Off grid in Santa Cruz Co. ... need information (Tucson, Nogales: fit in, for sale)

[Amar az bound]

Hoping to find information Santa Cruz (Rio Rico) living off grid.
Need help from someone with "boots on the ground"
there
I have option on 1 Acre Northeast.
Advice?
Plan on being there at the latest November
Might come as soon as July, rent an apartment, get the "low down" on land before going off grid on land

[Bygeorge]

In my opinion, the first question to ask and to verify is WATER. There are folks around AZ who have places and they have to have water hauled in. That sort of defeats the off grid objective. There is no substitute for putting your own boots on the ground. Hope you find a local source of information. Best of luck to you.

[Achi WaWa]

I see you are on the other side of the country... so take this with a grain of sand...
After 15 years around these parts, IMO...

Rio Rico is about half way to the border town of Nogales (it straddles USA and Mexico) so there is a large Hispanic population living in the area. I'm not saying that is a bad thing, most are good family oriented, hard working people... It's just that if your a wasp or other background, you may not fit in as well as you might like.

Then, as you get away from the interstate, it gets rural real quick. Up in the hills is fairly nice but to the west the desert becomes desolate. Depending on where your acre is located, the entire area is riddled with smugglers of one sort or another- the bands of IA's have tuned many of the canyons into trash dumps (I have first hand knowledge) and the drug smugglers are armed and won't hesitate to engage you (yes, I have seen them while out in those hills hunting).

As mentioned, water will be one of your biggest problems. Many places have 5000 gal water storage tanks if you can't get a functioning well. (Az has an online dept of water quality with info on existing registered wells- you can check the area to see if there are wells, how deep and gpm). If there isn't elec to the property it will be expensive to get service but you can probably build a solar array to handle most of your needs. I personally built a 6kW (net metering) array at my last property... just because I always wanted to build one. I had a 2400sf house and my monthly elect went from $120/mo to $0 (+$18 for service fees & taxes). I had an estimate from a Tucson solar company of $26,000 (2017) and I built the entire system for $10160.

Good luck but beware, like selling swampland in Florida, they sell desert out here...

[Hal Roach]

There are hundreds of lots in Rio Rico with water and electric on the street for under 5000. Minimum build is 800 feet I recall and Mobil homes are only allowed in parks. Think you can call on your own land? Doubtful. I dropped the dime on a group that converted a residential lot into a Moto cross course...it was closed down quickly.

[Achi WaWa]

OK I see it now... Rio Rico Northeast, not Rio Rico proper...
Looks to be a development on the hillside, lots of canyons and rills, washes very little vegetation other than native scrub, maybe a few mesquite trees.
Since he said off-grid I assume it is in an undeveloped area where electricity hasn't yet been run past to/the property. They show lots of streets winding in and around, I wonder how many are paved and how many are dirt... knowing the other side of the mountain better, Maybe go on out to Zillow and look at some pictures of stuff for sale in the general area, that will give you an idea what to expect...

[wildflowers27]

Living in Rio Rico will put you front and center with life on the US-Mexico border. Your idea of renting first is a good one, as you'd be able to experience it before committing. If you buy that lot, it won't be easy to resell it later (there are many of them). There is the beauty of the landscape but there have also been drug cartel drop houses in Rio Rico. Do your research and talk to the locals.

Migrants cross the land. This book gave me a visceral understanding of what it's like to live there. It was beautifully written:

"A Stranger at my Door, a memoir - Finding My Humanity on the US/Mexico Border" by Peg Bowden

[Hal Roach]

Originally Posted by Achi WaWa

OK I see it now... Rio Rico Northeast, not Rio Rico proper...
Looks to be a development on the hillside, lots of canyons and rills, washes very little vegetation other than native scrub, maybe a few mesquite trees.
Since he said off-grid I assume it is in an undeveloped area where electricity hasn't yet been run past to/the property. They show lots of streets winding in and around, I wonder how many are paved and how many are dirt... knowing the other side of the mountain better, Maybe go on out to Zillow and look at some pictures of stuff for sale in the general area, that will give you an idea what to expect...

There is no such thing as Rio Rico proper..it is simply an area in SC County. Patagonia is an actual town, and Nogales is an actual city. The packed gravel roads are pretty decent. I lived about five miles east of Pilot at Exit 12. Look at the flood maps..there are some low spots. Saw limited flooding on Pendleton a few times, but it was a minor inconvenience. Septic with city water is the best..as sewer rates are quite high there. Well water is deep, and few go that route. Excellent climate up there..

[Sockeye66]

Originally Posted by Hal Roach

There is no such thing as Rio Rico proper..it is simply an area in SC County. Patagonia is an actual town, and Nogales is an actual city. The packed gravel roads are pretty decent. I lived about five miles east of Pilot at Exit 12. Look at the flood maps..there are some low spots. Saw limited flooding on Pendleton a few times, but it was a minor inconvenience. Septic with city water is the best..as sewer rates are quite high there. Well water is deep, and few go that route. Excellent climate up there..

You telling me the Garrett's IGA parking lot isn't Rio Rico proper?

[Hal Roach]

It is an unicorporated area of Santa Cruz County.