Moving near Laramie & Rock River (Wheatland: power lines, rental, insurance)

[CRSteele]

My wife and I have purchased property at Laramie River Ranch. Looking to move to Laramie in June 2009. Will have to rent in Laramie for approx. 12 to 18 months before moving to the Laramie River Ranch. Looking for any information that can help with the move, rental property, jobs- I work for the local power company here and she is in the mortgage business. We are trying to gather as much information as possible before making the move. We have been to Laramie and we have been out to our property in June of this year. Any help in any area would be greatly apprecitated. I'm sure life in Laramie or near Rock River is quite different from here in South Carolina. Looking forward to hearing from anyone that can help. Thanks!!

[Acampbell]

My wife and I have also purchased property at Laramie river ranch parcel 29 we bought it from the pictures they sent. We are from Toccoa Ga and have not seen our property in person, but are making a trip in April. I've researched the area, it seems to be an outdoormans dream. We plan to start building in 2011. what part of SC are you from?
Alan

[sunsprit]

Wow! I've flown over this area many times on my trips Westward and to visit a friend at a ranch closer to Split Rock.

It's got to be some of the most isolated, desolate, and barren non-productive land in the whole state of Wyoming.

Not trying to rain on your parade, folks ... but you should look at the threads here for the WyTex Ranch. The problems of living here are virtually identical. You'll not have easy access much of the year, you won't have services (little details like septic pump out, propane delivery, fire department, sheriff, local food sources, medical services, are rare/expensive, if at all). Consider too, that getting property structure insurance may be difficult/expensive, if at all ... in light of no fire department, not even a volunteer department in case of emergency.

Just because some developer has cut and rough graded some dirt roads in the middle of nowhere does not a habitable environment result. There's no power out there ... despite easements for power lines, that's not the same as having power lines in place; somebody's got to pay for them and it's not the developer, it will be the power consumer. Just wait 'till you hear how much per mile they want for the lines and how fast the repayment contract will demand repayment in full. There's a reason why the developer mentions alternative energy sources, such as a propane refrigerator.

Nor is there a lot of potable water to be found in drilling wells, even though there's a river not very far away; the ranch is on higher ground and over a different rock strata.

Even from their marketing pictures, you can see it's rather barren ground. The "green prairie" pictures would be representative of about 1-2 months in the spring each year, and perhaps in the summer for a couple of weeks if some rainstorms come through. You may very likely be hauling water in for domestic use from quite some distance away.

Did you notice all the trees in the property pictures? Oh, you didn't see any, not one, did you? That's because there's no real amount of water here and the wind blows most everything away in dehyradation and blasting away. This would be a very tough place to establish any landscaping, even if you had abundant water ... which you will not have.

The marketing brochure and website are truthful in that Wyoming has all the things in it that they list. But they mislead when you infer that it's all at the ranch. It's not. And I'd beg to differ that you can get your shopping done in Rock River, a very tired little spot in the road of about 200 people, mostly ranchers. Outside of a post office, a couple of gas stations, and a C store, a coffee shop, bar (or two), there's not much there but dust and wind, or snow in the winter.

I suggest that it may be a very isolated, remote, desolate, and unforgiving place to try to call home ... and to commute to Laramie for work, especially in the winter months.

I'm not sure that there's even water in Wheatland #1 Res these days of the drought. #2 has water because of in-stream flows from the mountains, but it's also under a lot of pressure to satisfy water demand/rights; it may have a very minimal recreation pool of water.

I strongly urge you to visit properties such as this in all seasons of the year to see what it's like to get there and be there. The dream may not come even close to the reality; that's why these big chunks of land have remained unsettled for so many years compared to more productive areas in Wyoming. And there's a lot of brutal living conditions in places that were worth settling here.

[Froggie Legs]

wonder if they have internet access out that far? <gulp>

[jdavid93225]

I was going to say some of what Sunsprit has done a good job of saying. There is a reason those places are inexpensive. I did want to make one minor correction, though. Wheatland Reservoir #1 is very close to the town of Wheatland, and most likely, does have water in it, though I haven't seen it in several months. I think Sunsprit was thinking of Wheatland Reservoir #3, which is out in that area where these properties are located.

Living in that area would be very difficult during the winter months, and if the area's like some other parts of Wyoming, most of the spring, too. Snow and wind take their toll in winter. In spring, it's the rain combined with whatever snow is thawing that causes roads to become slippery, and sometimes impassable. If you can handle not being able to leave home for extended periods (possibly a few months, or more), this might just work out well for you.

There are, in my opinion, better properties offered by RMT than those, though they are generally a bit more expensive. If you haven't yet visited your property, and don't like it when you do visit, you can trade up with RMT, to something more to your liking. If you've visited the property already, and didn't request a trade up, then you are stuck with what you purchased. You would have to look at the Satisfaction Guarantee on the RMT website for further details. This assumes that you purchased the property from them, not a private party.

[Wyomiles]

CRSteel and Acampbell, So what are your plans? Will you be living off grid? What type of home are you building? Will you be retired or working somewhere? This will be a tough area to live in year round as has already been said but if you are prepared it can be done.

[CocaColaCowboy]

Spirits paints a pretty gloomy view. Power exists within 1/4 mile from the LRR. Kite Ranch borders the property with good well water. All land is good land at a price. The LRR is cheap because it lacks trees and electricity. 50 years ago there was a place where grass wouldn't grow, full of cactus, 120 degree summers and rattlesnakes...its now called Scottsdale. The opportunity for a city dweller to own a large chunk of grassland...I don't care where...for 995.00 an acre is a deal. Even if you use it 2 months of the year by Spirit's gloomy description...riding your atv or taking pictures of antelope is pretty special. Cheers and good luck in your venture!!!

[NVDave]

Originally Posted by CocaColaCowboy

Spirits paints a pretty gloomy view. Power exists within 1/4 mile from the LRR. Kite Ranch borders the property with good well water. All land is good land at a price. The LRR is cheap because it lacks trees and electricity. 50 years ago there was a place where grass wouldn't grow, full of cactus, 120 degree summers and rattlesnakes...its now called Scottsdale. The opportunity for a city dweller to own a large chunk of grassland...I don't care where...for 995.00 an acre is a deal. Even if you use it 2 months of the year by Spirit's gloomy description...riding your atv or taking pictures of antelope is pretty special. Cheers and good luck in your venture!!!

To me, buying land like this for $200/acre is a deal. For $995/acre, I expect some possible water by drilling a well for less than $5K. You will find that you cannot make extrapolations about the availability of water from wells even only a half-mile away.

To pull power a quarter mile, better be ready to pony up some serious money - figure at about $5/foot if you dig the trench. You'll have to deal with getting an easement(s), etc.

sunsprit and I come at this from being farmers. We know what is involved in owning large chunks of land in the west. I've seen many people sold these chunks of land in Nevada and other states. The communities that grow up around these hacked-up ranches don't look anything like Scottsdale.

[NVDave]

Originally Posted by Froggie Legs

wonder if they have internet access out that far? <gulp>

You can get WildBlue and Starband just about anywhere you can see the southern sky. They're expensive options, but they do work most of the time.

They will not have good performance during heavy storms, either at the downlink station location (eg, Atlanta for Starband) or storms between you and the sky. And there are "sun outages" in March and September when the sun lines up behind the bird and overwhelms the receiver for, oh 20 minutes in mid-day for about four to five days each equinox.

If you're hoping for DSL, cable or WiFi.... you're SOL.

[CRSteele]

Thanks to all who have responded to what life is like in Laramie and out at the Laramie River Ranch. Acampbell, We live in a small town Gaston, which is about 10 miles south of Columbia. Look forward to meeting you at some point in time if you come to Columbia or out at the Ranch. Spirit, I appreciate all the information, good and bad, We will certainly check out everything we possibly can before making the move to try and know we are doing what is right for our family. Jdavid, Keep the information coming, We have been to the property and even though everyone talks about the winters, We feel it will be a great place to live. With the numbers of parcels being sold, We must not be the only ones. CocacolaCowboy, Thanks for the positive attitude about Life in Wyoming. I'm a firm believer in that with right attitudes you can make a lot happen and make things work for you. NvDave, Thanks for the information. I have been talking with the Power Company there and they need more information from the developer and the land owners which I am trying to get together for them. Thanks to all who have responded and hope you will continue to send information our way. Thanks!!