7 Towns Where Land Is Free

 

As small towns suffer from a continuing flight from rural toward-more urban living, some economic development groups and governments in these troubled areas have chosen to stay and fight.

The Homestead Act of 1862 is no longer in effect, but free land is still available out there in the great wide open (often literally in the great wide open). In fact, the town of Beatrice, Nebraska has even enacted a Homestead Act of 2010.

As with the homesteaders of the 1800s, the new pioneers must not be the faint of heart—they can't be the type to shy away from the trials of building a home from the ground up, or the lack of Starbucks on every corner, or unpaved roads (extremely remote location and lack of infrastructure is probably what caused a well-publicized land giveaway in Anderson, Ark. to flop). If the Google Maps overhead view of the vast open space surrounding the modest street grids of these towns doesn't instill cabin fever, then read on—these parcels are up for land grabs.

Marne, Iowa

Marne is a southwestern Iowa community with a population of just 149 or so, about 60 miles from Omaha and 80 miles from Des Moines. It was never a big town (pop. 617 in 1875), but the head count really began declining around the turn of last century, through the teens and 20s. "The decline of the family farm affects rural areas like this, says Mayor Randy Baxter.”Back in the '60s and '70s, there more smaller farms, and small towns supported the folks in the country, but now those homes aren't there anymore."

In hopes of boosting that number, the Marne Housing and Development Corp has made four free lots available: 3 for private and 1 for commercial use. The first family to take advantage of the free land moved onto their new property the fall of 2008, also availing funds from the USDA's Rural Development Agency for building their home, and they qualified for $10,000 down payment assistance from the Southwest Iowa Planning Council.

To take advantage of the free land in Marne, applicants need only to submit a proposed floor plan for the house they want to build. It's not restrictive, but Baxter notes that it must be within reason-- no trailer homes, no horses or livestock. Among the unreasonable proposals for the land: "They want to bring a camper in hogs, or store junk there."

New Richland, Minn.  

New Richland is a town of about 1200 in southern Minnesota, 75 miles from the outskirts of the Twin Cities, offering lake recreation and many fine churches. If this sounds like home, then consider a free 86' x 133' lot on the Homestake subdivision on the northwest side of town. Those who claim lots must build a house on the property within one year.

The land itself is free, but assessments for services provided by the town such as streets, curb and gutter, water and sewer. The fee for these is about $25,000, which suddenly sounds a lot less like "free," but through Tax Increment Financing this number is reduced to about $14,000 for qualified candidates, which is paid over 15 years on a semi-annual basis along with real estate taxes.

Kansas

Kansas has so much free land offered throughout the state by local Kansan governments and development groups that there's an online hub to organize all the information, the appropriately named Kansas Free Land.

"Most rural areas in Kansas have been declining in population since 1900, so rural Kansas communities either fight or disappear," says Jenny Russell, Republic County Economic Development Coordinator for Republic County in northern Kansas.

Her county has opted to fight. Republic County has a free land option available for the right industry and free residential lots throughout its communities for new home construction. Russell cites the area's rural advantages: very low overhead costs compared to cities, and "With developing technologies, businesses are now able to conduct their operations from almost anywhere."

Kansas Free Land links to more than a dozen communities, from Herndon, population 124, to Wilson, population 9698, each with their own offers and requirements.

Beatrice, Neb.

One city in southeastern Nebraska that reaped the benefits of the original Homesteading Act of 1862 has created a new version of what worked so well before. The Homestead Act of 2010 offers several parcels of land for free on a first-come, first-served basis. As with the original act, applicants must occupy their parcels of land for five years.

With a population of about 12,564 and situated just 40 miles south of Lincoln (via the Homestead Expressway) and 99 miles from Omaha, Beatrice is one of the most populous and more accessible locations on this list. In this case, the aim is not to stave off the death of a town with a dwindling population, but to clean up neglected properties and get them to generate taxes and utility fees once again.

Muskegon, Mich.

Hoping to attract industrial employers, the city and county of Muskegon, Michigan, (pop. 174,344) launched Muskegon 25 .Under this program, companies that will bring in 25 full-time jobs or more will be granted industrial park property for building, complete with all services, gratis. In addition, the industrial parks are situated in low tax "Renaissance Zones."

Muskegon Area First is hoping to attract food processing industry, other suppliers for local industries, and alternative energy providers. New or existing companies creating 25 jobs are allotted five acres, 50 jobs get 12 acres, 75 jobs get 20 acres, and 100 or more jobs get 20 acres. The program also provides discounts at rates proportionate to the amount of jobs created. The 25-job companies are entitled to 50% off water and sewer bills, and the discounts increase from there, down to 20% of the full rate.

State business credits and other tax incentives are also available. To sweeten the deal further, the city will even throw in tickets to Lumberjacks hockey season tickets or a local boat slip to qualified participating companies.

Curtis, Neb.

Curtis is known as Nebraska's Easter City due to its famed 40-year-old Easter Pageant tradition. This 3.266-square-kilometer community of approximately 832 persons in southern Nebraska's Medicine Valley has the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture and an airport three minutes away.

Sound good? All right, then: Curtis offers two options for free-land claimers. Consolidated Companies, Inc. created Roll'n Hills lots to boost the local economy by providing free sites on paved streets with all utilities for single-family homes. Three of those lots now have occupied homes, says Ed Coles of Consolidated, and nine remain.

Additional free lots are available through the city of Curtis that overlook the all-grass nine-hole Arrowhead Meadows Golf Course, which is one of the best public courses in the state—at least according to Medicine Valley's economic development website.

Camden, Maine

Camden is the coastal exception in this otherwise-landlocked list of free land locales. The charming New England berg of about 4,052 citizens is offering 3.5 acres of land near Camden Harbor for a business that will create at least 24 jobs .The former industrial site on the Megunticook River, refurbished by the Town of Camden, comes equipped with 3 Phase Power, Sewer, Water, Cable, Broadband, and parking is available for up to 300.

Clearly, this is a prime deal for the right company. The Town of Camden is hoping for a company from industries such as biotech, information technology, financial services, medical labs, film, or green businesses. In fact, those last two listed industries are encouraged, as creative economy employers are encouraged and environmentally friendly businesses are given preference in this search.

Resource: Finance.Yahoo.Com

5 Things Your Landlord Won't Tell You

1) "This building is in foreclosure."

In late 2009, Melody Thompson called her landlords to ask about the well-dressed picture-takers outside her four-bedroom Portland rental home. "Oh, we're refinancing," she remembers them telling her. Then in late April, a formal bank notification arrived in the mail, stating that the home was in foreclosure and would be put up for sale in late August. "I was immediately angry," says Thompson, the executive director of Financial Beginnings, a financial literacy nonprofit. "They lied." The sale has been postponed twice as the landlords apply for a mortgage adjustment, but Thompson is still hunting for a new place.

Renters accounted for 40% of families facing eviction from foreclosure in 2009, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. And unfortunately, they often hear about it as Thompson did -- from the bank, just weeks before the sale, says Janet Portman, an attorney and the managing editor of legal book publisher Nolo. "The landlord wants the tenant in there, paying rent," she says. The lack of notice was so pervasive that last year Congress passed the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, which gives tenants at least 90 days from the foreclosure sale to move out. (Previously, they had as few as 30 days, Portman says.) Provided the new owner doesn't want to live there, the law also lets legitimate tenants -- those who signed a lease before the sale and pay a market value rent, among other qualifications -- stay through the end of their lease.

2) "You should complain more."

When a steady drip, drip, drip of water from the ceiling led a third-floor tenant to complain, Adam Jernow, a principal at property management firm OGI Management in New York City, assumed they were dealing with a leaky pipe. It wasn't until a week later, when the tenants on the top floor two flights above that apartment finally called, that he realized they were dealing with a big roof leak from heavy summer rains. Had upper-floor tenants complained sooner, Jernow says, they could have limited the damage, and that third-floor tenant might not have had a problem at all. So while renters often assume quirks like hot-then-not showers or moisture on the walls is just part of big-city living - or that complaining to the landlord will just open up a can of worms - keeping a property owner informed can actually help a problem get fixed faster. Besides, most states require landlords to keep the property in good repair, with home systems and appliances in working order.

3) "There's more to negotiate than the rent."

Rental markets in many cities around the country have improved this year, which means landlords have less incentive to cut you a break. Just 31% of landlords lowered rent in 2010, versus 69% in 2009, according to property marketplace Rent.com. All the major real estate investment groups are asking for higher rent on new leases, and about half are doing so on renewals, says Peggy Abkemeier, the president of Rent.com.

But the market hasn't improved so much that landlords don't have incentive to keep good tenants, she says. The survey found that 44% of landlords are willing to lower security deposits, and 22% will offer an upgrade to a fancier unit (think better views, quieter neighbors, newer kitchen) without raising rent. And there's still that 31% of landlords who will offer a price break. "It never hurts to ask," Abkemeier says. In markets where vacancy rates are still high, such as Atlanta, Las Vegas, Orlando and Phoenix, tenants have a better chance.

4) "Your neighbor is not my problem."

Loud music. Late-night parties. More foot traffic than a mall on Sunday mornings. Kevin Amolsch, the owner of real estate investment company Advantage Homes in Denver, Colo., has heard all of these complaints and more from the tenants in the buildings he manages. Trouble is, there's not much he can do. States' tenant rights laws make it tough for landlords to intervene when there isn't a clear violation of the lease. Even when a "right of quiet enjoyment" is in the lease, those noisy neighbors usually have time to mend their ways. "Two weeks later [when they are free and clear], it's going to start up all over again," Amolsch says. And so does the clock on their grace period to pipe down.

The best bet is to reach out to the other tenant and try to smooth things over directly, Amolsch says. If that doesn't work, report problems to the police as well as the landlord, so the situation is well-documented. That makes it easier to initiate eviction proceedings, he says.

5) "You may have more rights than I do."

Brianne Vorse, a longtime renter, knows the number to her local tenant rights group by heart. Vorse first sought help four years ago to force her landlord to fix windows that wouldn't shut all the way, letting in cold air and the San Francisco fog. She called again after a sub-letter offered a higher rent if the landlord would break Vorse's lease and let him take over. "I found that [the landlord] couldn't legally do this," says Vorse, who sent the landlord an official tenant petition she found on the web site of the San Francisco Rent Board. "In the end, I got the apartment and kept the original lease."

Tenant rights vary widely by state, says attorney Portman. Arkansas doesn't even require landlords to provide "fit and habitable housing," but that's extreme. In the most renter-friendly states, including California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey, renters without say, hot water, can withhold rent until it is fixed (or pay to fix it and deduct that from the rent). "If the landlord tried to evict you for that, you would win that lawsuit," she says. Landlords aren't necessarily any better informed about what they can and cannot do, so it's up to the tenant to figure it out. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development maintains a database of tenants' rights by state, including groups that offer assistance with disputes.

Resource: Real Estate Yahoo