Looking at an airpark property, tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly?

I have also been looking at them over the past couple years in Arizona. it’s hindsight but should have bought 2 years ago. Which state are you interested in?

I’m looking all over the west. I’m in Colorado now, and looked at a place here last weekend.

Subscribed. We have been looking all over the West, too. So far, no luck.

I bet there will be some on the market in two years or less

I have a second home on an airpark in California.

The good:
- Awesome to fly directly in and park at your house
- Most that live on the airpark are aviation nuts, so there is a good camaraderie and like minded people
- If you're there full time, no additional need to pay hangar rent, no drive time to your airport
- "Noise" when incoming airplanes need a low approach to clear the runway of deer

The other stuff:
- Depends on the airpark, but some are privately owned. This can mean $$$ when runway repairs, etc are needed. Take note of any HOAs, CCR's, etc.
- If it's public owned and you are using it via "Residential through the fence" (FAA Terms) you're still at the mercy of the municipality that operates it, and in recent years the Feds have tried to enforce/charge extra $$$ to "access" the airport from your private property even for "grandfathered" properties/agreements.

Even having a taste of living on an airpark 1/4-1/3 of the year, I'd love to do it full time in the future.

Air Park north of Denver; built here in 1991; way more positives than negatives. Muni/FAA supported airport with some private property surrounding. We pay around $700/yr "through the fence" fee. Home owners maintain private taxiways and normal FAA/FBO ops pay for airport/fuel upkeep. Our HOA has been mostly inactive last twenty years and property prices are through the roof so only high dollar homes have been built since. I definitely couldn't afford to buy here now; especially since retired.

Other airparks we've talked to and know of: some have big HOA issues and just like any neighborhoods, there will be trouble-makers. As most pilots are firm in their beliefs (I'm being nice) these discussions can get overblown.

Always check the HOA and CCRs before buying; some are very restrictive.

Looking out the window, walking downstairs, check the oil and go fly= priceless.

Jack

sticknrudder wrote:I have a second home on an airpark in California.

The good:
- Awesome to fly directly in and park at your house
- Most that live on the airpark are aviation nuts, so there is a good camaraderie and like minded people
- If you're there full time, no additional need to pay hangar rent, no drive time to your airport
- "Noise" when incoming airplanes need a low approach to clear the runway of deer

The other stuff:
- Depends on the airpark, but some are privately owned. This can mean $$$ when runway repairs, etc are needed. Take note of any HOAs, CCR's, etc.
- If it's public owned and you are using it via "Residential through the fence" (FAA Terms) you're still at the mercy of the municipality that operates it, and in recent years the Feds have tried to enforce/charge extra $$$ to "access" the airport from your private property even for "grandfathered" properties/agreements.

Even having a taste of living on an airpark 1/4-1/3 of the year, I'd love to do it full time in the future.

Sounds like maybe you are at Cameron Airpark?

corefile wrote:

sticknrudder wrote:I have a second home on an airpark in California.

The good:
- Awesome to fly directly in and park at your house
- Most that live on the airpark are aviation nuts, so there is a good camaraderie and like minded people
- If you're there full time, no additional need to pay hangar rent, no drive time to your airport
- "Noise" when incoming airplanes need a low approach to clear the runway of deer

The other stuff:
- Depends on the airpark, but some are privately owned. This can mean $$$ when runway repairs, etc are needed. Take note of any HOAs, CCR's, etc.
- If it's public owned and you are using it via "Residential through the fence" (FAA Terms) you're still at the mercy of the municipality that operates it, and in recent years the Feds have tried to enforce/charge extra $$$ to "access" the airport from your private property even for "grandfathered" properties/agreements.

Even having a taste of living on an airpark 1/4-1/3 of the year, I'd love to do it full time in the future.

Sounds like maybe you are at Cameron Airpark?

Close - E45 Pine Mountain Lake.

I recently had a video/ad pop up on my YouTube screen for Thunder Ridge air park in Utah. I fly over it occasionally, pretty cool area with some great fishing nearby and what would be amazing hunting out the back door. Check UT83 for info

Definitely more positive than negative. The list above - I agree with all positives.

The only other negative aspect is Neighbours OUTSIDE the airpark. External people love to complain about aircraft noise, even if the activity is legal and existing before their move to the area.

Being able to keep my planes in the “garage”, sounds awesome. I’d sure fly more! But, I have never lived in close proximity to anyone, and I have an ability to “make friends” wherever I go, I looked at a place last weekend, couldn’t see any logical transient parking and parked near the fuel pump. After walking down the runway an back, had two older gentlemen very unhappy with me for parking where I did. It wasn’t busy, and I think it’s possible they could still have gotten fuel, and I was obvious walking along the runway.

The hangar was great, the living quarters were nice. Dues are low, and overall it’s a nice facility. I do wonder about the average age in an airpark, I’m 50 next week. Seems like most there have 20 or more years on me. I don’t have any issue with that, but wonder about my noisy 180 at first light. Having never had neighbors that close, I wonder about people getting pissy about things.

I’d love to live with my airplane and have tried a few times to make it happen. I don’t want to spew any second hand mis-information so I won’t try to repeat what others have told me. Essentially I’ve decided an airpark isn’t for me, for the same reasons I’ll never buy a house in an HOA.

However, I think a few like minded folks could find a way to share a runway while keeping their homes far enough apart to keep out of each others business. There’s 350 acres for sale near me for a bit under $800k. I figure a three was split ought to keep the houses far enough apart. Who’s in?

Very tempting whee!!

whee wrote:I’d love to live with my airplane and have tried a few times to make it happen. I don’t want to spew any second hand mis-information so I won’t try to repeat what others have told me. Essentially I’ve decided an airpark isn’t for me, for the same reasons I’ll never buy a house in an HOA.

However, I think a few like minded folks could find a way to share a runway while keeping their homes far enough apart to keep out of each others business. There’s 350 acres for sale near me for a bit under $800k. I figure a three was split ought to keep the houses far enough apart. Who’s in? [emoji38]

I've got 126 acres and you could set up on rhe far corner away from me. It'd be a lot less then 800k, but you'd have to move to Canada... haha.

StillLearning wrote:The hangar was great, the living quarters were nice. Dues are low, and overall it’s a nice facility. I do wonder about the average age in an airpark, I’m 50 next week. Seems like most there have 20 or more years on me. I don’t have any issue with that, but wonder about my noisy 180 at first light. Having never had neighbors that close, I wonder about people getting pissy about things.

I don't want to be on top of neighbors, either. Would prefer at least 5-10 acres. However, at this point, given the increased cost of building materials and the lack of tradesmen to even build a house, we are just looking to buy an existing house. Totally, open to renovation, though.

Hey, it's an airpark. You don't choose to live there and not expect airplane noise (a beautiful sound).

I spent a few years on one in WA. For the most part, it was great. MOST of the others there were fun....a few others weren't an tried to be in everyone else's business all the time. Had one that would come down and "have a safety talk" to anyone that landed to come see you. Never mind that he and his wife had racked up 2 stall spin accidents in a 172.
If you're a mechanic, it can be a little tough unless you set policy right away...it's easy for someone to just "need you for a 5 minute job", no matter what time of day....not always pleasant on an early Sunday morning.
The good was the good neighbors!!! I had some that were and still are, close friends!! LIke minded people that love aviation!! I got to meet and make friends with some really interesting folks and treasure every minute of that!!!
I'm like a couple others here....grew up not having anyone living near (closest neighbor was 2 1/2 miles. It's a little to adjust to, but well worth it from my point of view. I watch a local airpark near me now, and am friends with quite a few of them, but glad I don't have to deal with any of the "politics" involved. It's pretty easy here, sitting in the middle of our place with nobody to disagree with, other than horses, cows and my wife!
I think the most important thing would be like said above....pay close attention to HOA's, covenants, and any other rules or fees that can be involved, then go talk to everyone that lives there, by themselves, and ask what they like or don't like about that particular airpark.
John

I have been looking for a place in Sisters, Oregon for years, but never made an offer due to a well known hyper-litigious resident on the field. The prices are now stratospheric, so it's out of the running anyway unless/until the market and the litigant both crash. I keep dreaming.

CAVU

Just moved in to a new house we built on one. Lucked out last year and got the lot we wanted which is basically the only reason we did it (only one neighbor to the side, in the town where we live/work/kids' schools, etc.). Getting to the airport when I had the time to fly always seemed to be my problem with getting more hours in, so I am looking forward to having the plane in the garage and ready to go at a moments notice. For the most part our neighbors have been pretty good, however like previously mentioned it is a subdivision full of pilots, so we do have a few that think it is their own personal airport. The CCR's are fairly normal, but are haphazardly enforced which makes me wonder why they bother at all. HOA dues are comparable to golf course residential developments and even less than most I've seen. Around here (SW ID) their location and lot pricing is what drives most people away I think, that and it just gets really expensive building a house or finding one that is finished the way you'd like, of course pricing in our area is on a rocket ride now anyhow. I agree with Stilllearning that you do find mostly older people living there, which seems to be aviation in general these days. The other thing that makes me wonder if it was such a great idea is watching some of the folks taking lessons, or making solo approaches to land here and wondering how long it will be before someone hits your house at 7 in the morning! Buying your own piece of ground and having a strip is something I've always wanted to do, but after owning property and the associated maintenance that goes with it, price of land in general these days, having neighbors that moved to the country for quiet and don't appreciate aircraft taking off in the early mornings, and the fact that we have a nice paved or HOA maintained grass strip and common areas makes it pretty hard to beat for us. Overall we are happy and looking forward to living there the rest of our lives. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and do it, so good luck in your search, I don't think you will regret it.