My land selection process (video), Your input desired

Older video of process I was using to find land ... still using same software stack but now I am "in state" and able to visit locations I am ramping up my search.  

Previously I have considered about 75 other properties which were listed publicly for sale and maybe one was a maybe ... well now I have three that are maybe's and I am looking for input

Property 1) 00DRC (attached)
Both parcels in the center of the maps are being sold as one unit. This was previously grazed (likely over grazed) by horses from what I could tell.
Internet might not be available ... will have to drive there to look at what is on the polls and talk to neighbors. It is a blank slate and has maybe 3 trees on the whole property ... this is bad as our house will have full glass on south and face a neighbor but at least it is fenced and zoned AG.

Property 2) 00PR (attached)
Both parcels in center of map being sold as one unit. Previously logged between 2010-2015 and some road infrastructure was left in place. These appear to be well placed vs the projected contour lines. I believe I could swale anywhere I want on this property if required / desired.
Haven't been to this property yet.

Property 3) 00NLR (attached)
Single parcel in center of map being sold. Fully forested from what I can see and there is internet at the street for local neighbors. This property slopes oddly NE of a smaller hill ... I have not walked this property yet to see what I would be dealing with as far as sun exposure in winter (important up here).

All properties)
All feature what I would consider build sites in the middle of the slopes which should allow for damming of water at higher elevations (though not too high up in some cases)

What we are looking for is high speed internet on a homestead which will provide us a place to grow annuals / perennials and have a supply of fuel if required. We are going to be building a passive haus standard home on location to reduce heating / cooling requirements and I would like to throw some experimental smaller homes on the property for guests when they visit or for air-bnb etc.  Ideally we would have water on site stored higher in elevation than the home for use on the rest of the property and if required drinking post filtering.

Originally we were looking for 40+ acres but it seems hard to find at a reasonable price and still have the infrastructure required so we dropped down our minimal to 5 acres.

Seeking thoughts on these properties and others as I come across them but I am willing to answer any questions as to my process for those interested.

Replying to my own thread to help remove it from the zero replies thread

Adding two properties to the mix as well ... should have added them sooner but forgot about them with all the winter prep >__< Car is now running though so should be able to visit some of these soon.


Further considerations ... electrical and roads ...
Apparently 300ft is all you can go from an electrical source before you need a transformer if going underground and in my state we require 3" conduit at 18"+ deep. Materials is apparently 3 FRN/ft and installed (trenched / laid etc) 15-20 FRN/ft ... when you want to go more than 300' you should be running poles ... which are spaced about every 180' and are about 3k FRN/ea 0_o ... if I dig my own trench and lay down pipe it was suggested I lay down the required 3" as well as at least one 2" 12" separated from the 3" pipe for low voltage lines.

We require a 10' driveway here capable of holding 80000 lbs ... 1 yard of gravel per 3ft not including excavation of top soil to find something solid, road fabric, culverts, compaction etc ... was told the price would range between 10-30 FRN/ft

This changes the equation if you will as one of these sites has a road structure in place as well as a well ... given the length of road (800') that adds a lot of value to the property.


Property 4 00KR.jpg)
Hill top property ... great views but not much else going for it other than southern exposure. You could get a house site about 30' lower than the road on contour with class 5 road it is off of but the site, being at the top of a hill / mountain, has a ton of rock and it is 100% forested.

Property 5 28-5PR.jpg)
Both of these properties (centered) are for sale individually and face south ... could potentially have some good views, mostly wooded and with power at the street which is underground ... this would limit where the house site could go less I brought it to a pole with a transformer to extend the range :/ Ideal site is on the north lot but could offer some variety

Just a note ... noticed my solar aspect key was wrong ... SW should be SE and visa versa ...

Updated template for future properties and re-exported for local copies of the file. Won't bother reattaching them as it will simply take up room.

First, what's a FRN?  

Secondly, when I did my land search, I ended up including a lot of characteristics on my spreadsheet that were more vague (but important).  Like type of trees, usefulness of outbuildings, water frontage coolness, etc

I did a lot of perusing of aerial satellite photos to understand the forest cover and trails on a potential property.  Primarily based on that, the fifth property looks pretty cool.  Sloping down to a nice lake, pretty sweet.  The first one looks least interesting (to me) due to the similarity to a subdivision.

Thanks for input!

Mike Haasl wrote:First, what's a FRN?  

Federal Reserve Note

Mike Haasl wrote:
Secondly, when I did my land search, I ended up including a lot of characteristics on my spreadsheet that were more vague (but important).  Like type of trees, usefulness of outbuildings, water frontage coolness, etc

We have some vague characteristics as well ... ability to have water up high, building site mid property, good view to south, privacy to south ... other stuff is really bonuses as we are looking at raw land. One of the properties has a road and apparently a well installed which only adds value if they were done right for example :D

Mike Haasl wrote:
I did a lot of perusing of aerial satellite photos to understand the forest cover and trails on a potential property.  Primarily based on that, the fifth property looks pretty cool.  Sloping down to a nice lake, pretty sweet.  The first one looks least interesting (to me) due to the similarity to a subdivision.

The first one is actually zoned agricultural so we wouldn't have issues replanting it but yeah it is a blank slate.

Properties 5 does look tempting ... going to drive by there when I get a chance soon (likely after the tire studs are on so I won't have to worry about the class 5  / 6 roads being iced up)

what state are you looking
things to think about
like you mentioned power, internet, water, is water any good, how far are you from major polluters, leaking nuclear power plant and stuff like that
things that cost $$ to install
, culvert at road to get on property, is property on paved road, if not can you get down it when it rains, snows or would you need a team of mules
fencing,
buildings
things that are useful
mature forest, very helpful if you need heat and building supplies
what's the soil like? are there raw materials on site you can put to use, clay, rock, gravel, sand
is land flat, sloped, too hilly for anything but a mountain bike or billy goat?
how far are you from stuff
what's the crime like in the area--I mention this only because of a property I almost bought-long time resident across street told me, if you have anything of value, and your not there 24-7, whatever you have will grow legs and disappear- this was in a rural area about 20 miles from a little town
these are just a few things off top of my head
I spent over 2 years driving 25000 miles looking at real estate before settling on the slice of heaven I call home
sometimes an old farm with buildings, well, power, driveways, fencing are less expensive than vacant land that has been clearcut logged with no driveway, power or internet access with closest neighbors being meth producing addicts. depending on where your looking
you might want to visit property and try and meet neighbors before plunking down your hard earned treasury notes

couple other things to think about
taxes
schools
building codes, I looked at beautiful place in rural western NC but they had a crazy building code that was if you wanted to build a dwelling it had to cost more than $100 square foot
zoning

This looks like a dry area based on the vegetation at elevation but you have not given any specifics which is cryptic but not overly helpful.  I would say based solely on the images I would go with #2. There is seasonal water based on the vegetation that hits the extreme west side of the property, and could be diverted across IF that is legal. It is illegal to divert water in many areas of the west unless you have water rights which do not necessarily transfer with the property.  Southern facing and with the local water across what appears to be a road, either way there would be a humidity benefit and assuming you want it and the map is positioned south down, there will be reflected sunlight during the winter if this is northerly. I Have a neighbor that has his panels by a pond and he gets 130% of what the assumed output would be because of a reflective pond.

For the rest I have no idea what your priorities are so it is really impossible to speculate.Just looking at the picachures. I shopped the same way.

bruce Fine wrote:what state are you looking

We are located in NH and at the start of winter with 9F temps and 8"  of snow

Most all these properties which have a road installed were likely put in by a logging company so they are not too steep and often put in at ridge lines and or on contour.
We are looking for southern facing slopes as we are going to install a ZED (Zero energy Design home ... basically something that will pass a Passive Haus standard with ease) ... haven't decided on fuel sources yet but I am a fan of burning your own wood if you can ... especially if it is part of maintenance on a property.

Crime rate where we are at is low but we do tend to talk to neighbors before moving into areas or talk to the county sheriff and or police as both are close to use at our current location.

bruce Fine wrote:
sometimes an old farm with buildings, well, power, driveways, fencing are less expensive than vacant land that has been clearcut logged with no driveway, power or internet access with closest neighbors being meth producing addicts. depending on where your looking
you might want to visit property and try and meet neighbors before plunking down your hard earned treasury notes

Yeah our current place was a steal of a deal  ... but it cost a TON to heat during the winter ... I am talking 4 525 gallon tanks of heating oil a season :/ Built in 1800's ... great temporary location and future rental but it isn't what we are looking to stay in for life. Installing a wood burning stove this year to help offset the cost of the oil.

We want to build super efficient ... one property we saw back in January was of interest to us but it lacked internet ... basically a run down trailer on site with septic / well / power / 5-8 acres facing SE nearly 100% wooded 43k ... 0__0 Even the listing was like "the deal is the infrastructure not the actual structure"

Tj,
The areal imagery was shot with the leaves off in fall or spring ... most green vegetation you see is coniferous trees or grass. We get something like 81in of snow a year and even have a "mud" season so it certainly can get wet here.
Property 2 was previously logged and has roads and apparently even a well house installed on site (trying to confirm location of the well) ... there is indeed a valley on the west side of the property which could server to bring water into the landscape ... I had planned to put a high dam on the north west part of the properties (since it is both) and work it down from there depending where other assets are in place right now.

Thank you both for your thoughtful replies and for sharing your experience!

UPDATE:

Drove past a couple of the properties near sunset and observed the landscape and thought my process of using the solar aspect map I created could be wrong as it doesn't account for shadows :/ The sun went down at 230 at that location and cam up at 830 ... if it was a flat plain it should be 730am and 4pm for sunrise and set.

So I created a shadow map for 830 - 1530 in 1 hour increments, layered them on top of each other, then compared them to previous indicators I was using.

I have attached the shadow map overlay along with the solar aspect map and slope map (I was looking for low spots which might get sun)

It would seam most all spots which are "white" or don't have color on the shadow map include the solar aspect slopes ... I expect I will find a couple of south facing slopes which don't fall into this category .