What to do with 50 acres of rural land

[Nichole Kinard]

We own 50 acres of wooded landed in a rural setting. Eventually, we’d like to build a few houses for ourselves and extended family but that will be a lot later. In the meantime, it’s a beautiful plot of land with a nice creek running through it. It’s rural but within about 45 minutes drive of three bigger towns. Ideas to make it income-producing we have that would comply with current zoning are an event center (wedding venue, etc) and a campground (cabins and primitive). We don’t want to strip it for timber. What are some other creative things others have done with this type of land? The goal would be to have the land at least pay for itself. 

[Russell Holmes]

My wife and I have a 9.46ac parcel in Umatilla (Lake Co) FL that is a lot smaller but we've explored similar options.  Long term it will be prime development land for residential and/or commercial, whether it is us to develop or sell to a developer.... we may subdivide and sell some of it in the short term, so we don't wish to erect structures or change zoning to make development harder down the road.  

 We bought the property seller-financed with power, a small bathroom/laundry building, a 40x60 metal shop building, an RV pad with 'full hookups' (power, water, septic) and not much else.  About 6ac of grass with scattered trees, a pretty wetland area, and decently close to larger towns and recreation areas (Ocala National Forest, Mt. Dora for art festivals, several public springs, etc). 

We've listed the property on HipCamp, basically an AirBnb platform for camping/glamping where we've got some traction building. We've also launched a gourmet mushroom grow operation and plant nursery. The latter two are more semi-active income with some infrastructure buildout needed, but HipCamp has been pretty cool to the point we're making plans to add a few more campsites and some basic amenities. 

We aren't zoned for a campground or RV park nor do we want to pursue changing the zoning to that, but keeping it low-key and low-density it doesn't attract attention, nor are we putting massive cap ex into it. A KOA campground we are not.   It's more "here's what we've got, it's peaceful and pretty, come pay nightly to enjoy it up to 29 nights". We had one tent camper group as our first guests, then have an RVer couple who are about 17 days into a 22 night stay, and three other bookings over the next month.  If someone came along from the county and demanded we cease, we would, though it's not likely when there's an occasional RVer or tent camper.  If we let 30 RVs on the property it may attract too much attention, but being conscious of neighbors the rural area takes on more of a 'ask for forgiveness rather than permission' vibe for anything that doesn't involve permanent structures.   

We have a full bathroom hooked to septic, but you can also provide a simple composting outhouse or even require campers to bring their own composting toilets.  They suggest one campsite per acre maximum while some hosts do it more or less dense. Some are literally a pad next to someone's house, but the higher rated campsites are those with some natural enjoyment and privacy.  It's not going to bring in massive amounts of money, but for bringing in some income with very minimal efforts, structures needed, or upkeep, it's great.  You can also rent Yurts, treehouses, or your own RV on the platform for more than a bare campsite, but that gets into too much cleaning and upkeep for the spirit of it. The idea of letting someone bring their own RV, live in it a week or three, and then leave with it and their mess is great.  We charge $45-50/night for the RV pad up to 4 people, $5 per person per night extra for additional guests. We've got a tent site without RV hookups listed for $25-30/night

We haven't gone into event venues, but mainly because there's a quite popular one a few hundred yards away down a dirt road.  They built a pole barn structure, air conditioned it, strung up some lights and trendy decor and host baby showers or weddings almost every weekend.  That venue sits on the same property as their homes, so I'm not sure if it would have been feasible on its own parcel but seems to be quite successful the way they've got it running.  Most events are baby showers, weddings, birthday parties, but they've also hosted 'market' type events with vendors and such.  If there aren't many event venues around you, you could go with an event venue AND hipcamp combo making sure not to let one encroach on the other.  Some crusty campers crawling out of their tents to see wedding guests 50 feet away may not be ideal, but if they were in separate areas entirely it could work well. 

After years in the highly active BRRRR, sales, and rehab realms as an RE broker, I quite enjoy throwing on my boots and riding a zero turn mower, taking a Jon Boat out on our pond, or cutting up a downed tree for firewood. The change in pace is refreshing. Campers tend to be more leisurely in nature than tenants too. :)