$350K to Buy Land- Where?

bozeman

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So thinking out loud here. If I have $350K to buy a parcel of land (will have a camper to move seasonally or will build a cover shed and park under it for annual use), where would you buy in the lower west 48? Elk, Mule Deer and Turkey are the main targets and having a place to build some equity and hopefully gain value over the next 15-20 years. There are so many landowner rules, I am not looking to guarantee landowner status, but am looking to maximize chances. We will also use this for hiking and visiting National Parks out west as we make multiple trips annually for this purpose. Just throwing this out for comment. Thanks all.
 

CorbLand

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Are you thinking of eventually moving there? If you dont, look for a state that has good NR opportunities for tags. It wont do you any good to buy land to hunt on if you cant draw a tag.
 
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Are you thinking of eventually moving there? If you dont, look for a state that has good NR opportunities for tags. It wont do you any good to buy land to hunt on if you cant draw a tag.
Problem with that is they move the goal post pretty frequently. Its a roll of the dice no matter where you buy for western game because you are betting against the "tragedy of the commons", which so far appears to be shifting hunting opportunities to outfitter tags and private land. Never mind the all the woke urbanite politicians putting their hands into stuff they know nothing about.

Having said all of that, I would buy something as far from a population center or ski resort as I could get my wife to agree to, and ideally bordering some BLM land. Prob WY or MT at this point. Drive to CO or ID for OTC hunts in years when I couldn't get a tag
 

Pezboat

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Good thread. I dream of someday doing this too. It’s amazing how difficult it is to live the “American Dream” and actually buy some land.
 

Mt Al

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I have all the right answers to everything, you're welcome everybody.

IMHO and with the excellent "moving goalposts" advice above, if it were me I'd buy rural property in Eastern South Dakota, Montana or Idaho and feel fortunate to hopefully bird and predator hunt and fish.

Slight twist: I have a friend who bought a older but habitable house on five acres in a semi-rural town in Montana. He has enough left where he's building a shop with apartment on top of that on the back part of the property. He's planning on renting out the house and staying in the shop/apartment when he visits. Nice to have renters for occupancy and help pay the bills, then he'll festoon the shop with security cameras up the wazoo to send a message that it's being watched. It's in a KILLER fly fishing area, very marginal big game hunting due to mostly private land nearby. No big acreage, but a great getaway with power, a renter. Just a different way to look at it.
 

AZ8

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15-20 years is a long time. I bought some property in 2003 that at the time in my life was perfect. 3 hour drive...Visited it many times a year. I walked the property constantly dreaming of a cabin here, a shop there, a hiking trail over there....etc. It was going to be it!

Fast forward to 2021. I will probably be selling. Haven’t stepped foot on the property in 5+ years. It was awesome when I was 34. At 52, it doesn’t appeal to me anymore.

I guess my point is, make sure you pick the best place that will meet your same needs 20 years from now.
 
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I'd probably take the 350K and buy a 40 of Ag land in north-central Iowa somewhere to lease out and let it pay for itself. Problem is you'll need a little more than 350 for an even 40 in most cases.
 

Laramie

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So thinking out loud here. If I have $350K to buy a parcel of land (will have a camper to move seasonally or will build a cover shed and park under it for annual use), where would you buy in the lower west 48? Elk, Mule Deer and Turkey are the main targets and having a place to build some equity and hopefully gain value over the next 15-20 years. There are so many landowner rules, I am not looking to guarantee landowner status, but am looking to maximize chances. We will also use this for hiking and visiting National Parks out west as we make multiple trips annually for this purpose. Just throwing this out for comment. Thanks all.
Or this one

Gives you an idea what you can buy for that amount. I think you would be better served using that 350k as a down payment on a large piece of land, then subdividing it and selling small chunks for more than you paid. You could end up keeping a significant portion of the original piece and still stay in your original 350k budget.
 
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And if you are going to live there and its not already done, don't forget to budget for pulling wire (electricity) and drilling a well, unless you are going to be off grid. Those two things can be very expensive
 
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bozeman

bozeman

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Dont plan to liver there, as stated, camper on-site for visits. We hike more and more each year out west and truly enjoy the national parks. Yes, I hunt, but that is me and my son, the wife and daughter enjoy the hiking as well. $350K would be 'all in'. I have looked at NW Nebraska, SW/W South Dakota as well. As one mentioned, another focal point was S Central CO. Appreciate the feedback.
 

peterk123

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Interesting topic. We just purchased a townhouse (actually two) in Livingston MT. I would not call it the best part of town. Plan was to move in for a bit, figure out where we want to live then use it as a rental. I am not living in it yet but have visited a couple of times. It is growing on me and we have started to question why would we want a larger house with more land. Started to kick around the possibility of some land we could use for three seasons. Have not even considered even looking yet but I have one simple criteria if I were to even consider it at all. Has to abut public land. Only then would I consider such a play.
 

bobr1

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350k and you don't want to live there and just want to park an rv there? What are your expecations for the property. I mean honestly 350k is not going to buy you a propery big enough to have hunting on it every year for most areas with all those animals. You still have to get draw tags in some of the areas as well you can't just hunt on your propery in some of the states for big game. I think you need at least 640 acres in Montana to get land owner tags for elk so 350k haha no way you will get anywhere near that. And that is if your are considered a resident which means living at your permanent domicile at between 4-9 months of the year depending on the state and a RV does not count as a permanent domicile. If your a not a resident you will still have to apply for non reisdent preference points just to get/draw an OTC tag for deer and elk. Your username is Bozeman. You could get about 3/4 of an acre for 350k in bozeman right now. If you don't plan on living there save the money and use your RV to park in other areas in different states, it would be way cheaper than paying that much for land on top of having to pay property tax and dealing with people trespassing because you are not there most of the time. You could use that money for traveling/hunting/hiking and a way better time than buying land that won't give you an advantage especially if you are not considered a resident of that state.
 
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Joel Skousen’s book is worth a read.

 

Shraggs

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Thought about that too.

but 350k would get you a camper/trailer/motor home, artic oven tent, back packs from Kifaru, stone glacier, exo ha.

could do a lot of diy, and still do unique paid hunts for moose in Alaska, safari hunts and maybe even a time share in one of the states for residency.
 

go_deep

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Here you go. Over the counter deer and turkey tags for NR, plus I'm saving you $49k so you can let my son and me hunt on your place.

 
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