Colorado!...what part(s)

MattyNJ1 · #1 10/28/13, 11:36 AM

Considering moving to Colorado in a year. Decided against ALaska. I plan on buying minimum 5 acres and building a log home on it, with a detached work barn. Semi off the grid, at least solar, and well. (for now)

Question is, what part.

Ive been looking at Boulder.

Im looking to be up in elevation...NO NEIGHBORS, and feel like im alone. Yet be within 30 minutes to a town etc. Any suggestions?

Freya · #2 10/28/13, 03:36 PM

Boulder is very pricey. Unless you have alot to pay with, check the other close counties outside of Boulder.

If you want to be up in the mountains past there make sure you know about mining claim laws and water rights. Under 35 acres has special water rights issues. And with mining claims you may not own mineral rights or be allowed to do certain things on your land.

These two links have some info on Clear Creek and Gilpin Counties (cheaper than Boulder)... ofcourse look at many sources!

http://www.stonegate-realestate.com/...gRuralProperty

http://www.stonegate-realestate.com/...ces/ClaimsInfo

(No I dont know them/aren’t affiliated with them)

Good luck!!!!

fordy · #3 10/28/13, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattyNJ1

Considering moving to Colorado in a year. Decided against ALaska. I plan on buying minimum 5 acres and building a log home on it, with a detached work barn. Semi off the grid, at least solar, and well. (for now)

Question is, what part.

Ive been looking at Boulder.

Im looking to be up in elevation...NO NEIGHBORS, and feel like im alone. Yet be within 30 minutes to a town etc. Any suggestions?

.................Most of your choices are going to be west of I25! Property in C with road access and some access to water is going to cost you mucho bucks . I hope you've saved up for this situation cause in will be $$$ . , fordy

Sawmill Jim · #4 10/28/13, 03:44 PM

Rifle is a nice spot too. Better stock up the snow gets a little deep

A good 4 wheel drive is a must too. Ever been in the Rockies ??

lonelytree · #5 10/28/13, 05:26 PM

No neighbors near Boulder.... you really need to look at population densities along the front range. I left in 1981. Been back several times since. Places 13 miles from anything and a 2 mile hike have too many people to be considered remote/private. People are everywhere.

I don't know of anywhere in AK where you can be 30 minutes from a town and feel alone. I do know a few places that are very quiet. Access is a bit tougher.

vintage farm · #6 10/28/13, 05:56 PM

In my opinion, it is hard to find 5 acres ANYWHARE where you won't have neighbors. We have 60 acres and all our neighbors are wheat fields, so we don't have neighbors, BUT we are 45 minutes from town and farther than that to a hospital.

I think your best bet would be north Idaho. Five acres in the trees give you privacy and you might find 5 acres in the midst of BLM or national forest land that would give you few neighbors (other than the hunters during hunting season). You won't have water issues like you would have in Colorado and Idaho is less regulated than most places. You will need to be prepared for snowy winters, but it sounds like all your choices have significant snow.
Just my thoughts based on places I have lived (includes western and eastern Washington, western and eastern Oregon, southern California, north Idaho and Colorado).
Nora

Harry Chickpea · #7 10/28/13, 11:18 PM

"NO NEIGHBORS, and feel like im alone. Yet be within 30 minutes to a town etc. Any suggestions?"

Bluntly? Get real. I can't count the number of times I have heard that same song. "I want to live in the pristine wilderness, pay $500 an acre, and live within 30 minutes of (insert favorite city here). It ain't goinna happen. I could dance the dance and say "you'll have a hard time, but your dream is a wonderful dream" but I'm too old and crotchety to do that anymore. I'd be wasting my time and leading you down a path to nowhere.

There are over 300 million people in the U.S.. At some point in time a lot of them have had a similar dream, of a place just outside of Mayberry, right down the road from Manhattan. The people with money have bought those best places and driven the cost of real estate to astronomical heights.

I've a friend in the Boulder area. Expensive, getting more expensive.

Start with a more reality based concept -
1. How do you plan to make money and earn a living? Does the place you want to live support that?
2. What are your top ten priorities? Are they realistic individually?
3. What are the likely expenses you will have? Can you handle those AND an unexpected money pit of a problem?
4. When you buy land - does it have water for your use? How much? Is it year-round? Is it potable? What restrictions are there on water AND septic?
5. If you want to do what you want to without restriction, are you prepared for others to do the same? Would midnight runs of four-wheelers and dirt bikes upset you? How about an auto salvage yard next door? Can your land be hunted by anyone?

abagee_123 · #8 10/28/13, 11:24 PM

We just got 40 acres in harstel for 15 grand. 10 minutes to fairplay and close to Buena vista.

lonelytree · #9 10/29/13, 01:37 AM

If I had to look. .... I would look for a place between Ft Collins and Red Feather Lakes.

ErinP · #10 10/29/13, 08:06 AM

I agree with Harry. Your criteria are mutually exclusive. You can't have it all.

Colorado has a lot of rustic wilderness. Most of it is no where near the mountains. The PEOPLE are in the mountains. The wilderness is the high plains in the eastern half of the state. Look down by Cope or Last Chance...

But I guess if you're in New Jersey, maybe you think Boulder IS rural and unregulated.

Allen W · #11 10/29/13, 08:40 AM

I would look some where besides Colorado, but all the rockie mountain area has been invaded by Californians so I don't know where to really look.

MattyNJ1 · #12 10/29/13, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

"

Start with a more reality based concept -
1. How do you plan to make money and earn a living? Does the place you want to live support that?
2. What are your top ten priorities? Are they realistic individually?
3. What are the likely expenses you will have? Can you handle those AND an unexpected money pit of a problem?
4. When you buy land - does it have water for your use? How much? Is it year-round? Is it potable? What restrictions are there on water AND septic?
5. If you want to do what you want to without restriction, are you prepared for others to do the same? Would midnight runs of four-wheelers and dirt bikes upset you? How about an auto salvage yard next door? Can your land be hunted by anyone?

good points...

MattyNJ1 · #13 10/29/13, 08:57 AM

Thanks, any ideas would help. Iam a Contractor, i own heavy equipment, and can do just about anything. I lived in the Adirondack mountains in NY most of my life..so the lifestlye isnt foreign to me.....(referencing the NJ stereotype lol) Just want to go off the grid. I have the money to buy land, and build a log home. I plan on buliding a self sustaining home as much as possible. At the very least SOlar and well. And YEAH i don't want neighbors within eye shot!....are my expectations to high! lol...jeeeeeze, if im gonna spend a mil or 2 i think i can still accomplish at least privacy!

Allen W · #14 10/29/13, 09:05 AM

Water rights in Colorado are some thing else, make sure you can even drill a well before you buy.

Cornhusker · #15 10/29/13, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allen W

I would look some where besides Colorado, but all the rockie mountain area has been invaded by Californians so I don't know where to really look.

I agree, you couldn't pay me enough to live on the Front Range.
They turned it into Kalifornia 2.0

Billie in MO · #16 10/29/13, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cornhusker

I agree, you couldn't pay me enough to live on the Front Range.
They turned it into Kalifornia 2.0

Another one here who agrees with you about the Front Range. And my hubby is from Colorado and we lived there for many years except we were on the Western Slope. We were already thinking about moving else where in the state (before we ended up in MO because of my family) as where we were was getting too big for us.

Water rights are the biggest issue. You may want to look at areas that are listed as hunting properties that are near/back up to/surrounded by national forrest. We were actually just in CO two weeks ago for a week. Took some roads we had not been on in a long time and saw very few houses/traffic on the roads but then again we were not near any major cities/towns for work opportunities. (for some reason people think the only road in CO is I-70!!)

If money was no object and we were fully retired and headed back to CO to live I have a few choices. Somewhere in Kebler Pass, which runs between Paonia Reservoir and Crested Butte. It is a dirt road open only during the summer, closed off in the winter. Or on the mountain above a little place called Cimarron. Other place would be near Sweetwater in the White River Nat forrest.

Good luck, (not trying to discourage you). Wish I still lived in CO.

MattyNJ1 · #17 10/29/13, 10:56 AM

Thanks great advice I appreciate it I'll look into those places... I guess my question or a better question would have been which STATE in the Midwest to move to!

fordy · #18 10/29/13, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattyNJ1

Thanks great advice I appreciate it I'll look into those places... I guess my question or a better question would have been which STATE in the Midwest to move to!

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....................With all your equipment , looks as if you could buy a very remote property , build a road , run utilities as well as maybe build a small lake and do all the site prep , them sell your equipment and enjoy life ! , fordy

MattyNJ1 · #19 10/29/13, 11:28 AM

Kind of very similar to what I had in mind I was going to dig a pond until my own road live in a mobile home while I build my cabin.

K.B. · #20 10/29/13, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lonelytree

If I had to look. .... I would look for a place between Ft Collins and Red Feather Lakes.

This is a great area. I went to school at CSU in Ft Collins and my wife and I bought some property in the area before work pulled us away. Family has us in OR at this point, but there are many things that I miss about living in CO.

In the area where our property is located (first layer of foothills), it is all 35+ acre tracts, so there are neighbors, but none are too close. Well water is always a gamble in the mountains... some lots in our area have artesians, others have had to go down ~1000'. Raincatch off impermeable surfaces (roof) on rural lots is not a problem. Deer, elk and antelope are some of the critters in the area and come through the property. It takes about 25-30 minutes to get to Ft Collins from our place.

Parcels in the area of our place go for ~$2,000/acre, so it is more expensive than some areas of the country for sure, but not too much so.

Best advice I can give is to take several trips and really look around. There is no substitute for taking the time to actually look at multiple properties and talk to local people in an area you are interested in.