buying land near Boron.. is that ok? (Commerce, Kingsburg: town, central)

[Fontucky]

Careful. That site is known for not using pictures of the actual land they're selling.

[SwedenBob]

actually im not buying from them..
im looking at several auctions on ebay
ther are a few around Mojave, boron etc..

I just hope i dont get scammed..

[Twinkle Toes]

Go through an agent. Peace of mind.

[Narfcake]

+1 on an agent, and definitely do your homework. Some plots are landlocked, and one cannot access it without going through someone else's property. Others may have no water access, or no water at all.

You mentioned about a catch ... well, it's that the area is remote and one shouldn't have any expectations of the area expanding for decades at least. 20 years ago, such land was only a few hundred dollars too. No real appreciation in price, only depreciation as the dollar is worth less nowadays.

[SwedenBob]

actually the dollar is worth a lot now..
you could buy a year ago 1 dollar for 5.70 Swedish crown and now you have to pay allmost 10 Crowns..

[SwedenBob]

if i finally would like to built a new property on the purchased land.
is there any limits how close i can built to my own border?
here in Sweden its around 10 meters or so from the edge..

im asking these because im looking after some very small piece of land..
1 is like 30 feet wide and 150 long..
here in sweden it would be impossible to build on such narrow piece of land..

thanks for all you answers
Robert

[Narfcake]

Setback requirements vary, so you will need to check with the municipal to see what the minimum is.

In urban areas, 5 ft. (about 1.5m) is usually the norm, but where I'm living now, the houses are built up to the property line on both sides.

[Sassberto]

Be very careful buying unimproved property in the desert... long time history of scams.

That said... there are a lot of things you need to look at. Availability of water is a big one. No water will basically mean the property is uninhabitable. In most rural counties there is well water which can be very unpredictable. Municipal water can sometime raise the price of land by 100x or more.

Also power is another consideration. Many people in the desert do take advantage of solar and there is a nascent market of commercial off-the-grid solar systems. Propane is pretty viable for rural heating / fuel needs. Roads, and the easements to lay them, can also be a pretty serious thing to look at.

I mostly look at rural property in northern CA but I do occasionally look in socal too. Generally speaking there aren't nearly as many deals for property with services as there are for unimproved. But the costs of improving raw land in CA are mind-blowing... so unless you have the stomach for that type of a project, look for graded lots with services if you can.

[wow75]

DON'T move there, I grew up there and the town is a HOLE! It is SO bad! Almost every marriage doesn't survive that place and it is just bad, The temperature is the least of your worries, I live in AZ now so the heat doesn't bother me and there is cools down a lot at night so it is not too bad, but the town is horrible I would not recommend living there no matter how cheap the land is!!

[SwedenBob]

actually my first lot was in st Johns AZ, i sold it 3 weeks later..
now i own 1 near ButtonwillowCA , 1 very near Mojave town in CA and 1 in norther FL "Interlachen"
it seems to be a market for Swedes to buy a piece of the US..
i gues its the old dream of the american dream...
ill probably end owning 1 or 2 lot for myself..