Advice...needed from some older wiser people

Have you had any of the suggested inspections and such done on that land? I'm thinking for ~100k you oughta jump on that, providing you have your worst case scenarios covered like in the event of your truck blowing up can you get back on the road etc.

Just make sure if you build a house out there and get married you get a pre-nup.

 

Hey Trucker,
I lived in a company truck for almost five years and in my own truck, with a Miniature Schnauzer, for almost ten. From time to time I'd check into a motel and even rent a Harley to get away from the same old truck stop stuff. So, don't let anybody tell ya it can't be done. Not only did I and Catfish (my Schnauzer) enjoy our lifestyle, we saved a bunch of money. So much I paid $65K cash for a Double Eagle sleeper. Since then I've purchased a little ranch it Texas, where I'm semi-retired. That means I putter around here on my John Deere, play with the critters and when I need some grocery money I jump in the semi and make a run. Life is good when you do what makes YOU happy.

 

my advice, for what it's worth having been there done that.....

save a stash up and look into buying a forelcosure at auction.......i have one house with a conventional mortgage that i went the traditional route with and i'm happy with it, but i saved for a couple of years and then the foreclosure boom hit and i started looking at foreclosures.......found alot of really good deals at foreclosure auctions......and got a house that apprasied at 150k for only 30k cash......with a nice piece of fenced in land to boot.....nonw i live there and rent out the other one and have my renters making the payment on the house while i'm living well in a house that's paid for and i paid next to nothing for it.

there are many many huge houses and land tracts that are in foreclosure and can be picked up for a steal......especially at your age and as hard as you run, you can save a chunk pretty quickly and pick up something great for less than 1/3 of the price if you went the conventional route.....

just another idea for you to consider if you want to get good value for your money

good luck no matter what you do.....owning beats the hell out of renting any day of the week

 

This months update.......

It seems prices are STILL declining.........

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...er-than-during-great-depression-analyst-says/

 

Glad to see you're thinking ahead, American-Trucker. Also good to see that you aren't afraid to pass if the deal isn't right for you.

Something with farmland is that you can always lease it out. It's not a huge moneymaker, generally it covers the taxes and provides a little spending cash, but it also means that you don't have to maintain it while you're waiting to build. It also helps build contacts in the community, which can be difficult in rural areas.

I know a few people who have bought land, lease it to a nearby farmer (usually cattle or hay) and keep a small part for camping/cottage use on their holidays. Depending on zoning etc., you can slap up a cheap garage package for a cottage. Some people I know bought an old caboose and use it. Not exactly fancy, but not a bad place for a few weeks spread out over the year. When they retire, they'll build a house and have a place in the country.

Something else to look out for is a weird little piece of land that nobody is farming, or an old farmyard. As equipment has gotten bigger and small farms have become big farms, land that doesn't fit the mega-farming model has become more a pain than anything for the owners, and empty farm yards often cost more to prepare for farming than is justified by tearing out the buildings etc.