I bought a 52ac undeveloped piece from an 85 year old for $27K back in 2003. No one in his family wanted it. It was a back woodlot on top of a hill with no deeded access, prior owner had to ask abutters for access to cut/remove his own wood. It abutted my 14ac piece and so I bought it dirt cheap. Turned the two of them into $3.5M worth of fabulous mountain/water view house lots ... 2005 pricing.
"There's gold in them hills..."
Sweet.
I never ever made so much money and had so much fun doing it. Night and day difference from my 24 year career of bleeding edge engineering in the sweaty salt mine of semiconductors.
Damn, I really want to retire in such place. Away from this clown world.
Most of the folks that bought lots and built were 50+, the working well-to-do crowd. Every house is different, built by different local contractors and the overall project reflects beatiful homes on +/-1½ acre lots in a rural New England setting. No sidewalks, no street lights (underground utilities), just incredible unobstructed big-sky water/mountain views and sunsets facing west-southwest. 50 acres of open space woods with trails, vernal pools, granite outcrops, plenty of critters, abuts 1000+ acres of woods with trails owned by others. I can also see to the Atlantic Ocean and 2 more lakes to the East from my last saved lot and from a half dozen other lots along the top of the hill. If I built and put a 2 story house on that lot with the upper floor mostly windows, I would have unobstructed elevated views to the East, South and West. The subdivision is about 90% built out now, few unbuilt lots left.
That project is the proudest achievement of my life. This is what I quit my 24 year engineering career to do. I made the right decision and it turned out better than I could have imagined, allowed me to retire at 45.
Arent there typically easememt laws which prevent someone from locking themselves out of access to their own land?
Not here in Maine for raw land./undeveloped land.
You need road frontage, a deeded right of way, deeded easement .... something in order to get a building permit. In my case my 14ac lot was the last remaining lot of an old subdivision, marked as future expansion on the old plan. The existing road ended at my lot. I bought the 52ac, paid surveyors and engineers to design a new subdivision, got town and state approval to proceed and extended the road through the combined parcels so each new house lot had road frontage. Violá!