Emails and texts continue to flow at lightning speed now that I have finally decided on something - that is still available, versus all of this nonsense that became unavailable a day after I even saw it, went to look at it and made a decision to buy it - and find out it's "under contract" after sitting on the market for 200 days.

The realtor texted me 20 minutes ago about wanting direct info about the lender, the lender emailed me about that acceptance letter they had already sent - send that to them. So fine.  This is practically real time, this stuff just happened.  I sent the realtor the acceptance letter that had all the info on it and then some - more than she needed.  

I have to tell you the satellite view of the property turned me off. It looked like a piece of land that had the timber cut down and replanted.  It looked too perfect.  Upon walking the land, well - there are 75-100 foot tall pines - my favorite - but the lines are where they cut down trees to open up lanes for whatever purposes.  Apparently hunting, tho I can't imagine doing that much work to go deer hunting?

I can tell ya, that's a lot of man hours that don't need to happen on my part.  

What was interesting is the fact that this land is owned by an "elderly person", as described from the realtor this land was created by.  Umm,, I don't know what this person's situation is, but if he/she is in dire need of the money? I'll pay the full price.  I don't want to mess with the older generation and their needs.  I'm getting there, slowly, but I'm beyond the 40's and getting close to 60's.  

The realtor - not mine, she is dealing with his realtor - will have to go to this man's house to sit down and discuss my proposal for - lessor money - but I didn't know about this situation until after I made the offer.  I really don't want to feel like I'm hurting an older person and their welfare by "taking advantage" of them. I had no knowledge of this until after I made my offer per acre.  

I can tell you I would really feel bad if I found out this person direly needs this money for whatever. 

And the signing process on my part? Over 23 papers worth.

I'm getting a bit excited. This property is not on the MLS. That means it isn't showing for sale anywhere.  I only got the info because I was ready to offer on the other property - across the street - yesterday.  

I will wait - somewhat patiently.  It might be days before I get the answer. But since I agreed to whatever - the full price if they insist - it "should" be mine.  

_________________

We just hit the weekend.  I will find nothing out until Monday at the earliest.  Well I dunno,, realtors are highly motivated, I have been finding out. This lady I have been working with has repeatedly stated she doesn't mind all of the endless questions and queries about properties.  Is this still available, can you ask them about that situation with the property, please offer them this amount, etcetera.  

And, we also hit the grandparents coming down.  So it was of great interest that the 6 year old didn't spend the entire night wit grandma.  That is the normal thing, they come, the boys disappear.  They are immersed in grandma the entire time. 

Instead? He wanted to be with me.  That was highly unusual and I really encouraged him to go spend time with grandma, for they don't get to come down here that often.  It's about 3 hours to where they live.  He didn't refuse per se, he just didn't want to leave my room.  

I have no clue on that one, it was a first.  Whatever the case, it's my time for bed and they are all going over to Shreveport tomorrow to an aquarium over there and whatever else they are doing.  Just for the fact of an aquarium - which I didn't know existed over there - I would have loved to have gone as well.

Instead, I am heading to Brownsville early.  This is my life as it stands. And this is why I traipsed through the wet woods this morning.  I will continue to say it, for I am there and beyond: I am soooo tired of working for someone else.  I don't care who or what it is, they are benefiting from my labors. I am getting a wage, yes, but I am not getting the dividends of owning a business nor the freedom of doing so.  Ok, no one said there is a lot of freedom in owning your own business. 

Or did they?  You aren't beholden to a company. You aren't on their schedule.  You don't have to account for anything to a person "above" you.  You account to your customers.  You try to make them happy.  And if they can't be happy? They can go somewhere else.  

I'm nowhere near  the position of quitting my job. Years more to go.  Whatever becomes of this business enterprise - unless it flourishes to the point I don't need to work for someone else anymore - I will still have to work for ... someone else.  

Now, do I think this business could flourish? Yes!  100%.  I think it will flourish. But does that happen right away, or does it take time to build a reputation in the RV industry? I have no clue.  I am clueless about alot of things - I have tried to find out, but some things are going to be relegated to "live and learn" theorem.  I have never been a businessman, the learning curve here is high.  You don't know how much time I have spent studying and asking questions and trying to find out about things related to this particular business and operating a business in general.  

Well, perhaps long time readers understand how much time I will give to learning about things that I no knowledge about, but want to gain understanding. Business expertise undoubtedly comes with experience and all I can say about that is: you have to start somewhere, even if late in life.  

This thing will cost every penny of my savings and all of the old 401k and then some.  There is risk involved here in dumping a bunch of money into an endeavor that - could possibly fail.  I acdtually, seriously doubt it will utterly fail and if it does, I have a back up plan.  Plan A gone, Plan B comes in place.  Or, Plan A will work along side Plan B.  As long as I can get utilities on the land - which shouldn't be a problem - I can make money.  As long as I can clear even a part of the land - I can make money.  

Get rich quick? No.  Help pay for retirement? Yup.  That's the goal and leave something behind for Caleb if he so desires. Tho, my will at the moment includes him and another individual not related to me.  Caleb has voiced  his desire to come out here - I stated that here before. I try to read between the lines and at this point? I don't know if that means a visit or stay - as in - staaaay.  If he wanted to visit only, he would say so.  I could put him up on the - potential - property in a mobile if that doesn't bother him and he can find a new life out here if he so desires.  Help manage the park for tha tmatter.

It takes money to make money. That old adage is never truer for my reality than it is now.  I'm going to try to figure out how to get something go0ing with the money I will have after down payment and other fees for the land. The whole property doesn't need to developed at first. I just need - minimum 20 spaces anyway - to start with.  End up with 60-70. I don't want to overload the land and I'm not trying to be greedy.  There should be land left over for walking trails and book reading benches - quiet places for people to hang out and enjoy nature. This is definitely going to be a nature type thing. 

Some people like that, others want a shopping mall down the street. I will not be trying to cater to everyone. I'm more on the - enjoy nature - side.   

I have high confidence that I will get this property since it isn't listed on the MLS, there are no ads for it on any of the land sale sites, I have made an offer which includes instructions to the realtor to agree to the full price if they don't come down  and I don't see too much way for anyone to sneak in and take it from me.  I'm still concerned about this "elderly person" thing. Full price would still only be about $321 per month.  I look at the price per acre but I also look at the value of the property and it's location and the utilities available. And other things, such as level land versus hilly land.  

I'm going to end this and hope that I can clear my mind enough tonight to be able to get to sleep. Or stay asleep, I should say.  I just feel like I am finally on the brink of getting something started.  Even if only a foot in the door, land has been the most perplexing, complicated, irritating and ridiculous thing to get. Get the land? You just started.

There is so much potential with this property. 

With that, it is bedtime.  

 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.  

 Friday morning.  

1st full day off in weeks, literally weeks.  

My plan was to get the pond going and go check out some properties.

My plans - were disrupted.  It's going to rain - allllll day long.  That makes putting the pond up impossible, I need a dry day for that.  The reason is I put thick duct tape over the overlaps on the trough - keep it from potentially puncturing the liner down the road.  

Going to look at properties? I dunno yet. Maybe. Just plan on getting wet I guess.  The "new" property yesterday I discarded as a non-starter.  Too much road noise and machinery noise from the auto salvage yard next door - which pervades the entire property with noise.  And the lack of access. The owner is claiming a gate at the side of the property - which you have to cross another property to get to and use a mini storage driveway - is the access to it.

? That's not access. That's the owner of the property not knowing you're using their nice, concrete driveway to get to your property.  They certainly aren't going to want a bunch of RV's driving up through there and then?  You get to the easement to get to the property - it's power lines running through the first property and then the one that's for sale - and it's not wide enough to build a decent road.  I don't get how all of these properties can be landlocked, but they are.  There's a 28 acre property that looks perfect as well for cheap - cheap because....there is no legal access to it.  

My thoughts return to the - overpriced property - that is in a great location in a great neighborhood. Perhaps price per acre is mitigated by the location. It's still iffy to me tho because of that road going through it that is used by an oil and gas company that has a natural gas well operation going on. A portion of that well site - small portion - is on the property, the rest is on the property next door.  Anyway, I just asked the realtor to ask if they decided to add any property onto that deal.  That would mitigate that road and would also add the needed two extra acres to qualify for the loan. 

Taylor quit her job yesterday, so she will be a stay at home mom now, they're dragging the 4 year old out of daycare permanently at the end of the month.  That's going to drive her insane I believe. That boy is  5 handfuls for the caretakers at the daycare and one of them even asked her how she was going to be able to handle that boy.  I dunno, but that is her current chosen path, so beit.

I think I will go look at at least two properties.  I'm going to drag Addler with me.  He probably won't like the rain, too bad so sad, get over it dog.  He can come home after that and lounge in my bedroom the rest of the day.  He likes that, lol.  He could spend the rest of his life in my bedroom and think nothing of it.  

No other news? I dunno, my mind is somewhat consumed with this land search.  I gotta get this done and over with. Yes I have 90 days but I don't want to wait that long.  Although the thought occurred that the tax lien sale will occur before that 90 day window is up.  Could go to that auction.  It's still too far off, they don't have anything listed for it yet.  It's another month and a half before the next sale.  I have plenty of cash right now, I could definitely land some acreage if anything was available. At the same time, the monthly payment for the 12 acres I'm about to go look at would be $321 per month - without taxes or insurance.  

And it is raining again. It stopped for half an hour and now it's right back at it, with heavy rain coming, at least judging by the radar map.  I have an umbrella, lol.

Have a great day.

Yesterday.

Late loading time? late day.  I got up to the plant and then decided I would get through Tulsa and then stop - somewhere. Not many places to stop.. Not the direction I am going anyway. The Loves was filled up, so I thought, okay, I'll drive the 70 miles to the next place and spend the night there.  And? It was beyond full. Even the places that aren't actually designated for trucks, all filled up.

I dreaded the idea of driving another 75 miles, I was burnt out and it's dark driving out there on that turnpike.  But I had no choice.  By the time I got to the casino truck stop? I got off the clock, crawled into bed and instantly passed out.  

So this property with this pond? "Half of it is under contract".  This property has been on the market for 187 days and now that I am interested in it? It is sold.  The portion that was sold included the pond, of course, the other part is mostly easement that you can do nothing with. The property owner put another 12 acres up across the street from it - looks interesting I may check it out tomorrow. 

11.5 acres came available yesterday just outside of town.  It looked nice.  It is nice, actually, for I went and looked today. Except for one little detail. There is a junkyard next door. When I realized there was one there - it showed up on the satellite image - I envisioned a lot of noise, and especially the noises of back up beepers on converted front end loaders - turned into giant forklifts. 

I've been around junkyards in the past.  But I checked it out anyway.  Took Addler, he loves any opportunity to get out.  When I got there, I didn't hear the beeping - but that was because I was hearing more road noise at that side of the property and was focused on the fact that the entrance "road" is nothing more than a power line easement. The only access to this property is through an easement and it's not wide enough for what I would need.  But halfway in, I heard it: beep, beep, beep, beep - unending. Like they put it in reverse and then just leave it - in reverse. 

I was 500 feet away and yes, it was noisy.  I wrote that one off. Between the highway noise and the noise from that yard? No thanks. 

So now I feel like I'm back to square one. But I will go take a look at the property across the street from the other one tomorrow and I'm going to go look at a property i was looking at before. Over priced and some issues, but if they'd come down in the price it might be worth it.  Great location.  

Other than that, there are no other properties that fit the criteria and I will wait. It's a 90 day limit on that loan. New properties come up - not all the time but here and there. If I get to the end of that loan period, then I will have to make a decision. Buy something iffy, or let the loan go and stick to trying to get something from the tax lien sale.  

There's a lot of rain coming down right now, tomorrow will be great to check out that one property that shows a portion of it in a flood zone.  What does the rest of it look like?