A piece of heaven (Colorado Springs, Craig: ski resort, for sale, homes)

[mjfeeney]

I am interested in investing in a piece of land in Colorado. This will be a place for me to visit to get away and not a permanent home (maybe down the road). I am interested in many recreational activities , biking, fishing, skiing, snowmobiling, hiking, etc. I would like it to be pretty secluded. An hour or so drive to a ski resort would be nice but not a priority. I like big mountain views, trees on the land, and hills. Where aer some good counties/cities to look for this?

[wanneroo]

Trees means you'll be looking above 7000 feet in elevation and realistically more like 8000ft. Good mountain land with trees and water, other than a few acres, can cost big money.

We've had a lot of posts and threads on buying mountain land. I would use the search function as there is a wealth of info already posted which can better inform you and focus your questions and search.

[mjfeeney]

Originally Posted by wanneroo

Trees means you'll be looking above 7000 feet in elevation and realistically more like 8000ft. Good mountain land with trees and water, other than a few acres, can cost big money.

We've had a lot of posts and threads on buying mountain land. I would use the search function as there is a wealth of info already posted which can better inform you and focus your questions and search.

I found this site, "landwatch" which is a way for realtors to post properties for sale and they have a lot of properties for very cheap. One that caught my attention is in the below link. It seems a little unreal that it is so cheap. Is anyone familiar with this area?

COMO, Park County, Colorado land for sale - 2 acres at LandWatch.com


0 Sioux ROAD, HARTSEL, CO 80449, US

As stated above, there is a lot of land for cheap but I imagine some of the locations may unfavorable.

[mjfeeney]

Using that site and searching for atleast 2 acres under $15,000, the following cities came up:

Alamosa
Blanca
Como
Cotopaxi
Craig
Crestone
Cipple Creek
Fairplay
Fort Garland
Hartsel
Idaho Springs
Jefferson
Moffat
Nathrop
Oura
Pagosa Springs
Salida
San Luis
Silverton

Are any of those places that you would just not want to have land in?

[CAVA1990]

What are you going to put on this piece of land? Why not save your money and go hiking in a National Forest when you get the urge? There are a lot of beautiful places in this country where you can pitch a tent and see nothing but nature at no additional cost other than what you already paid in taxes. For what you'd pay in property tax you could set yourself up with some pretty nice camping equipment.

[hollyt00]

The areas you link to likely have no trees (save the few they found for the picture), and it's very flat. It's not the "mountain hamlet" that people would really want. If it's cheap , it likely has no water or electricity. If I were to get land in that area, which is a flat-ish piece of a valley between the Pikes Peak area and then the Sawatch range, I'd want a lot more land so I could do some ranching, I suppose. But I don't know enough of that area to do so.

The cities you list either are: valleys with no mountains; at least three hours away from any ski area; above 10,000 feet in elevation; in economically depressed areas; have small acreage available.

I will say that when I moved out here ten years ago, living in Colorado Springs, I was enamoured with the idea of buying land. One thing I have really appreciated on this forum is the real-life advice about buying land, knowing that the water rights are very complex and difficult to ascertain, that a vacation area is a prime spot for thieves and vandals, that essentially, buying land for some vacation stuff is not a piece of heaven but for some, a big headache.

[bluescreen73]

You can cross Craig off your list. Most of Moffat County is high desert with few trees.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by mjfeeney

I found this site, "landwatch" which is a way for realtors to post properties for sale and they have a lot of properties for very cheap. One that caught my attention is in the below link. It seems a little unreal that it is so cheap. Is anyone familiar with this area?

COMO, Park County, Colorado land for sale - 2 acres at LandWatch.com


0 Sioux ROAD, HARTSEL, CO 80449, US

As stated above, there is a lot of land for cheap but I imagine some of the locations may unfavorable.

Here is a recent thread to take note of:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/color...ter-issue.html

When land is inexpensive there is usually a reason. A low cost of entry and a high cost to make it livable.

For starters what do you intend to do with the land? 2 acres isn't really useable for recreation.

If you put any structure on the land you might have restrictive covenants to deal with, as well as taxes, building codes, zoning laws, town ordinances, etc.

You'll have to maintain that structure in a harsh climate.

You'll have to have some way of securing it, as empty homes/buildings are prime targets for theft and vandalism.

You'll need access to water, which isn't always as easy as it looks.

You'll have to figure out utilities and how to deal with sanitation, snow plowing and electrical power in a remote location.

Where Como sits is in South Park where it is cold year round and often windy. Even in the summer at night the temp will be down near freezing.

[Idunn]

You might want to refine your search somewhat. The possible towns you mention are scattered all over the state, running from canyon, to parks, to more or less bleak, to quite high elevations.

By Oura you may mean Ouray, and good luck getting two acres around there for anywhere near $15,000; a quick look reveals 1.5 acres possibly near town for close to half a million; although it seems for something of a 'bargain' the more enterprising might secure several acres south of town towards Ironton (and probably halfway up some mountain side).

Places like Blanca are an entirely different enchilada, being in the high and somewhat desolate San Luis Valley, culturally and geographically quite different from even a nearby town like South Fork (and a LOT more money for land there). Great land deals may come without ready access to water, or trees, if maybe a nice view.

Since this may in time become a permanent residence, do consider how one would like that to be constituted. If in Silverton (and, again, expensive in town), then if employment is in the equation, good luck. Even as a vacation destination it is well off the beaten path; and locals might tell one that living in a small, isolated town in the middle of the mountains at 9,308 feet is not for everyone.

This may take a little looking, and reflection on what one is really after.

[brightdoglover]

Silverton??
I was thinking maybe Silverton and Ouray are old mining claims, for that price.
Pagosa Springs surprised me, too. I doubt any of them are buildable.