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Have you moved or started building yet or is this still "a plan"?
The Lazy F Ranch has moved from planning to gathering materials for the building and moving. This is a completely OFF GRID project that is also very GREEN as well. Honestly, that area has never seen a house like we are building!
We are driving out this next week to plan where the house will be located, according to where Miss Peggy wants it. She has here thoughts on the matter! If Mama ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy!
I have several important projects I have to finish here in DFW first, before we change our lifestyle.
Miss Peggy wants to finish this school year here, so it will give me 9 months to a year to get the main house built, then the side projects and our new business there will follow.
It's almost impossible to get a loan for a home that is 'off the grid' or 'green' or in any way 'unconventional,' especially if it is in a rural area. (Ex: underground houses, dome houses, etc.) There are a couple of mortgage companies specializing in that type of lending....California based....but small. FHA is in the process of opening a division that will specialize in 'green' houses but it's going to be a year or two or more before it's operational.
Even if you are paying cash for the house it puts it in the situation of being very difficult to sell when the time comes.
It's almost impossible to get a loan for a home that is 'off the grid' or 'green' or in any way 'unconventional,' especially if it is in a rural area. (Ex: underground houses, dome houses, etc.) There are a couple of mortgage companies specializing in that type of lending....California based....but small. FHA is in the process of opening a division that will specialize in 'green' houses but it's going to be a year or two or more before it's operational.
Even if you are paying cash for the house it puts it in the situation of being very difficult to sell when the time comes.
That is a crying shame! You would think folks would want to help make the world a little bit GREENER...not always the case with business, though.
It is good to have that information...no one should enter any situation blind to the important hurdles. You can't always prepare for everything, but the big stuff can stop you cold!
In reality, a lot of the land purchasers have money...they want the land for investment purposes, hunting or whatever. These folks have cash and are not afraid to spend it. I know, I deal with them everyday.
For my part, I am sure we can round up a few interested investors willing to be the first to step up to the plate and do the right thing for folks out there. I am sure because they have already thrown their hat in the ring.
If not, my back-up plan is simple, I will just have to be the first one out there to build GREEN houses on my dollar and let folks pay me back on a schedule that helps them out.
As for resell, well, I guess I would have to just buy those houses back and sell or rent them to folks with like interests.
Somebody has to break the mold...I guess it could be me...I do have a higher purpose...maybe this is it!
Yes after having had to live in places like New Orleans and D.C., the solitude of the rural High Plains is nice.
If you are looking at rural places in west Texas, you may want to follow the bank-owned properties, like HUD and others. My place was a bank repossession, an 1800 ft2, 3 Br/2Bth, farm house with two barns, mature trees and on five acres with an additional 15 acres as a later option. I tracked the property for six months before making a cash offer.
The earlier comment about the difficulty in selling a rural home is certainly a consideration when buying a rural property. I also have some small town commercial property in west Texas that we have not been able to sell for several years. However, one should also consider that the prices of rural properties are usually substantially less than an urban or a suburban home. When asked what I gave for my place, I tell folks I would have had to give more had I bought a new-used Ford pickup. And too, I'm not worried about selling my place because my daughter will have to worry about that when she inherits it. And too, since she will get the property for free, she should have no problem at all.
Yes after having had to live in places like New Orleans and D.C., the solitude of the rural High Plains is nice.
If you are looking at rural places in west Texas, you may want to follow the bank-owned properties, like HUD and others. My place was a bank repossession, an 1800 ft2, 3 Br/2Bth, farm house with two barns, mature trees and on five acres with an additional 15 acres as a later option. I tracked the property for six months before making a cash offer.
The earlier comment about the difficulty in selling a rural home is certainly a consideration when buying a rural property. I also have some small town commercial property in west Texas that we have not been able to sell for several years. However, one should also consider that the prices of rural properties are usually substantially less than an urban or a suburban home. When asked what I gave for my place, I tell folks I would have had to give more had I bought a new-used Ford pickup. And too, I'm not worried about selling my place because my daughter will have to worry about that when she inherits it. And too, since she will get the property for free, she should have no problem at all.
Yep! my four kids can fight over it when I'm gone!
Until then, I will ride my mustangs across my 11 acres (more acres later), checkin' my fences, shootin' the occasional rattler' or villan and lovin' the GOLDEN years to come!
It is a lifestyle I crave...not everyone can handle it!
Hudspeth County Land (http://pages.sbcglobal.net/jasonpenney/hudspeth_county_land.htm - broken link)
[CENTER][SIZE=6]Thinking of buying land in Hudspeth County?[/SIZE][/CENTER]
[LEFT][SIZE=5]About twice a week I get email from people looking at the possibility of buying land in Hudspeth County. Many of them find auctions on a certain popular online auction site. Some find websites selling parcels of land in Hudspeth. Many of the "honest John" sellers make glowing claims about how wonderful Hudspeth County is, about the abundant wildlife, naturally flowing springs, wonderful climate and how great of a place it is to retire. Rather than continue answering emails on this subject, I will do my best to give you, the potential buyer the real (honest) picture as I see it. Keep in mind, that these are my opinions, from the stand point of a former Hudspeth county resident of seven years. I have probably been in more areas of Hudspeth County than most people; from the New Mexico Border to the Mexican Border. From the El Paso County line to the Culberson County line, I've seen all of it. So here goes:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]Water, Rain fall, Springs: Hudspeth County is one of the driest places in the state of Texas. If you are thinking of moving some place where you can grow things (other than cacti) easily, you may want to consider some place other than Hudspeth County. A very small area Dell City and a few places around Ft. Hancock (near the irrigation canals) are the exception. Vegetation is sparse due to VERY infrequent rain fall. I had a rancher tell me one time that he ran 1 cow to every 40 acres in Hudspeth County! [/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]Digging in the ground around Sierra Blanca to plant anything was almost impossible. There was about 1 foot of loose dirt and then you hit hardpan. Hardpan is like natures concrete. Many other areas commonly being sold on the internet like areas around the Quitman Mountains, FM1111, areas near Hwy 62/180 are pretty much rocky soils or very sandy, good for walking on and not much else. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]I actively searched for flowing springs while I lived in Hudspeth County. I read historical accounts of springs in the area and went to their locations. ALL of the springs that I found with the exception of two were dried up. The two that were flowing were seasonal and not much more than a trickle. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]Wildlife: Wildlife in the area differs depending on which part of the county you are talking about. I will concentrate on the areas that I usually get emails about. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]A.) The Quitman Canyon Area (South of Sierra Blanca):Deer are FEW and FAR between. I used to see mule deer but very rarely in this area. I have heard many reasons for this. The main reason that I heard was that the area had been over hunted and with the dry rocky soils, it has been hard for the deer to recover. Keep in mind, that many people have bought small parcels of land here and many bought it for hunting. Most of them that I have spoken with have been disappointed and usually end up selling. Javalina although more abundant than the deer are still quite scarce. Mountain Lion are there but rarely seen. I did have a Blue Healer pup eaten by a Mountain Lion in 1997 (there's a story one could tell the kids). Coyotes are fairly abundant and can be heard in the evenings. BUGS are VERY abundant and some of them are quite interesting like the Desert Centipede and the Vinegarone.Snakes are very abundant as you can see on my web page. Other wildlife such as birds, bats, mice, etc. are present in regular numbers.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]B.) FM 1111 and Hwy 62/180: Deer are very rare here. In fact, I personally have never seen one and was in the area quite often. Javalina are very rare here. Pronghorn Antelope are present but hunting them requires large tracts of land to hunt. They roam within ranches and for whatever reasons, do not jump fences. Most wildlife Managers request ranchers that have pronghorn on their property to leave crawl spaces along their fences every so often. Hunting them from a small parcel of land would prove problematic. For the rest of the wildlife, see the above descriptions. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]Plant life: Like the wildlife, plant life varies in the different areas. The Quitman Canyon area is dominated by Creosote Bush (locally known as Grease wood). There is also Ocotillo, [/SIZE][SIZE=5]Fourwing[/SIZE][SIZE=5] Saltbush, [/SIZE][SIZE=5]Lechuguilla[/SIZE][SIZE=5], [/SIZE][SIZE=5]sotol, lots of very short Mesquite (more of a bush in this area), Allthorn and the occasional Yucca. Various Cacti are also very prevalent in the area. The only trees (over 6 ft.) are in the deeper draws. They include, Western Soapberry, Desert Willow, and Hackberry. Even these are usually stunted from the lack of water. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]The plant life in the area of FM 1111 and Hwy 62/180 is even more stunted and sparse. Again mainly dominated by Creosote, [/SIZE][SIZE=5]Yucca Elata[/SIZE][SIZE=5]and very short mesquite. This area is even drier than the Quitman areas and the plant life shows it. This picture was taken off of FM 1111 and is pretty much representative of the whole length of the road. The Water Table here is VERY deep and to drill a well would require even deeper pockets. The Mountains you see in the distance are the Guadalupe's in Culberson County. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]Make no mistake, the land in Hudspeth County is HARSH and unforgiving. The unemployment rate is VERY high. The main employer in Sierra Blanca was a company known as Merco. Merco owned and operated a very large ranch adjacent to Sierra Blanca. I think it was around 120,000+ acres. Their business was bringing down (from NY, Jersey, etc.) treated sewage by rail car and trucks and spraying it onto the ground just north of town. The ranch is COVERED in sewage. When it was dry, it didn't stink because it dried so quick. The only problem with dry sewage on the ground was the very frequent dry winds blowing. It would pick up whatever was on the ground from this ranch and blow it right into town. While I lived there, I kept a case of pink eye ([/SIZE][SIZE=5]CONJUNCTIVITIS) [/SIZE][SIZE=5]medicine handy because I would get it all the time. One of the things I used to like about the desert was the smell of an incoming rain storm. Not so in Sierra Blanca, rain in our area moistened the sewage and the stench was overpowering. I have heard that Merco has since closed but the sewage remains. Other concerns are illegal alien traffic, frequent horrible dust storms, distance from employment (El Paso is around 80 miles from Sierra Blanca), lack of amenities, lack of services, and no entertainment. Basically if you want anything or need anything, count on going to El Paso. My wife calls Hudspeth County the wasteland. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]Lastly, know your sellers. Do your research. The following story actually happened: I was traveling South (of Sierra Blanca) early one morning on FM 1111. I ran into a couple with Florida Tags on their vehicle. They both had the lost look on their faces and had maps in hand. I knew immediately, that they had bought land sight unseen and were out looking for it. I had seen this same scenario many times before. As I pulled up beside them, the female in the passenger seat waved for me to stop. When I did, she asked me if I knew where the ????? Ranch was at. I told her that I did and showed them how to get there. As soon as she saw it, they both began to look even more confused. The man in the car told me, "there must be some mistake, we bought this land off of the internet and this is not even close to how it was described". I assured them that this was the land in question and pointed them in the direction of some others who had also purchased land there. I told them if they wanted to ask questions, they could go talk to the man living in the cardboard shack (pointing it out to them). The woman looked at me with a very sad look and said, "I can't believe this, we bought this land off of the internet when (we) got married. We had planned to come out here and live. We were told that there were jobs locally and future development projects in the area". I felt bad for them and recommended that they go to the court house to also check on tax liens. I wished them luck and drove away. About 4 hours later, I again found them parked on the side of the road South of Sierra Blanca. This time, the man was hugging his wife as she was crying. I pulled up beside them and asked if everything was OK. The man told me that when they went to the court house, they told him that there were also back taxes owed on the property which the seller had promised there was not. These were now his responsibility.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=5] NOTE: I knew of a couple of places in Hudspeth County that were selling land honestly for under $100.00 per acre. Maybe that will give you an idea of land value there. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]I have seen many similar scenarios played out in the Northern parts of Hudspeth County near Hwy 62/180 and in the South near Sierra Blanca. My advise: GO SEE THE LAND FIRST! AFTER seeing the land, if you are still interested, talk to the people at the court house, ask them about the seller and talk to locals and ask them your questions. Most of the people that live in the area are very friendly and will help you if you ask. If you have questions, call the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff Arvin West is very hospitable and the folks at his office will answer your questions. The number to the Sheriff's Department is 915/369-2161.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]There are many sellers selling land in Hudspeth, some are honest some are not. There are a couple of sellers using three of my pictures to sell their land which is irritating because it might lead some to think I am associated with them (I am not). I even emailed them and advised them of their copyright infringement which they ignored outright. This says allot to me as to their honesty. I took the following pictures for the website www.texasescapes.com and they are now being used illegally to sell land. Texas Escapes did NOT grant permission for their use nor did I. The seller(s) often under names suggesting affiliation with the police, government, etc. (which they are not) are using the following stolen pictures:[/SIZE][/LEFT]
[CENTER]http://pages.sbcglobal.net/jasonpenney/museumcopyright.jpg (broken link) Railroad Museum in Sierra Blanca
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/jasonpenney/RRmarkercopyright.jpg (broken link) Historical Marker in Sierra Blanca
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/jasonpenney/hotspringscopyrighted.jpg (broken link) Indian Hot Springs Ranch South of Sierra Blanca, Texas [SIZE=6]THE GOOD POINTS[/SIZE][/CENTER]
[LEFT][SIZE=5]Not all is bad in Hudspeth County. Some people love living there. The climate is dry and so summer nights like any desert are very comfortable and cool. I used to love sleeping with the windows open. This area is also a star gazers dream. Like other deserts, many people living here use swamp coolers to stay cool in the summer. Swamp coolers are very cheap to run and electric bills reflect this. Sun rises and sunsets can be beautiful. Winters can be very cold with blowing snow or very nice. I remember many winter days wearing shorts and a T-shirt and then one day later, bundled up with a heavy coat going to work in the snow (Texas, go figure). If you like to hunt snakes like I do, you'll love this county. If you like seclusion, you won't find a place much more secluded than this. The people, like I said above are friendly. If you like flat endless desert prairie, lots of hot dry wind in the summer and biting cold wind in the winter you'll like the Northern part. If you like the Desert Mountains with sparse vegetation, you'll like the Southern portions. The mountains to many (myself included) are very scenic and are one of the few places left in the U.S. devoid of people. Don't get me wrong, Hudspeth County has many good points. It just takes a certain kind of person to appreciate the area. My favorite memory of Sierra Blanca was the way it looked in my rear view mirror. For me, it is a nice place to visit, but my wife would kill me in my sleep if I ever suggested moving back. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=5]I hope this helps you in your decisions and I hope whichever decisions you make end up being happy ones. [/SIZE][/LEFT]
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