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greenacarina
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2011 01:55am
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Hi everyone. I am new here, so I will apologize in advance if this has been covered before. I have wanted to have a piece of recreational property for most of my life and recently stumbled across a parcel on Ebay that seemed perfect! I have been very on-again off-again about searchng for properties (depending on financial and other life situations)...so maybe this Ebay thing was fate! So, after doing some homework and getting a sense of what the land should sell for (right about what I can afford)...the auction ends, I lose. Final price was about $1000 above the assessed value. So, without making this story any longer...I am still looking for a little piece of land in Washington state. Any pointers of where to look besides the usual MLS listings???
Thanks,
Chris
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smitty
Member
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2011 04:02am
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I kept an eye on landwatch.com MLS eBay and Craigslist. Ended up buying from eBay. Which I was very nervous about buying land 8 hours away. Did all the research I could possibly do without physically making trips out there. I did satellite views, studied the pictures and asked for more, researched the county, the town, the schools, everything you can imagine, before I bid on it.
I also check out the seller extremely close. Some good honest sellers, that just buy bulk land at auction, divide it up and sell it, but there are also swamp land salesmen on there too. I liked the seller, and all of the research I did on the land checked out, including a call to the county.
Just be safe man. And don't be in a hurry.
For example.. The first piece of land, that I really really wanted, and really enjoyed my talk with the county, and the seller, went for over my budget.. 3 Weeks later, I bought the land we own now. 2 days after I bought it, I got a second chance offer, for my budget price, the winner never paid for it. But it took almost a month for the second chance offer to come..
I don't regret the property we ended up with, it's very nice, and in a nice location. But I could kick my self in the butt for not waiting another week, on that first piece of land.
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greenacarina
Member
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2011 06:15am
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OK, so far that's pretty much been my method. This Ebay auction that I "just missed" may have been a blessing in disguise. Maybe something better will come along if I keep my eyes open. Maybe I would have run into a major pitfall with that land that I didn't foresee (being my first time out, it's hard to know exactly what questions to ask or what research to do). I studied the area, the surrounding parcels, satellite views, county website, looked for anything comparable in the area. Thanks a bunch for the info, Smitty...it's really reassuring. I stumbled across this website while pipe-dreaming about my potential property and it's made me realize that this dream is totally do-able! With some time and patience I can make this happen. :)
Thanks.
Chris
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Gary O
Member
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2011 09:13am - Edited by: Gary O
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Welcome greenacarina
Nice to have another PNW member.
Anything east of the Cascades will be where the 'buys' are.
You can cruise Ebay, but you'll compete with everyone.
Craig's List s/be good for a start, but the classifieds in the local paper under 'Recreation property' or 'Acreage' will also get you pointed in a direction.
Then the drives.
Then the discussion (face time) with local realtors (just to get a feel for price and location).
There are plenty of good deals. You just have to ferret them out.
Stay away from 'rec communities' unless you have a lucrative profession, or are a successful drug dealer...........
S/be plenty of little down, little a month stuff out there.
Some areas were developed right after WWII, and just didn't take, some are gated areas with rather large parcels...these are the finds.
Talk with folks like toyota_mdt_tech, he really scored.
As smitty says, take your time.
Enjoy the hunt.
Happy trails
Gary O'
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smitty
Member
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2011 02:54pm
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Yes it is absolutely doable..
Anticipate at least a hundred road blocks along the way.
Look at the post about another forum members cabin that burned down in a wild fire.. He was almost done.. It's heart breaking..
Anything can happen at any time.. To anybody. Just keep your back to the wind, and keep on truckin..
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BlaineHill
Member
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# Posted: 11 Apr 2011 08:46pm
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If you are looking for land in Washington State, you can try:
http://www.landsofwashington.com/
I located my land through http://www.landsofohio.com/
The main site is http://www.landsofamerica.com/
From there you can select your state (for others who might be interested).
Really a great site. Realtors and individuals use the site to post listings. I also sold a piece of land through that site. You can set up a profile for what you are looking for and they will email you when new listings post that meet your criteria. Even though I am no longer looking for land, I still receive alerts for new listings just to track the local market. I can't say enough good things about this site.
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fpw
Member
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2011 09:45am
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Counties often auction off properties that are forfeighted based on non payment of taxes. To find them, you have to interface with the counties in the area you are interested in.
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bobrok
Member
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2011 07:37pm
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BlaineHill
Thank you for sharing that 'lands of america' web site. That is very interesting and will possibly be helpful to me.
bob
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lankanbg
Member
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# Posted: 19 Apr 2011 08:21am
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Great topic - i am also in the process of looking for a lot. I don't mean to hijack the thread - any tips on finding a lot in Ontario, Canada? I used MLS but I am sure there has to be a better way. Would love to hear experience of others!
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paddyboy12432
Member
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# Posted: 28 Jun 2011 06:47pm
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also check out www.unitedcountry.com and landwatch.com.
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turkeyhunter
Member
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# Posted: 28 Jun 2011 09:39pm
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local news paper, local websites, anything local to the general area you are looking at.
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nicalisa
Member
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# Posted: 29 Jun 2011 10:05am
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go to where you want to go and chat with some of the local folks.
worked for us in BC:)
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bojan
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# Posted: 6 Jul 2011 08:06am
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try this site. http://www.dignam.com/ they are very well known for their excellent prices and have been around for almost 100 years! I found a few amazing deals for land in BC and Ontario a few months ago, now i check their site on a regular basis. Hope this helps.
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AYP1909
Member
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# Posted: 9 Aug 2011 05:04pm
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If you area still looking, please check out my cabin in the woods:
Division 10, Lots 170 $79,500 at http://www.lakecushmanrealty.com/lake_cushman_homes_under_100k.htm
I am a motivated seller and I would like to help you find your recreational property.
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bugs
Member
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# Posted: 9 Aug 2011 06:37pm
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We found that looking through the real estate guides there are agents that seem to deal primarily with agricultural land in our province and as a side line they list recreational land. Often they will suggest to a seller to split the agricultural land from the recreational land as they will be able to sell faster and likely make a better profit.
This is how we ended up with our little corner.
bugs
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