I posted a thread a few months back about being beat to some property that I really liked. I have been scouring Realtor, Land, and LandAndFarm websites for property. We have walked five properties, obtaining many redbug bites in the process.
I found 267 acres in Kentucky with 2900 feet along the Cumberland River. We drove up to walk it with the realtor but realized that the ridges through the property are so steep that 85% of the land would be basically useless for anything other than a mountain goat rehabilitation facility.
Last week we looked at a few other properties and found one that we love. It is 48 acres owned by a 96 year old woman and it has been in her family for a very long time. It has humongous old-growth pines and nut-bearing hardwoods that are a big as I’ve seen in Florida. It is surrounded on two sides by University of Florida property dedicated to agricultural research (and botanical gardens) and Florida Power and Light land on a third side. We negotiated and agreed to an offer with a couple of contingencies regarding access and getting a permit to put a driveway across a ravine that has a small trickle (2-4 feet wide) of water.
There is a county easement on 600 feet of it, and the seller said that they had an application for access that was approved but that they hadn’t paid the $100 fee. There are two other properties that could provide access. One is an abandoned home on 1/2 acre that we would be willing to purchase if the price is right. And a neighbor has indicated that they would consider providing access.
I called the Planning Department at the county today to ask about the easement and they said that they are unaware of any application. The lady said that she was familiar with the property because a number of people have called about it in recent months. She said that one title company had called about the easement too.
She said that she had been told that the county was not considering opening any easement to the property, and that any applications would have to be through her office. I told her that we were planning on putting a house and barn on it if we can get it, and she said (second phone call) that her supervisor said that he would look at it again.
So, unless they change their mind, or we can obtain deeded access to it, it looks like we could lose out on it too. We love this property for a number of reasons and will be hugely disappointed if we miss out on another one. We signed the offer sheet today hoping that the people who own it will be motivated to get us a deal on the abandoned property that adjoins it or deeded access from the other property.
We’ll see. I never knew that finding a great piece of property would be so much work.
TL;DNR - I’m whining and still trying to find property.
UPDATE
The current owners talked to some contacts at the county office and they agreed to open the easement for me. I spoke to the person at the county office today and he said that he will put it in writing. So it looks like we’ll be closing in a couple of weeks. We’re beyond thrilled. I have wanted to own acreage for decades and this land is beautiful.
I sold my acreage in the PNW and emigrated because (gesturing broadly at the USA). Living in an apartment in city center now. We had a beautiful house, fruit trees on the property, a seasonal creek that I lined with river rock all 200 feet of it, a pond, goldfish thrived in that pond, a vegetable patch, wild flowers for the beekeeper nearby, herbs garden, patio I paved myself, planted grape vines not expecting much but they thrived and climbed the trellis like crazy. And so on and so on. The property was surrounded by douglas firs on three sides. But it doesn’t mean anything if the future is uncertain.