I got a great deal trading my 80 acres for 160 to hopefully build a new motocross park. No money in the deal but an ideal location with huge potential. I'm hoping to get sponsorship to help pay for the development but figured it would take at least a few years just to get established. I talked to the neighbor to the South and thanked him for having a friend cut the grass so it could be baled on half the property. He told me there was a lot less opposition to a track than he thought there would be. Today he called and said him and his dad want to buy half the property. They could pay cash because he got a settlement from a car accident. I said I don't want to sell half but could certainly sell some. I'm thinking up to 60 acres. They just want to have more property and his dad wants to put a cabin in the trees. He said I could use the field for extra parking if I had a bigger event. I think it could be a win win for both of us. I'd be able to put up a new shop and have all the necessary money for permits and approach upgrades and most anything else needed. I could even afford to get power hooked up on the property. I think I could get $200K plus if I sold 50 to 60 acres. I feel like the stars are aligning for me. Would be nice to have 160 acres but I don't need that much and the money would sure make things happen faster. It's kind of a weird feeling not having to worry about financing the new project. Wow, kind of unbelievable like I'm in a dream. .
That sounds great but it also seems like cheap land! Around $3.3k an acre, Canadian? Sign me up too! (But not really)
I think I could get $3600-$3800 per acre. The property is very poor for farmland with a lot of sand. Perfect for an MX track but not much else. Apparently the land was listed a couple years ago for $400K but there were no offers. If I can a sell a third of it for half of that I'm golden.
Had an interesting meeting with the neighbor to the South and his dad today. Apparently there are 3 people opposed to an MX track. I'm having a meeting with neighbors next Sunday. The dad was claiming there can only be one approach per 1/4 section but I was told there could be another one if subdivided. He also said If I subdivide less than 80 acres it can't be subdivided further which they want to do on their own so each gets 40 acres. I'll have to look into that. He said they're only interested in buying 80 acres. Then they were saying the property was listed for sale for $400K 2 years ago but were no takers. According to them a lawyer from the gravel pit listed it and not all the owners were notified. I don't remember seeing a realtors sign so it might have been private sign. The son was saying some realtor said the property is only worth about $325K. A professional appraisal was done in March for $910K which is way high but a 2024 appraisal was $550,000 which the gravel pit thought was closer to the actual value. I could sure use the money if I sold half but I want more than $162,500. They claim the half they want is the poorer half. I don't really care if they have a relative that couldn't get $425K for 80 acres with a house and shop. I won't apply for subdivision until I get approved. I could see the dad objecting to the track if I didn't sell half to them but maybe advocating for the track if I agreed to sell to them. I don't want to be bullied or coerced. Maybe I should talk to a realtor about the value and the gravel pit to find out the real story about it being for sale. I also don't know how they know if there were offers or not. Wondering the best way to handle it? If I don't get approved maybe it's best to keep it as a 1/4 section? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Find out about the splitting process for your region, when I bought my property in 2016, they took an 80acre parcel, and split 8 off for my neighbor, and I bought the other 72 acres. In the arrangement, I got to keep 11 future splits for my parcel. I was told each section gets a set amount of splits, and they pass on in each deal that breaks the parcel down. That's all I remember of that. I know the 80 that was split had 12 splits, used one to make my parcel, and I got to keep the remaining 11.
Think I would be contacting a real estate attorney. I had one to get my place built and at 250 an hour, it seemed steep but in the end, he only billed for 3 hours. It was needed to convince the 2 town that I couldn’t provide a right of way to myself, as I owned the property. The 2 towns wanted a set right of way for the driveway as there are more that 2 plots. Just how in the hell do you give yourself a right of way? They just needed someone smarter than me to convince them.
Title insurance companies want everything future-proofed. You may own the entire land today, but in the future maybe something gets split off and they want those abstracts clean clean clean. I bought a neighboring piece of land that did not border our main ranch and I had to do a lot of legal work to "grant" myself access to my new land. Their justification was if I sold the ranch or heired it to my kids there was no legal access to the new land. I am sure they have seen all kids of legal disasters play out in courts.
4 leaf clover? Sorry but Canada, that place scares me. Its bad enough here.
Sure be nice to drive to the states without going through Snow Mexico. Love my Maple Leaf neighbors, hot hamburg sammies, Newfie steak and those cinnamon rolls at Haines Junction.
I made a couple of calls to get the proper info. Yes if I subdivided into 2 80 acre parcels they would each require there own driveway. There wouldn't need to be a private access road unless there were multiple lots. I think over 4 lots would require an access road. Regarding the value, it is not anywhere near what they were claiming. First the gravel pit wasn't liquidating anything. They are very profitable. The property was listed for $400K 2 years ago but it's not that there were no takers as the neighbors claimed. The property was pulled off the market on the advice of their realtor who happened to be related. It was way undervalued. I talked with the CEO of the gravel pit. He said the property has prime frontage on a paved highway and the appraisals were done by one of the most experienced companies in the field. It's what the bank would rely on for a mortgage. He said realistically each 80 acre parcel is worth $325K. If I sold 80 for $200K I'd be leaving $125K on the table! As much as I'd like to have $100K or more to help develop the property I think I'll pass on giving it away to the neighbor. I'll worry about getting the rezoning done first and then possibly sub-dividing on the open market. One guy who works for the firm that will be helping with the rezoning application said getting it rezoned recreational will probably increase the value as well. It could be used for Ag or recreation purposes. I'm usually pretty good at reading people and had a hunch the dad was trying to sweet talk me.
I could see that. With the socialist programs and 70% lower violent crime rate. You never know what might go down
Canada is not a scary place.
I live next to the mountains and very nice place to be. Better than the inner of any city. Simon C
The trucker strike was a very valuable lesson. Actually I wish we could have our Alcan hiway, (and not be accosted going to and from Alaska) that the US paid for during the big one.
I never had any issues hauling into BC. Crossed the boarder at least 4 times a week. Had to get re-brokered load papers then go through customs-no issues. I found terminal dock workers allot better to deal with then on this side. But I was also papered and plated for BC. At that time it cost a commercial vehicle $5 bucks to cross the boarder to U.S., or buy a years pass for $100 bucks. Which I wrote off on taxes as price of doing business. I crossed back the same amount as crossed, customs had a tendency of pulling me in and giving me a FBI check and many times by the same officer. Nuts.
Dragged CF wiggle wagons for 7 years, used to run from Buffalo to Chicago and Detroit across the top through Ontario to save on turnpike tolls in Ohio and Indiana. Used to cross several times a week as well, got more crap coming back into the States than ever did going into Canada. Generally pretty routine and easy overall until those crack heads starting flying planes into buildings, all downhill from there.
Yeah back in the days of no special licenses or pass ports. That highway should be exempt its US dollars that built it. I never plan on going to any foreign country. I'll wait till after after if if. Nuf on that. Oh and while on the topic, since we here give all the same info for a CDL that the special enhanced license requires how come the CDL is not recognized as "ENHANCED" ?