Re: Off Topic for Lumpy

On May 7, 10:07�am, "Lumpy" <lu...@digitalcartography.com> wrote:

Desert Shadow wrote:

My wife and I love the area nearwww.hillcrestranches.com�What do you
know about the acres near there. �I doubt we would need 40 acres. �we
were looking at a less acres and some kind of deal where it would be
easier for power, water, etc. �Do you know of any companies or
developments in that area?


Sorry, I don't know a thing about real estate developments or
developers up there. I can't even say I've even been there
except to pass by on the interstate. But if they're selling
40 ac lots, they won't subdivide it into smaller and the
covenants probably won't let private buyers subdivide their
40ac lots into something smaller, at least for several decades.

I do know there are subdivisions very close to Phoenix that
have large homes (over 2500 sq ft) that don't have piped
in water. They have to dig well$ or have water trucked in
to their tanks. And those are just a few miles outside the
city limits.

If there's no power, it's a gazillion dollars per foot to
bring it in. Let your neighbors pay to bring it in first.
They get the best lot, but you pay a hundred grand less
to get power to your lot.

Gravel roads in this desert wash out at the slightest rain.
The water doesn't soak in to the packed desert floor, esp
in areas like that, on the gradual slope of the hills.
It eats up cars in about a year unless you are a mail order
cocaine dealer and never have to leave the house.

Snow in the winter in that area. Likely it's not plowed
unless the residents do it.

Police/Fire/EMS might be an hour away.
Grocery stores, fuel etc might be 2 hrs away.
Lots of people from Flag drive down here to Phoenix
to get things that aren't available in Flagstaff.
Then they have bumper stickers that read
"Don't Phoenix Flag", meaning don't turn Flagstaff
into the megalopolis that Phoenix is. Yet they obviously
find Phoenix necessary when they want to shop for stuff
that Flagstaff can't support.

Note the ad copy -
"Enjoy Camping or build your Homesite"
"Ideal for weekend use"

That translates into "You'll spend 4 million to build a
2 million dollar home, and then the road will only extend
to the end of your property"

If the developers who are selling it to you even claim
it's a "weekend campsite", you can be sure that it's
primitive. Some of those developers will allow interested
buyers to camp in the area to see what it's like.

It's a pretty good bet that anywhere in AZ that isn't well
defended by some kind of private security is prime territory
for OHV 4 wheelers. As much as I try and give them the benefit
of the doubt, I have never in my life seen a responsible 4wheeler
OHV rider. The idea of an "off limits" area seems to be their
siren song. If your lot isn't torn up and trashed now, it will
be unless you spend the time/money/energy to keep them out.

I pointed a cocked Remington 870 at a dirtbike rider two weeks
ago that thought it would be fun to ride through my campsite,
under my guy lines and then park next to my awning, while idling
and blowing exhaust into my camper, just so he could get his bolt
cutters out and cut the USFS wire rope barrier to the off limits area.

I guess that's the con's.
Pro's?
- It never gets humid in AZ except for a 45 minute period
twice a year, around 3:45pm during monsoon season
- You can carry a weapon, concealed or otherwise, without
a permit
- Our governor just signed a bill making it against the
law to do things that are against the law

Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke

www.n0eq.com


I'm one of those tread lightly off-roaders. I don't drive like they do
in those dumb arse Toyota commercials. Not only do I haul out my own
trash, but I take out trash from other people as well (space
permitting). I can't exactly haul out old refrigerators and such.

I've been to Flagstaff and Sedona a few times. Sedona is nice, though
expense. I like Flagstaff too.

I'm not a fan of snow, and really don't like ice. [In ice v people,
ice usually wins.] I'd think twice about living so high in altitude.

Regarding 40 acre lots, zoning is a funny thing. [I've been involved
in land splits, lot line adjustments, and property development.] I'd
agree that 40 acres in the middle of nowhere would be tough to divide.
However, you often have the option of putting more than one residence
on these lots. Even if it is zoned for one house, you call the other
residence a barn or whatever, and build a really really nice barn. [In
law units and guest houses in Contra Costa County are usually
"barns".] So the 40 acre lot can become a family compound, provided
you have kids that can stand to live with their parents, or they can
acquire off the books rentals (something I don't suggest) You can
probably never divide the property, so resale value is poor. It is
possible to set up tenants in common ownership, but this starts to get
ugly. Tenants in common have too many rights, as viewed from the other
guy.

Lot line adjustment is the magic wand of property development, at
least on a small scale. Say for instance you have a large lot, for the
sake of argument 40 acres. It borders two lots of say 1 acre. You can
often take the APNs of the smaller lots and lot line adjust them into
the bigger lot, taking the mass of 42 acres into 3 14 acre lots. In
the SF Bay Area, I've seen unbuildable lots go for obscene amounts of
money just to get the APN for the adjacent lot.

Nevada used to have this deal where you could find land (unimproved or
with houses) that had back taxes owed. You could file with the state
to put the land on the open market, though the state eventually will
do this themselves. The advantage to forcing the sale was the non-
resident owner would be caught off guard. The state would contact the
owner at the last known address and post a notice in the paper of
record, which was usually some rag that nobody out of state will read.
Then you get the house on auction. I have a friend who got two homes
in Goldfield that way for $300 each. Of course, I think one home in
Goldfield is one home two many.

I think a fun place to have a po-dunk house would be the semi-ghost
town of Belmont:
http://www.lazygranch.com/belmont.htm

That old hotel in Caliente with the hot springs piped into the rooms
would have been a nice purchase. It was owned by FLDS, which creeped
some people out. [They dressed funny. Who cares?] The place needed to
be refurbed badly. There was talk about turning it into a swingers/
nudist lair, but the new owners didn't do that from what I've heard.
In these small towns, the locals can be really a problem if you want
to do something they don't like. Anyway, there are these hot spring
fanatics that believe in the healing properties of hot spring water,
so you could sucker them in with the right advertising.

As an aside, not everyone knows this, but the hot water at R-Place is
piped in from the hot spring across the street. I used the outside
spigot to fill a water can, and it got hot eventually.

One of these days I'll find the hotcreek of Hot Creek. I'm going to
pack my IR thermometer and get a reading on the Warm Springs creek.