You’ve decided what and how you want to use your land, where you want to buy, now you have to be real about the costs and size. We talked earlier about the initial cost of the land purchase and if you’re hoping to have limited restrictions most likely you’ll be considering 10+ acres. In my experience 1-3 acre lots are available and common (5 acre lots are very rare) but the neighborhood is many times no different than a “tract home” neighborhood: HOA’s, high restrictions, no farm type animals, etc. So let’s assume 10 acres, buying on the east side of IH-35 at 15K an acre = $150,000. Buying raw land with no improvements usually requires 20% down (plus closing costs) with a higher interest rate than if you bought a traditional single family home in the suburbs. Current interest rates are around 4.5-5% so you could expect a land loan rate of 6-7% for example. One of the best known land lenders is Capital Far & Credit. Banks like Wells Fargo, BBVA, BOA don’t do land only loans. Stay tuned, next we’ll discuss costs to develop the property to live on….