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Purchase/Investment in Land in SE Georgia

 
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Hello!

I hope this post is okay in this forum. If it is not, I know you will let me know.

We plan to move to SE Georgia, USA at some point in the next 10 months. At this time, land is around $3000/acre for mixed tracts of pasture or cleared land, sometimes cut pines, woods  and maybe water. It is the best farmland in Georgia. It is very rural. There is a direct relationship between the size of the tract and pricing. It can get down to $2000/acre in some cases at above 50 acres.

We want 10 to 20 acres for ourselves. We are not trying to build an actual community though knowing our neighbors would be great. What we are looking for is fellow land seekers or investors in order to be able to buy a larger tract of land to lower the price per acre. There is no plan to divide up the land in less than 10 acre parcels.

And if there are resources here on this type of project, as opposed to more intentional community building, please point me to it.


 
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good luck with the idea.
Have you considered the mechanics of what you are doing so it works.
Do you all buy the land together and then subdivide it to a plan?
 
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I live in southern Georgia and my wife and I spent months in southern Alabama and southern Georgia looking for either raw land or a low cost home with some acreage. Unless prices have dropped in the past 2 years, I don't think your prices are accurate (you can't trust online listings, especially for land; and southeast Georgia seemed the hardest to find land). When we saw anything that seemed like a good deal and we tried to view them they were always SUPPOSEDLY under contract, already sold, off market, etc. One time we put an offer on a derelict house with 5 acres; the seller's realtor told us to offer much less than the asking price because it wasn't worth the asking price and we could still get it; we decided to offer much closer to the asking price but got no response. I found the seller's phone number, called them and found out they were never showed the offer. Time and time again things like this happened. Most land (especially large tracts) seems to be owned by family empires which all know each other and it tends to stay in their hands; I imagine much of the pricing is artificial for tax purposes maybe. Any land that was within the price ranges you listed were swamp land that you'd need to buy large acreage to get such pricing. The closest we found was in central Georgia and was 18 acres for $90k (and I'm not sure it was completely real because we didn't put an offer in). Nearly every realtor we dealt with was corrupt; both here in the south and in California when we sold our house. In California they never had real showings for our house; the few showings they got for our house were from thieves that they hired. The realtor would ask me to show the people around because she wasn't available; they would ask me to show them around outside and they would act interested in plants (even though it was obvious they knew nothing) while another car (or someone in the back seat) would come out after and go into the house. Many realtor offices were in on it together. It took me a month to figure it out. Ultimately I found a friend of the family who is a realtor and they got our house sold within one weekend. We've heard other similar stories to our own. I tell you these stories because hopefully it will help you be wary and not naïve like I was. Our debacle with the sale of our house helped us catch realtor after realtor after realtor while looking for property in the south. Overall extremely disheartening. Good luck.
 
Karen Lee Mack
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John C Daley wrote:good luck with the idea.
Have you considered the mechanics of what you are doing so it works.
Do you all buy the land together and then subdivide it to a plan?



Somehow I missed notifications for replies.

I am researching the mechanics now. Any tips or resources appreciated. I have downloaded appropriate topics from the Foundation for Intentional Community site.
 
Karen Lee Mack
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Logan Albright wrote:I live in southern Georgia and my wife and I spent months in southern Alabama and southern Georgia looking for either raw land or a low cost home with some acreage. Unless prices have dropped in the past 2 years, I don't think your prices are accurate (you can't trust online listings, especially for land; and southeast Georgia seemed the hardest to find land). When we saw anything that seemed like a good deal and we tried to view them they were always SUPPOSEDLY under contract, already sold, off market, etc. One time we put an offer on a derelict house with 5 acres; the seller's realtor told us to offer much less than the asking price because it wasn't worth the asking price and we could still get it; we decided to offer much closer to the asking price but got no response. I found the seller's phone number, called them and found out they were never showed the offer. Time and time again things like this happened. Most land (especially large tracts) seems to be owned by family empires which all know each other and it tends to stay in their hands; I imagine much of the pricing is artificial for tax purposes maybe. Any land that was within the price ranges you listed were swamp land that you'd need to buy large acreage to get such pricing. The closest we found was in central Georgia and was 18 acres for $90k (and I'm not sure it was completely real because we didn't put an offer in). Nearly every realtor we dealt with was corrupt; both here in the south and in California when we sold our house. In California they never had real showings for our house; the few showings they got for our house were from thieves that they hired. The realtor would ask me to show the people around because she wasn't available; they would ask me to show them around outside and they would act interested in plants (even though it was obvious they knew nothing) while another car (or someone in the back seat) would come out after and go into the house. Many realtor offices were in on it together. It took me a month to figure it out. Ultimately I found a friend of the family who is a realtor and they got our house sold within one weekend. We've heard other similar stories to our own. I tell you these stories because hopefully it will help you be wary and not naïve like I was. Our debacle with the sale of our house helped us catch realtor after realtor after realtor while looking for property in the south. Overall extremely disheartening. Good luck.



I appreciate you sharing your experience. Unfortunately, I can imagine that happening.

I have a couple of advantages:

One is that while I tend to be naive and trusting, I have experience buying and selling property in multiple states.

The second is that we have family in the area that is tied into the "Good Ole Boys" network. While it probably sounds horrible how local will buy and sell to local, having grown up in rural Florida, I can tell you horror stories of "yankees" (as we called them then) coming in, buying land, and then insisting on telling everyone around them how to live. And because they tended to know how to go the political route, they would actually get on the zoning boards and revamp the regulations. In the deep south growing up, it was no big deal to most of us to have trailers next to mansions, for example, which simply horrified outsiders. It is one reason I want to move back there.

I will take your experience seriously as I wouldn't doubt that some of the prices are artificial but we did gather enough information in person to have a good idea of what we are looking for. I can tell you that larger tracts of land are not in the same category, so to speak, as something like 5 acres and a house. We will take extra care to make sure it is a real property with a real seller. We actually hope to find someone before they engage an agent.

Unfortunately there are thieves in real estate pretty much everywhere. One of those professions that attract grifters even while many agents are completely above board and honest. One lesson I learned early, the hard way, is that unless you signed a buyer agent contract, the agent is ALWAYS working for the seller. Always and by law actually. It is VERY hard to remember that while riding around looking at properties with them if they are at all personable. If they are truly honest, they will remind you of this fact often.
 
Logan Albright
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we have family in the area that is tied into the "Good Ole Boys" network. While it probably sounds horrible how local will buy and sell to local, having grown up in rural Florida, I can tell you horror stories of "yankees"



Well then you're all set with regards to getting land. Now you just have to select the "right" kind of permies for your community.
 
Karen Lee Mack
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Logan Albright wrote:

we have family in the area that is tied into the "Good Ole Boys" network. While it probably sounds horrible how local will buy and sell to local, having grown up in rural Florida, I can tell you horror stories of "yankees"



Well then you're all set with regards to getting land. Now you just have to select the "right" kind of permies for your community.



If anyone is coming from another region, I will be sure to tell them everything I know, warts and all.
 
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Karen Lee Mack wrote:One lesson I learned early, the hard way, is that unless you signed a buyer agent contract, the agent is ALWAYS working for the seller. Always and by law actually. It is VERY hard to remember that while riding around looking at properties with them if they are at all personable. If they are truly honest, they will remind you of this fact often.



This is exactly why I recommend that folks find their own real estate agent.  Someone who will represent them during the sales process and during closing.

By the way, if you are planning to buy land with other folks, I would advise going through a Real Estate Laywer to handle the transaction.

That way the land can be subdivided at the time of the sale.  This will save a lot of money in the long run.

Another option would be to go the "Intentional Community" route:

https://permies.com/f/6/intentional-community

It will still be a good idea to have a lawyer handle the legal agreements.
 
Karen Lee Mack
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Anne Miller wrote:

Karen Lee Mack wrote:One lesson I learned early, the hard way, is that unless you signed a buyer agent contract, the agent is ALWAYS working for the seller. Always and by law actually. It is VERY hard to remember that while riding around looking at properties with them if they are at all personable. If they are truly honest, they will remind you of this fact often.



This is exactly why I recommend that folks find their own real estate agent.  Someone who will represent them during the sales process and during closing.

By the way, if you are planning to buy land with other folks, I would advise going through a Real Estate Laywer to handle the transaction.

That way the land can be subdivided at the time of the sale.  This will save a lot of money in the long run.

Another option would be to go the "Intentional Community" route:

https://permies.com/f/6/intentional-community

It will still be a good idea to have a lawyer handle the legal agreements.



I have downloaded a number of Intentional Community pdfs to read through.

And I agree 100% on using a RE lawyer should we find people to do this with us. My objective would be that official surveys of the divisions and all of that would be a done deal at the time of purchase if at all possible.
 
Karen Lee Mack
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I wanted to update that we are still working on this and currently investigating how to set it up in order to protect everyone involved.

I have one serious taker that we are emailing back and forth on what our objectives would be.

If you are looking for beautiful lush area to homestead, it doesn't get much better than SW Georgia.

You just have to be able to handle rural redneck American community lol!
 
John C Daley
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Have you considered looking at other agreements already established.
Intentional Communities has some resources also.
 
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Karen Lee Mack wrote:I wanted to update that we are still working on this and currently investigating how to set it up in order to protect everyone involved.

I have one serious taker that we are emailing back and forth on what our objectives would be.

If you are looking for beautiful lush area to homestead, it doesn't get much better than SW Georgia.

You just have to be able to handle rural redneck American community lol!



Hi Karen,

I'm wanting my response to come across as gentle and friendly. Your comment on being able to handle the redneck community strikes me as maybe you are wanting start your own community among an established community with negative opinions of the current residents. The "redneck" community, like any other group of people, have individuals who are distinctly different from other members of their community. They are not all the same.

Over 40 years ago, I was part of the "back to the land" movement of the peace and love generation of hippies. I traveled to 44 states looking for the right combination of privacy and economic opportunity to raise my family. I found it in rural KY among "rednecks". I was an outsider who didn't resemble or act like the residents. One fellow even asked me "what are you?" He was perplexed by my swarthy complexion and accent since I was from the upper peninsula of Michigan. I was as much of an outsider as the community had ever seen up to that time.

I had to earn respect in the community based on hard work and honesty. My children who were born here would always be considered outsiders to some because they don't have a generational pedigree in the community.

I found that when I moved here to go back to the land, the rural residents had never left the land and I had much to learn from the local residents. My notion of rural life came from Mother Earth News and Organic Gardening magazines. There were no computers to add confusion to my need to gather information about living a rural lifestyle. After I bought my piece of land I found that a serious immersion with an obsession to homesteading brought hard fought success after much error caused by my preconceived notions of what the lifestyle would be.

I found that the locals who lived on the land knew what to grow and what would succeed in the micro-climate of the area. In my readings, I thought I could grow whatever I wanted because that's what they told me in the magazines. I didn't realize how one must work within the confines of individual soil types and micro-climates. What I learned from the locals gave me experience from which to grow and work with the challenges that the magazines never taught me. Experience allowed me to experiment more and have many successes in gardening and survival. It takes years of real experience on the land to establish a base of knowledge for success. Clicking on the computer increases computer skills. The computer doesn't really prepare you for the mistakes that you will make every day in the real world of homesteading.

The new generation of back to the landers that I have met come with the attitude that they have a head full of knowledge that will make them succeed and a sense of arrogance that they know more than the rednecks around them. My feeling is that for a new community to survive alongside, or within, an established community, the newcomers much strive to gain the respect of the existing residents. I think to gain respect you must treat others with respect. Going in with  an attitude that you may have something to learn from the previous generations that have survived in the local area  would serve you well in an a place that you would like to make a home for you and your future generations.

I hope this speech from an old man doesn't leave you offended.
 
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Karen, What part of South Georgia are you looking?  i have a couple of friends who like myself are retired young and want to grow and live off the land.  There is nothing like a community of neighbors and thats what i have here but its being threatened with development.  currently i have 5 acres of land east of atlanta and all my neighbors have about the same.  I am ready to take the leap of faith and set up roots somewhere more rural.  I raise chickens have some fruit trees etc and a good size garden.  Would like about 20 acres or so myself and having like minded neighbors would be great.  Let me know how things are going and maybe i can help you from here even if we cant make it work.  
 
Karen Lee Mack
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John C Daley wrote:Have you considered looking at other agreements already established.
Intentional Communities has some resources also.



I'm keeping an eye out. The area that we want to stay within is relatively small as we don't want to be too far from family in north Florida.
 
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gary calery wrote:

Karen Lee Mack wrote:I wanted to update that we are still working on this and currently investigating how to set it up in order to protect everyone involved.

I have one serious taker that we are emailing back and forth on what our objectives would be.

If you are looking for beautiful lush area to homestead, it doesn't get much better than SW Georgia.

You just have to be able to handle rural redneck American community lol!



Hi Karen,

I'm wanting my response to come across as gentle and friendly. Your comment on being able to handle the redneck community strikes me as maybe you are wanting start your own community among an established community with negative opinions of the current residents. The "redneck" community, like any other group of people, have individuals who are distinctly different from other members of their community. They are not all the same.

Over 40 years ago, I was part of the "back to the land" movement of the peace and love generation of hippies. I traveled to 44 states looking for the right combination of privacy and economic opportunity to raise my family. I found it in rural KY among "rednecks". I was an outsider who didn't resemble or act like the residents. One fellow even asked me "what are you?" He was perplexed by my swarthy complexion and accent since I was from the upper peninsula of Michigan. I was as much of an outsider as the community had ever seen up to that time.

I had to earn respect in the community based on hard work and honesty. My children who were born here would always be considered outsiders to some because they don't have a generational pedigree in the community.

I found that when I moved here to go back to the land, the rural residents had never left the land and I had much to learn from the local residents. My notion of rural life came from Mother Earth News and Organic Gardening magazines. There were no computers to add confusion to my need to gather information about living a rural lifestyle. After I bought my piece of land I found that a serious immersion with an obsession to homesteading brought hard fought success after much error caused by my preconceived notions of what the lifestyle would be.

I found that the locals who lived on the land knew what to grow and what would succeed in the micro-climate of the area. In my readings, I thought I could grow whatever I wanted because that's what they told me in the magazines. I didn't realize how one must work within the confines of individual soil types and micro-climates. What I learned from the locals gave me experience from which to grow and work with the challenges that the magazines never taught me. Experience allowed me to experiment more and have many successes in gardening and survival. It takes years of real experience on the land to establish a base of knowledge for success. Clicking on the computer increases computer skills. The computer doesn't really prepare you for the mistakes that you will make every day in the real world of homesteading.

The new generation of back to the landers that I have met come with the attitude that they have a head full of knowledge that will make them succeed and a sense of arrogance that they know more than the rednecks around them. My feeling is that for a new community to survive alongside, or within, an established community, the newcomers much strive to gain the respect of the existing residents. I think to gain respect you must treat others with respect. Going in with  an attitude that you may have something to learn from the previous generations that have survived in the local area  would serve you well in an a place that you would like to make a home for you and your future generations.

I hope this speech from an old man doesn't leave you offended.



For some reason I have not been notified of replies to this thread - I'm going to check that, I probably did something.

I am not at all offended. I didn't give enough context to that statement.
I could not agree more with everything you said. From personal experience.

You see, I grew up - from age 8 til high school graduation - in a small rural "red neck" farming community in north Florida.
Everything you said is absolutely true. We were accepted but we remained outsiders in a way that is hard to describe unless
you have experienced it. After years of 4-H and FFA, I went to college in agricuture hoping to become a county extension
agent. Life didn't go that way. My "knowledge & ideas" are based on a mix of growing up around farming, doing a tiny
bit myself and yes, doing a lot of reading. Doing it ourselves has been profoundly different than just being around it for sure.

So my attitude is that while I won't know the individual people, I will have a kinship with the kind of people that they are.
I know full well I will always be an outsider but I also know how to be a humble and useful outsider. Your words are full
of wisdom. And you remind me that I must give enough context even if I feel like I am talking about myself too much.

Thank you for being willing to speak truth.

~Karen
 
Karen Lee Mack
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David Greene wrote:Karen, What part of South Georgia are you looking?  i have a couple of friends who like myself are retired young and want to grow and live off the land.  There is nothing like a community of neighbors and thats what i have here but its being threatened with development.  currently i have 5 acres of land east of atlanta and all my neighbors have about the same.  I am ready to take the leap of faith and set up roots somewhere more rural.  I raise chickens have some fruit trees etc and a good size garden.  Would like about 20 acres or so myself and having like minded neighbors would be great.  Let me know how things are going and maybe i can help you from here even if we cant make it work.  



I am always looking to help each other, David!
You never know what may come of it.

Our cousin lives in Preston GA which is 30-40 miles SE of Columbus.
It is very rural.
Most of our family lives in and near Williston FL (near Gainesville/Ocala).
So we are hoping to stay around or south of Preston. We could go further east or west.
Right now the land is being snapped up almost as soon as it comes on the market.
We just made a trip to help figure out our move which is no small thing.
It's going to be at least 7 "trips" of 1100 miles each.
We have heavy machinery, containers and animals to move.
Anyhow, it's currently looking like this fall.

Our wonderful cousin is allowing us to "squat" on his acreage
while we move and then while we are looking for land. I think we will have
to be there in order to move on property when it comes available.
Larger tracts are generally less per acre though right now, most is
going for $5k/acre from what he has seen.

We are hoping to find land that has both open and wooded areas.

Happy to discuss further at any time or work together in any way
that is helpful. I do not mind sending my email - I am not certain of how
to do that in an acceptable way on this forum.

~Karen
 
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Check out St George, Charlton County Georgia. There's a few good permie folks out thsre.
 
Karen Lee Mack
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Clarissa Moore wrote:Check out St George, Charlton County Georgia. There's a few good permie folks out thsre.



Thank you. I have family in Baker county FL.
 
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