Finding land

[Edgoat]

I could use some advice in how to find land. I am in NW Louisiana, which is dominated by the Shreveport/Bossier Metro area. Anything within commuting distance is around $10,000/acre unless you buy a large tract (100 acres), which is still priced around $4000/acre. So, I am left looking for land beyond commuting distance ($2000/acre), but I have no personal knowledge or contacts in the communities. I watch internet listings and use google maps and microsoft tera server to do preliminary investigations of any property I see listed. Unfortunately, I rarely see any listings.

Any suggestions?

 

[Frankie]

When we first wanted to lease land, we put an ad in the local newspaper offering a $100 reward to put us in touch with someone with land to lease in the area. It worked.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Check the Marshall, TX area. Land there is cheap. Taxes are cheap. Buy land in Marhsall School District. Hallsville district is a bit more expensive. You'll be about 40 miles from Shreveport in Harrison County.

 

[Emgen]

Try Realtor.com. Primarily for residences but the site allows you to search for land and farms.

Use the "More Search Options" on the home page and "check" land and farms to have them included in your search. I found my current land (73 acres) on the site.

Regards

 

[TheBullLady]

No.. Realtor.com is virtually worthless for looking for ranch land. It's geared towards the residental market. We never advertise ranches there.

Try http://www.landsoflouisiana.com

 

[cabinron]

I had the same problem here in central Tx. The land around Austin was WAY too high. On a map, I drew myself a semicircle starting 50 miles away from Austin. I spent 2 -3 weekends on my motorcycle driving thru the counties that were outside that circle. I bought the local newspapers and scanned their ads. The locals will tend to advertise there and not in the metro papers. In the paper, the realtors will also have some of their listings. For those realtors that offered quite a few parcels of land, I stopped in and talked to them....while I was in town. While it was somewhat time-consuming, the time was well spent. It gave me a idea of what the countryside was like in each area and that definitely helped determine where to buy. I am happy to report that I succeeded!

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

You can move to Arkansas, land is still relatively cheaper here, although it is going up considerably secondary to the Fayetteville shale natural gas fields everyone is going nuts over. ;-) :cboy:

 

[MoGal]

This method might work if you had the time.....
In Missouri, you can go to any county government office and get a "plat" book of the county..... some counties show the last name of the owner and how many acres the tract is.... find some tracts you might be interested in and go to the courthouse and look up to see who the owner is (some may even live out of state or another town and aren't doing anything with the property. If you're so inclined to search, usually the purchase price is listed as well as any restrictions). Back several years ago, that's how I ended up renting some acreage for my horses.