Looking to buy an acre or 2 of land in a calm part of California (San Jose: real estate, HOA)

[ricorriette]

I am looking for the calmest place in California to buy up to 3 acres of land. I say calm to mean not close to a creek or raging waters, since I survived "Sandy" and am not interested in water flooding my home again. Also, I'd like the land to be 10-30 minutes away from a town. Any suggestions on a town are appreciated. Thanks!

[fortunatus]

Sonora

Oroville (away from water)

[Hawk J]

Deep into "The Carmel Valley".....

[luv4horses]

Mohave desert

[Ruth4Truth]

Presumably you have a generous budget for this? Also, define "town". What's your minimum population and amenity requirement? What about climate? Can you handle intense heat, lasting 4-6 months? Or rainy winters and springs?

You'll need water. There will have to be a surfacewater supply nearby, or reliable groundwater. That's getting trickier as the years roll on. There's acreage outside Fort Bragg and Mendocino, in Mendocino County (north of Bay Area). For that matter, there are 1-acre parcels IN Fr. Bragg. You could look around outside Ukiah, also in Mendocino. You could look around Mt. Shasta (very hot summers, be sure to check climate info). There are nice 2-3 acre properties outside the towns of Fortuna and Ferndale in Humboldt County. (Redwood forests!). McKinleyville in Humboldt also has parcels that are 1 acre or more, even 10 acres. Rainy climate. (= reliable water supply). You could look inland, in southern CA, maybe outside of Solvang and Santa Ynez (east of Santa Barbara). You could look around Gilroy, an agricultural town/area south of San Jose, in the early stages of becoming an exurb of SJ.

Heck, you wouldn't even have to be outside of town, for 1 acre+. Richmond, in the east Bay Area, has properties in the hills that are 1-2 acres. Obviously, they would be pricier, than the other areas mentioned, but still far less than the equivalent acreage in nearby Berkeley or Oakland. Napa, Sonoma and Marin counties in the north Bay Area are full of 1-3 acre properties, and more. Depends on your budget.

[BeauCharles]

The Mother Lode or Gold Country of the Sierra Nevada foothills. From Coarsegold in Madera County to Nevada City in Nevada County is dotted with picturesque, friendly little Gold Rush towns with lovely scenery, a pleasant four season climate and lots to do. Real estate is much more reasonable than on the coast and the area is popular with retirees. I lived there from age 14 to 30 in Mariposa County on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park. Very nice part of the state. The only caveat is the wildfire danger, but that's pretty much a California issue save for the farmland of the Central Valley.

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by ricorriette

I am looking for the calmest place in California to buy up to 3 acres of land. I say calm to mean not close to a creek or raging waters, since I survived "Sandy" and am not interested in water flooding my home again. Also, I'd like the land to be 10-30 minutes away from a town. Any suggestions on a town are appreciated. Thanks!

I don't know if it's the calmest but this place comes close. A guy who travels the country with a lot of other nomads is selling his property in Corning, Ca. Actually it's located in Rancho Tehama which is in the general vicinity. Nice piece of property. Full of fruit trees, flora and even a koi (or goldfish) pond. Last count about six of them swimming around. And the birds. He has a lot of bird feeders around the place so it looks a little like a nature reserve.

Anyway, this property has about 3.6 acres. Has water, electricity, and septic where a lot of parcels up there are not improved so that's a plus. It does have an old mobile home on it and isn't of any value even though the owner does work on it. He prefers to live in his van as all nomads do.

One thing about Corning. It's in the northern (near central) part of the state so summers can reach temps over 100°F sometimes higher. Very little humidity but still warm by most people's standards. Not sure if it's something you'd be interested in OR even if it fits into your budget. You didn't say whether you would be building on it or if you want something already built. This property does have a small HOA fee which kind of leads me to believe there are certain CCR's associated with it. Now, whether someone could even place something like a large 5th wheel on it, I just don't know. You'd have to inquire about that if that's the direction you're going.

What I do know about this property is that the seller is anxious to sell it. He wants to move on. He has to come home to tend to the place but he'd rather be traveling with his other nomad friends. So, if this is something that might interest you, here's some into. Also, I'm linking a couple of videos to give you an idea of what the property is like. Hope things work out for you. There's still plenty of land to be bought in the state but you have to do some research on the various things you want in property. Good luck. Enjoy the videos and check out his youtube channel for more videos showing his property. (if you ever come back to the thread).

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...0-35569#photo0

There's a large Safeway store in Corning but you'd have to drive to Red Bluff to get to a big box store like Home Depot. There are smaller hardware stores close by as well as independent grocers. It's not a mega shopping destination but if you're looking for peace and quiet, a place to breathe and relax, you might want to check it out, or even areas nearby.

If you're curious, here are couple of videos to get you started.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuuksCth8vc


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdNZf2vdGeI

He has a nice parcel of land there. If I was younger and willing to do the work involved to keep it up, I would but these old bones know their limitation now.

[DKM]

You could buy 2 to 3 acres on the outskirts of Barstow for 10 to 12k.

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by DKM

You could buy 2 to 3 acres on the outskirts of Barstow for 10 to 12k.

Barstow is total poop hole of a town. Bad suggestion.

[cornsnicker3]

Modoc County is very quiet and remote. Land is pretty cheap too. Alturas is your closest town and the county seat.

You can’t go wrong with Siskiyou county either, but is also pretty remote.