Newbie looking for Help...

[bitic]

Hi Everyone,

First post for me...I am a Canadian who is looking to buy land in the British Columbian East Kootenay region...any suggestions where to start and to what to consider would be most helpful.

Cheers,

Al

[Shark]

A fellow Canadian! (I'm from SK, but living in US now).

This book is mostly for US, but the idea's in it probably should be followed in Canada.
http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Buying-Your-Place-Country/dp/0793141095/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6768154-8418565?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176493937&sr=8-1

I'd try & find a good real estate agent that knows the area you are looking in as well.

[JZ]

Welcome - I was beginning to think I was the only Canadian reading this site.

We just bought property in the Kamloops area and found the best source was the MLS listings for BC. Just google MLS and you will find the site.

From there you can set your search parameters to a specific area of BC and identify the specific type of property you are looking for under the search options. Once you have identified a few listings of interest contact one of the listing realtors and make your appointment to look at the properties. It worked great for us.

Good luck.

[bitic]

Thanks for the suggestion, I think I have a lot of reading to do!

Al

[warren.]

this is my first post......
I have been losing sleep thinking about this property.....please buy it and put it out of my mind.


:lol:

http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.aspx?vd=&SearchURL=%3fPage%3d5%26Mode%3d0%26vs%3d1%26rlt%3d %26cp%3d%26pt%3d88%26mp%3d90000-100000-0%26mrt%3d-1-0-0%26Beds%3d0-0%26Baths%3d0-0%26f%3d%26ft%3dall%26o%3dA%26of%3d1%26ps%3d10%26p tgid%3d1%26aid%3d6251%252c1107%26MapURL%3d%253fAre aID%253d1048&Mode=0&PropertyID=3588351

[Kola]

99k Canadian? what is that in US dollars?

Is this remote? any other folks nearby, BLM etc

Where is the nearest town/city?

I see (what loooks like) a crane boom in picture #3. Whats going on?

In picture 5, I see some power lines. Are those lines directly overtop the property?

How much of the 25 acres in NOT severly sloped? From the pics it looks pretty rough. (then again it could just be the pictures).

Is there a road to the property?

What restrictions apply as far as county/gov limitations and permits etc.

Any large mining, logging, drilling operations in the area?

Kola

[warren.]

thanks for crushing my dreams in one post....appreciate it.

:lol:


I live on the other side of the country near Detroit and miss living in/near the mountains like I did when I was growing up.

I don't have any other details on this .
$99,000 Canadian is about $82-85K US.

[Kola]

Warren, I am confused (it don't take much). Do you own this property? If yes, did you buy it not knowing any details?

scratching my head,
Kola

[warren.]

I don't own this property.....But I'd like to.

[Kola]

Warren,
I didn't intend to burst your bubble but don't fall in love with a picture or two.

I saw some pictures which looked appealing, then viewed the land (in person) and many MANY were nightmares! Because I plan to go off grid I was sent to some pretty rough tracts of land which I would have never been able to get to in the winter, some were sloped so bad they would be difficult to build on, another was next to a mining camp etc. Then you have to look at the county building codes and restrictions and what the fees are and what the property taxes are. What about water? Any people close by with wells? how many gpm and whats the quality of it? I can't stress the imnportant of a survey and an accurate one that is recorded. You should be able to find the pins and markers and be sure there are no boundry dusputes. (I have heard of horror stories that end up costing a new owner thousands in legal fees).

There are some good books for hints on buying land. Shark posted a very good book and maybe some of the other folks here at LHBA know other titles, as I forget.

You have to walk the land. That gives you an idea of what your getting. I walked mine 3 or 4 times over a few weeks before buying. What will it be like in the winter, what type of sun exposure does it have. Is that road on the north ravine? good luck getting thru it..ugh! any low spots or areas which could turn into small creeks or swamps?
Then you have to investigate all the legal things. (costs of permits, zoning and restrictions etc).

Do not soley rely on a realtor to tell you all you need to know.
I found my tract of land by just driving around. (7 years of "drivin around") and I purchased county land "plat maps". If I found a nice site, I looked it up in my books (which listed the owners name, addy and tel no.) and I gave them a call. "Hi this is Kola, Would you be interested in selling some land? :)
It worked for me, I avoided a realtor fee and the existing owner created the note and financed it for me. (a big down payment and a short contract)

There is still lots of good land available but it seems prices continue to go up. I have also noticed the size of the tracts are getting smaller to. 4 or 5 years ago, out here in Colorado there were plenty of 75-100 acre lots and now you see 25, 10 and 5 acres...and many even smaller. If you plan to live there fulltime, remember to pick an area with a climate you enjoy. And you have to figure out how "rural" you want to be..and make sure the wife and kids all agree on it too. Everyones idea on what "remote"/"rural" mean are quite different.

If you really like that piece of land the realtor should be able to answer your questions. Do some homework on your own and if you still like it, fly out and take a walkabout.

Good luck!
Kola

[warren.]

lots of good advice there.
Thanks.
at this point I just want to be away from the cornfields and seeing the overpasses as the biggest hills in the area.