• Grid Electric and Phone
• Two Small Creeks
• Pretty-good Access
• No Mobile Homes

This morning I have a uniquely attractive 5.07-acre parcel of land to tell you about. Unfortunately, for you, there’s quite a lot to tell, and unfortunately for me, some of it is kinda not good, so, you may want to find a comfortable chair.

The Saga of Lillium Brook Parcel A

I have been personally acquainted with This Week’s Featured Property—five acres of dense, eastern-red-cedar forest—since it was a meadow. This forest is now so dense that I can only describe the back half of the property from my memory, as the woods have been far too thick and I am far too lazy (as well as somewhat of a sissy) to want to thrash my way through it with a machete.

But that’s only part of the story. Years—and I mean years—ago, we sold this property to an old gentleman who built a small cabin on it. Back then, we had most of the same rules regarding the property that we do now, but being naive, in addition to lazy and timid, we didn’t actually make any effort to determine whether our rules were being followed. Dan was friendly and quiet, always paid his bill on time, and when I had occasion to work at that location, we always had a nice chat. So I considered him a friend and wanted to respect his privacy, so I never actually went down to the cabin. This went on for years.

Then one day, Christi brought it to my attention that we hadn’t received a payment from Dan for quite some time, and upon investigation, I discovered that he had just up and left the area without leaving a forwarding address. In cases such as this, we never know exactly what to think. Was Dan hiding out from the Mafia? Had he discovered a steamy septuagenarian romance? I wanted to give him more time to catch up on his payments if he was in dire straits. We were able to trace him to a trailer park in the southwest, where the trail went cold. I spent a short time imagining perhaps that Dan had contracted a fatal disease (pre-covid) and gone off somewhere to die like an old elephant, and because he and I were such good buddies, he was abandoning his considerable equity in the property to me. (I mentioned the naivete, right?)

So then, it behooved me to visit the property and discover what I’d inherited. I remembered the parcel as one of the nicer five-acre tracts we’ve ever had: two pretty little creeks, lots of level land at the end of a short, good road near pavement (or if you’re a city person: a long, awful road, miles away from anything). It’s half a mile from Missouri State Highway 137.

First of all, the tiny cedar trees that dotted the meadow in a previous decade were now all about 20 feet tall and spaced so closely that they were shading out the grass. No surprise there; if you don’t mow a field at least annually, it becomes un-mowable quicker than most folks realize. Then, when I wandered through the darkened path to the cabin, I discovered why Dan had decided to walk away from everything he’d accumulated over the years.

Apparently, Dan had been attempting to corner the market in plastic milk jugs. I’m certain he must have strong teeth and bones, wherever he is, because it appears that he must drink four gallons of milk every day, and when he finishes one, he tosses the empty jug out the window into a pile. What I beheld was, not so much a pile, as a small mountain. Oh, there was other stuff too, lots and lots of other stuff: a couple of dead trucks, a deceased motor scooter, old tires, broken tools, junk of an amazing quantity and variety, but it was the milk jugs that were seemingly everywhere; like stars in the sky—only closer together. There were truckloads of them. First, we tried picking them up by hand, but at the end of the day, it looked a lot like it had at the beginning of the day. “What’s the direct opposite of lactose intolerant?” we wondered, dazed, demoralized, and reeking of sour milk. Whatever it was, we figured Dan must be one.

So the decision was made to move our bulldozer to the location. First, we hauled off everything that could be recycled, then we bulldozed the cabin and the junk into one mound and burned it. Then, we cleared out an area big enough for a building spot and a large lawn. Next, we picked up the place again and buried everything that wouldn’t burn and covered the resulting bare dirt with Bermuda grass hay, and finally, we seeded the whole thing in clover.

Between diesel fuel, dumping fees, and labor costs, we spent a few thousand dollars. (Let me add here that our contract now requires you to subscribe to a local trash service if you’re living on the property.)

But! In return, it’s a more attractive parcel than ever, and it’s ready for you to move in. We cleared a path to the first creek, trimmed the lower limbs off of several of the trees we left standing, and applied four truckloads of crushed rock to the access road. Plus, the electric co-op has brought in their enormous tree mulcher and cleared out their power easement, resulting in a clear, walkable path back to and beyond the north creek.

However, except for that 50-foot electrical easement the whole back half of the parcel is currently a mystery. I’ve got some old photos from the late 90s showing the second little creek (on the north) that runs through that area, and the last time I visited the northwest corner of the property (about forty years ago), I found an old split-rail fence that was ancient back then. See if it’s still there.

A lot of the cedar trees are 8-15 inches in diameter. If you cut the lower limbs off, the results are quite nice, giving a park-like feeling. Or, if you want to just leave them alone, they’ll probably be tall enough that you can walk through them without trimming in another decade or so. Either way you want to go, this is a very pretty, peaceful, end-of-the-road place to live. There’s grid electricity and a nice cleared area for your portable cabin or larger abode.

It’s somewhat rare to find a small parcel with a reliable creek on it, much less two of them, so it may be a while before you’re offered one again. Please do check out the maps, photos, and driving directions below in this menu. We think you’ll be impressed.

I wish I could say that we were able to get the parcel completely clean. We weren’t, it rained the weekend after we finished which exposed lots of bottle cap-sized things we’d missed, so you’re going to run into small bits. As mentioned before, we seeded all the disturbed ground and a couple of years of dead grass will cover most of it.

How bad is it? Well, it’s probably going to be an annoyance for at least a couple of years, but that’s not a decision I can make. You should take the time to drive out to the property, see it for yourself and decide what you think before you make your order.

Size

• 5.07 Acres Surveryed and Staked

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Legal Description

• LILLIUM BROOK PARCEL A: All of the West Half of the Northwest Quarter of the Northwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of Section 5, Township 29 North, Range 8 West

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Title

• We will pass Fee Simple Title to the purchaser conveying 100% of the ownership of the property including all timber, mineral and water rights. We own this property free and clear of all tax liens, judgments mortgages or other encumbrances. As purchaser, you are not assuming any existing liens. We will record a Warranty Deed to the property in your name after you have made six monthly payments.

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Access

• • LILLIUM BROOK is accessed from Missouri State Highway 137, a two-lane asphalt road, which is 20 to 24 feet in width and maintained by the Missouri State Highway Department, and by a 16-foot-wide dirt and gravel road on a 33-foot easement.

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Utilities:

• Water:
  • We do not supply water or water systems to any of these properties. Purchasers of these parcels need to arrange to drill their own private water well. For information on drilling procedures you should contact local well-drillers. Current prices charged by local well-drillers run around $8 per foot to drill and $9-13 per foot to install a 6-inch casing. Missouri law requires a minimum of 80 feet of casing in all locations and more in some. The estimated cost of a complete well, casing and pump system in this area is $7,500.Permits are not required to drill water wells for single-family dwellings; however, you are required to hire a state-licensed well-driller.
• Electric:
  • INTERCOUNTY ELECTRIC CO-OP Box 209, Licking, MO 65542 Phone:(573) 674-2211 maintains the overhead electrical easement here.
• Telephone and Internet:
  • Telephone and internet services are provided to Lillium Brook by CenturyLink1-800-201-4099. http://www.centurylink.com/ For cell phone service, we recommend US Cellular and for internet, a satellite provider.
• Septic:
  • You may not take up occupancy until you provide sewage disposal for your property in the form of either:
  • (A.) a septic tank and leach field, or (B.) a commercially manufactured composting toilet system.
  • The State of Missouri says that any septic tank and leach field on less than three acres must be installed to Missouri Department of Natural Resources specifications. You can get information on these by speaking to the Health Department in your respective County Seat.
  • Since they do not endanger the ground-water, properly operated and maintained composting toilets are not restricted, and thus are permitted at all locations.
• Garbage Disposal:
  • Open dumping is illegal in the state of Missouri. Before occupying the property, you must make arrangements with a State-approved garbage collection company
• Gas:
  • Propane gas is available from local dealers.
• Mail Delivery:
  • Mail is delivered to Lillium Brook on Missouri Highway 137. To establish a mailbox there, contact the postmaster at the Houston Post Office.

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  Deed Restrictions:
  1. No buildings shall be constructed closer than 100 ft. from a roadway or 30 ft. from a boundary. (This may be adjusted in certain locations.)

     Explanation: buildings placed closer can cause situations that interfere with road maintenance and utility transmission.

  
  
  2. No refuse, debris, unused building materials nor derelict vehicles shall be allowed to collect on the premises.

     Explanation: piles of junk are not only unsightly, but tend to spread to adjoining vacant parcels. Dead cars and junk make it harder for us to sell adjacent properties, or for you to sell yours.

  
  
  3. You may keep whatever livestock or pets you wish so long as they are not allowed to create a nuisance to neighboring land owners.

     Explanation: this probably means that if you want to keep pigs in the most common fashion, you need a parcel of at least 5 acres with a back corner located away from anyone else's home. Lots of barking dogs may also cause you problems depending on the size of your parcel and how you locate your facilities.

  
  
  4. No parcel shall be further subdivided.

     Explanation: you may build more than one residence on a single parcel, but you may not deed away a part of the parcel to someone else.

  
  
  5. All wastewater treatment facilities shall be constructed in accordance with applicable state water quality standards.

     Explanation: if you plan to construct an in-ground septic system, it must meet state standards. We find that the typical state-approved septic system will cost upwards of $3,000 for labor and materials. Additionally, the state says that any septic system on less than three acres be built to Missouri Department of Natural Resources specifications. Parcels of 5 acres or greater are virtually unrestricted. Since they do not endanger the ground-water, composting toilets are not restricted.

  Taxes
  • $100 (estimate)

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  Building codes and/or permits:
  • Texas County does not issue building permits and no building codes are in effect. The County Health Department must approve your septic system.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS:

The property is about an hour and thirty minutes east of Springfield and about an hour south of Rolla. To get there, find Tyrone, MO on Highway Y in Texas County. From there proceed east to the intersection of Highways Y and 137. From there, go one mile north (left) to a gravel drive beside some telephone boxes and several mailboxes on the west (east). You'll follow this driveway across a small spring branch (gently) about 4/10ths-mile to where the road makes a right angle turn to the right, then 600 feet later, another right angle to the left (west). As you drive downhill, you'll see a pink ribbon on a t-post. That marks the southeast corner of the property. We've driven 4 t-posts along the south boundary. From this SW corner, the property runs to your right, north 66i feet and straight ahead, 333 feet.

No Down Payment - Warranty Deed after Six Months

Welcome to OzarkLand.com where, since 1982, we have dedicated ourselves to making Ozark Mountain land available to anyone who sincerely wants to own it, on a first-come, first-served basis. You don’t need to make a sizeable down payment, or any down payment at all—just start making the monthly payments.

All of the properties we sell are owned by us, free and clear. That means that when we pass title to you, you don't need to worry that some disinterested third party—such as a bank—may own an interest in the property. This is frequently not the case in the real estate world at large.

We give you a Warranty Deed guaranteeing the title—no lease-options, no long-term land contracts, but fee-simple title to the property after only six months' timely payments.

All of the properties featured in our inventory are available to you via our very liberal financing plan. In fact, we’ll finance your whole land purchase with less paperwork and frustration than you'd experience buying a used car, and with no hidden expenses and one low-interest rate that’s remained unchanged since 1982.

We'll set up a contract with you in return for one monthly payment. After six monthly payments, we give you a Warranty Deed to the property, and we hold a Deed of Trust and Quit-Claim Deed as security. We record the deeds at the county courthouse at our expense, and we pay all closing costs.

There are no penalties for pre-payment.

Terms are 9% simple interest for 15 years.

Check out the "How It Works" page for more information.