DG Property Alerts! (Michigan Edition)

[smyith]

time to start buying those lottery tickets...

you hear about the guy at worlds who got $100k lottery ticket? the details of the story are quite amusing, especially as he said it with his gigantic smile on his face.

 

[InnocentCrook]

Great idea for a thread.

Landwatch is an awesome site but you will find stuff on the local site before it hits LW.

Donny, are these all places you found while looking for your place or are you just looking for fun now? Not that there's anything wrong with that. I already have my place but I still peruse the MLS from time to time.

 

[donnyv]

Great idea for a thread.

Landwatch is an awesome site but you will find stuff on the local site before it hits LW.

Donny, are these all places you found while looking for your place or are you just looking for fun now? Not that there's anything wrong with that. I already have my place but I still peruse the MLS from time to time.

Yeah, it's mostly just for fun now. Most of the better properties I had an eye on before we moved are already long gone. Since quality park land for DG is scarce in the boonies, we need more DGer's to build private courses where there is no other courses around for miles.

There is great potential for courses out there, but finding something reasonably priced and worth building a course on is very challenging. While there is some sweet land down the road from me with over 175 acres, I don't quite have the $775,000 burning a hole in my pocket. I missed out on even more properties a few years ago when the market crashed but it is what it is.

I try to keep my searches under $200,000 in case there is a family member or friend looking for land to build a house, and maybe a private course too

 

[InnocentCrook]

There is great potential for courses out there, but finding something reasonably priced and worth building a course on is very challenging.

Really? Hadn't noticed.

I never could have afforded the place we bought if it weren't for the fact that it had living space already on it. Lucky for me it was just a converted pole barn.(half barn, half living space) Had it been a typical "sticks and bricks" type of house the price would have been MUCH higher.

 

[donnyv]

Yeah I hear ya. Most of my searches have been vacant land but there are plots of nice land with houses too. They're just tougher to find let alone affordable. I guess we are kind of the lucky ones. Building a house from scratch is no picnic.

I'll include "potential DG land with a house included" in my next property alert possibly tomorrow. I'll add a landwatch link with pics too if available. There is another property nearby with a small cabin and outbuildings on 23 acres that I always liked...

 

[DavidSauls]

"Affordable" is usually a matter of compromise. If you're willing to drive 15 minutes further to work, or live where the schools aren't so good, land can come much cheaper. (My brother, sister, and I spent 3 years looking for land and ended up in a place where, a year earlier, one of us wouldn't even consider because it was too far from the city).

 

[wkelly42]

I REALLY wish I hadn't clicked on this thread. There is disc golfable land (120 acres) just a few miles from my house, close to where my kids go to school. All I need is $160,000 to buy it, and another few grand for baskets and other essentials.

Maybe I should set up a Kickstarter .... ;-)

 

[tstack10]

Oh man I would love to afford so e private property and the ability put in my own disc golf course. Looks like some sweet properties.

 

[InnocentCrook]

"Affordable" is usually a matter of compromise. If you're willing to drive 15 minutes further to work, or live where the schools aren't so good, land can come much cheaper. (My brother, sister, and I spent 3 years looking for land and ended up in a place where, a year earlier, one of us wouldn't even consider because it was too far from the city).

Yep. We had to add 10-15 minutes to our work commute (from 30 to 40-45 minutes) before we found the perfect piece. Luckily my wife's job allows her to work from home so it made the decision a little easier.

 

[DavidSauls]

Yep. We had to add 10-15 minutes to our work commute (from 30 to 40-45 minutes) before we found the perfect piece. Luckily my wife's job allows her to work from home so it made the decision a little easier.

My brother and I bumped from our declared 45 minute maximum (we both work at the same family business) to an hour. The extra distance knocked about 30% off land values. We couldn't be happier, except, of course, for every day when we're commuting.

 

[InnocentCrook]

What killed me was the increased mileage more so than the time. I went from about 13 miles one way to a little over 30. Driving my pickup was killing us on gas. Our Subaru wasn't much better. We just bought a Prius and my weekly gas cost went from right around $70 to now just over $30!

Though I now have to buy diesel for the tractor and additional gasoline for the 2cycle engines(string trimmer and chainsaw) I'm running for maintenance and course building. I'm definitely not spending $30-40 a week on it.

 

[donnyv]

24 acres in Columbus Twp, St. Clair County

8547-Rattle-Run-Rd-Columbus-MI-48063

Here is a nice piece (24 acres) next to the railroad tracks and old grain elevator. I drive by here every sunday on the way to church. It's mostly flat and wooded. Nice little getaway for hunting or maybe a disc golf course. I would grade it an B- for DG potential.



Agent says "Unique 24.28 acre parcel of wooded property on a paved road - 3 road frontages - Rattlerun - Hessen - Weber - possible splits - there are several small buildings on the property - including a barn, storage shed and garage w/wood burner - many birch and hardwoods - survey available - there is no well or septic on the property"

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8547-Rattle-Run-Rd-Columbus-MI-48063/2106239283_zpid/


http://gis.stclaircounty.org/Land/ParcelViewer.aspx?pid=74-16-010-2013-000

 

[donnyv]

UPDATE 44 acres in Yale, MI

St. Clair and Sanilac County properties

Vacant land near Yale, MI 48097 in St. Clair County

44.44 acres (30% wooded) paved road with creek

This property is near my place and has some potential for development or farming as well. The Mill Creek is a very nice, large and clean creek. Terrain is rolling and lowest near the winding creek. My grade B




Agent says "Unique riverfront parcel. Very Pretty, High & Rolling, With the Mill Creek's Edge, as the South & West Property Lines. There are Scenic Trails Offering Views of Woods & the Wide Riverfront. This Property has 3,500' of River/creek Frontage. Parcel Is Located Where M-136 Intersects With M-19 (Emmett Rd.)"

Asking price - $169,000"


PICS HERE http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/Emmett-Rd-Yale-MI-48097/2105832712_zpid/

http://www.realestate-mls.com/detail.cgi?viewonlyno=584-14-0007

UPDATED 7/30/2014

 

[donnyv]

47 acres near Marysville, MI

47 acres for sale in St. Clair County, MI

Kimball Township (just west of Marysville)

Here's a good plot of land thats 80% wooded with some elevation changes. Across the street from the Pine River. Mostly nicer homes in this area along the Pine River. Railroad tracks on the northern boundary. My Grade B-



Asking price $165,000

http://www.bauerreno.idxco.com/idx/12726/details.php?idxID=110&listingID=31189593

http://gis.stclaircounty.org/Land/ParcelViewer.aspx?pid=74-25-028-2004-000

 

[DavidSauls]

What killed me was the increased mileage more so than the time. I went from about 13 miles one way to a little over 30. Driving my pickup was killing us on gas. Our Subaru wasn't much better. We just bought a Prius and my weekly gas cost went from right around $70 to now just over $30!

Though I now have to buy diesel for the tractor and additional gasoline for the 2cycle engines(string trimmer and chainsaw) I'm running for maintenance and course building. I'm definitely not spending $30-40 a week on it.

You really are re-living my life.

My commute went from 2 miles to 42 miles. I had been driving a conversion van, about 12 MPG on the highway. That only lasted a few months after my new house was built before I realized I could pay for a new car with the gas savings alone.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Haven't planned well enough to subsidize such a dream...plus one kid just got out of school (kid's making very good coin, too ) and one still matriculating.


I know it's nowhere close to a wash, but the additional time commuting to work 4-6 days/wk is partially offset by the lack of commute time to a course, and the availability to squeeze in a few holes in the time it might take just to get out to the highway on your way to another course.

... all of which most certainly pale in comparison to the time spent maintaining a course. :\

 

[donnyv]

We moved 15 mins further north from our old place.

My drive time is just under an hour one way (50 miles) to work. My wife drives 1 1/2 hrs one way. It is worth it though. The Big Guy has blessed us and hopefully does the same for you guys.

 

[DavidSauls]

I know it's nowhere close to a wash, but the additional time commuting to work 4-6 days/wk is partially offset by the lack of commute time to a course, and the availability to squeeze in a few holes in the time it might take just to get out to the highway on your way to another course.

... all of which most certainly pale in comparison to the time spent maintaining a course. :\

The payback for the time spent commuting is that when I arrive home, I'm more than just at a house in a subdivision, or an apartment. Plus, 20 minutes of my commute is driving through beautiful countryside.

There's a large lake near Columbia, SC, and lots of people make a long commute so they can live on the lake. Same principle.

*

Back to the property search which is, after all, the topic of this thread. When you look at $200,000 for a piece of land, it seems an awful lot. But millions of people will pay $220,000 to buy an ordinary house in an ordinary neighborhood. So if you dream of this life, ask yourself: Would you live in a mobile home to live on a big piece of land and have your own course? If it's the same total cost as a 1600 square foot home on a quarter-acre lot in a subdivision?

 

[donnyv]

The payback for the time spent commuting is that when I arrive home, I'm more than just at a house in a subdivision, or an apartment. Plus, 20 minutes of my commute is driving through beautiful countryside.

There's a large lake near Columbia, SC, and lots of people make a long commute so they can live on the lake. Same principle.

*

Back to the property search which is, after all, the topic of this thread. When you look at $200,000 for a piece of land, it seems an awful lot. But millions of people will pay $220,000 to buy an ordinary house in an ordinary neighborhood. So if you dream of this life, ask yourself: Would you live in a mobile home to live on a big piece of land and have your own course? If it's the same total cost as a 1600 square foot home on a quarter-acre lot in a subdivision?

Here is a pic I took of the "house" that sat on that epic 84 acres I wanted to build some courses on. You don't want to see a closer pic because it was in such bad condition that no money thrown at it would make it livable for a person, or a family of 5. I don't even think you could put $$$ into it for a hunting cabin, storage or private club house. I'd have to demolish it and build from the ground up. I did not want to go that route because it would take a few years before I could even start building the course of dreams.

You really have to do your homework on these properties. I'll still keep my eyes on it, and the land near it, just in case something pops up on the market again.

 

[donnyv]

PROPERTY ALERT!
143 acres for the ultimate "DREAM COURSE"
My ultimate dream property #2, just went up for sale! River, pond, ravines, elevation and more...
Since I missed out on that sweet 84 acres, I've had my eyes on this chunk of land that is directly across the freeway from it. This one might be even better!

New large parcel in Kimball Township, close to Port Huron ,

143 acres in two connecting parcels with a railroad
track dividing them. Lots of wildlife, big oaks, pines, and maples,
pines river, and 3 acres pond. at the end of a dead end road backs
up to I-69

asking $278,000

I wish this didn't go up for sale so soon. Maybe some of you guys can invest.