![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/102.jpg\" "\\"Pam")
<\/a>Pam looks over a potential lot.<\/p><\/div>\n
The nicest lots, those that met our criteria, were way out of our price range. $25K per acre was not uncommon, with lot sizes running 4 to 5 acres. \u00a0We began to expand our search further west of the Divide area in hopes of finding some lower-priced property.<\/p>\n
We\u00a0started to include lots with houses on them, in theory a better value due to homes prices dropping as people\u00a0sold 2nd homes or places they could no longer afford.\u00a0\u00a0These places might offer us a place to stay when we visited, already had wells and septic systems in place, and may be easier to finance and improve. The place below is one example of this type of property.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/a>Pam checks out house at 899 Badger Road<\/p><\/div>\n
The lot behind the house is quite steep. Where would I put a workshop?<\/p>\n
Another\u00a0house we checked on, whose price had been dropping on the listings, was this place on Deer View Lane:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/a>Deer on Deer View Lane property.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Pam and dogs check out house on Deer View Lane.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
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?<\/p>\n
Looking at houses did not work out, as the places\u00a0in 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<\/strong> of work to bring\u00a0up to our middle-class standards.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The only way we would be able to\u00a0avoid compromising our dream\u00a0was to re-define what we were looking for, and the answer changed our outlook: No longer would we\u00a0be searching for \u00a0a “commuting” location, but would concentrate on the “recreational” aspects of a place.\u00a0\u00a0Both of us agree that we will probably have to work after retirement to make ends meet, and we should be looking\u00a0for a get-away\u00a0property rather than a commuting location.\u00a0 Given this less restraining criteria, we decided to look \u00a0in areas a little more off the beaten path.<\/p>\n This brings us to the last few weeks, where we\u00a0have come\u00a0closer to finding what we want, although we have not found our ideal yet.<\/p>\n We began looking in a new area south of Lake George, Colorado. The area between Lake George and the next town to the east, Florissant, has some sub-divisions with roads in them. Situated between Pike’s Peak to the east\u00a0and South Park\u00a0 to the west, some of the lots appear to have most of what we are looking for, although the acreages are generally smaller.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rustic road south of Lake George.<\/p><\/div>\n Lot at end of cul-de-sac may be a possibility.<\/p><\/div>\n This lot has much of what we want, but is small, only about 1.3 acres. The lots\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n Later that day we walked another lot.\u00a0A drive way had been put in, it was pretty level and had quite a few trees, but no views of anything.\u00a0 Lot size was about 1.2 acres. Pleasant, but not really what we want.<\/p>\n A 3rd place has a double-wide on it, not ideal,\u00a0but\u00a0has 4 acres and a well and septic installed. A repo, asking price is about 70K. We would not be wild about the trailer, but the lot meets most of our requirements, and has a view to boot. At this point Pam is not in favor of exploring this further, but Jerry is still interested if a low-ball offer would secure the property. It is a corner lot, and there would be some traffic noise, but the road is well-maintained summer and winter and offers easier access to civilization than some of the other properties we have looked at.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Spruce Creek lot looking SW.<\/p><\/div>\n Trailer on Spruce Creek lot.<\/p><\/div>\n Pam walks dogs west of Pike's Peak.<\/p><\/div>\n Really, life should not be this hard. We go over with high hopes, armed with print-outs of land listings and maps, and return a bit depressed that we did not find our dream land. And it takes time…each trip is in the 550 mile range, takes a full day, and gets tiring. We have made 9 “land looking” trips so far. We feel we are getting closer to finding what we want, narrowing our search to specific areas, and have looked at some pleasant, if small, lots. We still have a fairly high level of confidence that we will find what we are looking for, but it may take longer than we thought!<\/p>\n What’s next? We will continue to search the listings for lots in the Florissant – Lake George area, and take a trip\u00a0to view them\u00a0once or twice a month, depending on how many potential lots turn up.<\/p>\n As you can tell, we have reached the stage where the initial excitement of looking for land\u00a0has worn off, and now it becomes a question of\u00a0 searching, evaluating, and day trips to the area we have targeted. We do enjoy getting into the mountains, and the dogs enjoy the outings, so none of the trips has been a waste of time. Quite the contrary…we always \u00a0find new roads and things to look at, and that is part of the enjoyment of the search. One of these times we will “discover” our dream lot. When we do, you will hear about it here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Moving on to other topics,\u00a0\u00a0we will be traveling to Wisconsin the first week in October. Pam’s side of the family is planning a memorial service for\u00a0her Uncle John and Aunt Angela, both of whom have died in the last year or so.\u00a0Uncle John and Aunt Angela\u00a0had visited us in Arizona when we lived there, and also visited us here in western Colorado.\u00a0They \u00a0were good people and will be missed.<\/p>\n Our daughter, Felicity,\u00a0did 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<\/a> company.\u00a0 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.\u00a0While we applaud her\u00a0entrepreneurial spirit, as parents it is nice to know there is a base income on which to establish a budget.<\/p>\n Pam and I celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary this past week. I’m so glad she has put up with me for so long!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>