what they pretend to know. Rural land is't like a house, and most realtors deal with homes.

My priorities had a pond or lake site at the very bottom of my list. Utilities, location and access where what I had to have at a price I could afford. I started my search while living in California and would fly out here to look over diferent parts of the state. Nothing was written in stone, and I was wide open to suggestions on different areas.

In the end, I found a piece of land that was close to what I wanted, but to make it perfect, I needed the adjoining land. It wasn't for sale, but my realtor was able to contact the owner. We talked and agreed to a price.

A good realtor will not only know the area, but will go the extra mile to find you your land. My guy knew what I could afford and what the land was worth. The seller started out at a rediculous number, but after a few months, he changed his mind.

While negotiating with him, I had a six month option on the first piece of land. That cost half a point and was non refundable, but it allowed me to buy the land if I wanted it, but I had six months to decide either way.

I bought more land than I wanted or needed, so when the deal all came together, I subdevided the land I didn't want and sold it off. I made enough off of those parcels to pay off the land I wanted and build a house.

Once all that was done, I started exploring my land with the aid of a topo map. I didn't have any good locations for a lake, but knew it could be done in one area with allot of work. My lake is almost done. I did it myself because I could never afford to have hired it out.

Contact every realtor that you can, ask them specific questions and guage their replies. Know the answere before hand so you know who's knowleldgable and who's full of BS. A good one will know the real value of the land and can tell you the difference between land that is really for sale and land that is listed at a rediculous amount just in case a sucker comes along. There are lots of listings like that.

Good luck and be patient. There is no greater mistake than buying a piece of land that turns out to be a nightmare!!!

Eddie