Riverfront Lots

The very first listing I inquired about was a three-acre lot on River Road for $9000.  Nine thousand bucks was a substantial amount of money back in the days of my youth.  After inflation, it is not much money anymore.  Inflation is a tax caused by the Federal Reserve.  But, I digress.

Discovering that listing was exciting.  I queried co-workers to see if anyone wanted to go in halves on our own private campsite.  I spoke with a friend who knows the tree business about whether it may be suitable for growing.  I still think it was a bargain.  It could nearly be bought with a credit card and paid off before summer.  That I had no idea what to do with it did not matter.  Owning farmland looked better to me than owning cash.

The land was nearly on the Potomac River too.  True, there was a large right of way between it and the river.  Oh, and did I mention, the railroad runs through it.  How interesting it would have been to have, on our imagined camping trips, trains pass by.  Maybe I could hobo a train from my hometown to the property.  Maybe the train would become a means of escape.  I would have been content sitting by the tracks in a lawn chair and watching the trains pass.

Back to reality.

I learned from the listing agent that there are problems unique to owning riverfront property.  The state has a moratorium on all new wells and septic systems within the floodplain.  Any land that did not get a well and septic last year is not likely to have one until the ban is lifted.  Landowners in a floodplain are subjected to many laws about land use, including how structures are designed and built.  I'm not saying I would never own land in a floodplain.  Doing so seems consistent with my libertarian core values.  It's just that one must take into account the implications when government is involved.