What is cost of Acreage in Wyoming? (Jackson, Esterbrook: for sale, real estate)

[CGR22]

I'm considering a few states to buy some land Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado. I'd like to get an idea for each areas cost per acre.

I'd like to be near or in Mountains, utilities may not be that huge of issue as I'm considering building a self sufficient home, it's own water source, solar power etc.

I would like upwards of 10 acres to develop and maintain.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by CGR22

I'm considering a few states to buy some land Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado. I'd like to get an idea for each areas cost per acre.

I'd like to be near or in Mountains, utilities may not be that huge of issue as I'm considering building a self sufficient home, it's own water source, solar power etc.

I would like upwards of 10 acres to develop and maintain.

Generally speaking, due to DEQ issues in much of the state (a minimum acreage for domestic well & septic system), you're more likely looking at an approx minimum 40 acre parcel if you want a "mountain" site with year around access.

From what I've seen, you can anticipate a range of $3,000 to $30,000 per acre for undeveloped land with improved roads and/or dirt road access. Some locales will be even more than that in tourist/resort areas.

Smaller parcels are more typically available in subdivisions, where some infrastructure may have gone in, but you'll now have an HOA and much higher cost per acre. I've seen several at $50K per acre which allow a maximum of 4 horses (and no domestic livestock except a limited amount of poultry) per parcel.

I looked at a gorgeous piece of property in the Esterbrook area; hilly but not mountainous. 80 acres, with an old line shack and falling apart small barn on the property. Did not have year-round access due to no county road maintenance in the winter months. The hillside dirt road to the buildings was not driveable when wet due to slick clay, and was impassable by motor vehicle when iced/snowed over. But surrounded on three sides with extensive public lands for your hunting/fishing or other recreation needs. Most likely a very brutal site to make a home in for the winter months due to snowfall and winds. Only $8,000 per acre. It sold to an out of state buyer sight unseen a month after I'd turned it down.

IMO, you'd do better in other locales if you are trying to achieve fully independent off-grid living. Rather than high elevation dry areas which receive most of their annual moisture during the winter in the form of snowfall, you'd do better to consider lower elevation riparian lands with shorter winters, better soils, and a more assured water supply for your independence ... along with better access for much of the year. Even with the most recent improvements in low energy consumption domestic appliances/lighting/HVAC, relying solely upon solar in Wyoming's mountains could be very problematic; supplanting that with wind power can assist, but again ... you're looking at some rather extreme winter climate to survive in.

Take a look at Backwoods Home Journal or similar publications to see where folk with an independent off-grid mindset are settling in and making a go of it with a lot of ingenuity and oft-times a fair amount of capital. You may also want to look at established off-grid houses on the market today that meet your requirements ... I've looked at a number of ads for these and many on the market are languishing at price points that are still expensive yet a fraction of the original investment cost to locate/site/erect and install the indenpendent abilities. The dream for many simply hasn't met up with the realities of doing so except for some real hard-core folk who pay the price for their independence.

Further Caution: Don't be mislead by the various land marketing groups touting some Wyoming lands as ideal places for your retirement independence. They prey upon out of staters who don't have a clue as to what they are buying. Many of these land developers here in Wyoming sell you on the romance of images of places in Wyoming that bear little relationship to the lands they are selling; yes, there may be wooded areas or a lake nearby, but that's not what you are buying. Many are barren properties split off from a low productivity per acre ranch, and are some of the most forsaken places you could ever consider living at. Do not spend one penny on these places ... or, for that matter, anywhere ... in Wyoming without a first-hand personal site tour in the summer and winter months.

[volosong]

I've found realtor.com to be a good site for initial investigation about pricing. Usually, I enter "somewhere real estate" in the browser's Google search window. One of the first links that always appears will the the realtor.com link for property in 'somewhere'.

From there, you can filter what type of property is displayed. In your case, uncheck urban houses, mobile homes and anything else not of interest; just display ranches and land.

It's a good first cut and is most useful for comparing various regions with each other.

[StealthRabbit]

of your choices... MT will be the least expensive (in remote areas) and most productive for farming / animals.

Land prices forced me out of Colorado over 30 yrs ago. It takes a lot of property in an arid state to make a viable homestead. Where I ended up... I can support 1+ cows per acre. My grass is 7' tall by June. (west of cascades / 100" drizzle / yr and mild climate). Year round gardening too. I can get a 20' fir tree in under 10 yrs. Just is not gonna happen in the mtn states. Hopefully you are much younger than I. It takes well over 10 yrs of constant work to build a farm. (Soils, orchards, fences, water systems, barns, gates, soil conservation) ... It is just too expensive for materials and land to make that feasible today. Consider an 'equity share partnership' with a person that wants to slowly retire! You can "buy in" with a few hundred thousand$, and then later "buy the rest out". Retiree / elderly might be interested in financing for you so they get stable cash flows.

Water / Hydro power is VERY hard to find (and subject to DoE / DnR). I have built many low energy homes, and frequent with folks who do. One of my neighbor's has a 120' drop from a road culvert / underground stream that runs yr round. He is the only successful micro hydro I know of. (and I am in an idea area for it). logistics / stream rules make it nearly impossible. I do keep a Diesel genset that I can use a heat exchanger to heat the floors, and run it on WVO. A friend in CA is 'grid tied', so feeds power back to REA and gets a CHECK instead of a bill every month. (This is frowned on at the moment). They are pushing Net Metering... you don't want THAT!!! it only reduces your bill, they don't BUY excess. Some states (including WA) have very generous buy back rates!

Be sure to pick up a copy of 'Low Tax Dream House' out of print for 20 yrs, but good pointers and policies by state..

[jody_wy]

see ground here next or in the mountains from $2500 to $50,000/acre
here a deal at under $38,000/acre
WYOMING RANCHES FOR SALE | RANCH MARKETING | WALTON RANCH

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by jody_wy

see ground here next or in the mountains from $2500 to $50,000/acre
here a deal at under $38,000/acre
WYOMING RANCHES FOR SALE | RANCH MARKETING | WALTON RANCH

what a beauty!

and a magnificent parcel at only 1,878 acres close in to Jackson.


just what the OP was looking for, right?

[volosong]

Originally Posted by jody_wy

see ground here next or in the mountains from $2500 to $50,000/acre
here a deal at under $38,000/acre
WYOMING RANCHES FOR SALE | RANCH MARKETING | WALTON RANCH

Dang! If that is what heaven is going to be like, I need to repent of my sins and start living a better life. Some people are blessed in this life, most of us have to wait for the next one to get our just reward. Why would anyone want to sell that place?

[jody_wy]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

what a beauty!

and a magnificent parcel at only 1,878 acres close in to Jackson.


just what the OP was looking for, right?

10 acres there will cost a lot more per acre

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by jody_wy

10 acres there will cost a lot more per acre

Indeed ....

I've seen some listings up that way for $200,000 per acre, with a 2 acre minimum for a raw land building site, max 5 acres sites in the subdivision. They had minimum construction requirements that would probably need a couple hundred dollar per square foot house built at least 2,500 square feet to meet the HOA requirements. Subject, of course, to their architectural review committee acceptance for exterior appearance. No fences allowed either ... To maintain that open space appeal ... So everything outside the house had to be inside a structure (cars, yard equipment, bicycles, trash containers). Really, no cars allowed to be parked outside for more than 1/2 hour, including guest cars. Can't have anything spoiling the view, can we?