Me Right Now UPDATE 2 - It's happening

"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion) 01/13/2020 at 14:03 • Filed to: None

12

46

UPDATE II - Return of the Update: Uh, yeah so we signed a P&S today on the piece of land next to our own. It will give us 12.03 acres total in a great location, and our tax bill will actually go down (conservation land FTW). Closing by the end of the month, hopefully. I’ve been looking at buying 100's of evergreen seedlings in the spring and basically planting our own forest - around 4 acres was totally clear-cut this fall. The higher elevation / more level area will have smaller vegetation, e.g. wildflower / mixed field blend, to keep a view open . And then very little else besides weed whacking and trail building. Camping, too I think. I will also cut some more trees (ironically) between the two parcels, to remove the screen of trees blocking our view to the NW from our house. I was waiting to see what happened with that land before making that move. So here we are. Free* firewood! *not counting a) purchase price of land or b) my extensive labor in cutting, hauling, splitting, and stacking said firewood.

*** Scroll all the way down to see the view!***

update 10:37am - The realtor called back! I said some large numbers over the phone that are meaningless in Real Life, but do represent a number of currency units, which can be exchanged for goods or services; in this case, hopefully, some land. Can we even truly own land? Don’t the things we own !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , in some way? Let’s not get philosophical here, though. Just take my offer and let me start building mountain bike trails. There may be another update ... later. Now I’m going skiing with my son and totally not checking my phone every 5 minutes.

She said, “It’s a strong offer.”

We’re trying to buy 6+ acres of land next to ours. The listing went live and we have been waiting 11 years for this opportunity; I was hoping to get an offer in before it was visible to the general public, because it’s a desirable piece of land in a very desirable location (hence why we’re there in the first place). But it went live, and I already got a text from a friend who has been trying for YEARS to buy land in this town. I may or may not have physically threatened him.

We want this land. I called the realtor yesterday, we talked, I said I’d call in the morning with a number. I have a number. I called and it went to voicemail.

Waiting...

COME ON CALL ME BACK

—

slightly more info:

We have reason to believe that the seller would do well to sell to us, given what we know about the land and our relationship to it. The seller knows this, because we’ve discussed it directly. We hope this will give us some consideration in our offer which is almost certain not to be the only one. The seller already did us the favor of letting us know it was coming up for sale, but it went live before we were able to get our proverbial ducks in a row.

Fingers crossed!

vondon302 > functionoverfashion 01/10/2020 at 10:25

0

Good luck! 

functionoverfashion > vondon302 01/10/2020 at 10:45

2

Thanks! She called back and was really positive about our position. It’s her job to do that, I know, but she went out of her way to say she thought we were in a unique position in a good way. I’ll share more later.... hopefully good news! And maybe much later, a little more background on why this came up for sale in the first place.

ClassicDatsunDebate > functionoverfashion 01/10/2020 at 10:52

2

Good luck! What a great oppo-tunity (*crowd groans)

What part of the world?

Thomas Donohue > functionoverfashion 01/10/2020 at 10:52

0

Is that a picture of the lot? Good luck either way.

How many acres is your current lot?

Mid Engine > functionoverfashion 01/10/2020 at 10:52

2

Curious where the property is, I took a leap of faith and bought 7.2 acres an hour east of Seattle a year ago, absolutely zero regrets. 

TysMagic > functionoverfashion 01/10/2020 at 10:54

1

god speed - all of the good luck vibes to you

vondon302 > functionoverfashion 01/10/2020 at 10:58

1

Sounds good. I live on a dead end street and the property next to me came up for sale. Partially wooded and wetlands 1.7 acres no access. I made a ridiculously low offer and didn't hear anything for 9 months. Seller added 5grand to my offer and I said yes. Just found out 2 smaller lots and much wetter across the street sold for triple what I paid for. I was so damned lucky. 

Nothing > functionoverfashion 01/10/2020 at 11:01

1

Good luck! Sounds like an awesome opportunity, I hope you get it.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > functionoverfashion 01/10/2020 at 11:01

0

About where?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > functionoverfashion 01/10/2020 at 11:12

1

Fingers crossed!

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > functionoverfashion 01/10/2020 at 11:40

1

Well, if it comes to it, there is always chicanery...

BKosher84 > functionoverfashion 01/10/2020 at 12:18

1

Good luck and keep us all updated. Gorgeous view too!

functionoverfashion > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 01/11/2020 at 08:54

0

Central NH 

functionoverfashion > ClassicDatsunDebate 01/11/2020 at 09:52

2

Central NH - and thanks, we made an agreement yesterday! So psyched. 

functionoverfashion > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/12/2020 at 21:40

0

Thanks! There will be an update this week. A good one. I’ve been pricing out bulk sapling evergreens of various species. 

functionoverfashion > Mid Engine 01/13/2020 at 10:40

0

This is in Central NH. I will update later this week, maybe today even. With good news. 

functionoverfashion > TysMagic 01/13/2020 at 11:38

0

Thanks, it seems like things are coming together. More soon. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 11:44

1

Woohoo! Happy for you all.

Just Jeepin' > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 14:10

1

Congrats! Now you need some Jeep trails!

functionoverfashion > Just Jeepin' 01/13/2020 at 14:16

1

MTB trails! It’s a bit steep for anything other than following the logging road, and even that would be too steep if it’s slippery. The skidders struggled at times on the steeper sections. I’d take some pics but it’s really hard to capture steepness of trails that way. 

ttyymmnn > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 14:21

3

Congrats! First Annual Oppo Campout in 5...4...3...2...1...

Chariotoflove > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 14:34

1

It’s really happening. So exciting!

functionoverfashion > ttyymmnn 01/13/2020 at 14:44

1

ha! I mean, technically there would be plenty of parking... 

functionoverfashion > Thomas Donohue 01/13/2020 at 14:45

1

That picture is the view, yeah. It was logged thoroughly, but as we have no big plans for it for many years, it will grow back and we’ll do our part to make it what we want.

Oh, and our lot is 5.5 so we’ll have 12 in total. 

Snuze: Needs another Swede > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 14:45

1

Congratulations! This is most excellent.

I tried to post last week when you first posted about this but my comments kept getting lost in the aether. I’m glad it worked out though, and love your plans. I have a buddy who has about 100 acres in Western Maryland, and he put almost half of it in conservation. Apparently the tax benefits are quite nice. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 14:46

1

Awesome!! So cool.

functionoverfashion > BKosher84 01/13/2020 at 14:46

0

Thanks, we are going to buy it! Signed P&S today. The view is the same from our house next door, but we don’t see the industrial buildings or trailer park thanks to strategic cutting

functionoverfashion > Nothing 01/13/2020 at 14:47

0

Thanks, we signed P&S today! So excited. 

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 14:53

1

Congratulations!

functionoverfashion > Chariotoflove 01/13/2020 at 14:56

1

Thanks! I think it could be neat if we’re actually able to plant 100's of evergreens, with a field of sorts up top . We’ll see if that actually works

Deal Killer - Powered by Focus > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 15:09

1

That looks like a nice piece of property. It’s good that you are leaving it undeveloped, which is rare in today’s world. I’m assuming you have all rights to the land, timber/mineral, etc. You mentioned that part of the property had been cleared already for timber, and you wouldn’t want to find out later that a timber company has the right for further clear cutting.

On the topic of “free” firewood, I always get a kick out of people who want wood out of my stack, which I felled, hauled to my house, split and stacked in my garage. I have fires with some of the neighbors in the summer, fewer now than in years past, and I like to have about a rick of wood for use. People assume since I didn’t pay for it, that my labor is somehow “Free”. Nope. I cut the wood for my use. If you’d like to enjoy a campfire, come on over when I light up some wood in my firepit. Bring beer.

Textured Soy Protein > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 15:17

1

Meanwhile I’m like,

“Land? What is this land of which you speak?” 

TysMagic > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 15:53

0

the update is grand news! Excited to see more 

vondon302 > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 15:57

1

Woot! congrats!

shop-teacher > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 16:17

1

Congrats!  That’s awesome!

TheRealBicycleBuck > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 16:44

1

My old boss had a feud with his neighbor. The fellow was given to making lots of noise at odd hours. To muffle the noise, my boss planted the front three (?) acres of his property with pine seedlings. A few years later, the noise was abated with the bonus of drying up the annoying neighbor’s pond. That’s when they discovered that the primary source of water for the pond was my boss’ property.

I hope it all works out for you. I’m looking forward to owning some acreage again some day.

functionoverfashion > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/13/2020 at 20:56

0

Thanks and... wow. I’m sure the clearcut will affect what’s downhill of this land, and we’ll be affected by the 60% cutting they did on the land uphill of us, across the road we’re on. That land isn’t as steep as ours, so it shouldn’t be AS bad, but still.

I’m excited about the prospect of planting a forest, more or less. It also seems like I’ll get 200 seedlings and be like “I need 2000 more” but we’ll see.

Thanks, and I hope I feel as good about it a few months from now as I do now. This is a long play, for sure. I just hope we can stay ahead of the inevitable dense growth disaster that the land will become without some intervention. 

functionoverfashion > shop-teacher 01/13/2020 at 20:59

1

The truck has just become partly a tractor. I’ll be using it over there for sure, although I could really use a real tractor. Luckily I can borrow one from time to time from a couple different people. 

functionoverfashion > TysMagic 01/13/2020 at 21:04

1

Thanks! This is kind of a long play, for sure. We don’t intend to do a lot with it, but try to keep it from becoming a disaster. Planting some evergreen seedlings (pine, spruce, hemlock, fir, etc) in the spring, and field seed up top? Then a campfire spot and some tent sites for camping with the kids. A woods road (very rough) for access via my truck ... that’s about it for now.

TheRealBicycleBuck > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 21:28

1

There are a number of different approaches you can take to restore the property. You might consider tree shelters to help some of those special “specimen” trees survive the first few years. Shelters create a mini greenhouse around individual seedlings, providing a more favorable environment for growth and protecting them from deer.

Dense growth can be managed with mowing, but a more ecologically diverse area can be created with some brush piles and some overgrowth. There’s a lot of literature out there that can guide you.

I can’t wait to see what you do with it!

TysMagic > functionoverfashion 01/13/2020 at 21:42

1

I’m hoping my parents will retire to the 10 acres they purchased near a national park. They built a cabin out of the trees to the clearing on the land. It’s beautiful and better than the 40+ acres they’ve got right now 

functionoverfashion > TysMagic 01/14/2020 at 09:13

1

That is sweet. My parents built a barn out of trees they cut on their property a few years ago... actually 2008 now that I think about it. Anyway, it’s a neat way to do it. We’ve got 5-6 huge pines that we’ll have to cut in order to make space for a garage, and I’d like to at least try to use the trees for the siding or something. 

TysMagic > functionoverfashion 01/14/2020 at 09:20

1

that would be really cool! Neat way to make some history for the space...and it’s less would you have to split and stack. I do not miss doing that, even after we got a gas powered wood splitter, it was exhausting work 

functionoverfashion > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/14/2020 at 09:20

1

Interesting, I’ve seen those tree shelters before. It would be SO COOL to plant some fruit trees, but I’m not sure I have the time to properly manage that, not to mention it’ll take a generation to have real trees. But it might be worth doing up higher on the property where we’ll spend more time.

For sure, some of it will just be let go to do whatever it will do, it’s so hard to even walk on, and is uneven, steep, rocky, filled with stumps and leftover slash.

I’ll try to take more pictures, if nothing else, so I can look back at where it started. There’s still some old(er) forest near the bottom, maybe 2 acres? I haven’t really explored that area yet.

One thing we may consider is a solar array on part of it. We could run the power back to our house pretty easily. But one thing our current property doesn’t really have is a good solar location, other than the very peak of our roof (where there’s already a solar hot water array). Using the property to make our own more sustainable would be an obvious win.

For now, my father is doing a bit of surveying to accurately locate the bounds, as well as the ROW we have over the next parcel over. As soon as the snow melts I’ll be exercising that ROW with my truck, haha. 

functionoverfashion > TysMagic 01/14/2020 at 09:32

0

It is a ton of work, I’ve done it that way a few times, and I always have a few trees that I’ve cut that we split and stack for firewood. But I do have a few cord delivered already split, it’s just not worth the time that I don’t have. I do enjoy the work, though, it’s relatively brainless, moderate exercise, and immediately satisfying. 

TysMagic > functionoverfashion 01/14/2020 at 10:01

1

That is true, there is some satisfaction when the machine binds for a second and the wood just splits perfectly. My dad and I used to spend the summer and fall collecting wood for the winter