How do you figure out if the parcel you want abuts with public land, like blm or usfs accurately? or if it will stay that way.

640 acres is 1 mile by 1 mile square, right? Should be able to get a decent strip on that...

soyAnarchisto wrote:How do you figure out if the parcel you want abuts with public land, like blm or usfs accurately? or if it will stay that way.

640 acres is 1 mile by 1 mile square, right? Should be able to get a decent strip on that...

The most accurate way to determine public land is to go to the county courthouse and look at the records.

An easier, but much less accurate, way for BLM land is to go to the BLM's mapper and suffer through their user interface. Go here:
http://www.geocommunicator.gov/blmMap/Map.jsp?MAP=SiteMapper
Zoom in on the area in question.
Go to the list of layers on the right and click "Surface Management Agency", BLM land will turn a peach color.
Optionally, click the "identify" button at the top, then click on the map and it will identify the surface management agency.

Topographic maps are usually the best source for National Forest boundaries, but their resolution and accuracy is lacking. For topographic maps, I like acme mapper.
http://mapper.acme.com/
Zoom in, then click "topo" button.

You can't guarantee that public land will stay public. Every once in awhile, some land developer will want a chunk of public land and will work out a cash deal, a land swap, etc.

http://hartstrip.com/house2.html

A nice little strip available in North Central Washington, nice area! Listed on Barnstormers

Vaughans

kevbert wrote:[
An easier, but much less accurate, way for BLM land is to go to the BLM's mapper and suffer through their user interface. Go here:
http://www.geocommunicator.gov/blmMap/Map.jsp?MAP=SiteMapper
Zoom in on the area in question.
Go to the list of layers on the right and click "Surface Management Agency", BLM land will turn a peach color.
Optionally, click the "identify" button at the top, then click on the map and it will identify the surface management agency.

Super Props to kenbert for speaking about the problems with GIS interfaces! Some of the rural counties have really antiquated systems.

Did I mention I'm hoping to do this super cheap? It was a new panel, or cabin patch. So, must be no more than a new panel

crunchbird wrote:Did I mention I'm hoping to do this super cheap? It was a new panel, or cabin patch. So, must be no more than a new panel

This is adjacent to my eBay property in Crescent Valley Nevada. Four beers and $1500.00



Or for really cheap, there's Cabin Under the Rock. You could live here for free for years before anyone found you.



The airplane parking lot is just a short ten mile walk



Gump

Maybe Madras area? Even hop from Portland area, given good weather. Oregon maule, don't you have a place there? What are the prices like?

Some thoughts to throw into the hopper:

Neighbors often don't like airplanes, so even if the parcel is large enough to support a strip, they can be a pain in the wazoo. There are comments on this board about such neighbors here and there.

The FAA may or may not care whether you have a strip (probably don't care if you don't interfere with some existing airport that they've designated), but sometimes counties and adjacent cities do care and throw roadblocks in the way. Check out with the local governments what it takes to create a strip, if that's your plan.

Often what appear to be very friendly towns are friendly only if you're visiting. Saratoga is a good example. I've had several acquaintances move to Saratoga because they loved visiting there, but found that they could not become a real part of the community. Unless you're related to some 3rd generation offspring of an original settler, it can be tough. Yet I've always found it to be very, very friendly to "outsiders", as long as they remain outsiders.

Check out the weather at all times of the year. Having to cover the airplane for 7 months because the snow drifts too deep or the rain is too constant or the wind howls steadily at 45 knots or greater can put a real damper on the beauty of a place.

If you look at high elevation locales, remember that your 150 only taxis fast in high DAs (joke from when I lived in Laramie, where we used 172s for training for that very reason). With any kind of a load, like 2 people, even a 172 or 182 takes awhile to get off the ground and doesn't climb all that well, when the ground is already at 7000' and the DA might climb to 9 or 10,000' on a warmish day.

Some people hire a Realtor to help them through the purchasing. That's not a bad idea, if you don't know the territory--a good local buyer's agent can be pretty useful, especially when it comes to knowing the political climate of the area.

One of the things I've said repeatedly to clients and to others is that when you are about to purchase what for many people is the single most expensive thing they'll ever buy, you need a good real estate attorney to make sure that you get what you're paying for. The cost of doing it right from the beginning (which will only be a few hundred to maybe a bit over a thou at worst, unless there are significant problems that you pay for the attorney to solve) is so much less than having to correct problems that the attorney would have most likely caught. Whether you choose to obtain the services of a buyer's Realtor or not, you should have a good real estate attorney review everything before you sign on the dotted line.

Just getting title insurance is not enough--make sure you understand what the title insurance commitment actually covers. Like all insurance companies, the more they can weasel out of paying, the more they make from their premiums, and title policies carry more exceptions, requirements, and non-covered items than you can believe.

And don't, don't, don't buy from eBay! Or from any other unknown hustler.

Just my thoughts.

Cary

I sent you a PM. Your want list perfectly described a property my wife has the listing on. It is outside Chelan, and far enough to not be touristy. Also has a paved strip that I have landed a C150 on many times.

David

GumpAir wrote:Harney County has some pretty class places to go. A concern might be that "tired old C150" on a warm summer day because of altitude. But there's plenty of places with lots of room for a long runway.

Gump

Hell, I heard there's some pretty good deals around Mina Nevada. The fishing might not be much to write home about but you'll sure as hell get some snow now and then. Bring Yahtzee or Scrabble for the tough times. Eh?

EB

Ah yes, to cabin, or not to cabin. That question and dream has been in my head for a number of years. The thought flying in to a familiar hidey hole to spend some relaxing time is haunting. I dream about it a lot, and have the means to do it, but then the dream becomes a nightmare the more I dwell on it. Thoughts of property taxes for another parcel, maintenance and up-keep instead relaxing. Needing a new roof in the middle of nowhere, oh joy! Then there is the guilt of spending the money and not using it enough or wanting to visit other locations instead of same old cabin. So, I just dream about it and pitch a tent under my wing in different places each time and put he money in av gas.

Just a thought.

Brent

One other thought--do NOT buy a cabin that is on land leased from Uncle Sam. All of those leases I've ever seen have a reversionary clause in which Uncle owns the property at the end of the lease. 99 years sounds like a lot at the beginning, but eventually it runs out, and Uncle does not renew. Many families have lost the old family cabin, when 3rd or 4th generation didn't realize that the lease was running out. Pretty horrible to have been putting all those bucks into maintenance and upgrades, only to have Uncle take it over and raze it.

Cary

I have pondered the "to cabin or not to cabin" thing a few times. My idea is more to have a warm place to go in the winter, as summers are nice here in the Puget Sound country. But the idea of another place to maintain & pay for puts me off, esp when it's only gonna used for 4-5 months out of the year. I'm thinking that maybe a trailer or motorhome is the ticket-- park it at one grass strip this winter, and find another strip the following year. Summertime park it at Pacific City (in Rob's backyard!) or maybe somewhere in Idaho. Still haven't got beyond the thinking about it stage though.

Really solid points people are making about some of the downsides. For sure no online scams, or BLM leases. I have a realtor friend for the sniff test and paperwork. I'm using more of the Canadian template for a Cabin tho: offgrid, low tech, not a full time residence. Lived in the sticks before so yah, don't talk about who you vote for

Another possibility...a guy from my home airport bought some property down near Joseph Oregon. He graded out an airstrip and originally bought a big trailer & fitted it out for off-grid living with solar power, but decided to build a house instead to make the place more palatable to his wife.

Don't automatically discount eBay, Craigslist, the Penny Saver, or a card posted on a bulletin board in front of the country store. A lot of the characters who live in the kind of places you're looking for aren't going to hire a realtor to sell their property.

My eBay land in Crescent Valley, Nevada... We love it. 5 acres next to the airport, just sitting there as a spot to park the airplane, or the truck and trailer with the four-wheelers loaded up. We aren't building on it, but it's a place to camp and ride. And my taxes are $4 a year. Same with a ten acre chunk I found in northwest Utah. Taxes there a bit more. $8.

My British Columbia place... I delivered so many different airplanes to/from Alaska and Lower 48, and always tried to fly a different route each time just to enjoy the view out the window, which really made me fall in love with the BC coast. I spent two years wandering BC on my days off until I found our property on the Dean Channel. The search itself was damn good fun, and in the end found a pretty special place.



Happy hunting, and enjoy the wander!

Gump

Emory Bored wrote:

GumpAir wrote:Harney County has some pretty class places to go. A concern might be that "tired old C150" on a warm summer day because of altitude. But there's plenty of places with lots of room for a long runway.

Gump

Hell, I heard there's some pretty good deals around Mina Nevada. The fishing might not be much to write home about but you'll sure as hell get some snow now and then. Bring Yahtzee or Scrabble for the tough times. Eh?

EB

EB, it depends on what your fishing for

GumpAir wrote:Don't automatically discount eBay, Craigslist, the Penny Saver, or a card posted on a bulletin board in front of the country store. A lot of the characters who live in the kind of places you're looking for aren't going to hire a realtor to sell their property.

My eBay land in Crescent Valley, Nevada... We love it. 5 acres next to the airport, just sitting there as a spot to park the airplane, or the truck and trailer with the four-wheelers loaded up. We aren't building on it, but it's a place to camp and ride. And my taxes are $4 a year. Same with a ten acre chunk I found in northwest Utah. Taxes there a bit more. $8.

My British Columbia place... I delivered so many different airplanes to/from Alaska and Lower 48, and always tried to fly a different route each time just to enjoy the view out the window, which really made me fall in love with the BC coast. I spent two years wandering BC on my days off until I found our property on the Dean Channel. The search itself was damn good fun, and in the end found a pretty special place.



Happy hunting, and enjoy the wander!

Gump

Damn, Gump,

That B. C. place will work. Beautiful.

Brent

cowpilot wrote:

GumpAir wrote:Don't automatically discount eBay, Craigslist, the Penny Saver, or a card posted on a bulletin board in front of the country store. A lot of the characters who live in the kind of places you're looking for aren't going to hire a realtor to sell their property.

My eBay land in Crescent Valley, Nevada... We love it. 5 acres next to the airport, just sitting there as a spot to park the airplane, or the truck and trailer with the four-wheelers loaded up. We aren't building on it, but it's a place to camp and ride. And my taxes are $4 a year. Same with a ten acre chunk I found in northwest Utah. Taxes there a bit more. $8.

My British Columbia place... I delivered so many different airplanes to/from Alaska and Lower 48, and always tried to fly a different route each time just to enjoy the view out the window, which really made me fall in love with the BC coast. I spent two years wandering BC on my days off until I found our property on the Dean Channel. The search itself was damn good fun, and in the end found a pretty special place.



Happy hunting, and enjoy the wander!

Gump

Damn, Gump,

That B. C. place will work. Beautiful.

Brent

Just be prepared to grow gills and webbed feet. They don't call it a rain... Forrest for nothing...