Oregon Pines Subdivision advice

[dude0072]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

Expect to pay about $120,000 upfront for utilities and roads, driveways, surveys, and permits. That does not gurantee you will be allowed to live in that subdiivision by the county.

$120,000 for power, water, surveys and permits? dirt roads are fine; no driveway needed. my guess is no more than $5,000 for power and not sure about well and septic. anyone shed any light?

[dude0072]

don't need road or driveway--dirt road is fine. i'm really more concerned with costs for water/septic, power, survey and permits. can anyone shed some light? or estimates they've gotten? i will check with power company and look for estimate for septic per pnw type gal and see where i'm at. thx

[kickitinthesticks]

Originally Posted by dude0072

$120,000 for power, water, surveys and permits? dirt roads are fine; no driveway needed. my guess is no more than $5,000 for power and not sure about well and septic. anyone shed any light?

The nearest power is at the ranch at the beginning of Oregon Pines Rd, about 7 miles away from the subdivision. The grey boxes are telephone, there is limited land line service (POTS line, no DSL internet), definitely no grid electrical power. So you can expect way more than $5,000, way more than $120,000 if you plan on paying Pacific Power to run miles and miles of new infrastructure just for you. You will need to live without power or setup an off grid system. Be prepared to spend thousands on fuel, hauling in gasoline and propane if you want a generator and for cooking. Or you can cook over a fire. Woodstove heat is the most practical, but you have to be prepared to cut and haul several cords to get you through the winter.

Wells can be tens of thousands depending on the depth and material. You will then need a holding tank and some method of pumping without grid power. And you have to have a way to keep it from freezing in the winter.

Septic you may or may not get approval depending on soil type and depth. Many areas the soils are too shallow before hitting rock. Without approval, you wont be allowed to build. You could always use this method:
Why & How to Bury? - A.R.S.E. - Bury Your Crap!

The winters are bitter cold with a relentless, whipping wind in the tablelands. The county does no road maintenance whatsoever, what is done is done by those who live there if they want to get out. Heavy snow storms can trap you at your property for weeks on end with vehicle traffic impossible, so you better have enough food and gas to survive. So you may need to count in costs for a plow, even then they can only push so much snow. A snow machine is a good option. In the spring the roads get slick and muddy and rutted so you also count on owning a 4x4 with some good mud tires, and or tire chains.

The general theme of this discussion thread is inexperienced urban folks buying land unseen on the cheap and getting the idea that they are gonna move here and live like they did in the city, just cheaper and prettier and quieter. You have to realize that if you are serious about moving out here, you are not going to get the comforts of wherever you came from, and you are going to have to do things in an "nontraditional" manner compared to what you are used to. You have to conform to the area, not it to you. Leave your urban ways where they belong, or keep them and stay there.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by dude0072

$120,000 for power, water, surveys and permits? dirt roads are fine; no driveway needed. my guess is no more than $5,000 for power and not sure about well and septic. anyone shed any light?

$120,000 is accurate in most of the area, but it doesn't get cheaper. It only goes up, and the $5,000 will maybe take care of permits and lawyers to get the right to live on your land, depending on it's exact location.