BROOKSVILLE — Real estate is all about location, location, location, but it helps to own the land where you decide to build your new digs.

Just ask Joseph R. Hawkins. Brooksville police say officers saw Hawkins trespassing Saturday on a heavily wooded property off Hale Avenue that's owned by the city of Brooksville.

But the 33-year-old wasn't just passing through, officers say.

They found a tent that Hawkins was living in and, adjacent to that, a roughly 400-square-foot, 6-foot deep pit that Hawkins had dug. When officers asked what he was doing, Hawkins said he was constructing a residence on the property, said police Capt. Rick Hankins.

Hawkins told officers he had dug the huge hole with his hands. They found a hoe, some buckets and a wagon, but no shovel.

The pit had some odd features, including a square hole covered by a tarp and filled halfway with plastic foam, Hankins said.

"There's a lot of unanswered questions, but we do know it's going to cost the city about $6,000 in personnel and equipment costs to return the property to its original state," Hankins said.

Police also found two glass smoking pipes with a burnt residue that tested positive for methamphetamine and a plastic bag containing a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine. Residue on a third pipe tested positive for marijuana, police say.

Hawkins, who was arrested and charged with criminal mischief and drug possession, remained Monday in the Hernando County Detention Center in lieu of $5,000 bail.

Contact Tony Marrero at tmarrero@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3374. Follow @tmarrerotimes.