atwoodnative
New Member
I'm here in Montana. Licensed real estate agent for about 25 years. In 2018 I bought my "play place" which is 113 acres of floodplain on both sides of river. No desire to build a home (can't due to being in floodplain), no desire to make money by selling timber for example or leasing for grazing, and other such stuff that is similar to your mindset. I'm 58 (my birthday is today) so bought it when I was 53. Lots of good advice above about doing your due diligence so don't have a lot to add. But I will say this:
1. Yes, your neighbors are important and how well you get along, but neighbors can change. I have had four new neighbors on one property, two on another, and the other two sides have remained the same. Fortunately good luck for the most part, but point is that just because a good/bad neighbor today, does not mean it will stay that way especially when you are looking at 20-30 years.
2. I'm 17 miles away and about a 25 minute drive when traffic not too bad. When I was looking for property I was thinking up to 2-3 hours away. Now that I look back, I cannot imagine having to drive 2-3 hours. With it so close I make a lot more use of it especialy during normal work week. I can do a morning hunt and still get 8 hours of work in. Or go to property after work and tinker on something (check game cams, water trees/shrubs, have a BBQ, go swimming/fishing, etc.) and go home and get up for work the next day. Even if I plan to spend whole weekend there, if the weather ends up being bad, or something else comes up, I don't feel I have to force myself to spend the whole weekend there since I drove 2-3 hours, and I'll instead just go home. Also makes it easier for friends and family to come out for an evening BBQ and then go back home, whereas that probably would not even happen if a 2-3 hour drive. For example, I like to spend whole weekend there in the fall, but my wife and kid not so much, but they can come for an evening, or just one night, and go back home. Another example is my Mom who is in her 80's and loves it there, and she can still drive, so she comes out quite often, but she would never drive 2-3 hours. Again, I didn't even realize how important this was when I was looking for a property, but in hindsight it ended up being extremely important if not the most important thing. A saying in real estate is that the three most important things to consider when buying a property is "location, location and location", and for me, a location within a half hour drive ended up being extremely important.
3. I'm not sure I would call it a negative, but I have cut back or even given up on some other recreational pursuits/destinations I used to enjoy. As an example, I used to upland bird hunt 4-5 times each year on fall weekend days. Not anymore, as I'm out at the property hunting/chores/etc most weekends in the fall. Most of the time it is all good, but sometimes I scratch my head like when I am watering trees/shrubs when I could instead be fishing. So if you already have a lot of pursuits/destinations, be aware that the property will heavily compete with those. There is only so much time in the day. And make sure the rest of the family is on board with that, as some may not want to give up some of these other things. Talk it out and find the balance.
4. Finally, I have not had any regrets. It has not been perfect and some negatives have happened, but the positives far outweigh the negatives.
