Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with land

Rent undeveloped land?

SampleSize — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:01:51 -0800

I plan on spending the next few years living in different places for several months to a year at a time. One thought I've had is to get a small trailer RV or something like this, and rent land to park it on for however long I'm sticking around. Is this possible? I've googled a bit, but I'm not coming up with much. Any suggestions for how I would find people with land that would be into renting it?

Just to clarify, I'm not looking for very short-term rentals, and I'm not looking for RV parks/campsites. The idea would be to be able to stay on nice, undeveloped land for reasonably cheap.

Thoughts?

help me feed my gas-emitting microb-enriched compost pile

brandnew — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:59:36 -0800

Geeky DIY Homesteading For years now I've dreamed of purchasing a bunch of acreage in rural PA and learning how to 'hack' the land and nature. That is, I want to maximize the energy output from the land (using wind, geothermal, solar, other). I also want to maximize the food output from the land (with emphasis on quality and variety, not endless rows of corn). Then, try to figure out some effective and novel things to do with the surplus energy, as well as experiment with various survival techniques.

Basically I'm interested in how to use modern (but sustainable) technology, science, and engineering knowledge (and folk tech, when applicable) in order to maximize rural survival.

My question is not so much how to do this, as I realize that the scope is gigantic. But, instead I want to connect with other people who have had experience in this area. And the more 'underground' the knowledge, the better.

I found this site for a survivalist-type group: Alpha Rubicon , and they seem to have some interesting projects on their site. However, I'm not that big into gun and defense culture. Of course, I have nothing against guns, really, it's just not my focus. Plus, I'm not sure I have the dedication at the moment to commit to their level of expectation. As I would like to gradually experiment with these concepts over the next 5, 10 years, gradually increasing my knowledge and discipline.

So, what are some forums or social-networking groups that I can join to obtain this type of knowledge? How can I meet people like this (of the more peace-loving, hippy, independent, self-reliant, technology-friendly mold)? And how do I get access to restricted project plans and such things (like at the alpharubicon site)?

Does that there fence look straight to you?

Sugar Induced Coma — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:20:56 -0800

In East Texas, and in counties surrounding the DFW metroplex, there are many, many surveys and tracts of land oriented along a 30° or 60° angle. Why is this?

How to find the value of land in Ireland?

Tnuocca — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:15:33 -0800

How has the value of agricultural land in Ireland changed since 2003? Does anyone know the current going rate for an acre of farmland in Ireland? Also, could someone please tell me how it's varied over time since 2003?

Are there any land valuation services that someone could recommend, and if so what information do they need to provide a valuation?

Dirty Driving

Barrows — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:51:33 -0800

Where can I drive off road on hills and mud near Boston - Metrowest would be best. 10MPG, I might as well have fun! (Land Rover Discovery btw)

Should I only be paying interest on land I purchased?

Anonymous — Thu, 22 May 2008 23:17:16 -0800

Bought a piece of land and only paying interest. Why would I do that? This is for my mother actually. She bought a piece of land (13 acres) and under the advice of her financial advisor/ stock broker she's paying only interest. She doesn't understand why.

I know she should ask him why, and will, but I'd like to get independent advice. I'm guessing the theory is that he can continue making money in the stock market (more than the interest she's paying) if she doesn't take money out to pay for the land. But this is a bit over my head.

What are the advantages and possible downfalls doing this? A few more details: She's retired, well off but not rich, and has no plans to sell the land (it's family land she's attached to).

Thanks for any advice/suggestions/information.

Looking for home on the WWW

dawson — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:48:23 -0800

My parents are looking for a place to retire in NE North Carolina (i.e. home). Mom asked me to help her search with internet (they have traveled down there several times) so they can narrow things down and get a better feel for the market. I have little idea where to even began searching. Suggestions?

Can I legallly be denied access to my fuse box?

pikaboy202 — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 16:02:38 -0800

MA filter: Must I have fuse box access if I rent an apartment? I live on the 2nd floor of a 2 floor house. The landlord lives downstairs and has complete access to the fuse box. I, on the other hand, cannot access the fuse box. This makes for very frustrating times when the fuse blows (often) in my apartment and I have to ask the landlord to reset the fuse. It's worse when the landlord is off at work and not home to reset the fuse because then I have to wait hours for my power to come back on.

In Massachusetts (Milton), must a tenant have access of their own fuse box legally? If this is the case, where can I get a copy of this regulation so I can show my landlord and get him to either give me access to the fuse box or install one in my apartment?

Help a RC noob out!

Mardigan — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:54:46 -0800

I received a generic version of on of those air, land, water remote controlled (styrofoam?) boatplanes... lol if you have seen or used one you know what I am talking about. What I would like to know is if there are any nicer and sturdier versions of this plane. Looking for recommendations, thanks! Right now I'm looking at the Hydrofoam version I have the Storm launcher shown here http://michaelconnally.com but the flight time is kinda low and it does not seem to have the power and crazy vertical lift that I have seen with some of the videos on youtube etc.

Need the name of a piece of equipment

cazoo — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:00:54 -0800

Tool Filter: Can someone tell me what you call a certain tool used by land professionals? I don't know what you call it but it seems to be a piece of equipment used to see into the distance and make measurements. It looks like a kind of telescope with very tall tripod-like legs and a viewing mechanism much smaller than a telescope. You sometimes see people using them on the side of roads or on undeveloped land.

And if you've seen the film "There Will Be Blood", Daniel Day Lewis's character uses one in the film when he is scoping out his neighbors properties.

Earth's water vs land volume (shown in spheres) image?

yoga — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:09:33 -0800

ISO: Photo-like diagram of the ratio of total volume of water to total volume of land on Earth. NOT the surface area - the TOTAL respective volumes of the planet. I knew I should've saved it when it made the rounds the first time, now I can't find it.

It's a picture of two spheres comparing Earth's water vs. land composition. One sphere represents the total land mass, the other smaller blue one represents the total water mass.

Hope me?

Is it possible to sell your claim to some land before you inherit it?

Tnuocca — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 09:09:16 -0800

My parents own some land which I’ll inherit one day. I was wondering if it's possible to sell my claim to the land before I’ve actually inherited it? Hello,

My parents own some land which I’ll inherit one day. At the moment I’m having some financial problems and I was wondering if it were possible to sell my claim to the land before I’ve actually inherited it? For example, could I sell my claim to the land now for 10% of its market value, with transfer of ownership happening in 2035?

It might seem like a strange idea, but it’s effectively a 1000% return in real terms to the person who invests in the land (possibly more, as the value of the land rises over time). Ideally I’d rather not sell any of my parents’ land. This is a last resort (financial and other situations are very bad).

I’d also like to be able to buy the land back in future (or a portion of it) if I can somehow afford the market value.

Does anyone know if this is possible, e.g. through some sort of contract?

I’d appreciate any advice you can give me on the above.

Thanks in advance.

Regards

Interesting investment strategy?

mateuslee — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 03:22:17 -0800

How can I wisely invest US$15k? I have an unconventional idea, but could use your advise: buy land in new EU countries. Of course the obvious safe-bet for an investment portfolia is a mix of C.D.s and mutual funds, right? I guess the return on mutual funds should be around 9%, depending.

However, my idea was this: land. What if I were to buy land in those countries on the verge of accepting the Euro - namely Poland/Romania, for example. These countries (esp Poland) seem pretty stable and the transition to the Euro should be straight-forward and easy (esp given the recent elections in Poland: pro-EU).

Surely after the switch from the zloty, the prices will rise as they did in most other countries, and there will always be a need for land, right?

OK, 12K can't buy much - but a few acres near the sea or outside some medium-sized city might prove lucrative one day... no?

Not sure if this is wise... Any other ideas for creative/non-conventional uses for this money are appreciated, so long as they are lucrative, practical and don't contribute to the military/industrial complex (sorry for sounding like a hippy).

Thanks!

Script Ohio viewing

Jesco — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:12:30 -0800

Where can I take my kids to see Script Ohio for free? I've got 4 children, three of which are 100% dedicated to watching Script Ohio. Unfortunately I can't afford 6 tickets to the game to watch it live. So, my question is where does the band practice, and is it open to the public?

Also, does anyone have any tips on attending the Skull Session - Where to park? How to get the best seats? What time to show up? I figure this is a good back-up plan, and we can go to COSI afterwards.

Rural California Dreaming.

ClaudiaCenter — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:34:34 -0800

Northern California Dreaming -- What steps should I take to explore my dream of buying land in Mendocino or Humboldt County, creating a small energy efficient home (perhaps one of the tiny, prefab ones), all while building/finding community. My dream is to collectively (with other like-minded people) or individually secure land in rural Northern California (Mendocino or Humboldt), and create an energy efficient, cost efficient, community-based home. (My particular interest is in small prefab homes, ala those found here -- http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses.htm.)

I have no idea how to start or if this is even feasible. I'm not rich -- I rent in San Francisco, have a decent to good salary as a professional. I have a retirement fund that is now over $100,000 but less than $150,000, and I'm pretty sure I can take out a loan of $50,000 secured by that fund for a downpayment. I have excellent credit.

I have a few friends in San Francisco with some interest, and I have created a yahoo listserv. But so far this hasn't gone too far.

I would like to achieve economies of scale with other others, e.g. buy one piece of land for three homes and have a TIC (tenancy in common) agreement with all participants, share a single well and driveway, etc. But I have also heard that some towns in Mendocino and Humboldt would not allow these projects because their zoning bars more than one structure on each plot of land.

I imagine that prices will only go up, so if there is a way for me to buy land now I should probably do so. But I don't know whether I would be able to swing it. I would certainly try if it was even close to do-able.

If I were ever to achieve this, maybe in the next 5 to 8 years, I have enough contacts in my field that I could probably telecommute and earn a decent portion of my current salary, which would presumably go farther in a rural setting.

So ...

How do I/we find a realtor that would cater to this kind of project or would at least give me the information?

Is it feasible for a middle-income person to buy land in Northern California or is the land now as sky high as everything else in California?

How do I find other people who share this dream?

How do I ensure or try to ensure that I will find community? Do I try to bring people along with me as part of the project? Do I try to find a location that already has a cool community?

Am I underestimating the transition from city life to rural life?

Like a Giant Snail

reventlov — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 08:02:21 -0800

How difficult would it be to find places to lease on which to put a house made of ISO containers? Basically, I'd like a space I can heavily customize (and not have to re-customize every couple years), but I still have a long list of cities I want to try living in before I settle down anywhere. I'm thinking about building a modular house out of a few ISO shipping containers and moving it from city to city. How difficult would it be to find plots on which to put it within, say, 30 minutes of city center, without buying and without running afoul of any laws or zoning restrictions?

(My list is mostly US cities. Bonus points for information about how I'd work such a thing for cities in Britain, Australia, or New Zealand.)

Landtrustfilter

mad_little_monkey — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 14:49:47 -0800

Land Trust Filter: How do you remove a trustee from a Florida Land Trust? I'm asking this question for a friend of mine who is in a bit of a pickle, hoping the hive mind here has a suggestion for him. Here it goes:

"A few years ago I put several rental houses into Florida Lands Trusts to facilitate getting Hospice care for my ailing wife. This was done by recording a Quit Claim Deed To Trustee.

Now I am having problems with my trustee who is refusing to do trustee duties but won't sign resignation papers. She claims to have never agreed to be the trustee. At the time of recording the deed my wife said the trustee agreed. It is the trustee's word against my, now deceased, wife's. Whether not not the trustee agreed is moot since the deed is in her name, and she never had to sign a trustee agreement.

I want to remove the trustee but
don't see how to do this covered in 689.071 Florida Land Trust Act.

I am the sole beneficiary of the trust and it seems that there should be a way for me to remove/replace an uncooperative trustee without having to go into a lengthy and expensive legal process.

Anyone know what I need to do? I have someone who is ready to buy the property..."

Run it on regular?

scooters.toad — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 04:59:19 -0800

I am looking at purchasing a 99 Land Rover Discovery and I notice that it runs only on premium gas. Is this absolutely necessary? Does anyone with experience with a Discovery have any opinions of this vehicle? I heard that the diesel version is a better choice. Thanks in advance.

To judge the grade of a hill I need to?

bigmusic — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 20:02:12 -0800

I need to be able to judge by sight the grade of a hill / road / parcel and be accurate within about 1% gradient. Is there a software tool that I can make some triangles with specific grades to use on flash cards?

homesteader help

petsounds — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 18:27:36 -0800

Is there still cheap land available? the story: I ran out of money, left college, worked shitty job for a couple years, somehow managed to put away 33k in savings-- not a lot of money but to me it's a fortune. I'd like to use the money to buy some cheap land to build a cabin on and live as self-sufficiently as possible. (I grew up on a hippie commune/farm so I do have experience in this area) My question is-- what are the best ways to go about finding and purchasing cheap land? I dont have my heart set on any location but i would prefer to find someplace warm and rural without being removed from civilization entirely

What's Your Cosmology

goalyeehah — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 17:43:24 -0800

I am looking for sources that give the weight of the earth, volume of all the oceans, total acreage on the planet, total current population and guestimated total weight of said population. I am doing personal research for a question that came to me last week. I would like to find how much space does the current population of the planet occupy?

He told me in heaven that every everything is fine

fandango_matt — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 22:13:42 -0800

Let's assume (no soapbox rants, please!) global warming is a reality, the ice covering Greenland is melting, and the ocean's levels are rising. If I own a home and land which, according to this map, would be underwater, what--if anything--would the government do? I live near a major (federal) interstate, two major shipping ports, and a rail corridor linking the two. San Francisco and Oakland International Airports would also be underwater. What happens? Would they build a gigantic dike, like New Orleans and Holland? Is my home and the land on which it's built a total loss? If so, insurance-wise, is this considered an "Act of God"? If I was to put my home on the market tomorrow, must I declare global warming and the rising ocean levels as a possibility for flooding?

Buying land and building on it. What's the deal?

Scottk — Sat, 27 May 2006 17:14:35 -0800

I am thinking about buying an acre or so in Western NC on which to build a home and I am wondering if anyone has relevant information regarding building prices of homes, such as the average price per square foot and any other fees I may not be aware of as a first time buyer.

I'd like to hire a contractor to build the home (2bed/2bath; ~1500 sqft). Is anyone familiar with this process? Value wise, it all seems too good to be true, so I would like someone to burst my bubble in giving me the straight dope on the subject.

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign...

zhivota — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 10:10:26 -0800

POSTED / NO TRESPASSING - Has this always been the norm? When did it become popular for virtually *everyone* to do this to their land? How serious are people, in your experience? Also, is there anywhere where they don't do this (as much)? I spent all yesterday mountain biking through my very rural local area. It is hilly, to the point where are are long stretches of hillside that are unfarmable. During the course of my trip I went by numerous POSTED signs (although I didn't actually violate them, I kept going until I got to a non POSTED place). My problem is that much of this POSTED land was not being farmed, or used in any other way at all. It was just deemed "private" by some person who decided (s)he doesn't want anyone else on his land.

Basically, this practice has been really getting my goat lately. It feels like there is no land which has not been claimed and staked and is not jealously gaurded from everyone else, even though I live in a very rural area.

When did it start that everyone posted their land? Is it the mass popularity of hunting and ATV's? I could see not wanting gunshots and loud motors on my property.

Has anyone here actually been caught violating a POSTED sign, for doing something benign, like hiking or biking? What happened? Did you actually get prosecuted?

Lastly, does anyone here live somewhere that this isn't so common? I'm thinking places like the Northern/Western US, or rural Canada as possibilities. Is it just a pipe dream?

A cabin in the woods question

TheFeatheredMullet — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 14:20:36 -0800

Canadian Cabin/Cottage property finding question. Does anyone out there have experience finding property (just the land) which has not been developed? I do not know where to start. When I look online or at a Remax type site, all they have are the well developed lake front community properties that cost as much as my house. I am looking for land that I can buy (with no services running to them yet) preferably beside a lake off of a forestry trunk road or something which I can build a small cabin on for me and my family in about 5 or 10 years. not looking for something that is going to be developed. Problem is I do not know where to start looking. The Government? Is it even possible to do something like this, or is it just a pipe dream? Any experiences or advice would be appreciated.