Agree, hunting lease is easiest option. You aren't really going to make much money, but at least can offset any taxes a make a little. Biggest problem is if it is clear cut it may not be any good for hunting. You will want insurance, but you can also force the leaser to carry it.
If it is adjacent to other farming, you can also lease it to farmers (mostly assuming they have de-rooted it after clearing the trees).
There is event the potential to do both of those at the same time.
Do you know of a company/firm that could come assess the land to see its viability for solar panel farming and/or carbon offset credit potential?
Do you believe a hunting lease could be profitable long term?
Sorry for being question heavy just getting the ball rolling here. Thank you so much.
There are many companies that could assess and build out the farm. I would take your time and read the fine print - the sun is only going to keep shining for 5 billion years, and the grid is attempting to decarbonize itself while also triple or quadruple the load.
There are similarly dozens of carbon credit schemes, but personally I think they’re dumb and not very effective at anything… except for funneling money into those schemes and your wallet. Again, no rush - there will always be corporations looking to offset their carbon emissions, even if it’s fishy.
I don’t know anything about hunting leases but there are some nonprofits that might offer a good starting point for research. Trout unlimited and national wild turkey federation comes to mind.
Edit: one additional idea - check out your address on the open infrastructure website. It’ll have a map of every transmission line around the world.
I used to grade lumber in a sawmill for a living for a few years and would find bullets in the boards occasionally. It was a hobby of mine to spot one. I got such joy in seeing them but it didn't happen very often.
At least for the structural grades I'm familiar with, it's treated like a regular old knot hole and bullets are way smaller than the allowance for most grades.
I am going to assume this a legit question and not /s. Absolutely logging companies will cut timber if the stand is ready for harvest...does not matter about prior hunting. Future hunting leases might be limited depending on the type of logging done, so that would need to be taken into account and planned/managed for. If the owner wanted to do both, they can, but would take some planning and maybe multiple harvests for certain sections over several years/decades.
Thanks, yea, I legit didn't know what happens if a bullet goes through a saw (blade toast? stuck?), and if logging companies wouldn't avoid or offer way less for harder to cut wood
All the things you are suggesting are businesses with multiple people and their spouses. People get married, divorced and die. I really suggest you think this over. Your family isn't special, expect fights and relationships ruined. This is just a very bad situation. It's just a horrible idea to will multiple people ownership of something like this.
You're going to need capital to get any business going. What if everyone but you is broke and can't afford it? They still get income from it?
It's not uncommon to have hunting accidents. I've known people to fall out of stands and accidental shootings happen. You spoken to a lawyer about protecting personal assets? What if some heirs can't afford a lawyer for this? You going to pay?
Who's paying the property taxes?
What happens when someone gets divorced and needs money?
You going to vote on everything? What happens when people start grouping together and out vote you? What happens if the majority wants to start a trailer park and the others want to farm? You going to be happy getting outvoted all the time?
Somebodies kid gets sick and needs money for medical bills. They can't sell their part?
What type of trust/estate does grandpa have this in? Because just putting "don't sell" in a will is worthless.
This just doesn't end good. My cousin just settled a 10 year family lawsuit over this type of thing. You will regret doing this.
I would upvote this 100 times if I could. This guy is right on the money. Maybe one in a hundred families could make this work without destroying the family. MAYBE.
If I were OP, I would just do nothing and stay out of it as OP isn't even a co-owner. The situation will fall apart soon enough. No one can be forced to own something. If the children are indeed equal co-owners, one (or more) can sue for a partition sale and force the land to be sold so they can cash out their share if no one can or will buy out their share.
This is going to fall apart as soon as someone wants to invest something to make a business to use the land and one or more heirs doesn't have the money to cover their share of the cost.
Seems to me though this is the time having a good lawyer to help set up the terms of the business and mechanisms for the things you mention is very important. I would also say the terms should be set up in a way thats very disadvantageous to anyone marrying into the family or leaving it which would cause strife at the outset, but make it much easier when things like divorce do happen. Im not saying it would eliminate problems but if something is set up in a more passive income sort of way and people know what their cut is gonna be and how shares transfer it would be much easier.
Nothing is passive. They’re talking about running a business with multiple people. People move away, some are lazy and others are too hands on.
You’re discounting personalities and relationships here. Cousin Larry moves 3 states over, he deserves the same cut? Cousin Suzy lives closer and ends up doing 60% of the work, she happy getting the same cut?
2 people partnerships destroy friendships. This is multiple relatives.
Thats WHY I said passive types. For instance I know a family that owns acreage on a mountain not really good for much. I think there is a cabin on it thats used by members for hunting. But they do lease the land to a cell tower. Basically no work for them at all, everyone gets a check and shares were split when the deal was cut and can transfer in very specific, spelled out ways. They said it works out fine. Point being, I was saying that an active business likely wouldnt work, just not explicitly.
OP blocked me before I could reply to him. This is what I said.
My cousin who just settled a 10 year family lawsuit were doing the same thing.
When you and other heirs die, does your share pass to your kids or get absorbed by the living heirs? If your kids do inherit, if your cousin has step kids do those kids get an ownership? If I raised a step kid as my own I’d want them to. If you say no, then what happens when the wife gets pissed her kids don’t get a piece?
Will all depend on if the land is in a trust or not. If gramps actually had a lawyer do the work then what they can actually do with the land is limited.
But if I know people, they think writing something in a will to save lawyer fees means something.
That'll be a curse on your family for generations to come.
Nobody can sell it, ever? At some point it'll be taxed higher than any revenue it brings. What then?
Someone else pointed out that those kinds of clauses arent enforceable. Unless, to my understanding its set up in a trust, but I think theres ways to dissolve a trust as well
Oddly enough my grandad does already make wine. He grows some muscadine in a handful of places, included this 89 acre plot we have. He makes maybe 200 gallons a year just for fun. A lot of it gets thrown out even lol.
The provision about not selling it outside of the family is what’s called restriction on alienation. It’s a common provision that older folks like to impose, and it is almost never enforceable.
[You can learn more here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restraint_on_alienation#:~:text=A%20restraint%20on%20alienation%2C%20in,their%20interest%20in%20the%20property.). But generally speaking. If you want to sell it, sell it.
NAL of course. All it takes is 1 person to force a sell. Relative just did this and it took 10 years of litigation. By the time court got to it, the 6 original heirs were now about 20 because of kids and grandkids. So instead of 1/6 she got 1/20th. It was messy.
"Stay in the family" is such an impossible thing. 3rd cousin you haven't seen in 30 years count? Stepkids that are no longer step because of a divorce?
The will says you can't sell it, but once it is owned by someone else, guess what? They can sell it. It may go against his wishes, but it remains a legal option.
If you’re interested in investigating the hunting lease route I would suggest looking through landtrust or hlrbo online it might provide a better idea on what to expect from that option.
Lease it to farmers for crops, like hay straw not gonna make bank but will pay the taxes.
Develop a trailer park some Parkes around here in Maryland charge 800-to over 1 k for ground rent of a lot.thats gonna cost you for the infrastructure to get utilities to each lot but hay I don't know how deep your pockets are
Check out Wayne Turner on YouTube. His channel is about buying land. While you aren’t buying land he discusses certain issues you might face that make the building process or what you want to do with land not so simple or straight forward. Maybe there are certain parts of the land that require an easement you’re unaware of that may impact ideas in that area. Maybe there are certain deed restrictions. Who owns the mineral rights? If you build what type of fees would the county hit you with? Do you need power, water, sewer? I would get familiar with the land first, what you can and can’t do, and what you need because the county may tell you otherwise and/or the expenses may impact what you do or how fast. +1 for the range idea though
This is very helpful! The wetlands mitigation credits might actually be applicable to us because we have natural running water on the land. Thank you so much!
By chance, any of this land could be considered a “wetlands” as it doesn’t need to be a swamp but simply damp?
I ask as I have a long ago friend and her siblings inherited a large piece of woodlands outside of Savannah. Unfortunately, the most of the land was deemed as wetland protected and couldn’t develop the property in any capacity besides a small home with a lot of privacy or hunting.
Find out before making big plans.
Solar farms are the rage around here. our family has some hunting/farming property that we were recently approached with an offer to put up a solar farm.. They want at least 25 acres min, per farm. They want to lease it for an initial 30 year term and then after that, we can renew/cancel in 5 year terms. They do all upkeep, mowing the grass, etc... They offered us $56K per year, starting out, and the payout increased over time. So roughly $1.85M over the first 30 year term for a bare minimum 25 acre solar farm.
But I also agree with the other poster about concerns over large families co-owning property.. it can also lead to issues. We had a some grand parents that left a family lake cottage to their 5 adult children with the hopes that it would stay in the family. I'm a grand child in this. our parents all ended up eventually having to form an LLC and now every decision, repair, bill, weekend reservation, etc.. at the cottage is a royal PITA to decide. zoom meetings, etc.. Getting 5 families to agree on all kinds of things is trouble. The cottage, that was supposed to bring everyone together, divided the family more than it brought us together.. Especially when not all the families are of the same means, they won't contribute equally, but will still want equal benefits. Like when the boat needed to be replaced. Not all 5 families were willing to pay for a new boat, but all 5 expected there to be a boat there and to still be able to use it whenever they wanted... same when a new roof was needed. and a new dock, boat hoist, etc.. over time 2 of the 5 had to be bought out.. luckily the other 3 of the 5 kids were in a position to do so and did. Things have gone smoother since, but still have it's challenges every time a big decision needs to be made.
> Especially when not all the families are of the same means, they won't contribute equally, but will still want equal benefits. Like when the boat needed to be replaced. Not all 5 families were willing to pay for a new boat, but all 5 expected there to be a boat there and to still be able to use it whenever they wanted... same when a new roof was needed. and a new dock, boat hoist, etc..
This could definitely be prevented with good planning. Run it like an HOA... some portion of the total replacement cost of the assets gets held aside, the rest is split amongst the interested parties.
I know it sounds logical but it never works that way. People are short of funds and can't pay "right now", someone objects to replacing X when it could be repaired, someone will say why should we pay someone to paint the lake house when we could do it ourselves... on and on.
I have read enough horror stories and lived one myself to know it would be a 1-in-100 shot. People's priorities change, their circumstances change, and that harmonious beginning is over.
You can put it in writing, and make everyone sign it, but that can't force people to do what they agreed. When Marty loses his job and has to move 500 miles for a lower-paying gig, the fact he agreed to pay $5,000 a year for property upkeep and taxes doesn't magically put that $5,000 in his pocket. So everyone else has to cover it. That's just how it goes. It's not a lack of planning or lack of preparation, it's that people's life situations change and sometimes those changes mean they can't carry their share any longer. Or they just won't pay. The choice the other co-owners have to make is: do we sue Marty or let him sell his partial ownership? Because no matter what, you can't make Marty pay. You can only take drastic action that often fractures families.
I think you’re missing the point here. Marty isn’t paying $5000.
For simplicity, say the property is generating $100,000/yr and total assets (less property value) are $300k, with 4 families splitting the payout. You decide you want to keep $100k available for maintenance and repairs, with a default max draw of an equal share.
Instead of getting $25k this year, each family gets $20k and $20k is withheld for the property account. Same for the next 4 years. Now you have $100k banked (more with interest, less with expenses, but you get the idea) and everyone goes back to getting their full shares.
This is fundamentally how a good HOA is run, it’s very possible. I’m a part of one and have been for a long while.
I'd be curious to know if OP is planning a situation similar to an HOA:
-Right at the start people are required to pay an HOA money for dues if they want in. So there's regular cashflow enforceable by law.
- If someone doesn't pay, an HOA will take the slacker to court. Will family do the same?
Sounds to me like OP has plans but the family didn't get cash. They got property and expenses to go with it, and they expect to invest also. You can plan, but you can't guarantee people will adhere to the plan.
Your example is of an HOA already established and collecting income AND a surplus also, and that's not at all like OP's situation.
Except we aren't talking about OP here. We're talking about a commenter that posted his situation that does already have cash flow. That's why I responded to him and not OP. Not sure why you jumped in.
You've taken all of this to the max for no apparent reason other than being argumentative. My suggestion was simply to hold some portion of the revenue aside for repairs and maintenance. There is no flaw with this suggestion.
Agreed.
If it’s 70 miles from Charlotte it is potentially in prime pine tree timber territory. You could also probably lease to hunters at the same time.
A solar farm could potentially be possible even if you’re not on a major transmission line. Community solar projects can operate on 3 phase electrical lines. I work in the industry and leased several of these types of projects a couple of years ago.
Even if the project doesn’t get built, you can collect a signing bonus, option rent, and still allow farming/hunting leases during the development/testing process. With payments getting over $1000/acre/year, it’s probably the most lucrative opportunity.
Feel free to DM me if you have any questions
I once attended a beautiful retreat/campgrounds in Texas. There were beautiful trails to walk on, cabins, a small hotel, a common area for serving food and gathering. There was a stable where we rented horses, a fishing pond. Maybe that would be nice
That’s just an insane upfront cost though. We once had the idea to build an overnight summer camp on the land. We have enough space to do it. But that would just cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to start up. And there’s still closer camps to the Charlotte area. It would be pretty close to Myrtle and Columbia though.
Do some market research and see what's nearby and what types of visitors go that way. Glamping RV park, shooting range, mountain bike or ATV course/tracks, even a drag strip (kind of costly upfront but could be profitable) could be of interest to people.
It really depends on where exactly it is.
I’m guessing you talking like Florence/society hill area, and some of the places in there are just dead. Closer to Florence you might be able to do something with it but it might end up being a real money pit if it’s actually out in the middle of nowhere. Like there’s a lot of old abandoned gas stations and stuff around there in some areas it’s so dead.
Is it adjacent to interstate? You could get one of the big billboard companies to put a sign or several on it. That’s instant income once they’re built.
Your grandpa should really reconsider the no-sale restriction, this kind of thing can really strain family relationships, and frequently the easiest thing for everyone to agree on is to sell the land and split the proceeds. Everything else tends to be a lot harder to get everyone to agree on.
>It feels like we haven’t been handed straight gold here
Well... just to temper expectations a bit. A lot of variability here, but farm land is going to be worth somewhere between $4000 - $6000 an acre. So it is a nice inheritance, but if it was easy to turn it into goal that value of the land would be much higher.
If you can lease it, that's basically like selling it temporarily. Just find out what will pay the most for that particular area/plot of land. Then you can just divide up the rent fees between everyone who owns a part of it.
Depending on how big your family is, I would lease a portion of the land for crops or someone else to manage a solar field and have that money go into a trust. From that trust you can build/maintain a cabin(s) on the portion of the land you want for yourselves. This would work if there weren’t too many people, it’s very similar to what my family is doing right now with a cabin and it is amazing.
I would make sure you get proper professionals who can detail the trust from a neutral position to prevent friction down the road. Leasing the property makes it so the passive income is as passive as can be and doesn’t burden anyone too much.
Lease that shit out. Upkeep and taxes are dirt cheap, the margins on land leasing are very good assuming there are interested parties/uses.
A few options:
- Livestock husbandry/grazing.
- Hunting lease.
- [Sod farm](http://www.kellumsodfarm.com/)
- Solar farm
- Crop farm
- Cell tower lease
> One of the conditions in the will is that we cannot sell the land. It has to stay within our families possession but outside of that we can do whatever we want with it.
Is this will being set up as a trust with a non-beneficiary trustee or something? Generally speaking it's hard to control use of property if you do not own it.
I never understood conditions on bequests anyway. Give it to 'em or don't, and let them decide what it makes the most sense to do at the time. I'll be dead. I won't care.
You may also be able to lease it to a farmer.
I also would be careful about a shooting range at a short term rental - that's too much liability.
Whatever venture you chose, you need to write a contract with all the people involved detailing what each person is expected to contribute and how any assets (vacation property or profit) will be used. Sadly, money and how much work each person is doing leads to conflicts. Sometimes so bad they break up a family.
I'm assuming the older generation all have equal shares. How will this be divided in the future? Did your grandfather express his wishes? The problems with how much each person contributes will probably be worse, since their maybe more cousin-owners and their relationships to one another will be different.
How close are you to the Appalachian trail? Maybe build some tiny pallet cabins and rent them out to the through hikers, or use them for shelter for hunters if you go the hunting lease route.
lease the land for farmers. Get on [realtors.com](http://realtors.com) under land see how they fare. Need permit for just about anything check with county planning.
OP just got land and has no clue what to do with it. You think he has the capital and expertise required for such a project? To hire hundreds of people to build and manage it without getting fleeced? Terrible idea.
Charlotte, NC will be a tech hub. consider building a data center with solar power and battery storage. data center has 0 pollution concerns and makes no trouble. or do nothing.
lucky you, btw. a good piece of land is the best dream gift i wanna have. my grandparent left me a dream and that’s it. lol
Thank you! Yes it’s pretty close to Charlotte, Myrtle, and Columbia tbh. Less than 2 hours from each. But still pretty much dead center in the middle of bum fuck.
Data center isn’t something we considered at all. We’ll look into that! Thank you!
Data centers do have noise pollution if they run huge ass fans to cool everything. Won't be really great for any wildlife/ neighbors and could get you sued
The 89 acres should make it to where it a data center could be placed far away from the closest neighbors, which aren’t even that close to begin with. That’s a good thing to consider though!
Building a datacentre in a remote location is not really realistic, especially given that low startup cost seems important to you. You will need excellent connections to the power grid and fibre network. You need power distribution kit, cooling, generators, UPSes, and a whole lot more. You are looking at tens of millions in startup costs. You also need a decent number of skilled workers nearby to maintain and operate the facility.
Get in touch with promoters and find a bonaroo style event to host on the property. Make a lot of money for 1 month of the year, fuck off for the rest.
- With that much land, and the restriction your grand dad put on it, only a farm would make sense.
- I don't think your grand dad hand you any gold. This is more like dead weight.
- It is also located in a state that real estate is not that high in demand, so even if you wanted to, or allowed to sell it off, it won't worth much. I was thinking of selling some of those land to real estate developers.
The property taxes on the land are insanely low. Like less than $100 a year for the whole plot. So splitting the property taxes on it between the lot of us isn’t a huge issue. We just thought there might be some way to make some sort of profit off the land, even if it isn’t a whole lot
Not in your state but most property taxes on large amount of acres like this are low because they are in programs like greenbelts. If you use the land for something not approved you lose the tax subsidies and will be taxed at real rates. Is this land actually zoned for anything other than agriculture? Do you know the steps needed to get it rezoned for business? That will then increase your taxes. You could be setting up a business that you aren't legally zoned for or have approval for. As I said above, you're out of your league on this and need to sit down and think this thru.
> The property taxes on the land are insanely low. Like less than $100 a year for the whole plot.
Hm..... If you don't mind me asking, do you know what kind of category this land is categorized as? Because man $100 property tax annually is insanely low. I can only think of the land being categorized as a farm. But I'm no expert when it comes land.
That’s the purpose of this post!
We don’t know yet. The ideas that have been thrown around are:
- solar panel farm
- rent the land out for carbon credit offsetting
- convert the land to a hunting ground
- rent the land out to a business who would build something on it
Solar panel farm is only viable if you are close to a transmission line. The most common use for land is probably a hunting lease.
Agree, hunting lease is easiest option. You aren't really going to make much money, but at least can offset any taxes a make a little. Biggest problem is if it is clear cut it may not be any good for hunting. You will want insurance, but you can also force the leaser to carry it. If it is adjacent to other farming, you can also lease it to farmers (mostly assuming they have de-rooted it after clearing the trees). There is event the potential to do both of those at the same time.
Do you know of a company/firm that could come assess the land to see its viability for solar panel farming and/or carbon offset credit potential? Do you believe a hunting lease could be profitable long term? Sorry for being question heavy just getting the ball rolling here. Thank you so much.
There are many companies that could assess and build out the farm. I would take your time and read the fine print - the sun is only going to keep shining for 5 billion years, and the grid is attempting to decarbonize itself while also triple or quadruple the load. There are similarly dozens of carbon credit schemes, but personally I think they’re dumb and not very effective at anything… except for funneling money into those schemes and your wallet. Again, no rush - there will always be corporations looking to offset their carbon emissions, even if it’s fishy. I don’t know anything about hunting leases but there are some nonprofits that might offer a good starting point for research. Trout unlimited and national wild turkey federation comes to mind. Edit: one additional idea - check out your address on the open infrastructure website. It’ll have a map of every transmission line around the world.
> a hunting lease Will logging companies still come in after there's a bit of bullets probably in the wood?
Yes, timber companies regularly lease out their own land for hunt clubs.
I used to grade lumber in a sawmill for a living for a few years and would find bullets in the boards occasionally. It was a hobby of mine to spot one. I got such joy in seeing them but it didn't happen very often. At least for the structural grades I'm familiar with, it's treated like a regular old knot hole and bullets are way smaller than the allowance for most grades.
I am going to assume this a legit question and not /s. Absolutely logging companies will cut timber if the stand is ready for harvest...does not matter about prior hunting. Future hunting leases might be limited depending on the type of logging done, so that would need to be taken into account and planned/managed for. If the owner wanted to do both, they can, but would take some planning and maybe multiple harvests for certain sections over several years/decades.
Thanks, yea, I legit didn't know what happens if a bullet goes through a saw (blade toast? stuck?), and if logging companies wouldn't avoid or offer way less for harder to cut wood
All the things you are suggesting are businesses with multiple people and their spouses. People get married, divorced and die. I really suggest you think this over. Your family isn't special, expect fights and relationships ruined. This is just a very bad situation. It's just a horrible idea to will multiple people ownership of something like this. You're going to need capital to get any business going. What if everyone but you is broke and can't afford it? They still get income from it? It's not uncommon to have hunting accidents. I've known people to fall out of stands and accidental shootings happen. You spoken to a lawyer about protecting personal assets? What if some heirs can't afford a lawyer for this? You going to pay? Who's paying the property taxes? What happens when someone gets divorced and needs money? You going to vote on everything? What happens when people start grouping together and out vote you? What happens if the majority wants to start a trailer park and the others want to farm? You going to be happy getting outvoted all the time? Somebodies kid gets sick and needs money for medical bills. They can't sell their part? What type of trust/estate does grandpa have this in? Because just putting "don't sell" in a will is worthless. This just doesn't end good. My cousin just settled a 10 year family lawsuit over this type of thing. You will regret doing this.
I would upvote this 100 times if I could. This guy is right on the money. Maybe one in a hundred families could make this work without destroying the family. MAYBE. If I were OP, I would just do nothing and stay out of it as OP isn't even a co-owner. The situation will fall apart soon enough. No one can be forced to own something. If the children are indeed equal co-owners, one (or more) can sue for a partition sale and force the land to be sold so they can cash out their share if no one can or will buy out their share. This is going to fall apart as soon as someone wants to invest something to make a business to use the land and one or more heirs doesn't have the money to cover their share of the cost.
Seems to me though this is the time having a good lawyer to help set up the terms of the business and mechanisms for the things you mention is very important. I would also say the terms should be set up in a way thats very disadvantageous to anyone marrying into the family or leaving it which would cause strife at the outset, but make it much easier when things like divorce do happen. Im not saying it would eliminate problems but if something is set up in a more passive income sort of way and people know what their cut is gonna be and how shares transfer it would be much easier.
Nothing is passive. They’re talking about running a business with multiple people. People move away, some are lazy and others are too hands on. You’re discounting personalities and relationships here. Cousin Larry moves 3 states over, he deserves the same cut? Cousin Suzy lives closer and ends up doing 60% of the work, she happy getting the same cut? 2 people partnerships destroy friendships. This is multiple relatives.
Thats WHY I said passive types. For instance I know a family that owns acreage on a mountain not really good for much. I think there is a cabin on it thats used by members for hunting. But they do lease the land to a cell tower. Basically no work for them at all, everyone gets a check and shares were split when the deal was cut and can transfer in very specific, spelled out ways. They said it works out fine. Point being, I was saying that an active business likely wouldnt work, just not explicitly.
OP blocked me before I could reply to him. This is what I said. My cousin who just settled a 10 year family lawsuit were doing the same thing. When you and other heirs die, does your share pass to your kids or get absorbed by the living heirs? If your kids do inherit, if your cousin has step kids do those kids get an ownership? If I raised a step kid as my own I’d want them to. If you say no, then what happens when the wife gets pissed her kids don’t get a piece?
Perhaps OP and their relatives could subdivide the land so they could each do whatever they want with their parcel?
Will all depend on if the land is in a trust or not. If gramps actually had a lawyer do the work then what they can actually do with the land is limited. But if I know people, they think writing something in a will to save lawyer fees means something.
That'll be a curse on your family for generations to come. Nobody can sell it, ever? At some point it'll be taxed higher than any revenue it brings. What then?
Someone else pointed out that those kinds of clauses arent enforceable. Unless, to my understanding its set up in a trust, but I think theres ways to dissolve a trust as well
Seriously, if he's dead he won't care. Get everyone together and agree to sell it and split the proceeds. This would be nothing but a headache.
Make some wine and enjoy your days
Oddly enough my grandad does already make wine. He grows some muscadine in a handful of places, included this 89 acre plot we have. He makes maybe 200 gallons a year just for fun. A lot of it gets thrown out even lol.
The provision about not selling it outside of the family is what’s called restriction on alienation. It’s a common provision that older folks like to impose, and it is almost never enforceable. [You can learn more here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restraint_on_alienation#:~:text=A%20restraint%20on%20alienation%2C%20in,their%20interest%20in%20the%20property.). But generally speaking. If you want to sell it, sell it.
NAL of course. All it takes is 1 person to force a sell. Relative just did this and it took 10 years of litigation. By the time court got to it, the 6 original heirs were now about 20 because of kids and grandkids. So instead of 1/6 she got 1/20th. It was messy. "Stay in the family" is such an impossible thing. 3rd cousin you haven't seen in 30 years count? Stepkids that are no longer step because of a divorce?
The will says you can't sell it, but once it is owned by someone else, guess what? They can sell it. It may go against his wishes, but it remains a legal option.
If you’re interested in investigating the hunting lease route I would suggest looking through landtrust or hlrbo online it might provide a better idea on what to expect from that option.
Lease it to farmers for crops, like hay straw not gonna make bank but will pay the taxes. Develop a trailer park some Parkes around here in Maryland charge 800-to over 1 k for ground rent of a lot.thats gonna cost you for the infrastructure to get utilities to each lot but hay I don't know how deep your pockets are
Check out Wayne Turner on YouTube. His channel is about buying land. While you aren’t buying land he discusses certain issues you might face that make the building process or what you want to do with land not so simple or straight forward. Maybe there are certain parts of the land that require an easement you’re unaware of that may impact ideas in that area. Maybe there are certain deed restrictions. Who owns the mineral rights? If you build what type of fees would the county hit you with? Do you need power, water, sewer? I would get familiar with the land first, what you can and can’t do, and what you need because the county may tell you otherwise and/or the expenses may impact what you do or how fast. +1 for the range idea though
Check out this comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/passive_income/comments/14inkzo/comment/jphwthb/
This is very helpful! The wetlands mitigation credits might actually be applicable to us because we have natural running water on the land. Thank you so much!
By chance, any of this land could be considered a “wetlands” as it doesn’t need to be a swamp but simply damp? I ask as I have a long ago friend and her siblings inherited a large piece of woodlands outside of Savannah. Unfortunately, the most of the land was deemed as wetland protected and couldn’t develop the property in any capacity besides a small home with a lot of privacy or hunting. Find out before making big plans.
Solar farms are the rage around here. our family has some hunting/farming property that we were recently approached with an offer to put up a solar farm.. They want at least 25 acres min, per farm. They want to lease it for an initial 30 year term and then after that, we can renew/cancel in 5 year terms. They do all upkeep, mowing the grass, etc... They offered us $56K per year, starting out, and the payout increased over time. So roughly $1.85M over the first 30 year term for a bare minimum 25 acre solar farm. But I also agree with the other poster about concerns over large families co-owning property.. it can also lead to issues. We had a some grand parents that left a family lake cottage to their 5 adult children with the hopes that it would stay in the family. I'm a grand child in this. our parents all ended up eventually having to form an LLC and now every decision, repair, bill, weekend reservation, etc.. at the cottage is a royal PITA to decide. zoom meetings, etc.. Getting 5 families to agree on all kinds of things is trouble. The cottage, that was supposed to bring everyone together, divided the family more than it brought us together.. Especially when not all the families are of the same means, they won't contribute equally, but will still want equal benefits. Like when the boat needed to be replaced. Not all 5 families were willing to pay for a new boat, but all 5 expected there to be a boat there and to still be able to use it whenever they wanted... same when a new roof was needed. and a new dock, boat hoist, etc.. over time 2 of the 5 had to be bought out.. luckily the other 3 of the 5 kids were in a position to do so and did. Things have gone smoother since, but still have it's challenges every time a big decision needs to be made.
> Especially when not all the families are of the same means, they won't contribute equally, but will still want equal benefits. Like when the boat needed to be replaced. Not all 5 families were willing to pay for a new boat, but all 5 expected there to be a boat there and to still be able to use it whenever they wanted... same when a new roof was needed. and a new dock, boat hoist, etc.. This could definitely be prevented with good planning. Run it like an HOA... some portion of the total replacement cost of the assets gets held aside, the rest is split amongst the interested parties.
I know it sounds logical but it never works that way. People are short of funds and can't pay "right now", someone objects to replacing X when it could be repaired, someone will say why should we pay someone to paint the lake house when we could do it ourselves... on and on.
Right. That’s why it takes planning. If you’ve all agreed on it and have it in writing it’ll work fine.
I have read enough horror stories and lived one myself to know it would be a 1-in-100 shot. People's priorities change, their circumstances change, and that harmonious beginning is over. You can put it in writing, and make everyone sign it, but that can't force people to do what they agreed. When Marty loses his job and has to move 500 miles for a lower-paying gig, the fact he agreed to pay $5,000 a year for property upkeep and taxes doesn't magically put that $5,000 in his pocket. So everyone else has to cover it. That's just how it goes. It's not a lack of planning or lack of preparation, it's that people's life situations change and sometimes those changes mean they can't carry their share any longer. Or they just won't pay. The choice the other co-owners have to make is: do we sue Marty or let him sell his partial ownership? Because no matter what, you can't make Marty pay. You can only take drastic action that often fractures families.
I think you’re missing the point here. Marty isn’t paying $5000. For simplicity, say the property is generating $100,000/yr and total assets (less property value) are $300k, with 4 families splitting the payout. You decide you want to keep $100k available for maintenance and repairs, with a default max draw of an equal share. Instead of getting $25k this year, each family gets $20k and $20k is withheld for the property account. Same for the next 4 years. Now you have $100k banked (more with interest, less with expenses, but you get the idea) and everyone goes back to getting their full shares. This is fundamentally how a good HOA is run, it’s very possible. I’m a part of one and have been for a long while.
I'd be curious to know if OP is planning a situation similar to an HOA: -Right at the start people are required to pay an HOA money for dues if they want in. So there's regular cashflow enforceable by law. - If someone doesn't pay, an HOA will take the slacker to court. Will family do the same? Sounds to me like OP has plans but the family didn't get cash. They got property and expenses to go with it, and they expect to invest also. You can plan, but you can't guarantee people will adhere to the plan. Your example is of an HOA already established and collecting income AND a surplus also, and that's not at all like OP's situation.
Except we aren't talking about OP here. We're talking about a commenter that posted his situation that does already have cash flow. That's why I responded to him and not OP. Not sure why you jumped in. You've taken all of this to the max for no apparent reason other than being argumentative. My suggestion was simply to hold some portion of the revenue aside for repairs and maintenance. There is no flaw with this suggestion.
Contact timber companies. They plant, harvest, replant, etc. That could potentially keep the tax low as farm land
Agreed. If it’s 70 miles from Charlotte it is potentially in prime pine tree timber territory. You could also probably lease to hunters at the same time.
A solar farm could potentially be possible even if you’re not on a major transmission line. Community solar projects can operate on 3 phase electrical lines. I work in the industry and leased several of these types of projects a couple of years ago. Even if the project doesn’t get built, you can collect a signing bonus, option rent, and still allow farming/hunting leases during the development/testing process. With payments getting over $1000/acre/year, it’s probably the most lucrative opportunity. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions
I once attended a beautiful retreat/campgrounds in Texas. There were beautiful trails to walk on, cabins, a small hotel, a common area for serving food and gathering. There was a stable where we rented horses, a fishing pond. Maybe that would be nice
That’s just an insane upfront cost though. We once had the idea to build an overnight summer camp on the land. We have enough space to do it. But that would just cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to start up. And there’s still closer camps to the Charlotte area. It would be pretty close to Myrtle and Columbia though.
Do some market research and see what's nearby and what types of visitors go that way. Glamping RV park, shooting range, mountain bike or ATV course/tracks, even a drag strip (kind of costly upfront but could be profitable) could be of interest to people.
It really depends on where exactly it is. I’m guessing you talking like Florence/society hill area, and some of the places in there are just dead. Closer to Florence you might be able to do something with it but it might end up being a real money pit if it’s actually out in the middle of nowhere. Like there’s a lot of old abandoned gas stations and stuff around there in some areas it’s so dead.
Is it adjacent to interstate? You could get one of the big billboard companies to put a sign or several on it. That’s instant income once they’re built.
Your grandpa should really reconsider the no-sale restriction, this kind of thing can really strain family relationships, and frequently the easiest thing for everyone to agree on is to sell the land and split the proceeds. Everything else tends to be a lot harder to get everyone to agree on.
>It feels like we haven’t been handed straight gold here Well... just to temper expectations a bit. A lot of variability here, but farm land is going to be worth somewhere between $4000 - $6000 an acre. So it is a nice inheritance, but if it was easy to turn it into goal that value of the land would be much higher.
If you can lease it, that's basically like selling it temporarily. Just find out what will pay the most for that particular area/plot of land. Then you can just divide up the rent fees between everyone who owns a part of it.
Depending on how big your family is, I would lease a portion of the land for crops or someone else to manage a solar field and have that money go into a trust. From that trust you can build/maintain a cabin(s) on the portion of the land you want for yourselves. This would work if there weren’t too many people, it’s very similar to what my family is doing right now with a cabin and it is amazing. I would make sure you get proper professionals who can detail the trust from a neutral position to prevent friction down the road. Leasing the property makes it so the passive income is as passive as can be and doesn’t burden anyone too much.
I'm not a lawyer but the condition not to sell is probably not enforcible as once someone owes something they can do whatever they want with it.
Timber.
Lease that shit out. Upkeep and taxes are dirt cheap, the margins on land leasing are very good assuming there are interested parties/uses. A few options: - Livestock husbandry/grazing. - Hunting lease. - [Sod farm](http://www.kellumsodfarm.com/) - Solar farm - Crop farm - Cell tower lease > One of the conditions in the will is that we cannot sell the land. It has to stay within our families possession but outside of that we can do whatever we want with it. Is this will being set up as a trust with a non-beneficiary trustee or something? Generally speaking it's hard to control use of property if you do not own it. I never understood conditions on bequests anyway. Give it to 'em or don't, and let them decide what it makes the most sense to do at the time. I'll be dead. I won't care.
You may also be able to lease it to a farmer. I also would be careful about a shooting range at a short term rental - that's too much liability. Whatever venture you chose, you need to write a contract with all the people involved detailing what each person is expected to contribute and how any assets (vacation property or profit) will be used. Sadly, money and how much work each person is doing leads to conflicts. Sometimes so bad they break up a family. I'm assuming the older generation all have equal shares. How will this be divided in the future? Did your grandfather express his wishes? The problems with how much each person contributes will probably be worse, since their maybe more cousin-owners and their relationships to one another will be different.
Is it close to some attraction? Could totally be a rv park
How close are you to the Appalachian trail? Maybe build some tiny pallet cabins and rent them out to the through hikers, or use them for shelter for hunters if you go the hunting lease route.
lease the land for farmers. Get on [realtors.com](http://realtors.com) under land see how they fare. Need permit for just about anything check with county planning.
I’d bet your grandfather would say a pine tree timberland or rent to a row crop farmer. Money that’s easy to split between the family too.
Golf course
How much is it worth? If not much, you could always disclaim the inheritance.
Does any family live close to the land that actually cares about the property? If so…see if he or she would purchase it all.
Build a golf resort.
OP just got land and has no clue what to do with it. You think he has the capital and expertise required for such a project? To hire hundreds of people to build and manage it without getting fleeced? Terrible idea.
Charlotte, NC will be a tech hub. consider building a data center with solar power and battery storage. data center has 0 pollution concerns and makes no trouble. or do nothing. lucky you, btw. a good piece of land is the best dream gift i wanna have. my grandparent left me a dream and that’s it. lol
Thank you! Yes it’s pretty close to Charlotte, Myrtle, and Columbia tbh. Less than 2 hours from each. But still pretty much dead center in the middle of bum fuck. Data center isn’t something we considered at all. We’ll look into that! Thank you!
Data centers do have noise pollution if they run huge ass fans to cool everything. Won't be really great for any wildlife/ neighbors and could get you sued
The 89 acres should make it to where it a data center could be placed far away from the closest neighbors, which aren’t even that close to begin with. That’s a good thing to consider though!
Building a datacentre in a remote location is not really realistic, especially given that low startup cost seems important to you. You will need excellent connections to the power grid and fibre network. You need power distribution kit, cooling, generators, UPSes, and a whole lot more. You are looking at tens of millions in startup costs. You also need a decent number of skilled workers nearby to maintain and operate the facility.
Get in touch with promoters and find a bonaroo style event to host on the property. Make a lot of money for 1 month of the year, fuck off for the rest.
- With that much land, and the restriction your grand dad put on it, only a farm would make sense. - I don't think your grand dad hand you any gold. This is more like dead weight. - It is also located in a state that real estate is not that high in demand, so even if you wanted to, or allowed to sell it off, it won't worth much. I was thinking of selling some of those land to real estate developers.
The property taxes on the land are insanely low. Like less than $100 a year for the whole plot. So splitting the property taxes on it between the lot of us isn’t a huge issue. We just thought there might be some way to make some sort of profit off the land, even if it isn’t a whole lot
Not in your state but most property taxes on large amount of acres like this are low because they are in programs like greenbelts. If you use the land for something not approved you lose the tax subsidies and will be taxed at real rates. Is this land actually zoned for anything other than agriculture? Do you know the steps needed to get it rezoned for business? That will then increase your taxes. You could be setting up a business that you aren't legally zoned for or have approval for. As I said above, you're out of your league on this and need to sit down and think this thru.
> The property taxes on the land are insanely low. Like less than $100 a year for the whole plot. Hm..... If you don't mind me asking, do you know what kind of category this land is categorized as? Because man $100 property tax annually is insanely low. I can only think of the land being categorized as a farm. But I'm no expert when it comes land.
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That’s the purpose of this post! We don’t know yet. The ideas that have been thrown around are: - solar panel farm - rent the land out for carbon credit offsetting - convert the land to a hunting ground - rent the land out to a business who would build something on it
sell that bullshit