What to do with totally useless land?

Seeking Advice Forum
1

Years ago, I inherited some land in Louisiana that seems totally useless. It’s been in my family forever, bought by an ancestor for reasons no one knows. It’s classified as brackish water marsh and is in the middle of nowhere. There’s no road access or utilities, and the closest road is across a bayou.

I found out the mineral rights were leased to an oil company in the 70s, but that lease has long expired, and they probably found nothing.

The property taxes are about $20 a year. Should I just keep paying them forever, or is there anything that can actually be done with this land?

2

Maybe look into making sure it’s all native species. There are grants and tax breaks for conservation. The government might pay you to keep it full of native plants.

3

Ash said:
Maybe look into making sure it’s all native species. There are grants and tax breaks for conservation. The government might pay you to keep it full of native plants.

There’s also a program called the Conservation Reserve Program, where the USDA might pay you to just leave it alone.

4

For $20 a year, I’d hold onto it. You never know what could happen in the future—weather events, river changes, or even shifts in the land that could make it worth more later on. No point in selling at the bottom, right?

5

I’m in Texas and my neighbor has land just like yours. She’s been working to get the records straight since they were a bit messy, but she found a buyer and they’re getting $30k for what they thought was useless land. It might be worth more than you think.

6

Try thinking outside the box. It might seem worthless to you, but it could be valuable to neighbors or even the local government.

Could you rent access for fishing or hunting? Or maybe a neighbor wants to buy it to own all the surrounding land for privacy.

You could also look into whether local government or nonprofits might want to turn it into a nature preserve.

You can check public records to contact neighbors, or call the county office to see if they know what other people have done with land like this.

7

@Dara
It’s really in the middle of nowhere. The surrounding land is owned by different people, and I haven’t tried contacting them. To even get there, you’d have to cross the bayou by boat and then walk across someone else’s land. So, I’m out of ideas for what to do with it. You can’t even put up a sign because no one would see it.

8

@Darby
Since you pay property taxes, you’ve got a couple of contacts—tax office and appraiser’s office. Call them and chat. They might know if there’s been any sales or developments in the area. Maybe a neighbor would give you road access or something. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

9

@Dara
Calling costs nothing and could give you valuable info, like road access or water rights. It’s worth a shot.

10

For $20 a year, keep it. You’re basically holding a lottery ticket. You never know, maybe one day it’ll be worth something, or you’ll find something valuable like oil or minerals.

11

How big is the land?

12

Jai said:
How big is the land?

It’s 16 acres.

13

Sounds like it’s a wetland. That land has value for the fish and plants living there, but you might have limited options for what you can do with it.

14

Don’t give up on your mineral rights yet. Louisiana has the Haynesville/Bossier Shale under a lot of it. It hasn’t been developed much yet, but there’s been talk that its time might be coming soon. Look into it, just in case.

15

You could always sell it to a neighbor.

16

Davin said:
You could always sell it to a neighbor.

That might be the best option. Otherwise, you could sit on it and see if it’s worth more in a few decades.

17

Perfect for ghost hunting trips.

18

What about leasing it for hunting?

19

You could set it up as a glamping site.