Keene, California/Tehachapi area (Bakersfield, Rosamond: real estate, rentals, HOA fees)

[kitty3]

Hi there-I am wanting to move to the Tehachapi/Keene area, looking especially at the wooded area north of Bear Valley Springs, (south of hwy 58 and the town of Keene.) Anyone familiar with it? I want seclusion, privacy, and lots of trees and wilderness. What is the elevation in the area I am talking about? I can see on Mapquest there is a neighborhood of sorts in this area. Are the winters harsh? Who maintains the roads when they are snow/ice covered? I see that there are some million-dollar homes in the area, I can't afford that! Are there less expensive homes in this area? More like $300K or less? I would be willing to look near Tehachapi Mountain Park area as well,or others that are wooded and secluded. However, I don't want to get stuck in the really windy areas of Tehachapi. What are the windy areas I need to watch out for? Also, are there frequent forest fires in this area?
I visited Bear Valley Springs, and although it is beautiful, I'm not really necessarily wanting the 'gated community' type of thing, having to pay association fees and all that....Plus, they told me it can snow from October through May in the higher elevations. BRRR! I guess I'm wanting 2900-4000 feet or so? A little snow ok, but not months and months worth.
If you live in the Bear Valley Springs/Tehachapi/Keene area and are familiar with the surrounding area, please, PLEASE respond!! Thanks

[canibeyou]

Keene is tricky. It's location makes it really inconvienient to grocery shop, etc. If you're really into trains, I'd say, give it a shot. The trains go thru there 24/7 (over 38 trains a day). The only thing in Keene is a post office, a tiny resturant and the Ceasar Chavez Center. Hart Flat is often lumped into the same catagory as Keene, in case you've seen homes in Hart Flat.

If seclusion is what you' d like, I'd suggest you look in the areas of Old West Ranch or Alpine Forest, in the Tehachapi moutians. The higher in elevation you go, the more you're gonna need a 4-wheel drive, or take a snow day. But there are people in the Old West Ranch area that don't even have electricity... and they like it that way... if you know what I mean (and if you don't, read it as "they want to be left a-l-o-n-e"). But either area is still convienient to run "into town" and get groceries, etc. and then go back to your cave!

And for $300 you can get a nice house on acreage. Example: 3b/2b on 10 acres for $279,000.

A 3rd option for you would be the area called Sand Canyon (again, you'd address an envelope to Tehachapi, as you would with the other two areas I previously mentioned). The farther back into Sand Canyon you go, the more secluded you get. It has a little bit more deserty feel to it... but farther back into it you go, the pine trees take over and the desert feel is no longer there. There are good deals on homes there as well, for $300k (on acerage), but Sand Canyon tends to have a large manufactured home "population". If that doesn't bother you, then I'd put that on your list of places to look also.

If I were you, I'd rent before you just move and buy, and that way, you can take your time and get a sense of which area you like best. There's good rentals to be had too! Example: 3b/2b/ garage/ huge front and backyard for $750 a month.

You might want to take some time and look thru their classifieds at: www.tehachapinews.com

Best of luck with your decision!

[kukla1]

How about schools in the area? Do the kids all take a bus into Tehachapi?

[kitty3]

thanks for replying so fast!
Do you know the first area I meant? I think it may be called Hart Flat? It appears that area may be more wooded...I guess I want to be high enough in elevation to have the wooded/trees/nature thing (not desert) but not so high as to get 'snowed in'! Do they close down hwy 58 due to ice/snow/wind often? Speaking of wind, what areas are really windy that I should avoid?
And no, I don't mind the "I want to be a-l-o-n-e" people. I want to look out my window and NOT see another house, at least not close by.
Also, I cannot find Old West Ranch on Mapquest or anywhere else...where is it?

[canibeyou]

The places I mentioned before would suit your needs perfectly. You should add Water Canyon to that list too. That's nice and tucked away also. You'll have all the forest you can handle!
There are days when, it doesn't matter where you live, you're gonna have a windy day. Just the way the wind travels thru the mtn. passes. But it's never more than a day and then... gorgeous... with an ever so slight breeze so you don't need an air conditioner, just open some windows.

Snow... the closing of Hwy. 58 doesn't happen very often, but if it does, it's usually in the wee hours of, say, 12 midnight to 5, 6am. Nothing like ice storms or snow drifts to deal with though. They mostly close it 'cuz of the amount of big rigs going thru the area and they hedge on the side of caution. Again... if you live in the higher elevations, you'll need a 4-wheel drive! There are many areas in the areas I've mentioned that are dirt roads. If that's the case, I don't know who would maintain that type of road. But when it comes to asphalt roads, the county is really great about clearing anything that might get on the ground. Below 4500 feet, it snows and is gone within one day. Higher up you go... .

Have you thought of the areas of Caliente/ Twin Oaks/ Walker Basin??? Those are down the hill (towards Bakersfield) from Tehachapi... .way past Keene and Hart Flat. Lots of open land, not many neighbors and really good deals on homes too. The only problem is, it's an hour drive from Tehachapi or Bakersfield. No grocery's or gas stations, etc. Still... Walker Basin is gorgeous!

kukla1 as far as schools go... there is an elementary school outside the gates to Bear Valley Springs, Cummings Valley Elementary. If you live in the Stallion Springs/ BVS or Fairview Ranches area, I assume you'd go to this school. There's also an elementary school in the area known as East Golden Hills. If you live in the WGH/ EGH or Oak Knolls area, I'd assume you'd go there.

For middle school or high school... could drive your kids or they could take the bus, as they are located within the city limits of Tehachapi.

The stats of the schools are as follows:

Number of Schools: 6
Number of Students: 4,858
Number of Teachers: 197
Student/Teacher Ratio: 25.0:1
Number of Males: 2,482
Number of Females: 2,312

Number of Students Per Grade
Pre-K- 0
KG- 292
1st Grade- 393
2nd Grade- 336
3rd Grade- 333
4th Grade- 340
5th Grade- 346
6th Grade- 348
7th Grade- 364
8th Grade-369
9th Grade- 437
10th Grade- 440
11th Grade- 383
12th Grade- 352

Kinda smaller than LA County schools.

Ther are also 2 private schools in the area.

[kitty3]

Thank you again for all of your advice! I cannot find Walker Basin or Water Canyon on Mapquest...where are they located?
I have to (try) to stay within :45 or so of both Rosamond and Bakersfield, so am looking for a good, remote, WOODED area in between the two cities. Woody and Alta Sierra are too far away, and Caliente 'appears' to be lacking lots of trees, (of course I don't actually know, I am only going on the satellite images on Mapquest!)
So, if I could bug you one last time (no promises--ha!)- Do you worry a lot about forest fires in the Techapi mountain areas? Are they as frequent in these mountains/hills as they seem to be in the Angeles mountains closer to L.A.? I drove through Green Valley/Lake Hughes/Lake Elizabeth this spring because I thought I wanted to live in Green Valley. I saw evidence of forest fires on Pine Canyon road and that area. I worried also about all the new construction I saw (encroaching population)
So...fires a big concern near Tehachapi? and where the heck are Walker Basin and Water Canyon? Thanks a million---love ya for your info!!

[canibeyou]

Um.... I'm not really sure how an envelope would be addressed, but if you were traveling the 58 towards Bakersfield, there's an exit off to the right for Caliente. If you took this road farther past Caliente, it becomes the town of Twin Oaks and even further down the road it becomes Walker Basin. The road then loops it'self back out to the main road in and out, Again, taking you past Caliente (Caliente is so small that, much like Keene, if you blink, you're gonna miss it, although, like Keene, it too has a post office and that's about it.) or if you go in the opposite direction, it'll drop you into the town of Lake Isabella. I believe if you Google the name Caliente-Bodfish Road, you can get some pictures of the area. However, if you need to stay within 45 or so of both Rosamond and Bakersfield, I'd rule out Walker Basin, Twin Oaks. Those two are at least an hour from Tehachapi and then add another 20-30 minutes to get to Rosamond.

Water Canyon is an area of Tehachapi, refered to as such by the name of the road, "Water Canyon". If asking a realtor in Tehachapi (and I know of an excellent one; if you're interested I'm happy to PM you her name) for any listings in Water Canyon, they'll know exactly where you mean. That road can go from pretty to gorgeous in seconds! Very nice back in there.

As far as fires? Kern County does a wonderful job of fighting fires and most everyone who lives in the fire danger areas is overly cautious, during fire season. Keeping a defensive space around your property is an order. Some properties that aren't maintained well, the Kern County Fire Dept. will be happy to clear the brush for you, etc. and send you the bill for it. Not a bill I'd like to get. As far as worrying about fires... sure. It only takes one tourist with a cigarette thrown out a car window to ruin it for the residents.

Here's an interesting website. It's a live wecam of the weather in Tehachapi. http://www.mountainbase.com/Webcam/webcam.html When looking at the picture (which is being brodcast from an area called Oak Knolls), the area of the moutians off to the left is called Old West Ranch and off to the right, up into those moutians is Water Canyon. That also gives you a good idea of what Tehachapi looks like.

[kitty3]

Yes, can you please send me the name of the realtor through PRIVATE MESSAGES? Thank you---
I understand what you are saying about the fires, I guess I was wondering about the history of fires in the area (the kind that take out people's houses). In the last 20-30 years, would you guess one or two big fires in the Tehachapi mountain area? 10? More than that?

[canibeyou]

When you log in next, there is a box up in the right-hand corner that says "Welcome" and it has a link, should you have any private messages.... I've sent you the name of the real estate person!

As far as fires.... in the last 10 years, Tehachapi's had one fire that destroyed 3 homes (I believe it was 3, possibly 4). It just happend, like 2 months ago. They called it the White Fire. They attributed it to Tehachapi, because the area it was located in was so remote; it wasn't Rosamond or Mojave... or Tehachapi, really. But I guess it was closest to Tehachapi. The White Fire had Kern County fire fighters on it (as well as other fire fighters from other areas) and also prison workers fighting it. It burned for about a week, never getting to the point where you could see flames from Tehachapi though... just see the smoke.

There have been 3 fires in the Keene area this summer alone. Don't know if they destroyed any property (i.e. homes or outbuildings).

[Loloi2]

Hi, I just wanted to let you know that we have lived in Bear Valley Springs for a couple of years and absolutely love it. The gate thing was actually a little bit of a pain at first, but now we are used to it and actually feel a lot safer. Yes, it does snow here, but so far we have not been snowed in for more than a day or so, and that was only because I had a little Jetta at the time and could not get out of my gravel driveway. The snow usually does not get more than a few inches at a time, and unless you live high up on the mountain, you can get around just fine. The HOA fees are a little steep, but there are TONS of amenities. Maybe you should consider renting a small house or condo here for a while and see what you think of it. Good luck on your search, if you have not already found one. Try BVSProperties.com. It has some beautiful pictures and lots of listings of both rentals and purchases.
I also agree about Alpine Forest, it is a lovely area that we have looked at when looking for land/home to purchase.