I'm done with losing out on a property because I waited - a whole freaking day or two - and then find out the property is already under contract.  They put this property up for sale yesterday - but it's not showing on any of the land sites yet.  

I went out there in this rain - it's raining heavy and it's definitely wet enough and has rained long enough that if there were any water issues on this property, it would show up.  And honestly, I didn't walk the whole thing. I walked a lot of it, yes, but not everything. I'm not concerned about that, I saw enough "dry" ground that I can do what I need to do with it without fear of not having enough dry land to do what I need to do.  A bit of water logged land wouldn't bother me at all, actually.  

But, as I said, it's raining and I was carrying a giant umbrella - it was a bit hard to get through the brush with that thing over top of me - but it kept me dry.  

I found lots of "roads" in there.  These are wide, elongated clearings where someone has cut out the trees already and created a path through.  At at least 15 feet wide, RV's could easily drive through that - the road surface would have to be dealt with, of course, plow it up and put down gravel - but I'm in love with this place already.

Power across the street, that would just be paying a contractor to put in a pole and run the line across the street.  ATT has cable running through there - an unexpected plus that I didn't see the other day when I was going through the other property across the street. There are ATT signs - please contact us before digging - and there is a pedestal at the corner.  I don't need to dig, I just need to clear land, as long as the cable is at least a few feet underground I won't have to worry about that.  This presents the opportunity to have wifi on the property, something I was hoping for on any given place but not a deal breaker.  

Verizon has 3 bars out of 4 on many areas of the property and only 1 bar on others.  I would have to get someone with ATT phone out there to check on that, but probably the same since a lot of them piggyback on the same cell towers. 

The property has a slight grade to it.  A bit of a drawback but also not a deal breaker. I want level lots for RV'ers - that's what they demand. So, lots may have to be dug down just a bit near the backs of them and put in small block walls.  No biggies, a bit more work than I want but it's a problem I am willing to deal with. It's a very slight grade so I'm not concerned about it. There are steeper grades elswhere on the property, I don't have to use any of that.  

I could easily hide a couple of mobile homes in the rear of the land. The property is literally covered with trees.  BIG trees, not just small ones. it's a mix, actually, the smaller stuff would probably have to come down along with the underbrush.  Why would I want mobile homes on there? For onsite management.  I have a couple of people in mind, one of which would very likely jump on the opportunity to have a free place to live - they pay for the utilities but everything else is free.  

I could easily put on 60 lots and have plenty of space left over.  The property next door is unused, perhaps some day that could be in the offing. It's not for sale but it isn't being used for anything.  

There doesn't appear to have been anything ever built on this property.  Just a deer stand in the middle of those "roads".  I guess someone went through all of that trouble to create a hunting grounds?  

Besides the lack of a pond/body of water, this property appears to be perfect.  Without taxes and insurance, it's only $321 per month after putting 20% down.  That money is sitting in the bank, waiting for me to do something with it. I could actually build a pond at some point.  Just the water issue.  But, if I could dig a well to supply it with water, that would work.  I wouldn't want to use water out of the public utility because it would cost a fortune to keep a pond filled up like that.  That's nothing in the present tho.  

There is a body of water nearby.  I've been on it several times with the boat. The Brandy Branch Reservoir is a man made "lake" used to cool a very large power plant right next to it.  That is somewhat of an attraction since it's close by - not on the property but it's a selling point never-the-less.  The only real drawback of this property is the nearest towns.  My town is like 4 to 5 miles away, there is a small town probably another 5 miles the other direction.  But, the selling point is the peace and quiet the woods afford for those that like tall pines and being off the beaten path.  It's just far enough from the Interstate not to have constant traffic noise - I-20 is a heavily used highway and it's got traffic running up and down it day and night.

Of course, the inconvenience of not having a convenience store nearby opens up the possibility of having my own convenience store in the office, on-property.  RV'ers tend to carry their own supplies with them tho, they mostly ask for ice and treats for the kids and such.  The nearest Walmart is about 6 to 7 miles as well a Krogers, a Super 1 is maybe 5 miles away.  I was torn between being close to a city or not.  I wasn't torn on the idea of needing it near a major highway. That, in my view, is a necessity.  Advertising a mile off the Interstate will be a huge selling point to RV'ers wanting to stay somewhere overnight and not wanting to have to go too far off the highway.  

All of that to say that yes, I pulled the trigger on this property.  Location, available utilities, price.  Price a tad bit higher than I want per acre. I asked the realtor to offer them $4,000 grand per acre. They have it listed at $4,750 per acre. I then instructed her to take any counter offer. After that, I said to take it even if they don't come down at all in price.

I can't spend the rest of my life looking for the "perfect" place and I have been getting literally nowhere for a long time just looking for land. It's gotten frustrating and annoying. I want a land and then, baaaam, it's under contract right when I want to make an offer.  Again, this property just got listed yesterday. I contemplated not going today to look at it, but then I thought, what if it's a great piece of land, I don't go because of the rain and tomorrow I find out it's already under contract?  I did not take Addler. He's a big baby and doesn't like the rain.  He would have been drenched - for if I had taken him, I would have forced him to go walking with me.  

If this falls through, I will  be disappointed, I am not going to lie. But I at least can take solace in the fact that I did my due diligence to check the place out, make sure everything is available - there is no sewer but that's to be expected in any of these land properties. With the ground not being saturated with water even after it's raining, installing a septic system shouldn't be a problem. It will be expensive, but I have relative confidence that I can install one. There are parks that do not have sewer systems.  RV'ers are all self contained, but not having sewer doesn't work for a lot of people that pull in and want to dump their black water holding tanks.  

If I get this property, then starts a series of actions that I will take to get this project started.  It will be a long time before it's finished, up and running. I can definitively state that right off the bat.  There is a lot more than meets the eye in getting one of these things going and there is definitely expense just putting in the utilities. I have counted the costs.  I can expect 20 to 25 grand for a big enough septic system. I can expect several grand to have them install a power pole to the property and run the lines over to it.  The water - I will have to pay a contractor to put in about 125 feet worth.  I don't know how much that will cost, but a couple of thousand sounds about right. It's just dig a trench, lay the line and install a meter.  ATT cable - no idea.  I can't imagine it costing much of anything to simply run it across the street - hopefully can piggy back on the power line.  If it had to be bored under the street, well that's a lot more.  

But cable/wifi is not the first priority.  The utilities are. Just get them TO the property and then figure out the rest after that.  I am also wanting to use a professional service to draw me up a layout.  I can video the entire property, they can see it through satellite, outline the existing roads and come up with a blueprint.                    

Is it time to celebrate? Not yet.  I don't have it under contract and until that happens I will remain cautiously hopeful.  Meanwhile, Taylor wants to go get a coffee at the new Starbucks.  

Talk more later, when I get an answer.