Recently I started looking at land to invest in. Nothing big. Just raw land in the mountains. I planned to rent it out to people looking for alternative locations to pitch their tents. One location I went looking at was in Harpers Ferry West Virginia. Harpers Ferry is in Jackson County, immediately over the state line from MD. The picture below is me in Maryland, and once I started driving up that incline, I was in West Virginia.

I’ve been to Harpers Ferry West Virginia a few times. Mostly when I was a teen with my parents. I drove past it several years ago on a Road Trip to Nashville Tennessee. As it had been many years since I’d been there, I was surprised how close it was!

I turned on to that incline above to start my mountain climb to the land on Mountain Top Trail. As I was driving, I thought everything looked good. Then I turned onto the gravel road. Ok, no big deal. Then the ruts started. Oh my gosh. The ruts! I could not go above five miles per hour. See a picture below that had me cracking up because I couldn’t even get to ten miles per hour! At some spots, I felt like I was on a roller coaster it got so steep. I was pressed into the the seat back.

I almost () got to the top of the mountain. Hence the name Mountain Top Trail. When I tell you, with my walking stick, even I could have walked to the top of this mountain. I am a country girl at heart, and very well may have discovered I am a mountain girl too. It was two parcels of land that would have totaled just over .5 acres. In the image below, there are two structures. They are not habitable. If you look at that one structure, further away, maybe 30-50 feet further up is the top of the mountain. I SO wanted to go and get that visual. But I was not wearing the proper footwear and didn’t want to take a chance that there were snakes.

On my way up the mountain, I saw one person. I believe it was a teen, but couldn’t tell. I saw most people who lived in the housing were in either mobile homes, some built homes, and homes that looked like they were slapped together with plywood and called it a day. Woodstoves were burning in the latter type homes. And don’t take this as me judging. I am not! In all honesty, with the view that mountain offered? I’d be proud to call any kind of dwelling up there my home. They say West Virginia is as close to Heaven as you’ll ever get. Look at that view. Are they lying? Absolutely not!

I looked at one other property on the mountain and decided not to even consider it. Unfortunately the yard across the “road” from it was completely filled with trash. I didn’t even get out of my car. For the above property, while it may have been a good option, two things stopped me. One, even though it was raw land, there was more to do than I could commit to. Moving the stone for the fire pit. Removing the structures, or having them looked at to see if they could be saved. I wouldn’t want to remove that history. But it was too open and too close the the “road”.

The second thing was the road. I would loved to have come and car camped on my property, but that road was just too rutted. It took me 20 minutes to get up the mountain. It very well may not have been as bad as I thought, or felt as I was driving up and down that mountain. But I don’t think so. This next sign is what had me laughing. In my Kia Soul, there is no way I could make it above 5-7 miles per hour.

After thinking everything through, I just didn’t think it would be a successful spot to rent out. Even to those who hike the Appalachian Trail going through Harpers Ferry West Virginia. I did go on a local Facebook page and asked about the roads. On that particular mountain, the community had purchased the roads. When they purchase roads in the mountain communities, they are as is and the community becomes responsible for them.

I am still looking at mountain property in the West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia borders. What tips would you suggest for someone JUST getting into land investments? Comment below or on my Facebook page!

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