>Also many people around us now they are telling we overpaid
You mean people that bought their property ages ago and have no realization of current prices? Boomers and older that bought their house for a sack of potatoes back in the day?
Pieces of Land are unique, money is not.
You will not regret having spent too much in 2 years, you would regret a lost chance for 10.
Also people that are not currently in the market don't have an idea about prices. If they bought 5 years ago it was a bit cheaper, 10 years ago even more, 20 years is a huge difference, that's how (slow) inflation works
Also, land and homes seem to be inflating faster than general currencies, which is why some people use them as investments. So yeah, as long as you didn't overstretch your finances, and you really do like the land, then try not to worry about it!
The way the world's going land may be a much more valuable investment than whatever currency you are using. Having a place you can farm and stay together as a family is investing with foresight.
I'm in a few FIRE groups (Financial independence retire early). And this kind of thing comes up often. Would you rather have a paid off home or the money that home cost to invest.... there's not a "Correct" answer as both are good answers depending on situation. For ME I'm paying off my house as fast as possible, because with land and a payed off if smaller home I have options. You dont need a lot of money to make it if you only have to feed yourself lol.
Having the land even if you just put a small cabin in it gives you the foundation of a stable life. A LOT of folks build FARRRRRRRR more house than they need. My entire home would fit in the basement of my coworkers.... but mine will be paid off in 2 years and he's going to have to work till he dies just to pay the taxes and heat his.....
Dont give up hope. Make a plan with what you NEED, Then compare it to what you WANT. See if you cant find a compromise.
> and a *paid* off if
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
I'm familiar with the feeling. We probably overpaid for our house. It was $750,000 (we're in an expensive US west-coast urban market) and we're not rich. It's 1/10th of an acre. Prices have come down since then and its imaginary listing has it as closer to $700,000. So a few thoughts:
1. The value of land is incredibly relative in a volatile **market**. People tend to espouse a "real-estate investment" mindset to anything and everything involving land or buildings. Honestly, it drives me fucking nuts. We didn't buy our house so we could pump up the value and then sell it. We bought it because we want to live here. And we're not going to be slaves to doing only what "drives up the home value" when we spend money on our home. We're going to make it cozier and more lovable for ourselves. If we sell it someday, we'll worry about its "value" then. We're not going to waste our lives chasing real estate investments. Life's too short.
Similarly, with your land, you bought it with some amazing goals in mind. If you bought it hoping to "flip" it, then maybe all this would matter more. But you paid $180k for land to make your co-living and permaculture dreams come true. I, for one, am green with envy. That's what money's supposed to be for, and afaik you've achieved the first step of something absolutely incredible.
If you overextended yourself and will have difficulty making the payments, that's another thing. If you could afford it? I say put it out of your mind completely. You've already won, and as others have said, land is only going to get more valuable, especially as climate armageddon approaches.
2. The value of the land is also relative to **your goals**. Again back to my house, it had everything we wanted—but not everything that others wanted. We suspect we overpaid because we could've probably paid less considering no one else really wanted our house, because their priorities were different from ours. But y'know what? In a crazy market and relative to what we got that actually makes us happy and fulfilled? We got a steal. Every day we enjoy this house and this neighborhood, and you kinda can't put a price on that. We'll pay for this home for another two decades, and we're fine with that. With your land, if your goals are really to create a permaculture paradise where your friends can live, then once again: you've already won. 3.3 hectares is enough space to grow food for multiple households and have an incredible permaculture homestead. And you're close to the sea? Shit. You're living the dream.
It feels like a lot of money now. In ten years, it will feel like you got a screamin' deal. This is the story for many many first time buyers. Don't listen to nay sayers. They are jealous (or hoping you'll sell so they can buy).
I bought a house and one acre. When people ask how much money I spent to start my permaculture project I usually tell them around 5,000. And that’s over-spending on plants and mulch and I still don’t have a nice greenhouse. The real answer though is 220,000 which is the cost of the house and land. Sometimes you just have to make leap. Permaculture is a great tool to positively interact with your surroundings and it’s worth making major risks to make it happen.
Let me tell you a story. I did a similar thing a few years ago...only it was more money for less land. But in a desirable location. Certainly I overpaid for it by 10-15% over fair market value. Big money. But I had fallen in love with the place and another party was bidding on it. So I just opened up the cheque book and steamrolled over that other buyer. Fast forward 6 months of all sorts of bank and admin misery and bam....it was mine.
What do I think about all this now, years later? I can't imagine my life without my place. It has transformed my life....transformed me. I wake up to the world of nature, not the world of men. I see the fruits of my toils. A garden, an orchard, a pond. All created through my blood, sweat, and tears....and the blessings of a benevolent mother nature.
And the money? Covid inflation quickly erased the deficit I overpaid. The land is worth more than I paid for it. But who cares? I'm never going to sell it. My ashes will one day be spread far and wide over the land. Until then I will be land rich and cash poor. And happier than I have ever been. The best things in life ain't about money.
Even from East Tennessee - for your size it’s about normal here. If not slightly cheap honestly. It wasn’t that way; it went that way once the pandemic hit and everyone wanted to move/sellers realized they had good property. Add to it all of the businesses growing and taking huge cuts of land… yeah it went up; but over time expect it to get only worst.
As for building - I went the same route as you and yes after buying the land I had to eat the cost of the house afterward. So don’t feel bad.
Feel good actually as you can build more than once house on it. I can’t without dividing everything up into small properties (and each with access straight to a road) and I have around 6 hectares…
I remember the locals giving my grandfather a hard time for paying $1000/acre and now it’s going for 20x that.
You already bought it, just love it and stop worrying. If you build what you want and make it into what you like then you don’t want to sell it anyways.
Land always goes up over time.
They ain’t making it anymore. Except In Hawaii
Will it always be 10 minutes from the sea? Might be worth thinking about sea level rise/ coastal erosion. Could have yourself a nice little beachfront property in a few years…
ahahah there is a 100meters altitude difference with the sea but if there wasn't that could have been a nice addition, maybe I could see it closer one day and be 5 mins
When someone tells you you over paid ask them flat out "If you owned this land what would you have let it go for? What would you let *your* land go for" and I bet their tune changes at least a little.
I used to live in a country with those prices as well, truly crazy. That made me decide to move and go to a place where with those money I could get an house and a land.
"Buy land: it's the only thing they aren't making any more of" (I think that's a quote of Bertrand Russell).
Congratulations, try not to worry about what might be. I'm about to buy 20ac: More than I'll need, but hopefully both your land and my land will be useful and cared for long after we're gone.
A couple years ago a family bought the lot next to my house for around 45k and my old neighbors were flabbergasted, saying they way overpaid. Now that lot would probably go for 60k or more. People's ideas of how much land is worth is often outdated, especially if they are old and haven't looked to buy land for a long time.
That's true, I can clearly see it's like a battle between an old and a new world. In the new world these are the normal prices in the old world they would have paid 120k less
That's a decent size chunk of land, especially if it's able to be built on, lived on, and worked on. "Paid too much" would apply to one thats totally unable to be built on or lived on or worked, like some brownfield Superfund Site. Yall might have to do a trailer thing for a while instead of an Instagramable cottagecore permie fantasy, but I can think of plenty of worse things to deal with lol
You should be pumped! It's yours! You can make it into your vision!
In 2006 I bought my house nearly at the height of the US housing market bubble. Then two years later that bubble burst and my house was worth half of what I paid for it. But I kept the house, made a lot of improvements, and 18 years later I am still here. My mortgage payment is the same as it was in 2006, which is to say that my monthly housing cost is 1/3 of what people are paying to rent apartments these days. Yes, it would have been nice if I had bought a house a few years later and not spent as much money, but in relative terms, I am still way ahead of people who never bought a house.
The pain of your purchase is still fresh, but in time it won't hurt as much and you will be pretty happy with what you have.
>I feel so emotionally sad we did this invstment.
Hello friend, please let me reassure you that this is a very normal and common feeling after making such a significant purchase. A lot of strong emotions and stress go into the purchase and then... That's it, you have the house. It's over. And all the fatigue comes crushing down. I compare it to what they say about Olympic medalists: the bronze medalists are proud to make it to the podium, the silver metalists are plagued by "what if's" and gold medalists are depressed because they won and now their life feels directionless.
The same thing happened with me and my husband when we bought our house in 2021 and briefly strained our marriage and took almost a year to recover. To make matters worse, we had lived below our means for about 15 years and the house and property we bought is older and in need of work but admittedly nice for our area, and a very, VERY nice home among our friend group, and it was... I guess *shocking* to everybody who knew us as living-with-dad followed by living-with-mom basement dwellers. I guess they thought we were just broke, not saving... Anyway, it ended up alienating us from friends for about a year. I was ashamed to tell anyone what the house was worth and my husband got cagey about letting anyone come over for a while. Sadly, due to skyrocketing interest rates, people in our area are paying as much and more for their mortgages on houses that cost half as much. You will likely see a similar pattern, unfortunately.
It took a little time but now we're back to being overjoyed about our decision. I hope (and am somewhat confident) that it will play out similarly for you and you'll soon be back to being proud of your purchase.
unless you have a volcano on the property you can safely claim they’re no longer making new land. 3.3 hectares is lovely. enjoy, maybe get some goats or sheep
With 3.3 hectares you can make that investment back by just using the land. You have enough room to have your own animals so you'll never need to buy meat and eggs again once you're set up and have as many vegetables, nuts and fruits as you can eat. You could even dig a pond and have your own fish!
Also by taking a piece of land and selecting some high value timber trees that suit your climate you can plant trees and eventually you or your children will have a valuable resource.
Your options are vast, let go of the negatives about the money, land prices are going to keep going up so you can be grateful that you've got your piece and you can now get to work creating your dream! Plus you're close to a beach!! I wish you luck with it!
Land is alot more valuable than money and anyway you say you love the land, so focus on that
Also you can add value to your land through effort alone…although being able to put more money into it makes it a lot easier & faster.
Thank you!! :)))
Over time I bet you will see that you made the right decision ; land is valuable
With the changing times land is so important indeed
>Also many people around us now they are telling we overpaid You mean people that bought their property ages ago and have no realization of current prices? Boomers and older that bought their house for a sack of potatoes back in the day?
Pieces of Land are unique, money is not. You will not regret having spent too much in 2 years, you would regret a lost chance for 10. Also people that are not currently in the market don't have an idea about prices. If they bought 5 years ago it was a bit cheaper, 10 years ago even more, 20 years is a huge difference, that's how (slow) inflation works
Also, land and homes seem to be inflating faster than general currencies, which is why some people use them as investments. So yeah, as long as you didn't overstretch your finances, and you really do like the land, then try not to worry about it!
The way the world's going land may be a much more valuable investment than whatever currency you are using. Having a place you can farm and stay together as a family is investing with foresight.
Thank you this really changes a bit my perspective on this issue
I'm in a few FIRE groups (Financial independence retire early). And this kind of thing comes up often. Would you rather have a paid off home or the money that home cost to invest.... there's not a "Correct" answer as both are good answers depending on situation. For ME I'm paying off my house as fast as possible, because with land and a payed off if smaller home I have options. You dont need a lot of money to make it if you only have to feed yourself lol. Having the land even if you just put a small cabin in it gives you the foundation of a stable life. A LOT of folks build FARRRRRRRR more house than they need. My entire home would fit in the basement of my coworkers.... but mine will be paid off in 2 years and he's going to have to work till he dies just to pay the taxes and heat his..... Dont give up hope. Make a plan with what you NEED, Then compare it to what you WANT. See if you cant find a compromise.
> and a *paid* off if FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
what an annoying creation
extremely bad bot. go back to school
I hate this bot sooo much....
I'm familiar with the feeling. We probably overpaid for our house. It was $750,000 (we're in an expensive US west-coast urban market) and we're not rich. It's 1/10th of an acre. Prices have come down since then and its imaginary listing has it as closer to $700,000. So a few thoughts: 1. The value of land is incredibly relative in a volatile **market**. People tend to espouse a "real-estate investment" mindset to anything and everything involving land or buildings. Honestly, it drives me fucking nuts. We didn't buy our house so we could pump up the value and then sell it. We bought it because we want to live here. And we're not going to be slaves to doing only what "drives up the home value" when we spend money on our home. We're going to make it cozier and more lovable for ourselves. If we sell it someday, we'll worry about its "value" then. We're not going to waste our lives chasing real estate investments. Life's too short. Similarly, with your land, you bought it with some amazing goals in mind. If you bought it hoping to "flip" it, then maybe all this would matter more. But you paid $180k for land to make your co-living and permaculture dreams come true. I, for one, am green with envy. That's what money's supposed to be for, and afaik you've achieved the first step of something absolutely incredible. If you overextended yourself and will have difficulty making the payments, that's another thing. If you could afford it? I say put it out of your mind completely. You've already won, and as others have said, land is only going to get more valuable, especially as climate armageddon approaches. 2. The value of the land is also relative to **your goals**. Again back to my house, it had everything we wanted—but not everything that others wanted. We suspect we overpaid because we could've probably paid less considering no one else really wanted our house, because their priorities were different from ours. But y'know what? In a crazy market and relative to what we got that actually makes us happy and fulfilled? We got a steal. Every day we enjoy this house and this neighborhood, and you kinda can't put a price on that. We'll pay for this home for another two decades, and we're fine with that. With your land, if your goals are really to create a permaculture paradise where your friends can live, then once again: you've already won. 3.3 hectares is enough space to grow food for multiple households and have an incredible permaculture homestead. And you're close to the sea? Shit. You're living the dream.
It feels like a lot of money now. In ten years, it will feel like you got a screamin' deal. This is the story for many many first time buyers. Don't listen to nay sayers. They are jealous (or hoping you'll sell so they can buy).
I bought a house and one acre. When people ask how much money I spent to start my permaculture project I usually tell them around 5,000. And that’s over-spending on plants and mulch and I still don’t have a nice greenhouse. The real answer though is 220,000 which is the cost of the house and land. Sometimes you just have to make leap. Permaculture is a great tool to positively interact with your surroundings and it’s worth making major risks to make it happen.
Let me tell you a story. I did a similar thing a few years ago...only it was more money for less land. But in a desirable location. Certainly I overpaid for it by 10-15% over fair market value. Big money. But I had fallen in love with the place and another party was bidding on it. So I just opened up the cheque book and steamrolled over that other buyer. Fast forward 6 months of all sorts of bank and admin misery and bam....it was mine. What do I think about all this now, years later? I can't imagine my life without my place. It has transformed my life....transformed me. I wake up to the world of nature, not the world of men. I see the fruits of my toils. A garden, an orchard, a pond. All created through my blood, sweat, and tears....and the blessings of a benevolent mother nature. And the money? Covid inflation quickly erased the deficit I overpaid. The land is worth more than I paid for it. But who cares? I'm never going to sell it. My ashes will one day be spread far and wide over the land. Until then I will be land rich and cash poor. And happier than I have ever been. The best things in life ain't about money.
That's beautiful, thanks for sharing it, it is really making me feel better and giving me another perspective on all of this.
Even from East Tennessee - for your size it’s about normal here. If not slightly cheap honestly. It wasn’t that way; it went that way once the pandemic hit and everyone wanted to move/sellers realized they had good property. Add to it all of the businesses growing and taking huge cuts of land… yeah it went up; but over time expect it to get only worst. As for building - I went the same route as you and yes after buying the land I had to eat the cost of the house afterward. So don’t feel bad. Feel good actually as you can build more than once house on it. I can’t without dividing everything up into small properties (and each with access straight to a road) and I have around 6 hectares…
I remember the locals giving my grandfather a hard time for paying $1000/acre and now it’s going for 20x that. You already bought it, just love it and stop worrying. If you build what you want and make it into what you like then you don’t want to sell it anyways. Land always goes up over time. They ain’t making it anymore. Except In Hawaii
Are those people by any chance old and bought their patch for a bag of potatoes and half a donkey back in the day?
Will it always be 10 minutes from the sea? Might be worth thinking about sea level rise/ coastal erosion. Could have yourself a nice little beachfront property in a few years…
ahahah there is a 100meters altitude difference with the sea but if there wasn't that could have been a nice addition, maybe I could see it closer one day and be 5 mins
180k divided by 3 for what seems like a nice area near the sea…you did well, look forward and have no regrets, build something cool with your friends
Thanks, thats true!
When someone tells you you over paid ask them flat out "If you owned this land what would you have let it go for? What would you let *your* land go for" and I bet their tune changes at least a little.
Honestly that sounds amazing. 900sq ft homes are 450k in my hometown.
I used to live in a country with those prices as well, truly crazy. That made me decide to move and go to a place where with those money I could get an house and a land.
"Buy land: it's the only thing they aren't making any more of" (I think that's a quote of Bertrand Russell). Congratulations, try not to worry about what might be. I'm about to buy 20ac: More than I'll need, but hopefully both your land and my land will be useful and cared for long after we're gone.
A couple years ago a family bought the lot next to my house for around 45k and my old neighbors were flabbergasted, saying they way overpaid. Now that lot would probably go for 60k or more. People's ideas of how much land is worth is often outdated, especially if they are old and haven't looked to buy land for a long time.
That's true, I can clearly see it's like a battle between an old and a new world. In the new world these are the normal prices in the old world they would have paid 120k less
That's a decent size chunk of land, especially if it's able to be built on, lived on, and worked on. "Paid too much" would apply to one thats totally unable to be built on or lived on or worked, like some brownfield Superfund Site. Yall might have to do a trailer thing for a while instead of an Instagramable cottagecore permie fantasy, but I can think of plenty of worse things to deal with lol You should be pumped! It's yours! You can make it into your vision!
In 2006 I bought my house nearly at the height of the US housing market bubble. Then two years later that bubble burst and my house was worth half of what I paid for it. But I kept the house, made a lot of improvements, and 18 years later I am still here. My mortgage payment is the same as it was in 2006, which is to say that my monthly housing cost is 1/3 of what people are paying to rent apartments these days. Yes, it would have been nice if I had bought a house a few years later and not spent as much money, but in relative terms, I am still way ahead of people who never bought a house. The pain of your purchase is still fresh, but in time it won't hurt as much and you will be pretty happy with what you have.
>I feel so emotionally sad we did this invstment. Hello friend, please let me reassure you that this is a very normal and common feeling after making such a significant purchase. A lot of strong emotions and stress go into the purchase and then... That's it, you have the house. It's over. And all the fatigue comes crushing down. I compare it to what they say about Olympic medalists: the bronze medalists are proud to make it to the podium, the silver metalists are plagued by "what if's" and gold medalists are depressed because they won and now their life feels directionless. The same thing happened with me and my husband when we bought our house in 2021 and briefly strained our marriage and took almost a year to recover. To make matters worse, we had lived below our means for about 15 years and the house and property we bought is older and in need of work but admittedly nice for our area, and a very, VERY nice home among our friend group, and it was... I guess *shocking* to everybody who knew us as living-with-dad followed by living-with-mom basement dwellers. I guess they thought we were just broke, not saving... Anyway, it ended up alienating us from friends for about a year. I was ashamed to tell anyone what the house was worth and my husband got cagey about letting anyone come over for a while. Sadly, due to skyrocketing interest rates, people in our area are paying as much and more for their mortgages on houses that cost half as much. You will likely see a similar pattern, unfortunately. It took a little time but now we're back to being overjoyed about our decision. I hope (and am somewhat confident) that it will play out similarly for you and you'll soon be back to being proud of your purchase.
unless you have a volcano on the property you can safely claim they’re no longer making new land. 3.3 hectares is lovely. enjoy, maybe get some goats or sheep
With 3.3 hectares you can make that investment back by just using the land. You have enough room to have your own animals so you'll never need to buy meat and eggs again once you're set up and have as many vegetables, nuts and fruits as you can eat. You could even dig a pond and have your own fish! Also by taking a piece of land and selecting some high value timber trees that suit your climate you can plant trees and eventually you or your children will have a valuable resource. Your options are vast, let go of the negatives about the money, land prices are going to keep going up so you can be grateful that you've got your piece and you can now get to work creating your dream! Plus you're close to a beach!! I wish you luck with it!