2 acres for $1,314 in Helena Arkansas?

[HarmonicaBruce]

Here's the ad:
http://www.landwatch.com/Phillips-County-Arkansas-Land-for-sale/pid/318011118

Here's the google view:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/D...2!3m1!1s0x87d4d52f0afb46b7:0x729159cf513f7107

I can't tell exactly where it is, but it looks like it's all woods.  Why couldn't a guy park a van right in the middle of those trees?  Helena Arkansas is home a huge blues festival, the king biscuit blues festival.

Why shouldn't this work? 

 

[Almost There]

None of the pictures or the google lay out the property physically on the map.

Two things I did note though - it's zoned commercial which may mean that no one could live on the property.

The other thing is that the google view showed the street that it has as an address but then showed the access from the highway being completely covered in trees. The road may not actually physically exist in driveable condition. It may be nothing more than a road allowance at this time.

I wouldn't touch it without a physical site inspection. It's not swampland in Florida but may not be far off of it.

 

[Spirituallifetime]

I wonder why its so cheap, for commercial property and in town it would be several thousand more. It might not usable due to wet land laws or some thing.

 

[jimindenver]

Looking at the pictures I'd be worried about access. Kots of research to do before buying.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

None of the pictures or the google lay out the property physically on the map.

Two things I did note though - it's zoned commercial which may  mean that no one could live on the property.

The other thing is that the google view showed the street that it has as an address but then showed the access from the highway being completely covered in trees. The road may not actually physically exist in driveable condition. It may be nothing more than a road allowance at this time.

I wouldn't touch it without a physical site inspection. It's not swampland in Florida but may not be far off of it.

Ok, what's a "road allowance"?  I'm sure you're right, it has to have some kind of gotcha.  Like, you're not allowed to build or something.  I wonder if you could put in a driveway and a couple of picnic tables and have a cargo trailer full of yard sale junk.  Then it's like a real business.  It has to have some kind of history, maybe I need to call the realtor.

 

[Almost There]

Ok, what's a "road allowance"?  I'm sure you're right, it has to have some kind of gotcha.  Like, you're not allowed to build or something.  I wonder if you could put in a driveway and a couple of picnic tables and have a cargo trailer full of yard sale junk.  Then it's like a real business.  It has to have some kind of history, maybe I need to call the realtor.

Every county, township whatever was laid out at sometime by surveyors. They surveyed lots/parcels and left a 'road allowance' between them for access. Standard here in Ontario is 66'. That doesn't mean the road actually exists just that it was left as government property.

If you look at the google map it shows the road 'D'Anna Pl' as going out to highway 49 but if you look carefully you can see trees underneath where it shows the road going. The road may have not been used in decades and is so overgrown that it can't be driven on anymore. Keep in mind that you aren't allowed to just go and clear a county road on your own...you have to get the county to do that.

If you're really interested, ask first for a map showing the property boundaries. All you know right now is that it has a municipal address, it could be the treed area on the google map, it might be the open area that you can see on the google map, who knows.

The problem with it being zoned commercial is that 'commercial' zonings have designated uses for each commercial zone. For ex. one commercial zone may only allow light industry like a welding shop  or a car dealership whereas another commercial zone might allow a steel mill (heavy industry). Some commercial zonings allow for owner based businesses, others do not. Commercial zonings in general do not allow for residential occupation. Getting a zoning change for a single lot is usually very time consuming and can be costly.

IIWM I'd put in a call to the realtor but keep in mind there's a reason somewhere as to why this property with 'maybe' highway access inside town lines is going so cheap.

 

[Bandit2]

Try looking at it on the Bing Maps ( they use a plane to take photos , not a satellite )
34.517557, -90.633805
I looks like it's the small patch of wood's between the main road and the field at the start of the road ?

 

[Bandit2]

The Google Earth view is also an interesting view of both streets .
It might be worth a call to the agent/seller for more info .

 

[flailer]

Not to be a stick in the mud, but everyone is right. Do your homework. You're risking more than the price of the property ~
- the back taxes (for which the new owner , you, the buyer, is responsible) maybe out of this world.
- toxic dumping (motor oil, batteries, electronic dump) may mean a major EPA clean-up is known, or unknown. (criminal issues as well)
- proximity to a secure federal site (hyro-power generation, prison, what else? i don't know) may mean one can not do any number of normal things with it.

I found a WONDERFUL piece I still dream of buying. But it is zoned commercial, driving the property taxes through the roof. And the back taxes on it are beyond comprehension. The local bank holds it, and they are not happy, at all!

I am wondering: If you have any assets in that State, would the State just decide to take them from you, by force??? I don't know.

 

[GotSmart]

I have been to Arkansas. Between the humidity and the attitude towards certain classes of people, Not my cup of mud.

There are some wonderful people, but there are some who are not.

 

[vanman2300]

I once saw a property that looked great. When I got there it had power lines running across it, a huge substation and on the adjacent properties run down homes that made the area look like a Deliverance scene. It's like Internet dating...... the pictures are not very accurate.

 

[Canine]

Yep. Eyeballs on the land is the only way. You have to drive around and look. I think the Internet dating comment is very accurate as a comparison.

Years ago I was in north eastern WA trying to find 20 acres for a "homestead". I actually spent a day with a realtor. My needs weren't that much, I wanted an access road, the trees on the property should be reasonably mature, I didn't care about power cause I was going "off the grid". I did need a source of water, and I needed to be within 20 miles of a town and on a school bus route (those are plowed in winter).

I found nothing. Nothing. The trees were owned by the timber company - that's when I learned about timber rights... No water rights ever. Wells could go 200 plus feet and be dry. No subsurface mineral rights ever. Many roads weren't even county maintained and those that were could be graded once a month, if that.

But the MLS books (they were magazines back then) made it sound wonderful... Now Google earth would have been marginally useful but not really. Only talking to a local realtor who specialized in land was really accurate. No amount of pictures can answer your questions.

Good luck though.

 

[WriterMs]

There is a book I have called "Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country." Looks like Amazon stills sells a later version that what I have boxed away somewhere. Backwoods Home magazine had called it "the Bible of rural property buying."

I remember it being a very detailed resource of what things to check.. from whether the soil supports a well and/or septic to back taxes to right of way issues. (some properties out west.. sold years ago as 20-acre ranchettes...were actually blocked in by other properties and unknowing buyers had to negotiate a right of way later to get to their new property).

If you are considering a purchase, I'd highly recommend this book or a similar one.