8.4 acre test

[Bruce_A]

I always like to do things different if possible.  My wife wants some money and we do not want to borrow, so I talked her into selling an 8.4 acre lot that we own for the best offer.  The county set a taxable value of $36,100.00 and this is not a buildable piece of ground, to the best of my knowledge.  It has five hundred year flood plain, lots of wet land plants, douglas fir, white fir, hemlock, oak, ash, alder, pine, and numerous deciduous plants that I can't begin to name.  Also has a year around, coho salmon listed stream running almost straight across the middle.  Black top frontage, power and phone to property line, less than two miles from interstate 5, in Washington State.  Made up our collective minds as of yesterday at 9AM and by 8:35 this morning we had one offer of $15.00 and a six pack of bud.  I don't like bud well enough to consider that a valid offer yet.  If you want to see what it looks like, call me or go to "Lewis County, Washington Pats" and look for parcel # 014788005000.  This will give you all the pertinent information.    We are going to sell for something, I am just not sure what buyers think property is worth these days.  Thanks Bruce

[fishpharmer]

Just out of curiosity, how much are the property taxes?

And what brand do you like?

[Mooseherder]

You could Summer there fishpharmer.

[Randy88]

Don't sell yourself short, sounds to me like its got a lot to offer and someone out there just might be interested for that or more, have you listed it with a realitor and what do they think its worth on the open market and what do they think the chances are you'll sell it, ask around in their world, around here they don't go by assesed value at all and they really don't talk about that much its always higher value than that but I don't know about your area.

[Bruce_A]

Taxes are close to $400.00 a year.  It does have a beautiful spot that could be made into a place for a wonderful homesite.  This would just take time and money that I don't feel I have.  I am doing the offer thing because I have no faith in what our local government feels it is worth.  If they are wrong I will be sure to show them.  Realtors in this area like to tell me that the county is wrong and I need more than I have.

[mtngun]

this is not a buildable piece of ground

So why would anyone buy it ?   Just to have a place to camp and fish ?

Are you saying it would not pass a perc test ?   

In most parts of the country, the real estate market is in the toilet.   That goes double for vacation property and 2nd homes.

That said, the wild card is that you may get a buyer from say, California, who is not familiar with your local land values, who would be willing to pay more than it is really worth.    It's a long shot, but it does happen once in a while.

Land in my area goes for around $1000/acre, but last year a Californian paid $5000/acre.   The seller got lucky.    But, other property in the area has been on the market for years and years, and never sells.   

If I were you, I'd hang onto the land and enjoy it.  Now is a bad time to sell.

[Bruce_A]

To get land that cheap, you would have to be in someplace so far from civilization, you might as well be in Idaho.

[mtngun]

you would have to be in someplace so far from civilization

That's the general idea.   

But even here in uncivilized Idaho, we follow the economic news and know that the real estate market is bad and getting worse.   

[sandhills]

Jeez guys to me that sounds like heaven, heck I might even raise the bid to 20 dollars and a 30 pack .  Sounds like all you'd have to do is pitch a tent start a campfire and go wet a line .  I have to agree with mtngun though, now does seem to be a bad time to try to sell, apparently all over.

[Bruce_A]

I have things I want to do and little money to do them with.  I purchased this ground about 14 years ago and have done almost nothing since with it.  It is a very nice piece with at least a dozen  homes within a mile.  The closest being about 500 feet away.  Water is easily drilled for and less than 100 feet deep.  Lots of water on the surface during the winter.  This is western Washington.  Bear, deer, elk, cougar, bobcat;  you name it and we have seen it within a mile if it is native to the area.  Also a few critters that I didn't realize were in the area.  I actually live down stream about 1800 feet as the crow flies.  If I was starting over, I would prefer to have the economy of the west side and the weather of the east side.  But since I am not, I will settle for my small slice of heaven right here. 

[SwampDonkey]

Back a few years the government started taxing all lots under 10 acres as building lots even if it was a flooded beaver swamp or treed lot. Didn't even verify if it could be suitable. They have a mapping system on computer, all it took was a query, and bang your tax took a boost.  Some lots here as I assume in the US are just remnants after a rail road on one side and a highway on the other cut them off from the main farm. Some could be vertical up over a rock bluff. I remember one fellow fighting them all the time on this issue, he had some lots that were small tree lots he bought up over the years. I don't think he got anywhere with the government. I have a 70 acre woodlot that I pay less than $30 a year on in the middle of farming country. One of the members of the forum here that has never stepped foot in this area was up atop a windmill on Mars Hill mountain behind the lot and took a picture. He was over in Maine, I'm over here in NB.



The road under the cone is on top of the mountain and next one to the left in the E. Blaine at the foot of the mountain, both in Maine. The first 2 of those brown fields parallel to that road to the left touch the Maine border. The second field up has a strip of woods on top, that's where my lot is. There are windmills way down that far to as I can look up at them.