Purchasing land to metal detect???????

[dunsky1476]

Does the idea of purchasing a tract of land just to metal detect seem a little far fetched? Has anyone else ever thought about it or done it?

I have also thought about land that is leased for hunting. I am not sure if the land proprietors would care if you dug up their land. But it could be an easy way to utilize their land without going through the hassle of purchasing it and selling it if when you’re done.

Another obstacle would be determining whether or not there is anything worth hunting on that land at all. But I am wrong when I say that if you purchase a tract in a general vicinity of historical events you have some what of a chance of finding something?

 

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[treasurejack]

I'm scratching my head, then rubbing my chin,...."leasing land to metal detect?" I'm tapping my desk with my fingers now, and I'm thinking, "I don't know? Not sure that I've ever heard of the concept before, but as you say, others do lease land to secure a means to pursue their hobbies. Might not be a bad idea? You would in fact be paying the landowner for the exclusive right to metal detect the land, though I'm not sure how well it might all workout if you ever found a motherload of valueable finds? But still, I suppose some landowners would go for it, especially those who have no interest in the items you might find. Something to think about for sure, maybe sit back and refine all the details of such an agreement. Just one question though, how would you insure that you're not leasing land that's already been cleaned of the finds you're seeking? But in any case it's worth mauling over I suppose. In fact, I'm mauling it over right now and probably will be for the next few days. lol

 

[cedarratt]

Buy and old house to flip like on the tv show, now while fixing it up resod the yard after going over it thoroughly then sell the fixed up house with new yard for a nice profit...

 

[jeff of pa]

What I have been doing comes Close to Leasing.

There are several Large Corporations around here that own
Thousands of acres of land.

There are also alot of off roaders & hunters.

The property owners of these lands Sell Permits to use the land.

the Average price is $100.00 a year.

I bought a Permit this year to try it out.
for $100.00 I have 20,000 + acres of land at my Disposal.

I suppose Farmland owners around the Battle Field areas
would Consider a $100.00 Bill to search their Fields.

Get a group of 10 together
and I doubt many would turn down $1000,00
considering Property Tax costs.

Anyone who flips houses & detects would also have fun I'm sure.
But unless you have a Spare Hundred Thou lying around
that you could Buy, & wait to sell that could get Complicated.

I have always felt If I'd hit the Powerball Big, I'd do a GPAA thing
for Detectorists. Buy & lease land & 18th Century Homes
just to put on a list of places to detect.
But what are the Odds of that :P

 

[treasurejack]

dunsky,
This might be a good topic to run by the legal eagles on this site. Let me know what you find because now that you've got me thinking about it I have a few locations already in mind!

 

[ztzzt]

Yep, seems pretty far fetched on my budget.

 

[treasurejack]

I'm not so sure it's a budget issue? I know guys who lease hunting ground for virtual pennies and we're talking several acres of ground. Actually it's not a bad deal for either party as it allows the landowner an easy out when asked by other parties, "Can't do it, it's on a lease. Sorry." As I understand it the leasees wave all landowner liability should something happen. I just spoke with a guy who leases hunting land like this from a farmer for $500.00 a year and they lease 116 acres of land. He says it works well for both parties. So let's say you know where that old fort or old mining camp or old private beach was, and you could grab that same lease on this large track of land for say, 3 years? The fact is, considering our expenses, most of us lose money metal detecting anyway so why not spend the cash to secure the best possible hunting grounds for your exclusive use? Just a few good finds could end up paying for the investment? Honestly, the more I think about it the more I like the notion.

 

[Farmercal]

I am from an area that has a lot of International Paper (formerly Union Camp) land and people 20 years ago would buy a permit for one dollar a year for the rights to hunt any Union Camp property for an entire year. Today all that same property is leased out to hunting clubs and there are gates everywhere so nobody can ride on the old roads any more. They have even blocked access to some cemeteries out in the country. Turned a lot of neighbors into enemies over the years. I am not saying that will happen to metal detectors users but the point is you might find a lot of the land is already leased to the hunters for the entire year.

 

[jeff of pa]

I am from an area that has a lot of International Paper (formerly Union Camp) land and people 20 years ago would buy a permit for one dollar a year for the rights to hunt any Union Camp property for an entire year. Today all that same property is leased out to hunting clubs and there are gates everywhere so nobody can ride on the old roads any more. They have even blocked access to some cemeteries out in the country. Turned a lot of neighbors into enemies over the years. I am not saying that will happen to metal detectors users but the point is you might find a lot of the land is already leased to the hunters for the entire year.

Same way here for years, Hunting Clubs leased Everything.
Thing is Hunting isn't a 365 day a year Thing.

And I also think the Prices the hunting clubs were having to pay
& split between Members was way too much.
I heard Rumors of upwards of $1000,00 each.

and of couse as I said earlier Off roaders Outnumber hunters
in clubs here & they had no fear of trespassing to ride.

 

[Don in SJ]

Same way here for years, Hunting Clubs leased Everything.
Thing is Hunting isn't a 365 day a year Thing.

And I also think the Prices the hunting clubs were having to pay
& split between Members was way too much.

In certain areas that I hunt the vast majority of woodlands are posted heavily by hunting clubs that have leased the land from real estate developers/ investors, it is much simplier to get permission from the clubs in this case for hunting on the land. It is amazing though that the most heavily posted areas, are posted by hunters, not regular property owners.

Jeff, I agree, the prices the clubs pay to lease land is above sensible in my opinion.

Don

 

[dunsky1476]

I just got a reply from one of the biggest land leasing companies who said:

"No, that type of activity would not be covered and would not be allowed on our leases."

I am guessing that is his company only and maybe if there are private leases the owner might agree to it. I also wonder sometimes how would they ever know if you're not using to blow away animals and are metal detecting it.

 

[treasurejack]

dunsky,
I'm thinking you would be better off inquiring in the private sector, farmers, private land owners and the such.

 

[jeff of pa]

I just got a reply from one of the biggest land leasing companies who said:

"No, that type of activity would not be covered and would not be allowed on our leases."

I am guessing that is his company only and maybe if there are private leases the owner might agree to it. I also wonder sometimes how would they ever know if you're not using to blow away animals and are metal detecting it.

Actually if you were to Get a Permit for Recreational use
And just not Volunteer What Recreation means to you,
you may be OK as long as the permit dosn't prohibit
something that goes along with detecting, like Digging, Removing anything, Etc. I did of course Mention Detecting, But reading the Permit
I was given I probably could have Just bought the permit and
gone. But then you would always have to wonder, "Am I going to
be Confronted at some point" ?

Here is My permit, Edited of course to prevent
Easy Counterfeiting :P

 

[TreasureTales]

Get acquainted with a contractor who flips houses and ask him if you can detect whenever the ground is torn up and the crew is absent. Maybe work out a split of the take with him. OR contact a nearby private campground and see if you can work out a deal with them.

What you want is a large tract of land that is already available for leasing, but with a seasonal aspect. Hunt clubs would be great, there must be more than one in your area. I'd try to point out the advantages to them, show them what's in it for them. No guns, so insurance should be lower for them. Not a big crowd, just you. NO noise, no trash, no booze, just you and your metal detector and a pal on occasion.

Let's see what areas tracts of land would be possibilities.

Ranches
Farms
Hunt Clubs
Fishing Resorts
Private Forests (paper companies/lumber companies)
Private Beaches
Private Campgrounds
Sand & Gravel Companies
Drive In Movie Theaters
Boy/Girl Scout Summer Camps
Racetracks
Parks/Playgrounds in Gated (Private) Communities
Recently sold but Undeveloped acreage
Paintball Sites

Let us know how things go. This might be something worth starting like GPAA or LDM Club Memberships.

 

[treasurejack]

Hey TreasureTales,
Been sitting back still scratching my chin, like the group idea, but how bout just, "renting it for the weekend or week?" There's no long term commitment by either party and it would permit the landowner to "step into the notion" on a limited basis. This would also allow the renter a few days to evaluate the property before he pays for something he might later wish he had passed on. This is what I've been considering the past few days.

 

[dunsky1476]

Well I think leasing the land would involve a lot more asking around til you find someone that a. would actually let you MD their land

b. would own a tract of land that actually had anything worth finding in it

How about buying a tract? Does that seem a little overbroad just to support your hobby? I would say the chances of buying a tract around Northern VA or any other large civil war battle would likely yield some interesting items.

 

[spez401]

As an attorney I will say that I can draft pretty much ANY agreement. But in this case I would question why? There are quite a few places to detect for free, I'd hit those. Even if you find a place that you know is filled with treasure, you'd need to get permission from the owner to detect the land. Getting permission in writing has been covered in other topics, so i won't go into it. Someone might allow you to detect if you pay them, but why not try to get permission for free first? If they say no, you can always offer them some cash, and bring up the subject of an agreement later...

With the price of land so high currently (at least here in the North East), buying a parcel for the sole purpose of detecting would be extremely cost prohibitive, even if you knew with certainty that there was something worth detecting on the parcel.

But, even with all that said... many of us do this as a hobby, for enjoyment, or to keep our rapidly dwindling sanity. And who can put a price on the enjoyment we get out of the search? People pay big money for vacations, or hunting lodges, or to rent a tract to hunt on. Is that so different than what we do?

who knows? for me... I'll stick to the beaches and my local haunts for now...
steve

 

[dunsky1476]

It really would be similar to the reason hunters lease land. You can hunt in a lot of places but having your own tract reserved for you that you know no one else is going to hunt or use might be worth the money. I think it would be easy to just head out to your land every weekend or time off you get without having to go through the hassle of negotiating the dividing up the finds and getting permission from possibly an uncooperative land proprietor.

Also as you said the land prices in the NE are skyrocketing, if you purchased some and held on to it for awhile while you hunted it out, you might be able to resale it for a profit and move on to a new location.

If you wondering why someone would want to go through the hassle and expensive of obtaining a lease, wouldn't it be satisfactory to MDer if you have a tract that a. you know hasn't been developed b. no one else is going to use and c. do not have to purchase and can move on when you're done or haven't found anything.