Considering property purchase

[Patrick Ford]

Looking to relocate in 2-3 years from large downtown city into a more rural area where I can have some land and build a house. I found a perfect (for me) plot of land. It has rolling hills, grasslands and a stream. It's 23 acres and by no means do I need that much. The asking price for this undeveloped parcel of land is $325k. I would have to finance 80% of the purchase of the land. If I were to just hack off a 8 acre parcel of this and buy it, the owner will be developing it in a few years as part of a second phase of developments he's doing a cross the ravine. Initially, I thought buying a small part of this parcel is all I would need, but then I got to thinking :idea: . Perhaps it would make sense for me to buy the entire lot and here's my thinking why;

1-I could buy now and sit on it for about 3 years until I'm ready to make the move out there. This would ensure no further development/crowding out this quite and serine property
2-In 3 years I could keep 8-10 acres for myself and parcel the remaining 13-15 acres into two lots and sell them. I might be able to make a bit of a profit on this, maybe not. I could use the cash sale of these two parcels to financing the majority of the price to build the eventual house that will go on this land
3-This would allow me to control how many neighbors I'll have (I don't want a neighborhood with houses spaced 15 feet apart going up)

So, maybe a bit of an investment, I don't really think sitting it for 3 years would let it appreciate much in value, but, it would give me control and future sale of any of the remaining property would be put towards building of the new house. Just a big money shuffle, perhaps. Things to consider would be township property taxes and liability.

Does anyone have experience with this type of thing? It's in a part of the midwest that is growing and the city that it is nearest (about 10 miles west) is expanding east towards this area. It's great for families and is surrounded by great school districts.

The usual risks are associated with this, I'd say real estate in the area is fairly hot right now, so I could possibly be purchasing at a premium compared to what it might fetch in 3 years if there is a market down turn in the area.

My current financial situation can support the mortgage and my job situation is fairly stable. My current property I have in the downtown area of the major city I live in should be easily rentable which would, at a minimum, cover mortgage, taxes and HOA fees.

I know what I don't know. I don't know anything about buying land as an investment or to build on. There are a lot potential intricacies with the township zoning and environmental issues with the stream. It's a lot to digest, where do I start?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!