Buying Land

[Five Seasons]

This is a public forum so I don't want to give a lot of details. Where does one start on assessing the value of land that you would purchase to hunt, and maybe one day build on. Again I'm sorry but don't wish to provide a lot of info, just wondering if there's a starting point for "what's it worth" if you wanted to make an offer for land that isn't listed for sale. A general price per acre is what I'm after. 

[Steuben Jerry]

1 minute ago, Belo said:

This is a public forum so I don't want to give a lot of details. Where does one start on assessing the value of land that you would purchase to hunt, and maybe one day build on. Again I'm sorry but don't wish to provide a lot of info, just wondering if there's a starting point for "what's it worth" if you wanted to make an offer for land that isn't listed for sale. A general price per acre is what I'm after. 

Location, location, location. I bought my first 7 acre parcel in Steuben for $750/acre in the 90's. Today, (without the house that's currently sitting there) it would probably fetch $2000/acre at best. In Greece, NY it would probably fetch $15,000/acre. Or more.

[Five Seasons]

1 minute ago, Steuben Jerry said:

Location, location, location. I bought my first 7 acre parcel in Steuben for $750/acre in the 90's. Today, (without the house that's currently sitting there) it would probably fetch $2000/acre at best. In Greece, NY it would probably fetch $15,000/acre. Or more.

yeah i understand this too. But what's the best way to fairly and accurate achieve that number? Realator? Assessed value?

[Nytracker]

For steuben county $2000/acre is the going rate. Then add in timber value , improvement  and locations.  Have seen decent acreage with road front go as much as $5000/ acre. 

Research values and recent sales at tax essays  county office .

Edited September 9, 2021 by Nytracker

[mowin]

Realtor.com

You can Search your area for listed and sold property. 

[sbuff]

Agreed look at land that sold near by

[Robhuntandfish]

Check out the site landwatch and check prices for the area.  

[First-light]

It's dirt buy as much as it as you can. 

[BizCT]

I can't comment on WNY land, but it all depends on what you want it for. My Dad, for example, bought a piece of land for hunting that is not buildable. This kept taxes very low and the price of the land very low. He's not trying to make a profit on it someday, he just wanted to his own land for cheap. If i wanted to build locally, I couldn't buy a single acre for under $200K

IMO you should check "recently sold" on several website to see what land similar to what you want sold for. List prices don't mean much. Anyone can list their house/land for anything they want, but it doesn't mean they'll get anywhere close to it.

Lastly, talk to the Town tax assessor if you aren't familiar with that town. they can tell you what's on file, how often it get reassessed and they should be able to tell you what your taxes will increase to if you add X Y and Z to the property. 

[land 1]

look at area sales ,,,, with the limited info you provided thats the only advise anyone can give you,,,,consider road frontage, mineral rights, timber harvest,, and overall access 

[luberhill]

Forget assessments, houses and land are selling way over assessments , 

Buddy near me in the fingerlakes , Cayuga county just bought 58 acres, mostly meadows , small amount of woods, no gas, public water, or cable

He paid 250k

 

[bigpaul]

I went to the County Tax Map Office and looked at what similar parcels sold for and compared. Also I got recent tax bills of the property and it shows assessed value on it. It might look low but it a starting point. 

[BizCT]

1 minute ago, land 1 said:

look at area sales ,,,, with the limited info you provided thats the only advise anyone can give you,,,,consider road frontage, mineral rights, timber harvest,, and overall access 

and waterfront/dock too if he's looking for that as well. IIRC he has a Viking Sport Cruiser 67, so 28' foot slip won't help. 

[Nomad]

Here go . When I told him the roads our land was on ,he immediately knew all the surrounding farmers etc . If you want a true accurate appraisal. 
 

There as many variables, road frontage , what utilities are there , size ,shape,  access , drainage ,use and on and on .

realtors don’t know sh!t , they just go by “ comparables “ ignoring what makes one chunk worth more then another as they mostly don’t know .

Edited September 9, 2021 by Nomad

[corydd7]

If you have time and cash in hand check your county auction during tax season. 

All public knowledge if your nice to the person working for the county they will give you a ballpark what price to expect at auction.  

I went to the town in the area I was looking to purchase then looked at what similar properties sold for, very helpful. Also if someone is subdividing you can get a great deal, so if you find three or four properties on the same road I bet you can negotiate down but in this market who knows. 

This strategy worked for me. I bought three different sub divided lots (all attached to each other) for pennies on the dollar five years ago I think. About three months ago the guy who sold them to me called to see if I would sell them back.

[johnplav]

We’re always looking at land south of Rochester and it’s outrageous.  You could have some luck looking East.  Like others have said, buildable lots will cost you more.  My buddy bought a beautiful piece of land in Livingston county he plans on building on.  Assessed at 9k/acre, he paid just under 10k/acre.  Although this is a spot with easy access, great views, easy commute to Roc, etc.  It sounds like you have the right idea tho… find the land before it hits the market.  Good luck! 

[Steuben Jerry]

2 hours ago, Belo said:

yeah i understand this too. But what's the best way to fairly and accurate achieve that number? Realator? Assessed value?

 

2 hours ago, Belo said:

yeah i understand this too. But what's the best way to fairly and accurate achieve that number? Realator? Assessed value?

Look for county or town websites in the areas you interested in. See if you can find recent transfer data. If the info is available, that will at least give you recent data for what certain parcels/sizes are actually selling for. 

[Nomad]

7 minutes ago, johnplav said:

We’re always looking at land south of Rochester and it’s outrageous.  You could have some luck looking East.  Like others have said, buildable lots will cost you more.  My buddy bought a beautiful piece of land in Livingston county he plans on building on.  Assessed at 9k/acre, he paid just under 10k/acre.  Although this is a spot with easy access, great views, easy commute to Roc, etc.  It sounds like you have the right idea tho… find the land before it hits the market.  Good luck! 

Most farm land around us never hits the market , a few farms buy it up first . I’d sell him a few acres , one acre around the corner just went for 45k . If he wants to hunt ,that would bring a premium, price though . Lol 

[phade]

The cost of land and what you get for it here in NY is only compounded by the taxes. While you are going through the process look at the ongoing costs to ownership at the same time.

I was a cash buyer for 12 mos. and decided to no longer pursue the market here in NY; because I would be looking primarily for hunting and recreation, there are better fits for me out of state. While we hit up a few places in the next couple years, it will help me zero in on locale.

For those staying local - I agree that the farm credit bureau is a great first start on costing. I worked with the western one when I initially considered cash plus financing for larger land holding. They were great.

Edited September 10, 2021 by phade

[Five Seasons]

15 hours ago, land 1 said:

look at area sales ,,,, with the limited info you provided thats the only advise anyone can give you,,,,consider road frontage, mineral rights, timber harvest,, and overall access 

yeah I'm sorry, I'd actually like to give more but this is kind of a fluid situation and I'm not sure who really knows me, who lurks etc. To be brief, the last thing I need is competition haha.

[Five Seasons]

14 hours ago, Nomad said:

Most farm land around us never hits the market , a few farms buy it up first . I’d sell him a few acres , one acre around the corner just went for 45k . If he wants to hunt ,that would bring a premium, price though . Lol 

yes this is sort of the situation. And as the saying goes, the best conservation tactic we have is to beat the developers to the punch.

[Steuben Jerry]

56 minutes ago, phade said:

The cost of land and what you get for it here in NY is only compounded by the taxes.

You got that right! I put a house on my acreage almost 14 years ago after having just raw land for 18 yrs. Total tax outlay has been more than triple, and approaching quadruple what I paid for the land. I would still do the same however.  

[phade]

3 hours ago, Steuben Jerry said:

You got that right! I put a house on my acreage almost 14 years ago after having just raw land for 18 yrs. Total tax outlay has been more than triple, and approaching quadruple what I paid for the land. I would still do the same however.  

The concept of a back 40 is very hard to realize here in NY IMO. Separate land holding is more achievable but you have to do it in a way where the land value is overwhelmingly going to be taxed low/take adv of programs.

[Steuben Jerry]

42 minutes ago, phade said:

The concept of a back 40 is very hard to realize here in NY IMO. Separate land holding is more achievable but you have to do it in a way where the land value is overwhelmingly going to be taxed low/take adv of programs.

I've come to grips with it is what it is in NYS. Somewhat offsetting is the fact that the initial purchase price is very low compared to low-tax states.

Edited September 10, 2021 by Steuben Jerry

[DDT]

Land prices in upstate NY are still a bargain compared to elsewhere IMHO. But they make up for it in taxes.