What's your most desired BOL land feature?

[Crosscut]

I'd personally love to have a free-flowing (water) well on my property, and there are some in my area so it's not completely unrealistic.  If I ever had $10k or so with no otherpurpose I'd consider hiring a well driller to drill as deep as they could, or as deep as I could afford, just to see if they hit anything interesting.  A free-flowing well with a decent flow rate could be used with an impeller to generate electricity, a pond with constantly circulating water (overflowing into a nearby creek on Fed land), and potentially some form of air conditioning/cooling for the house with a constant supply of cold water.

Currently however the two features I like about our property is it borders Fed land so no one can build next to me, and it's thickly wooded so home heating fuel is free*. 

But while looking at tax foreclosed properties in my general area I found this one:  https://www.tax-sale.info/lot/show/id/134613

Requires opening an account to view it so here's just a couple of the pics and the short description:

Old Gas / Oil Site Vanderbuilt W/acreage
Minimum Bid:$2,250.00

COMMENTS:

old Aurora gas and oil site off S. Shire rd. Parcel is open with trees surrounding perimeter. sandy soil. Contain one larger building and one small building, containing gas/oil piping 5 plus acres.

google map: http://maps.google.com/?q=45.2116830034,-84.6668278006

Assuming no toxic waste or an environmental hazards having an oil/gas well at your BOL might be desirable, aside from this possibility


But just as a thought exercise, what desirable natural feature(s) do you have, or want, for your BOL?

*Not including the time, labor, and tools to harvest it.

[Lambykins]

A good spring. To me, water is paramount. You can improve soil, cut timber for heat/fencing/whatever, but without a good source of water...you got nothing.

[EBuff75]

A good spring. To me, water is paramount. You can improve soil, cut timber for heat/fencing/whatever, but without a good source of water...you got nothing.

... but not TOO much water!  I grew up in an area where everything was about a half-step up from being swampland.  That meant needing to constantly battle with water in our basement (we had a sump pump which ran year-round).  And every spring there would be lots of areas around us that would flood, including some roads which would have to be closed until levels went down.

So while I'd want water of some type, there would also need to be higher ground to build on!

[NT2C]

This is an interesting question but I can't really think of any particular land "feature" that would be a must have for me.  There are very few land parcels in the US where water access for drinking and sanitary needs is not possible, especially with modern technology where water can literally be collected from the air in quantities to supply a home.  Some sort of ground cover would be the closest to a land feature that I can think of, to prevent soil erosion due to wind and rain.  Maybe expand on that to include "protection from natural hazards" like forest or grass fires, hurricanes, tornados, landslides, etc.  That's not to say I would eliminate such places during my search though.  In many cases, simple steps can be taken to mitigate the hazard, such as storm cellars and firebreaks.

[echo83]

I think water would be a must, and I think that an above-ground source would be even better. I'd settle for a good stream, but a lake would be awesome. 

I love being near the ocean, but I'd trade that for a big enough, clean enough lake. 

Other nice-to-haves would be a hiking-friendly forest just far enough away from my house to have a flat, unobstructed rifle range.

None of this sounds too expensive, right?

[Crosscut]

Agreed on water.  Living on a peninsula has its advantages, the water table locally is about 35-40' down so potable water can be pumped by hand and well drilling is less expensive than in many areas.  A disadvantage here is the sandy, acidic soil.  Rich, fertile soil might be my next choice after easy water access. 

[NapalmMan67]

Yes, a clean water source first and foremost.  Desirable would be trees/forested, a pond/lake would be nice too and in a more northerly climate.

And some game animals.


For me a dream would be Saskatchewan, Manitoba or Western Ontario province.  More realistic would be Wisconsin North Woods, far Northern Minnesota, North or South Dakota, Montana etc.

[flybynight]

This would suit me right down to the ground

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/28821-S-Croco-Rd-Melvern-KS-66510/234194581_zpid/


I'm perfectly willing to accept donations to the flybynight BOL location fund

[NT2C]

This would suit me right down to the ground

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/28821-S-Croco-Rd-Melvern-KS-66510/234194581_zpid/


I'm perfectly willing to accept donations to the flybynight BOL location fund

Nice, but a tad bit exposed to some of that nasty weather Kansas is famous for.

[Brekar]

For me its a steady water source followed by a large amount of timber. That way I have a potential alternative fuel source via the timber, I could plant food plots, draw in more game animals, and hopefully, if I have enough land, build a pond and fill it with hybrid bluegill, largemouth bass, and channel cat...

[Raptor]

COMMENTS:

old Aurora gas and oil site off S. Shire rd. Parcel is open with trees surrounding perimeter. sandy soil. Contain one larger building and one small building, containing gas/oil piping 5 plus acres.

google map: http://maps.google.com/?q=45.2116830034,-84.6668278006

Assuming no toxic waste or an environmental hazards having an oil/gas well at your BOL might be desirable, aside from this possibility

Great topic and good discussions here.

I know the above pictures were posted tongue in cheek but I am compelled to say that any property that you may want to buy that has previous hydrocarbon extraction (or industrial activity of any kind) occur on it or worse has the activity and abandoned equipment left over on it is a property that you will want an expert Phase 1 & likely a Phase 2 environmental inspection done on it. If you buy this property you have just bought all the liabilities for any past activity on that property. Everything. So if the well has to be plugged and abandoned you are liable for any costs, past fines, etc. that the .gov have incurred as well all of the costs to actually P&A the well to legal standards in that area. 

Generally the sellers of this type of property will list it very cheap in the hopes of not incurring the P&A costs and will insist on a sale without the right of retribution ("as is/where is") hoping someone will take it off their hands. 

I have purchased "black-field" and "brown-field" sites before for business use but only after a though environmental study by professionals and appropriate price adjustment. Caveat Emptor!


Back on topic:

When I purchased my farm I was looking for these key items:

1. Privacy and ~ 5 miles distance between the property and any kind of commercial activity. I wanted a dark unlit road to the property with trees on all sides for the initial part of the trip. City folks are creeped out by dark woods at night. They are not likely to go that way if other choices are available.

2. I wanted utilities (power and if possible co-op water) to the place. I also wanted a water well. I have both "city" & well water at my place. I wanted a pond and/or a creek nearby, but DOWNHILL from the house with NO CREEK UPHILL from the house.

3. 20+ miles from any Interstate Highway.

4. The house shielded from the road by foliage.

 

[flybynight]

This would suit me right down to the ground

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/28821-S-Croco-Rd-Melvern-KS-66510/234194581_zpid/


I'm perfectly willing to accept donations to the flybynight BOL location fund

Nice, but a tad bit exposed to some of that nasty weather Kansas is famous for.

Nonsense
. It's just invigorating  

[tirls]

This would suit me right down to the ground
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/28821-S-Croco-Rd-Melvern-KS-66510/234194581_zpid/
I'm perfectly willing to accept donations to the flybynight BOL location fund

That reminded me of one of my own most desired features. Hills of some kind. Having grown up in the vicinity of the alps flat places like that drive me bananas.

[flybynight]

This would suit me right down to the ground
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/28821-S-Croco-Rd-Melvern-KS-66510/234194581_zpid/
I'm perfectly willing to accept donations to the flybynight BOL location fund

That reminded me of one of my own most desired features. Hills of some kind. Having grown up in the vicinity of the alps flat places like that drive me bananas.

You get used to it. Unless of course, you need to walk up a mountain every day. Then it would suck for you. 

[Mr. E. Monkey]

When I purchased my farm I was looking for these key items:

1. Privacy and ~ 5 miles distance between the property and any kind of commercial activity. I wanted a dark unlit road to the property with trees on all sides for the initial part of the trip. City folks are creeped out by dark woods at night. They are not likely to go that way if other choices are available.

2. I wanted utilities (power and if possible co-op water) to the place. I also wanted a water well. I have both "city" & well water at my place. I wanted a pond and/or a creek nearby, but DOWNHILL from the house with NO CREEK UPHILL from the house.

3. 20+ miles from any Interstate Highway.

4. The house shielded from the road by foliage.

That's not far off from what I was looking for when I bought my current BIL.  
1.  We're wooded, but not quite "innawoods," but on a dead-end, mostly paved road outside of town.  No streetlights, but that's mostly just an added bonus, not something I was looking for specifically.
2.  I would have loved a pond, but a stream that flows more-or-less year round is nice.  Ideally, it would've been a bigger creek with fishing, but at least between that and a well, there are additional options for fresh water.  Added bonus, it is downhill from the house, and listening to the water can be relaxing.
3.  Got it, though I mostly just wanted to have some elbow room.  Our last place was on about 0.2 acres, and that felt cramped.  2.2-ish feels much better.  More would have been nice, but it'll work.
4.  I'm working on that.  We do have trees along the road, but the house (and any activity) is still potentially visible.

My ideal BOL is basically where I am right now, but with more of it.  And milder summers.  But without the hard winters I moved to get away from.     

[Crosscut]

This would suit me right down to the ground
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/28821-S-Croco-Rd-Melvern-KS-66510/234194581_zpid/
I'm perfectly willing to accept donations to the flybynight BOL location fund

That reminded me of one of my own most desired features. Hills of some kind. Having grown up in the vicinity of the alps flat places like that drive me bananas.

You get used to it. Unless of course, you need to walk up a mountain every day. Then it would suck for you.

Hill(s) would be great as a source of free dirt for landscaping or other projects too.  My property is basically flat, before we built the home we cleared the site of trees and most of the topsoil and used it to build a 8-10' high 'privacy hill' between the house and the road, but when we back-filled dirt around the home and built an earthen backstop for a shooting range we had to steal dirt from other areas creating low points there. 

[tirls]

You get used to it. Unless of course, you need to walk up a mountain every day. Then it would suck for you. 

I don´t think I would, it´s like staring into the void from the neverending story.

Hills do have advantages. There´s a high probability for water, less easily accessible, easy to block of access roads, less visible. I live in a small settlement of maybe 15 houses, but it´s completely impossible to see unless you´re right in front of it despite it being fairly open.
It´s also protects from flooding, which is one of the more common natural disasters in Germany. It does make it more susceptible to storms and in my case forest fires.

[NT2C]

This would suit me right down to the ground
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/28821-S-Croco-Rd-Melvern-KS-66510/234194581_zpid/
I'm perfectly willing to accept donations to the flybynight BOL location fund

That reminded me of one of my own most desired features. Hills of some kind. Having grown up in the vicinity of the alps flat places like that drive me bananas.

It has been scientifically proven that Kansas is not completely flat.

It has a gentle rise toward the middle, just like a pancake. 

[Mr. E. Monkey]

This would suit me right down to the ground
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/28821-S-Croco-Rd-Melvern-KS-66510/234194581_zpid/
I'm perfectly willing to accept donations to the flybynight BOL location fund

That reminded me of one of my own most desired features. Hills of some kind. Having grown up in the vicinity of the alps flat places like that drive me bananas.

It has been scientifically proven that Kansas is not completely flat.

It has a gentle rise toward the middle, just like a pancake. 

In fact, Kansas is flatter.   
https://www.usu.edu/geo/geomorph/kansas.html

[flybynight]

Yep, That's what my pancakes look like