How much does 5 acres cost in your area?

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Hi- I am a Countryside reader and a would-be homesteader. We moved to SW Washington state a couple of years ago hoping to homestead, but have found land to be more than we expected. I am wondering if land is a lot cheaper elsewhere and how much it runs in different parts of the country. Around here (within 1 1/2 hours of Portland, OR, anyway), 5 acres seems to run about $80,000-$100,000. I know a couple of people who have found totally unimproved raw land for $55,000 or so, but they had to really hunt to find these bargains. Thanks in advance for any enlightenment!! (and please don't email me - I almost never check that email address- thanks!).

-- Janine Jennrich (shamrockforest@netscape.net), February 25, 2002

Answers

Well, don't go to Arizona ~ $40,000-$50,000/ACRE.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), February 25, 2002.

Average about 3,000 an acre around me, between Louisville and Bowling Green. You can get 80 acres of woods for about 60-80K, a bit further out from the towns. It gets cheaper further south towards TN.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), February 25, 2002.

5 acres in my neighborhood would sell for around $30,000 an acre. (near Tampa).

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), February 25, 2002.

Near me (Brown County, southern Ohio) there are five acre lots for sale for $20,000, access to electric and water, This is flat and 100% usable farmland, ten miles from the Ohio River and 40 miles from downtown Cincinnati. In Adams County, the next county out, large acreages of mixed tillable and wooded hilly land go for $1500 per acre.

-- Scott McAlpine (scottmcalpine@juno.com), February 25, 2002.

In my area land goes for $1,000 an acre. This is for wooded or open land. We really lucked out, we only paid $300. an acre for ours seven years ago. So for 48 acres we only paid $15,000! It's half woods, half field and fairly flat. Sometimes if you buy a larger tract, you can get land for less than $1,000 and acre.

-- Jo in PA (farmerjo02@yahoo.com), February 25, 2002.


Depends on where your at. In central Ohio near Columbus 20000-40000/acre. Go a few miles north and its $1000-2000/acre.

-- Gary (gws@columbus.rr.com), February 25, 2002.

un improved,, nothing on it but trees, 4 - 5 ,000

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 25, 2002.

Prime land, not on a lake is about $1,000 per acre. This is raw land price, no house, no septic, no well. I bought my 40 acrea, with tree plantation,large house, ready to move in for $65,000 4 years ago.

-- Susan in Minnesota (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), February 25, 2002.

Here on the coastal plain of Texas, about $2,000 an acre.

I just put earnest money on 40 acres in southern Missouri, includes an old frame house, three car garage, smoke house, chicken house, log barn, ... $50,000

-- Rose (open_rose@Hotmail.com), February 25, 2002.


Some areas more in the country might be around 10,000 for 5 acres. Some lots in certain nearby districts though go for 1 million per acre or more!

-- Mike in Pa (smfine@yahoo.com), February 25, 2002.


usually the smaller the acreage the higher the price. so you can get a good deal if you can afford to shell out for 50 to l00 acres. and the 5 acre plots, hard to find and high priced.

-- js (schlicker54@aol.com), February 25, 2002.

In the Gainesville area of North Florida rural, unimproved (no power, septic or anything else) runs around $3,000 an acre in small acreage amounts. Starts to get cheaper at ten acres plus.

........Alan.

-- Alan (athagan@atlantic.net), February 25, 2002.


I have been searching around for places in small towns/cities that my Company has a business. I was told that in south east Ohio in Noble County, that their is land from 100-1000 dollars an acre. Also visited a place in Kentucky (Paintsville)and talked to a guy who said he just bought 19 acres. I said how much, and he said 1900. I said 1900 per acre? He said no, 1900 for all of it at 100 per acre. He also said his dad had a nice 3 bedroom house on 25 acres for 25000 dollars. Only problem, my wages would have been about half what I am making now, and my wife commented how can we have a farm when all of the land is straight up!

-- Ken Rush (rushwiz@aol.com), February 25, 2002.

I agree with --if you buy more land it's cheaper per acre. One end of the county it's 9,000 to 12,000 an acre, on the other end you can buy it for 600-1000per acre! Larger the track of land the less per acre you'll pay.

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), February 25, 2002.

Buckhorn creek in NW FLA 5 acres w/ well,septic tank & electric and small mobile home $12,900.This is Way out in the boonies-unimproved land way cheaper.

-- Daryll in NW FLA (twincrk@hotmail.com), February 25, 2002.


Unimproved land in north Alabama can still be had for $1000 an acre but I'm afraid that will come to an end some. Keep looking and best of luck.

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), February 25, 2002.

Uncleared raw forest goes for $500 to $1000 an acre, depending on acessability of electric and water, and the steepness of terrain.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), February 25, 2002.

Some parts of AZ are really cheap and the more the parcel, the better price per acre. You must put in improvements although some acreages with mobiles are still a good bargain. At least the climates aren't too extreme the higher the elevation.

-- Hank (hsnrs@att.net), February 25, 2002.

Janine: NW Wyoming - $5,000 to 8,000 per ac with improvements; $2,000 to $4,000 per ac without. Power to property line + $50,000; water well + $10/ft (av 800-ft); septic $2,000. Only inspection is for septic in the state.

Southern Wyoming, down around Rawlins, land goes for $800 per ac, BUT it's all greasewood and alkali. Wells are deeper. I think there was someone who wrote an article in Countryside on the Rawlins area a year or two ago. Shoestring operation.

One thing you don't want to do, is come here with little or no money and expect the people and churches to support your endeavors. This is a tough place to make a living, one that I've enjoyed almost all my life.

-- George (wycowboy2@yahoo.com), February 25, 2002.


As a real estate appraiser for the last 20 years, I can just say that, it ain't getting any cheaper. Buy land now if you can, because it will only go up. The savings and loan debacle of the late 1980's and early 1990's had a huge negative impact on most land values, but don't look for that to happen again any time soon. I just bought 13 wooded acres 1 year ago about 80 mi. SE of Dallas for $3,400 an acre. It had a well, small barn, septic tank. It also included the exclusive right to lease an additional 5 acres behind the property that fronts on a beautiful, clear 1500 acre lake and build a dock, boathouse, etc. The lease is only $175 per year. But my next door neighbor, who does not have lake access, is asking $25,000 for 5 acres. Generally, I can find decent land in East Texas around $1,500 per acre for 25 acres and up. Around Dallas, small acreage tracts within commuting distance of the city generally begin around $10,000 per acre unless it has floodplain or is in a really depressed area. Like they say, the 3 most important factors influencing value of real estate are: 1) location, 2) location, and 3) location.

-- SteveD(TX) (smdann@swbell.net), February 25, 2002.

Hey Janine, We're upriver, about an hour from Portland. Just settled five acres we got for $30,000. Beautiful view of Mt Adams, great neighbors,clean air, ahhhhhhh. We returned two years ago from a 6 thousand mile journey looking for "cheap land". It's there but comes with a cost we weren't willing to pay. Bitter cold, Humid hot weather, biting irritating bugs. For us , the west is best. good luck jz

-- jz (oz49us@yahoo.com), February 25, 2002.

Like everyone mentioned above, the closer to utilities / city limits, the higher the price. If you are talking about RURAL (30 - 40 miles out of town)land, no utilities, mineral right encompassed by land seller, unimproved brush land will run about $500 an acre. If you can find anyone to sell it; most people are hanging on, unless the seller is getting ready to move.

-- j.r. guerra in s. tx. (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), February 25, 2002.

j.r., I am curious about where you are located. I'm in Llano County (Central), Texas, 90 miles from Austin, and unimproved tracts here are selling at $3,000 to $4,000 an acre. You had better make sure you can get water too. (Some people have paid those prices and drilled three dry holes). Within 50 miles east of Austin, there are some 5 acre tracts starting around $5,000 to $6,000 an acre, with 50 miles to the west they start around $8,000 an acre.

-- paul (primrose@centex.net), February 25, 2002.

I'm in Allen County (Fort Wayne) Indiana and unimproved land in this area seems to be in the $6,000-$7,000/acre price range. This is fairly near town. If you get out a little further (less desireable to most) you can expect that price to drop the further you go. This would be for farm, pasture, woods or some combination thereof.

Friends of mine just had an offer of $240,000 accepted on 19 acres (16+ wooded) fifteen miles from town. It has an 8 year old, 2200 sqft. home with garage plus a 40' x 60' concrete floored pole building and a landscaped 1/2 acre pond out front. They even got the tractor thrown in at that price.

Sound like a great deal? Believe it or not, the appraisal came back at only $220,000 so it's for sale again! This is one of the best places around for low cost of living and a good quality of life. People moving here from other parts of the country are just in awe.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), February 25, 2002.


Around here, S.E. NM, 5 acre lots with private well about 100 feet deep (salty water), no trees just flat alkali, with electric and phone at property line run 18,000 to 25,000 dollars. Five acres with newer double wide mobile home and all utiilities plus septic run 70,000 minimum. Stick built houses with 2-5 acres and outbuildings run 85,000 plus. Good luck!!

-- Gina NM (inhock@pvtnetworks.net), February 25, 2002.

I bought my 5 acres for 18,500., buy the time my neighbor wanted to sell his 5 acres(right next to mine), I had built my barn and chicken coop right next to where his driveway came next to my property. I got that 5 acres for 14,000. (am i bad or just insightful?) BTW, I live 20 miles from DOLLYWOOD, East TN

-- bill vanfossan (van37725@yahoo.com), February 25, 2002.

WOW - this is such great info. THANK YOU and keep it coming. I am learning a lot. I see how people are affording to homestead. I was really beginning to wonder! (again, please don't email me as I rarely check that email address- thanks!)

-- Janine (shamrockforest@netscape.net), February 25, 2002.

Land where I live now in lower NY State is in between 40-80k an acre.Me and my wife just bought a farm with 75 acres for roughly 800-900 per acre in the catskill mountains.Now go up north into the Adirondack mountains of NYS and its as cheap as 300 per acre.

-- MIKE IN NY (EMBS@WARWICK.NET), February 25, 2002.

IF you can find it, bare, unimproved land around us goes for between $7,000 and $12,000 an acre. Eleven years ago, we bought our 10 acres of former hayfield with a little, 8-month-old, Ranch spec house on it for $92,000. We thought that was outrageous, but we needed land. Now, are SOOO happy to have what we have as land prices have sky-rocketed in the last decade. We've added a lawn, some landscaping and fruit trees, two wooden barns and completely fenced our property in hi-tensile fencing. Two years ago, it was professionally appraised at $170,000. So, we've done okay on our "investment". We are suffering from urban sprawl however. We are located in Western, lower Michigan, halfway between Lake Michigan and Grand Rapids. Best bets for decent, reasonable homesteading land IMHO, is SW Wisconsin and SE Iowa. Missouri has some bargains too, if you can stand the heat and the ticks. ; ) The zoning is friendly to homesteaders in those areas as well -- a big consideration these days. Buying the land is one thing, what you can do with it afterwards is another. . . -- Cheers, Renee M.

-- Renee Martin (icehorse@altelco.net), February 26, 2002.

here in the ozarks land runs between 500 to 1000 a acre

-- Lee in Mo. (sgrmtndrone@yahoo.com), February 26, 2002.

Well, here's my 2-cents. It's around $10K for 5 raw acres where I am, in McIntosh, NM. It's not the prettiest part of NM, and a little windy.. saw my camper shell scuttling across the yard yesterday! But I love it! debra in nm

-- debra in nm (goatgirl@unm.edu), February 26, 2002.

Around here, west central Georgia, 70 miles south of Atlanta - land is 3-5,000 an acre unimproved (depending on how close to a town) Get way out of town and the price drops to a couple thousand. Right down the road from our place, a house and 20 acres of pasture (no barns) sold for $265,000. House was 1,500 square feet, but the place was laid out nice. That was five years ago. Now there is a subdivision across the road from that place (a mile from us), so land prices are going up again.

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), February 26, 2002.

We have been looking at land in SE Oklahoma. It goes for around 500 to 1000$ plus it's beautiful, not desert scrub.

-- Buffy in Dallas (buffyannjones@hotmail.com), February 27, 2002.

We just had a purchase offer accepted yesterday on 20 acres with small cabin, well, septic system,(& outhouse), [electricity would cost $40K to bring in],2 creeks and much privacy. $110,000. This is very private, surrounded by thousands of acres of BLM forest land. Actually we bought this piece about 12 years ago for $50K, remodeled the cabin, drilled the well and put a tin roof on, we then sold it for $75K 5 years ago. The buyers, put in a bridge to cross the creek, which makes it accessible in the winter,($12,000)and had the septic system built in some pretty hard rock,($10,000)we have no need to a septic tank and such.They sold the deep well hand force pump,cylinder,sucker rod and down pipe,Still, we are tickled to get it back. I had put 5 gas lights in, one on the back porch/summer-kitchen and 4 in the house, there was/is an old 1947 Servel LPG refrigerator that works some times, I intend to replace it with a new one and put in a LPG direct vent heater to back up the heat from the Sweetheart cook stove.We will just use the place for summers, hunting a family gatherings, we also in the past 3 weeks bought a home over looking the Rogue River Valley in southern Oregon.

-- hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), February 27, 2002.

You've gotten a plethora of answers, and I will add another. We are in what used to be rural Maine, about 15 miles to the west of Portland. We'd been here for a while on a nice 2 acre plot with a mid 1800's colonial. We then bought a 1790's cape on 50 acres, mortgaging everything but the youngest child. We refinanced 4 times to get 4 children through college. Today we still own 40+ acres and are pretty self sufficient. When we bought this homestead 20 years ago, good (arable) land was worth maybe $700 per acre. Today, it is much more valuable as house lots, which sell for about $40,000 each in the 3 to 5 acre chunk. I guess we could pay off the mortgage by selling lots, but that is not our aim. Point is: If you are young enough, buy just a little more than you can afford. In a few years it will be worth much more IF you have been careful enough to choose an area with growth. Money is a wonderful commodity, but it is only useful if you are careful enough to make money work for you, rather than subjecting yourself to working for money! If you think I am speaking in tongues, you are probably right. But it seems to me that a Good Buddy of mine did the same thing! GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), February 27, 2002.

dI live in SE TN I bouught 2 bdrm house and small barn for 45,000 the land is flat to rolling and borders a wildlife refuse I hold all rights. You could get unimproved land min of 5 acres for 5,000 an acre but you don't get timber rights till property is paid for. I will say one thing though be careful if you buy in TN to make sure that a road is not scheduled to be bulit through your prooperty. Judi

-- Judi Bosworth (jpbosworth@aol.com), February 28, 2002.

We bought 32.6 acres 3 years ago in S.Central Kentucky for $19,000. The land has a year round creek, 28 acres of woods & the rest is pasture. In Ky most land has county water available, wells can get tricky but there are alot of springs in the area. We moved from an area where land was $6,000 an acre so we could never have afforded close to 33 acres. Since then we bought another 7 acres that attached to it so we have a total of almost 40 acres with lg 6yr old house,barns, chicken coop, fenced & with spring fed ponds for a total investment of right around $100,000. In southern KY, there aren't alot of higher paying jobs, but if you don't mind commuting, Nashville is only about 80 miles away. Good Luck with your search.

-- Kathy Aldridge (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), March 01, 2002.

We bought 12 acres that is twenty minutes north of Abilene, TX for $15,000. It is on a county maintained dirt road with water, electric, and phone at the road. I've seen 5 acre parcels in this area for $5000 to $7000. Larry

-- larry (karlog@rocketmail.com), March 02, 2002.

We just bought 2.5 acres in Northern Arizona (about an hour outside of Flagstaff) for $2500. I guess you could times that by two for 5 acres. Btw, we are origionally from Washington State. We loved it there but found land wayyy to expensive. We decided we would rather move than go into debt. :)

-- Najia Stallworth (najia274@yahoo.com), March 04, 2002.

I am about to go on a year long lower 48 state land search myself in april 2002, I got a small pop-up tent trailer and I am shopping for 10+ acres of raw,unrestricted, all rights etc. I will be takeing my laptop,so I will attempt to relate my findings monthly as I go from state to state to all of you like minded people,looking for their,own little piece heaven!!

-- Stephen Coffman (marine3@alltel.net), March 04, 2002.

I deal in land here in Saskatchewan, Canada-bordering N.Dakota and Montana states. I am not going to tell you what I pay for it, but I have 80acre parcels for US$25500-27500, couple of smaller, cheaper parcels too. Remember, all this land is prime productive farmland currently being farmed, there are aspen woods on all parcels. Why so cheap. Because of very low population and lack of government subsidies for Canadaian farmers, so low farmer income corresponds directly to the price of land. If anyone is interested send me an e- mail.

-- Alexander Levin (morsealexlevin@hotmail.com), March 05, 2002.

We have a beautiful homestead acreage for sale in central/northern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is 72 acres in size and the price is Can.$39,000 (appr. US$28,000). It is situated by a semi-private lake (1/2 mile lakefront), surrounded by mixed forest (poplars, silver birch, white spruce), some gently rolling pasture and good cropland. The setting is peaceful, with an abundance of wildlife, also great fishing and berry picking in the area. There is plenty of free fire wood for a woodstove, logs for a stackwall or cordwood home and no building codes. Yes, there are four distinct seasons here (winter one of them), but when properly prepared, all enjoyable.

Good luck finding your ideal homestead.

Heidi Burtenshaw (ricknheidi@uniserve.com)

-- Heidi Burtenshaw (ricknheidi@uniserve.com), March 14, 2002.


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