Whats rural land go for? (Anchorage, Homer: house, buying, camper)

[camperken]

I live in the Ozarks in Arkansas and prices are so high here because of all the people from California who want to retire. To them 2,000 an acre is cheap and they are driving the price up so much people from here can't aford to live i their own state.
I want to be in the country, where I can grow some food. I don't want to be dropped by plane but 50 miles down a dirt road if fine. Is Alaska like everywhere else in that the good land is already taken and poor people like me are left with crap?

[Rance]

Depending on what and where...but the cheapest I've seen around my area is 7500 an acre. With no view. You might do better buying larger quantity?

[BudinAk]

Hate to dash your hopes, but $2000/acre really is a bargain. You probably won't find that in Alaska. Here's why: to begin with, there is not a whole lot of private land available here (percentage-wise), unlike other states. The federal gov, state, and native corporations own the bulk of Alaska. Private land owners end up with perhaps a piddling 5%. This alone drives up the prices, because there is so little to choose from. Then, relatively speaking, there are few roads here, compared to other states. If you want to drive to your lot, then you're stuck with choosing what's available near a road. If a town is surrounded by mountains, as we are, then you can't spread out to find cheaper land either, so you have to take what's available. In my city, land that is flat, has road access, not in a flood zone, with trees and a nice view, is like $30,000-35,000 per acre. Less desirable lots that are on a steep slope, swampy, no view, poor road access, etc, might go for $15,000. If this sounds high, consider trying to buy in Anchorage, where you might have to fork over $75,000 for a paltry quarter-acre city lot! There might still be land in Alaska for $2000/acre, but my guess is it would be WAY out in the sticks, no road within miles, and no power or utilities nearby. Having power brought in any distance costs an arm and a leg. (and maybe your first-born) So...we pay a lot for land up here, but we have gorgeous views right out our living room window. For example, here's what folks in downtown Seward see to the east...(and the view is much the same to the north, south, and west...beautiful) This is Mt. Alice (roughly a mile high), about 2 miles away, across Ressurrection Bay:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/KL7EU/MtAlice2.jpg (broken link)

[sdmlions]

Wow that is beautiful!
I would also think the permafrost would make it hard/expensive to build in the northern part of the state...

[Las Vegan Cajun]

I've been looking at lots in Homer that are listed around $125,000-$130,000 for 2-2.5 acres. These are lots up the hill overlooking Kachemak Bay & The Homer Spit. For those of us that live where I live, Las Vegas, that seems like a bargain.

If you think the Californian's have driven up prices in your area you should see what they have done to Southern Nevada. I bought my current home, 3000sf on a .17 acre lot with 10 feet between my house and my next door neighbors for $300,000, today that same house is selling for $750,000.

[Rance]

Foundations in permafrost can be pilings that keep the entire building up away from the ground level. Any slabs (concrete) are usually surrounded by thermo-syphons that displace heat into the atmosphere. That way the permafrost does not melt, causing the building to settle or sag into the ground.

[b333]

wow...I didn't know you could get land anywhere for 2,000.00 an acre. That's a great price. I live right in the middle of the coalfields of Virginia. We have beautiful mountains, but lots of coal trucks to deal with. We own a few acres that connects to land that has been stripped for coal. They've turned it into a subdivision and are selling 1/3 acre lots for 35,000.00. My husband and I are starting to think we're sitting on a gold mine. Hahaha!.......just kidding. Wouldn't mind selling it for a good profit though, if we found something we liked as much or better than where we are.

Good luck to you CamperKen.

God Bless You All,

Pamela

[polarbear101]

I have always wanted to live in Alaska, but now I just think great place to visit! I would never pay the prices that they ask asking, that is the bad thing about this country everyone wants to win big, its nice to double your money but that is not what is happened everyone has gone crazy with land pricing the average family doesn't have a chance to make their life and live the dream, sorry but I think we should all rethink and do what is right for all , then there really can be the American Dream

[stiffnecked]

It has risen from the dead!!

[ysr_racer]

Originally Posted by Las Vegan Cajun

I bought my current home, 3000sf on a .17 acre lot with 10 feet between my house and my next door neighbors for $300,000, today that same house is selling for $750,000.

I wonder if it's come down at all since this was posted in 2007?