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I am looking for 5-20 rural acres to relocate my family and the abundance of options has made narrowing down a area a really daunting task. Our plan is to fifth wheel it while we build but every state I consider I haven't had a hard time finding desirable affordable acreage, It's like a menu and everything looks good but before getting out on the road to look at parcels I'd like to narrow it down a bit with some first hand advice.
Our priorities in order.
1) The best balance of sunshine, mild winter and privacy we can find. This is a Sunshine map, lighter is brighter, what we want is the best Sunshine we can find, but on land that has enough topography and trees to provide privacy. What we don't want is flat desert with no privacy or seclusion. Everything else is workable.
2) Since we are building ourselves an owner-builder friendly area (low permit fees, low regulatory climate) is highly desirable.
Pros/Cons as I see them.
Oregon
+ Familiar
+ No sales tax
+ Water
- Land price and availability.
- Difficult to navigate building codes, fees and zoning.
- Lack of Sunshine.
This only makes the list because it is familiar and our starting point, it's not sunny enough but being close to our base (Parents farm) makes it real easy to shop, bunker down and build. No travel required. The proximity to family and familiarity with the area have many hidden perks such as a baby sitter and family support. The building codes are a hassle and there are price and availability issues.
Nevada
+Taxes (Allegedly... Nevada has every tax there is to have it seems except income but manages to have a real low tax burden for some reason I haven't been able to figure out.)
Utah
+Mormons
+low Crime, family friendly.
-moderate taxes and cost of living.
Arizona
++ Owner builder friendly
+ Heavy Sunshine
- Border
Any advice in the green outlined regions would be greatly appreciated. (thats not a hard decision by the way, just a loose outline.)
I am looking for 5-20 rural acres to relocate my family and the abundance of options has made narrowing down a area a really daunting task. Our plan is to fifth wheel it while we build but every state I consider I haven't had a hard time finding desirable affordable acreage, It's like a menu and everything looks good but before getting out on the road to look at parcels I'd like to narrow it down a bit with some first hand advice.
Our priorities in order.
1) The best balance of sunshine, mild winter and privacy we can find. This is a Sunshine map, lighter is brighter, what we want is the best Sunshine we can find, but on land that has enough topography and trees to provide privacy. What we don't want is flat desert with no privacy or seclusion. Everything else is workable.
2) Since we are building ourselves an owner-builder friendly area (low permit fees, low regulatory climate) is highly desirable.
Pros/Cons as I see them.
Oregon
+ Familiar
+ No sales tax
+ Water
- Land price and availability.
- Difficult to navigate building codes, fees and zoning.
- Lack of Sunshine.
This only makes the list because it is familiar and our starting point, it's not sunny enough but being close to our base (Parents farm) makes it real easy to shop, bunker down and build. No travel required. The proximity to family and familiarity with the area have many hidden perks such as a baby sitter and family support. The building codes are a hassle and there are price and availability issues.
Nevada
+Taxes (Allegedly... Nevada has every tax there is to have it seems except income but manages to have a real low tax burden for some reason I haven't been able to figure out.)
Utah
+Mormons
+low Crime, family friendly.
-moderate taxes and cost of living.
Arizona
++ Owner builder friendly
+ Heavy Sunshine
- Border
Any advice in the green outlined regions would be greatly appreciated. (thats not a hard decision by the way, just a loose outline.)
How much are you looking to spend? New Mexico - especially the area around Silver City has mild weather year round, borders 3 million acres of national forest and has lax building laws (straw bale building is popular) - NM state building codes actually have straw bale construction in them. Acreage is not very cheap there but you can find something if you are persistent. Water is an issue in the sense that you are in the south west and a well can be (if you are lucky) 100-200 ft or it can go all the way to 1000 ft.
Land Budgets 30K cash. I wouldn't live in New Mexico it's a cold arrid desert the building codes are not friendly anymore and the MS13 La raza types aren't anyone I'd live near. Albuquerque looked like Detroit last time I was there.
New Mexico was an early candidate but Poverty + welfare state = no go.
Scratch Utah off as well then. It's colder here than it is in New Mexico. It has been near zero and below ( -6 a couple of nights ago here and -26 in a nearby town) in the Wasatch Front area at night for that last three weeks. We've been below twenty for the high almost every day as well.
The only place in Utah that is considered any warmer than the rest of the state is the St. George area. And the climate of the St. George area is colder, generally, than that of the Silver City, NM area. Also Utah tops almost every state for being driest: 12.2 inches of annual precip in Utah on average, compared to 14.6 on average for New Mexico. So Utah is drier than New Mexico on average. Nevada is the only state that is drier than Utah.
Your budget is very small for what you want. I suggest that you look outside the borders of the United States. Head south.
I've had no problem finding quality land in that price range in any of the states I'm considering. You really should refrain speaking about issues your obviously ignorant of.
I've had no problem finding quality land in that price range in any of the states I'm considering. You really should refrain speaking about issues your obviously ignorant of.
I don't think you know what quality land is UNTIL you have seen it and its surroundings, my friend. I also think you need to drop the attitude. You came here for advice and people are giving you what they know. Take it or leave it.
I don't think don't know anything about New Mexico - if Southern New Mexico qualifies to be a cold desert then I would recommend to you Cochise county Arizona (area east of Tucson) and coastal states such as Alabama, Mississippi, Florida etc. Perhaps the SW Texas area around Big Bend. Plenty of heat there and some cold during winter but not much. However, these places ain't green and you will not be farming much.
Good land is expensive everywhere. It is always a give or take. The land everyone wants will cost you upwards of $20K per acre. The land that nobody wants will run you $10K for 5 acres. But, you get what you pay for. That does not mean you will absolutely NOT be able to find anything but it will not satisfy all of your criteria.
Your budget is very small for what you want. I suggest that you look outside the borders of the United States. Head south.
Yeah, he wants 20 acres but can only spend $30k? Even worthless desert where nothing will grow costs more than that. Personally, I'd rather have actual productive land where I could actually grow something, which is beautiful, and has available water. Here's 20 acres in SLO county in CA which only costs $300k:
My, aren't you touchy? I can't imagine why you have trouble getting along with other people.
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