How Much Land? (credit, loan, houses)

[MeganAK]

Dave and I are struggling with the concept of how much land is enough. It is something we will have to answer by ourselves, but just curious- what makes you happy? My grandpa's farm has 160 acres, and it was big enough for all my growing up adventures. Dave and I have land in Talkeetna that is 10 acres, and it is not nearly big enough. How big is your land and what do you use it for (farming, personal garden, ski trails, etc.)? We would like a brook, and some open space, some trees, big enough for a house and a garden, and also big enough for some walking trails, and lots of privacy. We want our own little oasis, I guess. Anyway, tell me about yours.

[Dwatted Wabbit]

I was thinking a square mile would be nice. Can that be done by a non-millionaire/lottery winner?

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by MeganAK

Dave and I are struggling with the concept of how much land is enough. It is something we will have to answer by ourselves, but just curious- what makes you happy? My grandpa's farm has 160 acres, and it was big enough for all my growing up adventures. Dave and I have land in Talkeetna that is 10 acres, and it is not nearly big enough. How big is your land and what do you use it for (farming, personal garden, ski trails, etc.)? We would like a brook, and some open space, some trees, big enough for a house and a garden, and also big enough for some walking trails, and lots of privacy. We want our own little oasis, I guess. Anyway, tell me about yours.

I would have liked to have had enough for a woodlot, but we do not. There always must be compromise and in my case, it was a balance between:
1. having SOME land so as not to be right on top of neighbors (i.e. a town lot is really not enough)
2. being under $50K (we actually went a little higher than that, but it is working out ok.
3. having stable high speed internet with no transfer minimums (for my work, graphic design) so I can continue to have the studio at home

We fell in love with 12 wooded acres a ways east and north, but there was NO way we could get the net beyond dial up or satellite. Otherwise that would have been perfect.

We have 4 open, tillable acres, sit on a bit of a hill and would appear to have no privacy except when you note the way the nearby houses sit, there are no clean views of the back side of the property, which works for me until I get trees growing. I am using it for personal gardens and orchards, religious use, businesses (design studio and art studio). After plowing up the front lawns, the tractor guy is sure I will be in business as a market farmer. LOL I may, eventually, if there is a market for any of the herbs I will grow or the berries, but that is not my primary intention. After raising my kids "beyond the sidewalks, with chickens and without electricity" I wanted something like that back for my senior years, but my SO has health issues and we need a little more modern than that. So we are in the country, with electricity and without chickens (for the moment... they may come eventually, as may a milk goat, we will see...)

[Northern Maine Land Man]

I live on 107 mostly wooded acres with a stream and waterfalls. It is set up with many trails. I cut a little firewood and my neighbor cuts some wood with his team of horses to train them. He pays me for the trees he takes. I have a 4WD Kubota tractor to manage it all.

At camp I have 25 acres of old growth forest that has not been cut in over 100 years. I just cut some firewood there. I only cut standing dead trees. I think for the average person in Maine a 40 acre lot is ideal. That's 1/4 mile square.

In Maine we grow 1/3 of a cord of wood per acre per year. You can take 13 cords of wood off a 40 acre lot every year forever and not diminish the resource. A cord of wood weighs about 5000 pounds so 13 cords is 1.5 tractor trailer truckloads. If you burn 6 cords in your house you'll have 6 cords to sell at $250 a cord which should pay your taxes in the land.

[chattyprincess]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

I live on 107 mostly wooded acres with a stream and waterfalls. It is set up with many trails. I cut a little firewood and my neighbor cuts some wood with his team of horses to train them. He pays me for the trees he takes. I have a 4WD Kubota tractor to manage it all.

At camp I have 25 acres of old growth forest that has not been cut in over 100 years. I just cut some firewood there. I only cut standing dead trees. I think for the average person in Maine a 40 acre lot is ideal. That's 1/4 mile square.

In Maine we grow 1/3 of a cord of wood per acre per year. You can take 13 cords of wood off a 40 acre lot every year forever and not diminish the resource. A cord of wood weighs about 5000 pounds so 13 cords is 1.5 tractor trailer truckloads. If you burn 6 cords in your house you'll have 6 cords to sell at $250 a cord which should pay your taxes in the land.

holy buckets batman...you always make maine sound so surreal...dh asked what my new obession was with buying land the other day was and all I could think of was your glowing stories of living in heaven on earth...course I lol'd cause dh thinks im crazy for looking up a board just for maine...(hes from there hes got all the answers right? lol)

I too am intrested in how people answer this question....I would love to know whats the "ideal" amount...im thinking around a 100acres..

[flycessna]

Interesting post.

What effects the value of land??

I would like to have 10-20 acres with about 5 acres cleared. Road frontage and access to the power grid. I would like the cleared area to be level and the wooded to be level or rolling. I will not necessarily farm the land but I would like to enough to feed my family, maybe have some chickens, pig ect. I wouldn't mind being able to fly a small plane in and out. easy access to a running brook would be nice but not necessary. And the wooded area does not have to have a lot of hard wood...just enough for some personal use for building and rest for burning. And I would like it to located near a small town that has some services ect.

So am I asking for too much...how much would something like this cost?? and where would I have to go. Nothing in southern Maine would necesarily apply because the developement potential would make way too expensive.

[Shuffler]

my gal and I would like a minimum of 20 acres, partially wooded and on higher ground with good southern exposure for solar gain. 20+ acres should be plenty good for privacy, wood, shooting an occasional turkey or deer, growing some food and having gardens.

we're keeping our expectations realistic...even with stellar credit and a hefty down payment, getting a favorable loan and a monthly payment that doesn't eat a nice chunk of our income won't be easy in this economy.

the economy is largely going to determine what we're able to do...as I mentioned in another post, the 'startup cost' for having a small acreage will be high. Kubota tractors are not cheap, for example!

[Submariner]

I am new to Maine.

I bought land here in 2005. I have been working on building a house, planting an orchard, converting a mixed-wood forest over to more maple [so we can eventually do sugaring], and trying to figure out a successful method of gardening in this micro-climate. I have been attempting to grow some ginseng on the forest floor.

I do not know what the perfect amount of land is.

I bought 42 acres all in treegrowth. It is riverfrontage. When I was first here, I hiked the property lines [as I did each property when I was shopping]. When I saw the view of the river bank, I took photos [which I can post if you wish]. I thought that once my Dw saw that view of the river, she would really like this property. Unfortunately there is a lot of marsh between our house and the picturesque riverbank. We will need to make a path connecting these two areas.

We have a herd of goats and sheep, pigs and chickens. Oh and bees [I keep forgetting the bees]

This land cost me $900 an acre.

Across the road is more flat treegrowth. My SIL bought 105 acres there. She paid $300 an acre. That land has no river access, which is why it is so much cheaper.

So now I manage nearly 150 acres of treegrowth.

It is flat, it holds water for long periods after each rain. The last clear cutting left a lot of logs buried underground, and it is very rocky. Before it will be capable of doing much else, I will need to provide better drainage. It was clear cut about 10 years ago, and today is covered with thick scrubby brush and small trees. We cut a lot of wood, though most of it is small enough that it does not require splitting.

If a person did some serious firewood cutting and replanting. I should think that they could produce a great many cords each year sustainably here.

How Much Land?

~ 150 acres.

... what makes you happy?

Seeing the moose, deer, and wild turkey on our driveway.

Gardening, being rural. Being able to fire a gun whenever I wish, etc.

... How big is your land and what do you use it for (farming, personal garden, ski trails, etc.)? We would like a brook, and some open space, some trees, big enough for a house and a garden, and also big enough for some walking trails, and lots of privacy. We want our own little oasis, I guess. Anyway, tell me about yours.

We do have a brook that runs next to our house.

[AliceT]

Enter now the disabled voice... In Florida, I had 5 acres that I rarely used other than to pasture cows or horses. I had plenty to garden on and too much to mow. Trees would have been nice, but there weren't any so I did without.

In Maine, I have 54 or 63 or something like that. It recently changed when the town surveyed it's borders and decided it was further from the property line than it previously thought. Whatever...

It is way more land than I will ever use - to be sure, way more than I will ever even see. That makes it plenty for my purpose. There are meadows in which to garden, clearings in which to graze livestock, trees for beauty and shade and wild animals that I can regard as my pets to my heart's content. I am particularly fond of a red squirrel that is more mischievous than a chimpanzee with a dozen hands.

[jim65970]

hello...well i have a 50 x 125 lot with a big back yard as my old wood house vintage 1946 is only 700 sq ft.....very unusual for a block from the beach....last of its kind in my town