Buying Land/Building House in Colorado (cabin, relocation, location)

[EastwardBound]

Originally Posted by thespykidinseattle

Hey everyone!

My partner and I are looking into moving to Colorado in the next few years (less than 5 years)
Our plans are to buy land (we would love about 10 acres) and build a manufactured home and have a small farm (we have horses, we’ll be getting chickens)

We’re looking to find land that’s still nearby to a large city - as we do both have full-time jobs in a corporate business, but also secluded enough to be away from the city. We would love to have mountain views as well.


We are very into camping, hiking, kayaking, etc.

What part of Colorado would be suitable for us to be looking for land?


Thanks!

Make sure you check out the water laws. Generally, one must own 35+ acres to be able to get what is called a 'domestic well,' which allows for the irrigation of 1 acre of land for animals and crops. Otherwise, unless the well is grandfathered in, you can only get a 'household use' well, which does not allow for any water usage on the land if it is under 35 acres.

https://co-realty.com/water-in-color...0in%20Colorado.

This is why we are in the process of moving to Vermont, so we can have land without such necessary restrictions.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by EastwardBound

Make sure you check out the water laws. ...
This is why we are in the process of moving to Vermont, so we can have land without such necessary restrictions.

and part of the reasons we ended up in PNW (departing from Colorado in the 1970's)
WA=No income tax during earning yrs

Really ez gardening / CSA / grazing when you get 40+" of drizzle / yr; decent climate for WTSHTF; (Unlimited rain water collection); favorable electric & solar buyback, plenty of wind energy (and hydro, even options for personal hydro). Very varied climates available (from mtn rainforests to arid mtns within 1 hr)

Plenty of mtns,
NO stoplights within county
<10 min to groceries / services
<20 min to international airport
<30 min to metro area / sales tax free

While nice to visit...
CO friends moved to Vermont and it didn't work out too well (Very tight-knit communities)
NE USA Winter is very different than CO.

Maine rural locations can be found very inexpensively, and milder weather than VT / NH.

Lots of options, but Colorado comes with a lot of restrictions, high price (competition), and difficult weather for growing commercially or sustaining livestock.

Every place has a big list of negatives, just figure out which you can reasonably mitigate.

Hail, flash floods, and wildfire is tough to live with, avoid, or mitigate.
Water (domestic and for growing crops) is essential.

[Sunbiz1]

Originally Posted by EastwardBound

Make sure you check out the water laws. Generally, one must own 35+ acres to be able to get what is called a 'domestic well,' which allows for the irrigation of 1 acre of land for animals and crops. Otherwise, unless the well is grandfathered in, you can only get a 'household use' well, which does not allow for any water usage on the land if it is under 35 acres.

https://co-realty.com/water-in-color...0in%20Colorado.

This is why we are in the process of moving to Vermont, so we can have land without such necessary restrictions.

Vermont is getting more popular these days.
I've given up the notion of raising crops out west, as Colorado is slowly and sadly; dying.

Numerous climatologists are now studying how snow melt is being reclaimed at a much higher rate than 20 years ago. In 2020, snow pack going into summer was almost 100% of historical average; yet runoff was only 50% of normal into the you know which river.
Climate change is causing both groundwater levels to lower, along with vegetation requiring more due to transpiration from warmer temps.
There's a solution for this I've been promoting for a decade now; build a pipeline from the much higher than normal Great Lakes.

[Teak]

Originally Posted by Sunbiz1

There's a solution for this I've been promoting for a decade now; build a pipeline from the much higher than normal Great Lakes.

Yes, the idea of sending Midwest water (e.g., Great Lakes) to the southwest is not a new one.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...ist/100301326/

There was a business proposing to obtain groundwater from Minnesota and ship it by train to Colorado and the SW USA.

https://www.twincities.com/2019/11/0...-to-southwest/

Minnesota follows "riparian rights" in water law which means any new application for groundwater has to be considered and allowed even if it means decreasing the permitted volumes for other permit holders. (I call it the "sharing and caring" law.)

If I were looking for 10 acres near a major city with a good job market, Minneapolis and St. Paul are probably more affordable than finding 35 acres in Colorado.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Sunbiz1

Vermont is getting more popular these days.
I've given up the notion of raising crops out west, as Colorado is slowly and sadly; dying.

...
There's a solution for this I've been promoting for a decade now; build a pipeline from the much higher than normal Great Lakes.

Extend your Pipeline to PHX, and return HEAT (from asphalt roads and roofs) to MN,WI, MI during the winter.

I often thought there should be a way to 'annualize' the solar gain from the desert and bottle it for the upper midwest for winter.

And... 'desalinization' for rising sea levels (that takes energy... (summer solar)).

CO is looking at (more) rough times ahead for farming / water.
The glory days of https://www.visitgrandcounty.com/exp...story-of-water have been exhausted in 50 very short yrs. (The Colorado Big Thompson Project annually delivers 213,00 acre-feet of water to northeast Colorado for agriculture, municipal and industrial use. (all info taken from Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District)

This was a big deal at the time, could never happen today, and our needs have far exceeded capacity. It fueled a lot of NoCO growth and prosperity.

I remember the Big Thompson Project coming though our ranch with a new canal when I was a kid. Great fishing (while it lasted).

[HatchChile]

Originally Posted by Sunbiz1

There's a solution for this I've been promoting for a decade now; build a pipeline from the much higher than normal Great Lakes.

With what we know about LA, Owens county (Owens Valley?) and aqueducts -- no one will agree to that. Too many California farming towns were destroyed due to water diversion so that LA could get their water. As some important economist said a while back, 21 century wars are going to be over water and they are going be fierce.

[EastwardBound]

Originally Posted by Sunbiz1

Vermont is getting more popular these days.
I've given up the notion of raising crops out west, as Colorado is slowly and sadly; dying.

Numerous climatologists are now studying how snow melt is being reclaimed at a much higher rate than 20 years ago. In 2020, snow pack going into summer was almost 100% of historical average; yet runoff was only 50% of normal into the you know which river.
Climate change is causing both groundwater levels to lower, along with vegetation requiring more due to transpiration from warmer temps.
There's a solution for this I've been promoting for a decade now; build a pipeline from the much higher than normal Great Lakes.

Yes, we finally gave up on buying viable land in
Colorado. Just sold our house and cabin and bought an apartment building in Vermont. Actually en route to Vermont now and will immediately begin the final step of finding our residence with land.

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by EastwardBound

Yes, we finally gave up on buying viable land in
Colorado. Just sold our house and cabin and bought an apartment building in Vermont. Actually en route to Vermont now and will immediately begin the final step of finding our residence with land.

Absolute best wishes in Vermont!

[webster]

By some estimates, 85% of all Colorado land owners only own the surface, they don't own the mineral rights. Be sure you understand if you will be purchasing the land and mineral rights or just the surface. When I lived out in CO, I saw gorgeous homes built only to have a fracking rig as their view or a road with construction equipment going back and forth. How close a rig can get is a big debate. I can't recall if they settled on 500 ft from a home or not.

As mentioned above, check out the water rights. CO is the only state to have an entire court system set up to deal with water issues. You might even have a stream on your property, but no rights to the water. The laws are esoteric; Colorado operates under the Doctrine of Prior Appropriation, but water rights and use in the San Luis Valley are not and they are still governed by the principles of Spanish law governing acequias.

https://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/Water/Index.cfm

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by EastwardBound

Yes, we finally gave up on buying viable land in
Colorado. Just sold our house and cabin and bought an apartment building in Vermont. Actually en route to Vermont now and will immediately begin the final step of finding our residence with land.

Cool news. You pulled the trigger and are going for it. Do stay in touch with us.