Finding land for sale should be an easy task, so one would surmise. I would love to say that getting the cabin was the hardest part, but I cannot. There were so many challenges other than buying the cabin.
The next daunting task we had was to find land for sale, obtain financing and start clearing the property. Easier said than done.
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Land Criteria
I had a few criteria for finding the perfect land. It had to be less than 10 miles from all the major stores. It had to be in the country with a few acres for my animals. Most of all it had to be very private.
We spent every waking minute that Ray was not working, driving around looking for a place we both liked. I was able to narrow it down to 2 counties. Then to one final county.
The other county we did not choose did not allow home building without a contractor. Another factor for not choosing the other county; was that their taxes are double that of the county we chose.
The Budget for Building a Log Cabin
My land budget was $25,000. I knew we would have to get owner financing in order to save money upfront. We have done this several times before. Once you obtain the land in your name, it is much easier to get a bank loan. Not to say there isn’t more work involved.
Looking, Seeking, Finding Land to Build a Cabin
I did not have a lot of time to scout for land because I had to finish up my second college degree. That took a lot of my free time. Whereas, Ray likes to walk in the deep woods since he is an avid hunter and is used to it.
However, as much as I love nature, I am not a fan of hiking up rough terrain. Ray would scout the county I chose and distance from the stores I liked and set off on his adventure to find our dream property.
One day when Ray had finished scouting and arrived home, I knew he had found the land by the look on his face. He didn’t have to say a word. I am sure it was the same look I had when I spotted the cabin for the first time.
Over Budget on Land!
The problem without even seeing the property was the asking price. The land was 18 acres for $108,000. Not sure how he ventured so far off-budget? I said no, absolutely not! He pulled up a Google Earth map and showed me what the land looked like.
I was excited to see it was on top of a mountain ridge and no visible neighbors’ insight of the proposed house to be built. But, there was no way I could walk up that mountain. It was straight up, no road or trail. I had to see if for myself before committing to purchase it.
Perfect Mountain-Top Property
The below picture is one of the views we view from the mountain ridge that overlooks the valley.
Ray asked a homeowner on the ridge if we could park in their driveway and walk out the ridge to view the property. They graciously agreed.
The views were so hard to put into words. I sat down on a rock on top of the ridge which overhung the mountain and it was so peaceful and felt like home. I was hooked! That rock now is what I look out onto every morning from my bedroom window when I wake up. I told Ray if he can pull off the financing then I agreed it would be perfect for our log home.
Luckily for us, the boom had not set in yet in this area and since the mountain was a beast and everyone who ever looked at it knew the money it would take to put in a driveway not to mention hauling in anything that was needed for building.
The land had been on the market for many years and the land-owner was anxious to come down on the price and hold the note for a year if we were to purchase it immediately.
Acquiring Owner Financing
We had the title search and survey done and closed on the contract to buy the land. We made monthly payments on the land and we starting cutting trees. Luckily for us, we used to own a logging company in New York and knew everything there was to cutting in roads and cutting down trees. The owner lowered his asking price and we were grateful for that.
We decided we needed some sort of ATV to get up and down the mountain so we invested in a #Polaris Side by Side 4-wheel ATV. I have to say that was the best investment ever and saved me from walking up the mountain.
It’s getting old now but we still use it all the time to haul firewood and gather rocks at the farmers’ creek when we do a river rock project.
Clearing for a Driveway
We were able to rent heavy equipment from a contractor down the road. We contracted him to cut in the brunt of the driveway up to the ridge. He allowed us to use the equipment after the workers have left for the day in order to continue to work on the driveway.
The rough cut-ins took over a month. We also had to cut in a rough road on the backside of the mountain to haul the logs in since that was basically straight up unlike the front driveway that had many turns and switch-backs.
Expenses for Putting in a Driveway
We had to buy tons of crushed stones at the bottom of the driveway to satisfy the county’s stormwater department. That served as a hindrance for us. The stones were too big that the equipment would hop and spin. We called the inspector to note that we did comply with their guidelines but we notified him we had to remove them in order to drive up the driveway.
The driveway and its issues were an on-going mess for almost 7 years. Hindsight-looking back I wish I had the finances to put in the driveway first; it would have eliminated so many costly mistakes that we paid dearly for. Unfortunately, we did not have the $50,000 for the concrete and still do not have it all paved.
Our driveway had many issues from a dump-truck breaking his axle in the rear-end due to too much torque going up the hill. Concrete trucks sliding down the mountain, nearly unable to stop.
For 5 years, the only transportation I had, was to ride the quad up and down the mountain when I needed to go to town. This meant carrying groceries and such from the truck to the 4 wheeler to the house in all kinds of inclement weather.
Stay tuned next week, applying to many banks to obtain a construction loan…….that be found at 05 Financing for Log Cabin Construction.
If you started here but want to begin the journey, click Log Cabin Farmhouse Introduction to check out our log cabin introduction.
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