Land for material and equipment

[SouthernTreesNewbie]

Good afternoon everyone,
I am relatively new to the site, however it has helped me in many ways since I found it. One thing I haven't been able to find is how people are finding land to park their equipment and any take home wood they may chop and resell. I am based out of a town and the rules dictate that my small business office can be in my home, but no large equipment can be in my neighborhood. Some individuals I have seen live out of town and have land to use. What does everyone else do? If you could please let me know all those small business owners who aren't able to keep logs and equipment at your home, how did you find the place you store it and what is a realistic cost?

Thank you,

 

[lone wolf]

Good afternoon everyone,
I am relatively new to the site, however it has helped me in many ways since I found it. One thing I haven't been able to find is how people are finding land to park their equipment and any take home wood they may chop and resell. I am based out of a town and the rules dictate that my small business office can be in my home, but no large equipment can be in my neighborhood. Some individuals I have seen live out of town and have land to use. What does everyone else do? If you could please let me know all those small business owners who aren't able to keep logs and equipment at your home, how did you find the place you store it and what is a realistic cost?

Thank you,

Knock on doors of places that have a lot of room and ask if you could rent some land. Older people prob need extra income also so they may be receptive.

 

[ATH]

I looked for 2 years solid. I was working with an development director for our electric co-op who was also keeping his ear to the ground for me. We also met with another client of mine who owns an engineering/survey firm who gave us some ideas - all of which came up empty.

A friend who is a real estate agent knew I was looking and would shoot me a note every now an then about a possibility, none of which worked.

I looked at various real-estate websites probably weekly for a year +.

I went to a couple of auctions. One of those there were only 2 of us bidding, but the other guy is a big developer in the area so there was no way I was outbidding him.

Then in early 2020, the co-op development director put me in touch with that guy who offered me 2 acres of what he bought at that auction for what I thought was a fair mark-up. At that same time the realtor friend said he had a connection with another agent who was buying a closed golf course and would entertain selling the old maintenance shop and a few acres. Then everything shut down and I wasn't going to spend a dime. When I saw that people were still hiring tree work we revisited those. I ended up buying the golf course piece. The shop was in bad shape, so we tore that down. The new pole barn should get the garage doors put on this week.

Cost? Same 3 things that are important in any real estate pricing: location, location, location. There were a couple of other pieces that were just under and acre for $100K. Plus inside city limits would require more zoning loopholes, etc. I was fortunate to buy in an unzoned township.

 

[SouthernTreesNewbie]

Knock on doors of places that have a lot of room and ask if you could rent some land. Older people prob need extra income also so they may be receptive.

Thank you Lone Wolf, I had thought of that and there is a lot of land just north of town. How would you approach the conversation? "Good afternoon, I noticed you had a lot of land. I have a tree business and am looking for a quarter acre to lease. I am willing to clear and make some improvements to park my equipment and process some firewood." Something like that maybe?

 

[lone wolf]

Thank you Lone Wolf, I had thought of that and there is a lot of land just north of town. How would you approach the conversation? "Good afternoon, I noticed you had a lot of land. I have a tree business and am looking for a quarter acre to lease. I am willing to clear and make some improvements to park my equipment and process some firewood." Something like that maybe?

Just tell them like it is, introduce your self ,tell them where you are from and what you do, and ask if they would be interested in renting land to you , if not ask if they know of anyone who might. Might help to bring a woman with you so you dont scare them as much. Also if you have a business card and a shirt with a business logo bring it.

 

[mike515]

Just tell them like it is, introduce your self ,tell them where you are from and what you do, and ask if they would be interested in renting land to you , if not ask if they know of anyone who might. Might help to bring a woman with you so you dont scare them as much. Also if you have a business card and a shirt with a business logo bring it.

Pretty much this. Just start asking. Think about what else you can offer besides money to help build a relationship. That will help.

We operate across a fairly large area (2-3 hours across at 55-60 mph. We have a dozen or more places that we use when we're in different areas. We don't pay for any of them. Some people want chips or wood. Some people want the activity on the property to keep it looking busy and secure. Some people would like a little tree work or the feeling of knowing we will be there in a hurry in the event of a storm. It can be any number of things but it's mostly building relationships. I've known some of these people for 25 years. Even if we haven't been there for a year or more....I know I can leave a couple of bucket trucks there without even asking and if it's a problem, they will call me....but they usually don't unless they just want them parked somewhere else on the property.

As far as getting rid of logs and chips.....you can obviously trade local parking for free chips and logs. You can ask city park depts, farmers, landscapers, guys who sell gravel, etc. All kinds of people will take them. I've been doing this for nearly 30 year (continuously) and I've never paid to get rid of a load of chips or logs and I've never paid cash to use someones land to park equipment. I don't even go into the conversation with the thought of paying money. I'm thinking of how I can help them and make it work for myself. "Hey....I see you have a bunch of livestock standing in mud over there. I have a bunch of chips that you can have for free if you want to spread them out to give them something dry to stand on." He may say "Sure. Dump them right over there! I'll take whatever you want to get rid of!" Then I say "Well....we're probably going to have a crew around for the next 2 or 3 weeks. Might work out real well if we park the trucks here and just keep dumping every day". He may say "I think that would be fine. How many trucks do you have? Just park them on the west side of the barn whenever you need to and you can dump the chips over near the burn pile. I'll just burn whatever I don't need".

It's that easy. I have had that conversation countless times. It doesn't need to be more complicated than that and we never talk about me paying any money. Give that a try. It helps if you are will to chat a little too. I have got rid of 30 years of material this way. It works if you live in an area like I do.

To be clear.....we do have our own land, shop, etc. too but it's nice to park remotely when you're working 50 miles away for a month or whatever.