Buying Land Tutorial

This is a work in progress, I will keep adding to it until I actually buy a piece of land.

Concept:

Drive around an area and see the land looking to buy while at the same time most properties that are available are listed with the local real estate agent. Google: Land for sale (your city) and it will show you local real estate agents for the area. Or just find any real estate office by driving around in the area you're interested in. Then give them your # and say that you will buy land for cash and tell them what you're looking for and they will keep you on the top of their list when something comes to market.
Get survey done and contact a local title company or lawyer to make sure that there's a clear title on it then they should be able to facilitate the transaction.

Title company function: lean against property, title insurance for unfound leans, as escrow company.

Some good questions to ask are, "Are there deed restrictions or local ordinances that will prevent me from putting a mobile home on this property? Is there a time limit on how long a mobile home can be there?" And by the way, if there is an issue that you are not sure about, or if you can't get the information right away, but you want to make an offer, you can make an offer "contingent to" a specific condition/s being met, such as being able to put a mobile home on the property. So... If you found out before the closing that mobile homes are prohibited, the deal would be canceled automatically. If you can find a piece of land that allows (old, used) mobile homes on the property, this could be a very cheap way of living for you. Of course, you have to know that you will have considerable one-time expenses to put in the sewer/water/electricity and some sort of foundation -- we're talking thousand$. Did I mention towing/relocation costs? And skirting? Leveling jacks? Nothing is free. "Free" always costs something.

Some more questions to ask: "Is there public sewer, electric and water available? How much does it cost to get them installed? If there is no sewer line to hook into, I'll need to dig a leech bed. Has the soil been "Perc" tested? How deep is the water table? (Is the land capable of absorbing sewage from a leech bed? If not, you can never get a building permit.) "If there is no public water available, how deep do I have to drill a well? How deep are other wells in the area? What will it cost? Taxes? They're paid up to date, right?" Oh, and never forget, "Are there any other costs associated with buying, owning or using this property that I should be aware of? Are there any restrictions, easements or encumbrances of any kind?" (there's always something) Then, put it all in writing, and get it signed in blood. Getting it notarized by GOD is probably not absolutely necessary, but it wouldn't hurt, if He's available. (I hear God's notary fees can be a little high and mighty, so make sure the seller agrees to pay them.)
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I have the phone # of a real estate agent that has info about government loans for 1st time homeowners. They're in the business of selling a home so they should know all of the programs and they're happy to tell you.

Building your own cabin is worth it if you factor in that the average cost of a house is 1000$/ square foot. So every square foot you build by hand is like putting $1000 in your pocket. This is also true for hunting deer and butchering the animal yourself. It's definitely well worth the time and effort. If you divide the square foot of living space by all 6 sides of the structure, then each wall is $166/square foot.

9/10/09: Plan now is to have cash in the bank and then just drive around the country looking for the cheapest house around in the best area around. Whenever I drive past a place that's fun to live in I'll give my name and my # to an agent and say I'll pay in cash for what I'm looking for. Also buy the house next to a national park or forest. This way you also have those natural resources to live off of like wood and hunting and just nature hiking. Also it should be by water for growing food, or in the rain shadow of a mountain to never need to water, or instead be by a river that leads to the ocean to travel the coastlines.
I myself should buy a house and not pay rent so that I can save up money each month instead of working and then just go on trips when I've saved up money.
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I may buy a house instead of land because I could rent it out someday when paid off and make an income from and quit my job.
If you want to get 30% off of the purchase of a new house "money talks". If you can pay for a house outright then and there, "in cash", then you can knock 30% off of the price because a sure thing immediately is better than waiting weeks and then having the deal fall through, due to financing problems. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.


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Day harbor 5 acres. This would be good because it's right next to seward alaska which is one of the most scenic parts of alaska and is a temperate rain forest. But I was researching how much it costs to rent a cabin in Seward AK on the Alaska state website. And it's 65$/night in the summer. So if I rented out the cabin like that for less it would make a sizable income on just one small cabin alone every summer and sometimes during winter.

The Alaska state land offerings site is best price around and best selection, so that is where I'm probably going to buy from even if I can't get in the kenai peninsula.

What I want is the program most like the old homestead program which is the recreational cabin sites program. You need to be an Alaska state resident to enter though.