If Buying Property Out West, What Do You Look For?

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nialltom

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The recent poll posted here about which state folks would rather move to got me thinking. I've been looking on and off for a while now at land in various western states as an option for a possible 2nd home down the road.

Outside of the usual things a hunter would like to have in a piece of land in say, Wyoming or Montana, (like close proximity to large tracts of public land, and proximity to good hunting for the types of species you hunt most), what things would you guys recommend a buyer look out for?

There seem to be a lot of subdivided tracts of 20 acres for sale that you can build on. Knowing you are always going to have neighbors in the next door parcels, are these generally good options? I understand many of these do not come with utilities and these would need to be added, but well water would be fine with me. And assuming many go with a propane/gas tank to supply heat, electricity might be the only main utility concern.

I'd eventually like to have a piece of land that #1 has good hunting (elk and deer) and fishing options very close by, or right out the back door, fairly close proximity to mountains, and within couple hours drive of an airport. You guys that live in these areas, or have done this search process before have any tips, considerations, or things I should be sure to look for?
 
Water,good water. Reasonable depth of water to drill.
Access. Access to power.
 
Finding reliable water is a big unknown in much of the West. Without good water, the land is worth very little. Suitable soil conditions for a septic system very from good to bad, and should be research carefully. Electricity that needs to be brought in from a distance is expensive. Off grid electric is expensive as well as not always reliable. Access issues are common. A lot of people buy land out west and don't do their homework, then get stuck with land that has little value compared to what they paid for it. If a piece of land is really cheap compared to other properties in that area, there is usually a reason why.
 
Neighbors. Is the land next to public or private? I have a piece that is surrounded by private. Most of us agreed to share each others and work together. in costs or work. We pick different hunting times. For instance, I do not bow hunt and one of the landowners does not rifle hunt. Works perfect, for us. He can hunt mine during bow season giving him more opportunity and I hunt his during rifle. One of the larger landowners does not hunt but runs cattle. He runs cattle on mine during spring and summer, and I can hunt his during winter. Again, all about working together. If we are having guests or allowing public hunters we all talk about it and agree on terms. Even though we all have different size parcels, and we find something for each other. One neighbor has 240 acres and a great cabin. I do not have a structure but have 640 acres. I use his cabin when I hunt , and he can hunt my land when he hunts.
 
Check for flood plains
Ask about earthquakes
Check on the permit process for drilling a water well
Check on winter access to your property
Check on the cost of installing electrical service vs an off the grid system
Check on the wildfire history for the area and the smoke patterns when there are fires in the area
The West side of any large mountain range will be cooler and wetter than the eastern side
Be prepared to buy a lot equipment to keep the property operating if you live there year round (snow plow, small tractor, power washer, welder, hand tools, etc.)

I live on a 20 acre lot southwest of Helena on the edge of a National Forest. It took us about three years to find the place but it was worth every bit of the effort to get here.
 
belshawelk said:
Neighbors. Is the land next to public or private? I have a piece that is surrounded by private. Most of us agreed to share each others and work together. in costs or work. We pick different hunting times. For instance, I do not bow hunt and one of the landowners does not rifle hunt. Works perfect, for us. He can hunt mine during bow season giving him more opportunity and I hunt his during rifle. One of the larger landowners does not hunt but runs cattle. He runs cattle on mine during spring and summer, and I can hunt his during winter. Again, all about working together. If we are having guests or allowing public hunters we all talk about it and agree on terms. Even though we all have different size parcels, and we find something for each other. One neighbor has 240 acres and a great cabin. I do not have a structure but have 640 acres. I use his cabin when I hunt , and he can hunt my land when he hunts.
Click to expand...

Good for you. It's nice to know there is still some of tht in the world, rather than the "I-got-mine"
 
Another consideration in areas with wildfire concerns. A lot of insurance companies are no longer providing homeowners insurance on these properties. The few that do, have raised there rates considerably.
 
Water (creek, pond, irrigation, etc), easy access, timber, pasture for horses, and bordering USFS lands are our requirements. Research well depths in the area if the property doesn't already have one. Be sure to figure out details and specifics for a septic system if the property doesn't already have one. If you look at one of the 20 acre ranchettes in one of the subdivisions, go to the county deeds office to research covenants.
After a couple years of searching, we finally found our chunk between Anaconda and Georgetown Lake that meets (and exceeds) our requirements, yet fits our budget.
 
I sold the vaca/retirement cabin in Sierra's for 140 fenced ac in NM w/windmill well/excellent water,access & power nearby. Put in new domestic well,septic,road & homesite graded,power brought in/w/backup generator.
A lot of work. Did a lot of research.Looked @ 64 properties before deciding on this place.A lot of trade offs.
9 yrs later,paid off,no debt.I live simple,but comfortable.
I can hunt right out my door or next door...if I get a tag. My place adjoins BLM.
Thousands,no,millions of acres of public lands nearby.
A handful of great neighbors.
 
I bought in AZ to have a second home where will retire. In the Phoenix region. Great hospitals which can be important. Great airport less than 30 minutes away for flying to other major cities in North America. When I am retired will have time and hopefully money to visit family and friends. Oh, if you have family in cold places, they will beg to come down each winter. If you live in a cold winter state, those same people might come visit you in the 10 weeks of summer that exists in the northern states. Might. People like visiting warm in winter.

I grew up in the Midwest where for 7 months a year could be below 20F so no interest in freezing temps when retire. High winds and 10F below was something I dealt with as a kid from time to time. Was not fun as a teenager and would be less fun now. I like walking to the mailbox without navigating black ice or snow. I have air-conditioning so in the summer can stay cool inside or do most of my family visits outside the desert during the summer. If I get nostalgic for snow then I drive 2 hours north to Flagstaff where they get snow a few times a year.

AZ has all the critters I would want to hunt and am doing less hunts now anyway. The body lets you know when should throttle back a bit so charging up a mountain top with a heavy pack is no longer on my bucket list as autumn approaches. I love that Montana has so much public land and critters and scenic vistas and long seasons but I am not 40 anymore so realistically I have about 5-10 days a year to be hunting away from a road.

The negatives for AZ are the dangerous summer heat, neighboring states which are difficult to draw a decent tag as a non-resident, and some turmoil related to being close to the souther border of America. But, AZ is not California so we got that going for us.

AZ, we ain't CA. Our new slogan.
 
Wow, lots of good info to think about here, thanks guys. I never would have realized the degree to which water seems to be a priority. Although I'm not sure if it would be as big a hunting consideration for smaller 20 acre lots as I'd most likely be hunting outside of that 20 acres anyway. But would definitely keep in mind to look for water sources in the hunting area nearby.

As far as your processes for narrowing down properties that fit your criteria, what resources did you use to get the information needed? I was thinking of reaching out to local realtors in the areas I was most interested in and letting them know my requirements. And outside of checking the listings on property sites, any other resources for this type of thing you'd recommend?
 
Climate, weather and topography - nice pictures in a magazine don't show wind.
Water (of course) and power, although off grid power is getting cheaper and easier.
Access - easements and all weather conditions.
Neighbors - and your tolerance for them.
 
hank4elk said:
I sold the vaca/retirement cabin in Sierra's for 140 fenced ac in NM w/windmill well/excellent water,access & power nearby. Put in new domestic well,septic,road & homesite graded,power brought in/w/backup generator.
A lot of work. Did a lot of research.Looked @ 64 properties before deciding on this place.A lot of trade offs.
9 yrs later,paid off,no debt.I live simple,but comfortable.
I can hunt right out my door or next door...if I get a tag. My place adjoins BLM.
Thousands,no,millions of acres of public lands nearby.
A handful of great neighbors.
Click to expand...

You are living the dream Hank. Exactly what I want to do. My property and home (as well as everything else) in Ohio is paid off in 3-4 more years and my wife and I are still in our prime money-making parts of our career. I've actually picked up another contract to help the whole process out. Lord willing, and barring any unforeseen health or other problems, I aim to purchase my "second" home and retirement home in the next 5-10 years. New Mexico is probably tops on my list. I love every place I've been in the state.
 
Thanks. I worked my ass off for many years. I am also single these days. LOL
Gotta consider the Ms.....if you wanna keep em.
See BF's advice.
There is no work here except some in outdoors industry. Demand,but no work. Work for no pay...lol
Very few people. Like almost none.
60 mi to supermarket,OK one & that's in AZ. Not much else.omega bull 025.JPG
 
Lots of good advice already. I'm a real estate broker in SW Montana. Make sure you see it before you buy. It's easy to make anything look good on the internet. Like others have said, if it's drastically cheaper than other properties in the area, there's a reason why...you need to find out what that reason is. Power and wells can be very expensive. Verify how close power is and look at the well logs and see how deep neighboring wells are. Septic systems will be close to the same price on most properties. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.
 
Water rights. This is different than just water. You could have live water on the property and not be able to use it others have senior water rights. It is possible that you could drill a well and other people with senior water rights on the aquifer could shut your well off. You need to find out if the property you are buying has water rights and how senior they are.

Mineral rights. There is a lot of land in the west were the mineral rights are not owned by the surface owner. For instance the owners of the oil and gas could lease their oil and you will not know until you wake up in the morning and there is an oil drilling rig parked on you property. There will be nothing you can do about it. You need to find out what mineral rights the property comes with. If the property does not have all the mineral rights find what the likely hood is that the mineral owners develop their minerals.
 
I may have missed it but what is your end desire? Is it a small seasonal camp or a full time home? First on my list is legal access, with out that nothing else matters. Next would be water, building site, year round access, utilities- on grid or off grid. Can you get insurance to cover a home? With the wild fires this can be an issue. What will you want in support services, near a town for food fuel etc. Also check out the tax issue. Where I live in Missoula county in Montana I swear the locals have never met a bond issue they don't like lol. Check the building codes and see if they are overly restrictive. Some county's are easier to work with than others. The others here have also given you some great ideas to think over.

Good luck,
Dan
 
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