Category: Land (Page 4 of 5)

(Click on photos to open larger versions.)

Boy.

We never thought it would take this long to find a piece of property. Since my last post on this subject Pam and I made 2 trips together, and I made one solo trip to check out properties.

I’m going to take these in chronological order, hitting the high points of each trip. Listing all the properties we visited would simply take too long!

Since we had expanded our search to include small houses, our trip on February 11 took us to this property on Houma:

House at 19 Houma Way

This place is off-grid (solar with a generator backup) and was a just-in-the-neighborhood kind of stop, as the description was not that great. We found the place attractive, and with a view of Indian Mountain, satisfied most of our basic requirements. Alas, it sold within a week of our viewing, so we never had a chance to look inside!

Moving ahead to March 10, we found a couple of different properties, including this cabin on Bear Lane:

Cabin on Bear Lane

Digging deeper, we found this place had no running water, no electricity in the house, and had never received a “Certificate of Occupancy.” This last is needed to get insurance coverage. So, while there were some good views from the back of the lot, we had to pass on this one.

We also looked at some lots, including this one on Osprey Road:

View from Osprey Road lot

This lot is one of the “pleasant” lots; some level land, some views, some trees. It may be a possibility if a more dramatic lot can’t be found.

The find of the day was a For Sale By Owner lot, 381 Antler Ridge. Terrific views, good access, and a well and septic in place.  (Also a small garage that should be demolished due to water damage and deterioration, which would leave a usable cement pad.)

View from 381 Antler Ridge

This photo looks great blown up full-size! At the top of the lot is an old foundation, well, electrical service, and views:

381 Antler Ridge foundation

The lady who owns this lot called me back, and her pricing for the lot (2.74 acres) is way out of line, even considering the well and septic. We feel, based on looking at many other lots in the area, this property is worth somewhere in the $60k range. The owner is asking $100k, so it is  not likely we can come to an agreement. Too bad, as this is a great lot and we could be very happy with it.

Which brings us to my solo trip on March 17, when I went over on my motorcycle. While I looked at 7 lots and revisited Antler Ridge, this trip didn’t turn up much. I did look at a property on Murphy Road — house and a shed plus 45 acres of land. Listed as a forclosure, there was not a tree or shrub in sight.

631 Murphy

I checked out 2 side-by-side For Sale lots on Sanderling, but both are very steep. Good views from the top, though.

Sanderling lot

While I was getting ready to walk this lot, I spoke to a guy on the neighboring lot. He said he would sell me his acres, as he had to take care of his aging parents and needed the money. I told him I was interested and gave him my business card. We will see if anything comes of it.

For now we have come to a stopping point. We have looked at and walked dozens of lots in the area we like the best, and will have to wait for more properties to come up for sale. We have contacted a realtor in the area to give us a hand, and he supplied us with several maps that show all the plots, lot numbers, and information we would need to do more research. That’s a help.

We had thought we would have a place to go to this summer when we started this process. If all we wanted was a piece of land, there are several that would suffice. Problem is we want it all — views, space (without having to look into or over a neighbor’s house), decent price. The search will continue, but probably not with the same frequency of trips as in the past.  Having found the subdivision and the view, it’s a waiting game!

Powered by Cincopa Media Platform for your website and Cincopa MediaSend for file transfer.
 That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Boy, are we into the weeds now. I received a call from the state BLM office. The gentleman who called took the mineral survey number of the Martha A and will do some research to see if a right-of-way exists.

I found a good summation of  Revised Statute 2477 here:

http://cozine.com/2001-march/rs-2477-old-roads-and-new-controversies/

If you use a search engine and enter R.S. 2477 you will get several pages of hits.

I received a call from our realtor at Spring Creek Realty, Jimm Hammond. Spring Creek may take the lead in forming a road association for the area containing the Martha A lode. This would benefit the realty office as it would make it easier for them to sell properties like the Martha A. In addition, Jim knows the people who live in the area and has worked with the BLM in the formation of 3 other road associations. If the BLM opinion goes against us this may be an alternative to pursue.

On another topic, our yard was white with snow this morning, first time this season. Its a little eary; normally we don’t get snow until late November. I had to dig around a bit to find my snow shovel, but had already equipped the cars with scrapers and brushes. Having the garage does help in the mornings, but the cars do sit in parking lots at work.

I’ve been working on my 1976 Scout II. In the last 3 weeks I have replaced the suspension springs, installed new front shock absorbers, and had the cracked windshield replaced. The goal is to get the Scout ready to make a trip back to Wisconsin as a tow vechicle so I can trailer Dad’s old 8N Ford tractor home. There are several repairs to be made yet, but I am making progress. I should be ready to go by spring!

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

I was going to answer some of the comments in a reply, but the full answers are relatively long. I decided to do a post instead. (Note: Clicking on an image will bring up a larger and more legible version of that image.)

Tabitha:
We don’t know about wild horses in the Cripple Creek area. We currenlty live east of Wild Horse Mesa, where wild horses run in a protected area. I’ve gone 4-wheeling there but have not seen the herd. Every few of years some of the horses are trapped and sold at auction to keep the numbers sustainable. In the Cripple Creek area we are more likely to see deer and elk.

Larry:
I have an lot-map-plus-arial-view overlay provided by the county, but the overlay is wrong. It puts the lot to the east of the access road. It looks like the county flipped the overlay to the right instead of to the left, so I didn’t scan and post that document.

Yes, there is an acess road on the west side of the Martha A. We have walked it. There is an interesting reason it is there: The parcel to the south, the Last Chance, does not run all the way out to the BLM access road. While that owner has built a drive out to the road, it may not be legal.  The access road on the west side of the Martha A is there to get legal access to the Last Chance if the BLM ever gets nasty about access.

Why the strange lot shapes and overlays?

Originally land in the Cripple Creek area was all government-owned. Miners could plat a claim then file for a “land patent” which transfered the land into their ownership. The overlapping occured when other parties moved in and platted lots that included parts of existing, but not patented, claims. The government could approve the new plat and make the claim available to patent. Often land between claims would be patented, hoping that any mineral veins from the other plats would extend into these lots. This practice lead to some very stange parcel shapes. (There were charges of claim jumping and other illegal actions dealing with the legitimacy of some land patents, and new court cases occasionally come up to this day.)

Here is part of the original 1899 Martha A plat I found in the BLM records:

1899 plat map

We are doing our research. Teller County and the realtor furnished a few documents; here are 2 images that further describe the Martha A lode. (Hint: Clicking  the images will bring up a larger version of them.)

BLM land around the Martha A lode

 The “Last Chance” borders the Martha A to the south, and the “Uncle Sam” to the north. The part we are concerned with is the BLM land to the south-east; the access road to the lot crosses BLM land and we want to be reasonably sure that the BLM will not close this road to vehicular traffic. This would be unlikely, as there is a trailer (with well) on the Uncle Sam parcel, and a full-time house on the 2nd lot north, the one that borders on the Uncle Sam. (That family is the one who plows the road.) In addition, there are lots to the west of the Martha A that can only be reached from this same access road.

Here is a larger image of parcels in the area around the Martha A:

Parcels around the Martha A Lode

We are still doing our research, but have been pre-approved to make an offer. We are waiting a week so we can get current pay stubs to submitt to the credit union that would finance the transaction.

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

NOTE: Clicking on any of the photos in these posts will bring up a much larger version of that photo!

If you go to my AppleAttic Home Page you will find a link to a Fall Colors page. Take a look at it and try the link that takes you to my Fall Colors gallery if you are interested in seeing more fall color photos.

The big news deals with out Dream Land hunt. We have found a place we like! Here is how it went down.

I took a solo trip to Cripple Creek to view properties with a realtor from Spring Creek Realty. (I’ve mentioned them in previous posts.) Jim and I went to look at a few properties, including one named the Bonita. The Bonita, and several of the parcels Pam and I  have looked at, are old patented mining claims currently zoned A-1 (agricultural) land. While the Bonita had some advantages, access was poor and the lot was not as level as I would have liked. Still, it did have a mix of pine and aspen and a view:

View from the Bonita Lode looking NW

Here is the realtor, Jim Hammond, a little lower down on the lot:

Jim Hammond on the Bonita Lode

Jim and Pam walk the Bonita parcel

While there were attractive elements, the poor access and steeper-than-wanted lot put the Bonita into a less-desireable category. We went on to take another look at a lot we had seen previously, but had little information about. Turns out it is known as the Martha A. Lode.

In a previous post I mentioned we had seen 3 parcels that could be contenders. One was taken off the market. The second one, right off Hwy 61 with a view of the back of Pike’s Peak, turned out to be not the parcel I had walked on, but one further north. It consisted mostly of a ravine. We were disappointed. However, the 3rd parcel, 10 acres with a small storage shed on it, turned out to be more than we expected.

We had walked only 1/2 of the Martha A, which is bisected by a BLM access road, on our first visit. The southern part is where the small storage shed is located. We thought that section was the complete lot, but we learned the other half of the parcel lies north of the BLM road. We had not walked the northern half. There is a nice building spot on a knoll that rises on that side. As a bonus the parcel is bordered on 2 sides by BLM land. Here are a few photos of our last visit:

Pam and dogs on the Martha A storage shed

View from knoll looking east

Realtor photo. Access road to the Martha A Lode

BLM road bisects the Martha A Lode. Knoll is at right.

We are excited about this land, and plan to make an offer on it shortly. I had to do some research, calling the county, the BLM, a local well driller, and just getting some background information about buying unimproved land.

This much we have found out: Buying an old mining claim in Colorado is not a straight-forward deal. In this case, the access road crosses BLM land. There is no permanent easement granted by the BLM, but you can sign a Road Permit Agreement that gives you year-round use of the road, provided it is privately maintained. The day we were there the road had been plowed out by one of the residents who apparently does this so he can get to work. Mineral rights are not included, but are available for about $50.00 per acre. To keep the land zoned Agricultural until we could build a house, a grazing rights contract needs to be negotiated with a local rancher. This is what the current owners did, so it does not seem like a big issue to get it done again. There are no power or phone lines to the lot; power and phone are up the road a bit and would cost an estimated $6,000.00 to extend them to the property line. Wells in the county average around 400 feet deep, or about $7,000.00 to put in. Septic system cost about the same, although the decomposed granite underlying the top soil perks out real well. Property taxes run $1.49 per acre per year.

The views are good, not great, although a house would offer a bit broader view. The lot is heavily treed but does have a couple open spots, and a nice place to put a house. Plenty of firewood would arise  from thinning and cleanup of the place. I didn’t check the mileage, but estimate the lot is about 1 – 1.5 miles from the county road, and is about 4 – 5 miles from Cripple Creek proper. In short, except for the size (10 acres vs the 5 or so we were looking for) the Martha A has everything we had on our wish list. Asking price is between 69 – 70K, but we will offer somwehat less to stay within our budget.

This tale sounds kind of dry, perhaps due to my nature. I guess it comes with working with computers so much! We like this lot because of its “feel.” The first time we walked the southern part of it, stood in the meadow, surrounded by trees, we knew it had potential to be our Dream Land. We formed ideas of where a house would go, where the decks would face, how much firewood could we harvest? This lot engaged us more as we walked around on it. Thats why we decided to make an offer once we have our financing arranged; this lot “speaks” to us. No other lot has.

We have started the loan qualification process, and hope to be able to make an offer in the near future. We are excited about this one! Wish us luck. I will update the blog when we move forward.

Here is a photo show of the Martha A Lode:[cincopa AcIAts6cb71G] Move your cursor over photos to activate controls, or click on any photo to bring up a larger image with extended captions.

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

The hunt for our “Dream Land” continued with trip number 10. Here’s how it went.

Pam and I headed east on Thursday night after work. Both of us had taken Friday off as vacation days. The plan was to stay at a B&B (the Hand Hotel) Thursday night, have most of Friday to check out properties, then return home Friday night or Saturday morning. Chores and shopping would be done on the other holiday weekend days. This arrangement worked out well, as it gave us more time in our target area. We did arrive home late Friday night.

Our Thursday night stay was at the Hand Hotel in Fairplay. Listed as a B&B, the Hand Hotel is an old hotel, but is now serving a continental breakfast. I guess that qualifies it as a B&B.

Hand Hotel B&B entrance

We found the Hand very pleasant, but quite warm during the night. Breakfast was somewhat more expansive than average for a B&B, including breakfast burritos, hard-boiled eggs, and a large variety of teas in addition to cold cereal, juice, pastries, coffee, fruit, and other breakfast goodies. After walking the dogs and eating breakfast we headed out on our property search.

Pam had organized the property listings in a 3-ring binder, making it easier to group them and use the maps we have acquired. The first stop for the day was a house on several acres of land near Florissant.

First stop of the day

The stop was disappointing, as the house had been trashed by its previous occupants. One window was gone, leaving the house open to the elements. Several inside walls had wall board missing, and others were covered with graffiti. As we have found with other listings (houses on land) in our price range, the house invariably would take a lot of work to bring up to living standards. While that would have been an option in our younger days, it is not attractive now. On to the next place.

4+ acre lot in Indian Creek

“4 acres with driveway in place.” We came, we saw, we left. While pleasant, the lot has a lot of unusable space, as it is split by a pretty deep ravine. Many of the lots we have seen contain such elements, and we are not keen on buying land, and paying taxes on it, if the entire parcel isn’t useable. Still, we felt we were on the right track. At least this lot could be walked on, had a driveway, trees, and was not that far from a paved road. The dogs enjoyed getting out and examining elk and deer droppings.

We stopped and looked at a series of  properties – we would cover no fewer than 11 this day  – and did not take photos of all of them. Some were too steep, some had no trees. However, we did come on 3 that we really liked and plan to further research, plus one that is very interesting but quite isolated.

The first of our “Top 3” is a lot along Hwy 61, AKA 4-mile road. (This road is near Cripple Creek.) Located on the west side of the road, and backing up to some large hills, the lot is heavily treed with a mix of aspen and pine. While walking the lot we found it to be very moist, with moss growing in some places, and containing a seasonal stream. Obviously used in the past, we located an old outhouse and a fair number of old automotive oil cans in a pile. There are some views to the north. One drawback: wash-off from the road is extensive, and it would require some work (culverts) to fix this.

Lot along Hwy 61, 4-mile Road

Strangely enough, we did not have a listing for this parcel. We came across it when driving down the road looking for another parcel that we did have a listing for, so we will have to contact the realtor for more information.

The parcel we were looking for was on Craig’s List. Pam had found it while researching land for sale in this area. 10 acres with a small shed and a meadow area surrounded by mature trees. For once the billing was accurate,  probably because it wasn’t written by a realtor.

Jerry with shed, 10 acre property

This property may no longer be for sale. There was no realtor sign or no “For Sale By Owner” sign to be found. Again, it will take some more research. Some of the largest aspen trees either of us have ever seen, some of them huge, are located here. We were impressed with the quiet. If tall trees and open meadows float your boat, this is the lot to have. No well or septic, and the driveway needs work, but we liked this spot a great deal. No views from the shed, but nice views from the road on the way in. If still for sale, this would be the second lot we could consider purchasing.

The 3rd lot, and Jerry’s favorite, borders Hwy 61. We did not have a listing for it, but saw the sign and had to stop and walk the property. Biggest draw is the view of Pike’s Peak western side. This photo is a view from the lot looking NE.

Pike's Peak view lot

The front of the lot is meadow, but further back there is a mix of pine and aspen. The further back you go the larger the trees get. Land has a large flat area, borders a county road, and is about 1/2 mile from pavement. It is within a few miles of Cripple Creek, which offers a grocery store and an urgent care center. Other than the lack of large trees to nestle a house into, this lot offers most of what we are looking for. Jerry is excited about  this one.

A “special mention” lot is this 20 acre parcel with gorgeous views, but is all downhill. (Pam named it Hawk Heights.)

20 acre view lot

This photo does not do the views justice. Unfortunately, there is just no place to put a house. The lot has one flat spot, large enough to pitch a fair-sized tent, but that is about it for level ground!  Jerry walked over the edge to find that flat spot, about giving Pam a heart attack when he disappeared from view.

The last place we looked at is a 10 acre  parcel with a cabin on it. We had been watching the price drop over the last couple months, and decided to see if we could find it. That may sound odd, but some of these places cannot be found on Map Quest, Google Earth, or other mapping software. That was also the case with the 10 acres with the mature trees and shed; some of these properties are off-the-side-of-a-side road and require some guesswork to locate.

So we came to the end of a cul-de-sac and could not find the address. Jerry did point out, though, a trail that took off and led up a small valley. “That must be it” said he. Good thing we drive a vehicle with full-time AWD that has some clearance. Off we went.

This is what we found.

Cabin on 10 acres

Nestled in the trees, the cabin has no electric, no running water, few neighbors. It is remote and isolated. Pam found cactus, which she does not care for, but the meadow area is full of grasses and flowers. Could it be a place to camp until a house could be built, then double as a guest cabin for visitors? The interior is rough, with some insulation in but no wall boards of any type, but with a functioning fireplace.

Pam and the dogs check out the cabin nestled in the trees

Plusses are a large lot, trees, and seclusion. Minuses are a dead ground squirrel in the living room, no views from the house, and a long, undeveloped driveway. Still, the place intrigues us. While not in our top 3 picks, we can’t seem to get it out of our minds, so it remains a ‘place of interest’ even though  it meets few of our criteria. Again, if we were in our 20’s or 30’s it would be more of an option, but not now.

We consider this trip to be the most successful to date. We found no fewer than 3 lots that would be acceptable if they are still for sale and if we find they are in our price range. After  previous trips we returned home disappointed, but this time our return trip was filled with comments, discussion, “what if” scenarios, and a positive attitude that we were making progress. That’s a nice change!

Now we have something to follow up with our realtor. In my next post I hope to have more information about these lots, and where we might go from here.

Here is a slide show with more photos of this trip. The show contains more photos of the Hand Hotel and the lots we walked and visited. Click on any photo to bring up a slightly larger view that includes captions and a description.

[cincopa AwDAUs6iXJD-]

Thats it for now. Thanks for looking in!

It’s been a while since I posted to this blog. I missed a week of work due to  illness, and during that time I didn’t feel much like working on the computer. I’m back now, and here is a recap and update of our Colorado Dream, owning a piece of land in the mountains.

We had started by looking at land near Woodland Park and Divide, both located west of Colorado Springs and Pike’s Peak on Highway 24.  We found that  lots in our price range were very steep. We are in good health, but could not see us hiking up and down any of these lots in our later years.

Pam looks over a potential lot.

Pam checks out house at 899 Badger Road

Deer on Deer View Lane property.

Pam and dogs check out house on Deer View Lane.

 

We saw the doe as we drove up to the house. Unfortunately, the lot is too steep for our liking. Can you see us at 70+ years old hauling groceries up those steps?

Looking at houses did not work out, as the places in our price range all seemed to have many compromises. Either the lots were steep and unusable, no views, poor access, or would need a lot of work to bring up to our middle-class standards.

This led to some interesting discussions about how much of our dream we are willing to sacrifice, and the answer turns out to be “not much.” We would rather find our dream lot and put something on it rather than give up our core requirements: A mix of pine and aspen, level enough to walk around in comfort and to make building easier, and a view of a hill or mountains. A larger lot, which would guarantee separation from neighbors, is highly desirable.

Rustic road south of Lake George.

Lot at end of cul-de-sac may be a possibility.

This lot has much of what we want, but is small, only about 1.3 acres. The lots  on either side are flatter and would be better to build on, so we will contact our realtor and see if he can find out if either owner might be willing to sell. Coming across this lot gave us hope that we might yet find what we are looking for.

Spruce Creek lot looking SW.

Trailer on Spruce Creek lot.

Pam walks dogs west of Pike's Peak.

Moving on to other topics,  we will be traveling to Wisconsin the first week in October. Pam’s side of the family is planning a memorial service for her Uncle John and Aunt Angela, both of whom have died in the last year or so. Uncle John and Aunt Angela had visited us in Arizona when we lived there, and also visited us here in western Colorado. They  were good people and will be missed.

Our daughter, Felicity, did land the 2nd part-time job I mentioned in my last post. She will be doing web and social media development for an organization in the Portland, Oregon area. This job will make her finances a bit more stable as she continues to develop her Affordable Writing Solutions company.  While she is attracting customers, the income is a bit hit-and-miss as she does not normally get paid until the end of a project, which can span a few weeks or more. While we applaud her entrepreneurial spirit, as parents it is nice to know there is a base income on which to establish a budget.

Pam and I celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary this past week. I’m so glad she has put up with me for so long!

Our foster kittens are now old enough to  get their operations and shots. You can view photos of them at our Foster Cats page.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!