Buying land

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Buying land
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wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 15 11:23 pm Post subject: Buying land

I need to educate myself about buying land. Presumably, one does not simply look on Rightmove!

I assume there are specialist agencies? Are they any good, or are they like estate agents these days (ie impervious to what you actually want, and unable to do anything other than count bedrooms)

I'm looking for just land, not buildings of any descriptions, location is not desperately important, but quality and type of land may be. I have not yet decided whether to buy outright and have less, or get some sort of mortgage and have more. It depends partly on prices of land and finance available, so things are at quite an early stage.

So I need to find out about buying land and (possibly) financing it. Where do I start?

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46187
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Sep 15, 15 11:32 pm Post subject:
on downsizer give us a clue towards your intended purpose and we might be able to be sensible,maybe.

Ty Gwyn

Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4612
Location: Lampeter

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 12:09 am Post subject:
A good start would be an Agri auctioneer in the area you intend purchasing.

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 12:35 am Post subject:
Prices are very dependant on location.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 6:22 am Post subject: Re: Buying land

wellington womble wrote:

I need to educate myself about buying land. Presumably, one does not simply look on Rightmove!

That's how we found our woodland IIRC, or Primelocation. They have a special category for it.

Round here at least there are several estate agents than sell land (they're often the ones that also run livestock, farm etc auctions, as Ty suggests).

Often 'lots' of land are sold off when a farm goes up for sale, so it's also worth looking for expensive farms and seeing if it's lotted up.

If you're interested in an area then you can look through the local paper and see which agents deal with farms and land.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 11:22 am Post subject:

I'm not tied to an area. I want to buy some land and put a solar farm on it. I'm not going to live there and the actual kit and caboodle will be taken care of by someone else, so it doesn't matter where it is, from Cornwall to the Midlands. I need low quality agricultural land (or a brownfield site) with a high voltage electricity supply and not in an ANOB or similar.

I've between 100 and 200k to invest to keep us, and I do not want to put it into the stock market. Initial research suggests that agricultural land doesn't vary so much as property, and I'm looking at 15-30 acres, or I could get a mortgage and buy more land. This would be leased to a solar company for between 1000 and 1500 per acre, per year.

Obviously, I need planning permission, but in order to start jumping through those hoops, I need to start pricing things up and also pick a plot and get on with it. So I need to start looking at land.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 12:27 pm Post subject:
Agricultural land round here is about 15k an acre. The smaller the plot the more per acre.

pollyanna

Joined: 03 Nov 2012
Posts: 221

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 1:56 pm Post subject:
Land for a solar farm is best sited near an electricity sub-station as far as the solar farms I have seen. Otherwise some of the income is spent paying off the farmers whose land you have to cross with the cables.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46187
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 2:39 pm Post subject:
it needs to be near the necessary electric infrastructure security?in both senses ( any kit on site and of the investment) is investing a little in a variety of schemes sensible?(eggs/baskets etc etc )

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 4:19 pm Post subject:

Nick wrote:

Agricultural land round here is about 15k an acre. The smaller the plot the more per acre.

That's why I'm wondering about a mortgage for a bigger acreage.

I realise there needs to be proximity to a supply - that's why I'm starting to go about looking so I can start vetting. The solar company take care of security and fencing, as well as planning and screening.

Eggs and baskets, well yes. I'm investing for income generation specifically. I already have a house. I have no debt. Bonds and cash are barely beating inflation and I'm not comfortable with gambling on the stock market with this particular pot. I could stick 15k in an ISA, but realistically, what else is there? There should be a comfortable level of guaranteed income (leased for 25 years) to enable a bit of flirting with stocks and bonds, and perhaps gold later on (I do quite fancy a safe full of gold!). The land can also be rented for sheep or poultry grazing and if it does all go horribly wrong, I'll still have the agricultural land, which is a good capital investment though the returns are generally quite low. There are also tax incentives in renewables (at the moment, although I'm not sure how long it will last)

I've seen a financial advisor in the past. They were fairly useless, because they were only focused on investing in stocks and shares. I don't want to invest in shares with this money. I will see another one as soon as the cash hits the bank on Monday, but I'm not expecting great things. Solar energy does at least fit with my ethics and ideals. It's the best solution I've come across, but I'm open to suggestions.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45665
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 4:23 pm Post subject:
Wouldn't a buy to let flat be easier? Gives you a yield straight away and increases in capital value generally outpace inflation.

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 4:26 pm Post subject:
I cannot help thinking, although I am reluctant to mention, that there are projects on this board that are in need of investment...

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 4:27 pm Post subject:
And, as an added perk, I guarantee its a useful object, whatever the value on paper, in ten years. We have two for that reason. Small, regular return, zero hassle, and useful for when I kick the kids out.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45665
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 4:31 pm Post subject:

Hairyloon wrote:

I cannot help thinking, although I am reluctant to mention, that there are projects on this board that are in need of investment...

She needs a secure investment, I can't think of any investment requirement on here that fulfils that brief

Hairyloon

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15425
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 4:34 pm Post subject:

tahir wrote:

Hairyloon wrote:

I cannot help thinking, although I am reluctant to mention, that there are projects on this board that are in need of investment...

She needs a secure investment, I can't think of any investment requirement on here that fulfils that brief

I would not claim to have an in depth knowledge of the entire DS investment potentials, but I appreciate your point.

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