I was able to purchase 33 acres of heavily treed property in North Central Washington State. Starting price for the property and cabin was $129,000. Using the power of my Economics degree and some patience I was able to get it for less. There are many pine and fur trees, but when I went to survey the land the “driveway” had a wall of snow 6 feet high, I had to hike up to see the cabin in snow shoes. Somewhere under the snow I know there was supposed to be a year round creek, but that I wouldn’t lay eyes on until my first trip there in the summer of 2019.
In order to finance this purchase I took out a second mortgage on my home in the mountains of Southern California. I purchased my first house after my 3rd year teaching in the fall of 2012, thus leading to a sizable amount of equity in 2019. I had learned that purchasing this type of land, financing is by owner or other less than desirable means due to extremely high interest rates, which I was not interested in. I was able to get this for such a good deal because I could pay cash and close ASAP to meet the desires of the Estate who had been eagerly awaiting its’ sale.
I found the property using http://www.Landwatch.com and http://www.Zillow.com as my primary search engines. Next is the due diligence part of the search. You need to get the parcel number, get the county records for tax history of the property. Next is the google earth scan looking for red flags.
#1 ACCESS
Usually access is the most difficult part of the large rural land equation. If there is an easy paved road up to your land this is going to cost much more. You need to make sure there is legal access or easement for you to get to the land, in some states you may be sold land with the only access being by helicopter, *buyer beware* You could run into a realtor who allows you to view the property either by permission or trespassing and that your deed doesn’t include any official easement. You want this in writing not a hand shake.
#2 SURROUNDING PROPERTY & NEIGHBORS
So you see there is access to the land and the pictures online show it to be an amazing parcel of land, what was maybe cropped out of the pictures? Is the land next to a hazardous materials super fund site, an aspiring used car lot, a trash and refuse facility, a shooting range, or are they just showing you the best parts and ignoring the impossibly rough terrain (as I stare up my very steep 30 acres).
How close are the nearest stores, schools, hospitals? For me, the nearest gas station, school, and hospital are 25 miles down a mountain pass in Tonasket. The nearest Home Depot and Walmart are only another 25 miles down that highway meaning I can get most things within 50 miles. The rest of my family another 200 miles beyond that in Seattle.
For my land, there is a paved road up until the last 3 or so miles. The last 3 miles separate the men from the boys so to speak though, because these are the last homes with power, trash service, and telephone hookup. There is no cell service for the last 20 miles. And you are going to start off roading on un-maintained old logging road with its steep sections and ruts and in the winter, snow. Lots and lots of snow.
However, the paved highway is in the least populated portion of the State a solid 250 miles from Seattle and surrounded by National Forest and beyond that National Parks (over a million public acres). For me this low population density was a huge reason I selected the property. I liked that it was hard to get to (not impossible most of the year, but a snowmobile may be the only method of transport ;), it keeps the riff raff out haha, and being surrounded by public lands meant I could probably be successful hunting game on my land.
Also, it wasn’t just barren sage brush or grass, it is 30+ heavily timbered acres with water running through it and an existing 800 square foot cabin.
www.OffGridVenture.com 