Would you buy property in a conservation easement?

[Shadow14]

I have found some larger tracts of land for sale here in the southeast that are in conservation easements. Have any of yall ever bought property like this or is it something to stay away from? What are key factors to consider? Land would be to live on, hunt and some light farming.

 

[WKR]

My understanding is they are used as a tax loophole for land owners. Say you want to buy 100 acres but only want to maintain and pay taxes for the 5 acres directly around the house you build, you would put 95 acres in the conservation easement and enjoy the benefits of still maintaining title ownership but you won't be able to build/develope/cultivate on the 95 acres. I'm pretty sure when you get assigned a conservation easement that the land remains untouched.

 

[BackcountryIdaho]

Consult with a real estate attorney.

 

[SloppyJ]

I would, at a very much reduced price depending on what I wanted it for.

 

[Clovis]

You would be bound by the terms of the easement as agreed to by the previous owner and the easement holder most likely has the right to enforce those terms against you in court. In general, the easements have become more restrictive and those restrictions better enforced over time. It depends on what you want to do with the land and the limitations imposed by the easement, but agree you would want a lawyer to advise you. If it doesn't interfere with your intended use and the price reflects the reduced value based on the easement it may be just fine or even benefit you.

 

[jrbarnes9972]

Yes

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[Beendare]

A conservation easement has many restrictions. If you can live with those restrictions....then yes....personally I wouldn't do it.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Depends on what restrictions are in the easement and what your plans for the property. Check the National Conservation Database to see what the easements are. Depending on the state could be a farmland protection easement or could be something more restrictive.

 

[Tod osier]

I have found some larger tracts of land for sale here in the southeast that are in conservation easements. Have any of yall ever bought property like this or is it something to stay away from? What are key factors to consider? Land would be to live on, hunt and some light farming.

The restrictions could include any number of things, some minor, some could be huge.

My in-laws have a property with a conservation easement that limits the number of buildings and where the buildings can be, restricts livestock and even chickens, allows no significant commercial farming, restricts timber sale and limits annual firewood cutting. In general it has been an OK fit for them, but the number of workarounds they have had to employ has increased the difficulty of projects. For example they wanted a shop and barn, but had exceeded the allowed number of buildings, so before building a new barn they had to turn the unattached garage that was there already into an attached garage to reduce the number of buildings. I believe that what they have would limit food plots of significant size. Call the group that manages the easement directly.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Your profile shows you in Georgia so I'm guessing these parcels you are looking at are in Georgia?

If you are buying the property solely as a place to recreate, then I would not necessarily be deterred by a Conservation Easement if you have large tracts of undeveloped land all around you, however, if making a future profit is a priority at all, I would steer clear. Conservation Easements are permanent and significantly devalue the land. If everything around you eventually gets developed, your peace and the experience you were originally there for might be significantly diminished, but at that point you will have a hard time selling it to someone like yourself as they won't want to be surrounded by development either, and developers won't want it because nothing can be done with it.

I own land in Georgia, and have it in a Conservation Use Assessment which is a 10 year tax treatment covenant with the state that you apply for/renew every 10 yrs via your county tax assessor, and significantly reduces annual taxes. Should I sell, subdivide, or violate any other conditions of the classification during that 10 year period, then I would be in breach of that agreement and have to pay back taxes and a penalty, but it does not limit a future owner from rezoning and developing. So if I ever list the property, it will state "Buyer is responsible for continuing CUVA, or will be responsible for any penalties and/or back taxes due.", which is common to see in listings for timber/hunting property in Georgia.

Make sure you are keeping these two things separate as you look at listings, as they are very different, but often confused.

Feel free to PM me with any questions.

 

[MThuntr]

Depends on the easement and restrictions. Conservation easements can greatly reduce the land's value and I would expect to pay significantly less than similar properties especially since the previous owner got $ for said easement that restricts your use.

You'll need to get the easement documents and likely talk to a lawyer to ensure you don't end up with something you can't use.

Things to discuss...permanent easement or a term (less common but could exist), building limitations, ag exceptions/requirements, restrictions on any uses, potential for subdivision (not necessarily to build but to split)

 

[rookieforever33]

A conservation easement is a legal contract. I wouldn't touch it without a lawyer looking into it. Then decide if it is worth it for you. Then follow the rules or expect bad things to happen.

 

[Tod osier]

A conservation easement is a legal contract. I wouldn't touch it without a lawyer looking into it. Then decide if it is worth it for you. Then follow the rules or expect bad things to happen.

One other thing is that my in-laws easement requires that the land trust that manages it to walk the property annually to check for compliance.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

One other thing is that my in-laws easement requires that the land trust that manages it to walk the property annually to check for compliance.

Pretty standard in easment contracts..but they only have access to the land in the easement not the entire parcel.

 

[Tod osier]

Pretty standard in easment contracts..but they only have access to the land in the easement not the entire parcel.

In the case of this conservation easement, the entire property is included.

 

[MallardSX2]

I put my entire property into a conservation. Saves me a couple grand a year. Anything I don't have to pay to the govt is a win by me...

Damn property taxes were still $4500 this year.

 

[wind gypsy]

The ones i'm familiar with are way too damn restrictive.. If they allowed a lot more of the typical habitat improvements that hunters like to do to their properties they could probably get away with paying less for the damn things and getting nearly all the same benefits.

If the purchase price was right and I went into it with eyes wide open and understood the implications, there are situations where i'd still purchase. In the parcels with such easements that I've seen listed to date it was almost always a deal breaker though.

 

[bozeman]

I was on the verge of purchasing some hunting land that was in a WRP program until I got the contract and saw all of the restrictions. Get a copy and read over it carefully. I called the Engineer who was responsible for said contract and walked thru it with him (great guy) and quickly determined that I would NOT be paying anywhere close to market value for this property and the landowner wanted about 10% above market value since it was 'great property'. It was until your family locked it into a lifetime agreement, got a big check and now want someone else to deal with all of the restrictions.

 

[SCHUNTER73]

I have some friends that own property in conservation easements and hunt on some others. Often times the discount for buying a property in an easement already is worthwhile if all you want to do is hunt.

 

[RockAndSage]

it was 'great property'. It was until your family locked it into a lifetime agreement, got a big check and now want someone else to deal with all of the restrictions.

This.

It's all fun and games until you realize you turned your land into a nationalized park that is largely untouchable.

It's particularly shameful when done by those controlling multigenerational family farms and ranches - the one generation temporarily in charge that should be considering itself a custodian of family land across the generations absolutely screws everyone coming after them.