Well looks like I was able to purchase 5 10acres of land at a really good price, $2425.00. I already know there will have to be adjustments to use alternative power, water and sewage sources but this shouldn't be hard to adjust to. I have lived in the country before and used some of these already. On the others I have been researching the water and power issues which aren't issues. Like the lighting, just wire the cottage with a 12 volt system as well as 110. For the water use a 12 volt RV pump system and the power source is a no brainier, solar and wind. AC you say, 8K home generator for the super hot summers and those special items. This project will take a long time but should be a rewarding challenge. ;)
Vern
Sounds great, Vern. Keep us posted and we'll help with what info we can. :)
Thanks Glenn, I think one of the largest issues I will face will be the logistics. With me living in Del Rio and the property in Terlingua yes the home of the great chili cook off ;) I will have to take what I need or purchase it in Alpine which is about 70 miles away while I am bulding. I will be going down there in the next couple of weeks to inspect the property and will take some pictures while I'm there and will post a couple.
Vern
Sounds like carrying a list would be in order. I used a PDA for a while but always ended up losing data so I went back to a spiral bound notebook. I keep all project notes, dates , times , needs, lists in there. The spiral binding makes sure I don't lose a paper unless I want to and it is in fairly chronoligical order. Notes in pencil makes sure that water won't damage it but I usually use pen. One book will keep notes handy for about 6 months then I can retain it for future reference.
Will you have phone service available? I'm just wondering how you will stay in touch on the net. :)
There is phone service but I also have a Mobil solution. I have Roadrunner Cable Service and they also have a dialup service for when a person is not home. Haven't tried it in that area but my Mobil service has high speed data transfer for cell phones so all I have to do is plug the cell phone into the laptop, dialup roadrunner service and I have service, Electric, Car, or Battery Powered. When the Cottage is built I already have a Hues Network DirectWay Internet/TV Satellite dish I can hook up. High Speed with no wires ;) .
Vern
Sounds great.
Your biggest problem down there is water.
We do have several options available to us however the well is out at 600+ feet and $20,000.00. The ranch office offers trucked water or pickup water from the Lodge area or we could bring in our own water. Right now it isn't an issue as my RV has a fairly good size fresh water holding tank so while we are building we can go this way. The cottage will have a water collection system for irrigation and sewage use when it is finished. As for shower I can have it trucked in and pumped into a holding tank for a short term solution and we have always used bottled while we are out on the road from tap at home or purchased. The latest good news is we ended up trading the land I purchased for a 10 acre tract across the road (of course with a little extra money) that is much more suited for building and is only 3 minutes from the main highway. This means the utilities will be a lot easier to get when we are ready to spend more time out there. :)
Vern
Vern,
Regarding your internet options, you might check to see if anyone out that way is offering terrestrial/RF based broadband. It functions pretty much the same as a business band/Ham radio repeater. It's a lot easier to push a signal tower to tower along the ground than 23K miles up to and back from a satt in geosynch orbit. More reliable, too. I have some friends in rural NorCal that have DirectWay and the only reason they don't dump it is that their only other option is dial-up.
We're getting ready to start building about 30 miles NW of Bryan/College Station and there's an ISP, CyberCom, that offers this type of service. I may even become a repeater site for them, since I'll be erecting a couple of 50' towers, and make a few bucks a month. If it's relatively flat between where you're going to be and the Alpine, Marfa and Ft.Davis areas, it wouldn't take a very tall tower or mast to be high enough to get a good connection, provided service is available of course. Check it out. Prices are comparable with cable or DSL, at least in this area.
HTH,
Ron
Vern,
I hate to ask, but is the place that you purchased in a "development" that has "resort" in the name? Do they have a pool, a "club house", camping houses, etc?
There is one place in particular out there that I did a lot of research on and found out they are HUGE scammers. They charge home owners associations dues and use them to fund "little projects" that are extremely over priced. That money is then funneled back to the owner. There was one recent one where they did a "database upgrade" to their homeowners database which should have easily cost about 1000-2000 total. They were "charged" 75 THOUSAND for a simple Access database. There is no excuse for this fraud. The latest effort was to buy, yes, a truck to sell water to people who own the land. Guess where the well was, on the owner's property.... I jsut want to make sure you have a nice place to live and not this place.
There a couple of those places out there but this one does have a $142 flat fee annual basis for road upkeep, etc. with a CPI adjustment each November 1st for the upcoming year, a pool and a club house. I didn't hear anything about camping houses. As far as the water goes that's my option even if they do sell it at the office which I believe they do. At any rate it's a bit to late as I already own the land, all 10 acres paid in full. (http://www.outbackers.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/dunno.gif)
PS: I did see on the Land Owners page where there was a law suite filed against some of the board members and the General Manager. Don't know what happened there? (http://www.outbackers.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/sad2.gif)
Vern
Vern,
Just looking out for you. Is it Terlingua Ranch?
QuoteVern,
Just looking out for you. Is it Terlingua Ranch?
Afraid so, Am I in for a bad ride or should I just watch my back? Thanks for looking out for me maybe I should put up a Yurt so if I decide to sell I can take it with me. ;)
Vern
Well,
YOU have a ton more information than most at this point. I think you'll be ok as long as you watch them. I have heard there is NO water on the entire property except the 3-4 wells that are there and they happen to be on the officer's properties. I really don't want you to feel bad about this. It's important that you know all of this and make it work for you. There are a bunch of owners in that master property. Eventually, it isn't going to work out for the "wrong doings" that are taking place. I would get in contact with the guy that has the lawsuit against the owner and see what he has had to deal with.
This company's business plan is pretty common in the area, West TX and New Mexico. Sell the land VERY cheap and even offer financing with a nice down payment. Charge Home owners fees that are extremely high for providing nothing. Eventually, people that never looked at the land, stop paying for it and he re-claims the property. Thus, making constant income. You can go to the home owners website that is on the tereluga ranch site and read the turnover rate per year. It's like 50% new owners each year. The biggest problem people don't realize is there is no way to get to thier property. They have "access" which means they are allowed to travel across an easement to get there but since there is no road, no one can really get there. Eventually, the "group" will gett enough money to make more roads than is there and then the price goes up. I would imagine that you can't vote the current officer out of his office for some "voting" reason and # of voting shares, etc...
So, go see your land. If you can get to it and like it, have fun. If not, you will probably try to sell it like the other 50%. Again, I hate to bring bad news, but I would be much happoer knowing the truth now and working with it than finding it out over time.
Let me know how it goes.
Scott
I will be going up there this Saturday to meet the man that sold it to me and also to look at it. From my understanding it is about 3 min off HWY 118 with a road right to the front of the property. I'll post when I get back and let you know how it turns out.
Vern
Well made the trip and we are back. Met the man who sold me the property and went on a tour of the surrounding land and our property. Our land is about 10 minutes off the main highway facing the Christmas Mountains with 9 points Mesa Mountain to the left in the Big Bend Valley area of the ranch. Anyway marked and walked the land and all 10 acres are flat and build able. We were given the option of some mountain tracts to choose from if we wanted to trade our acreage and pay the difference, we will see. I guess I was a lucky one, I know where my property is. ;)
Here's a pic from where the back porch will be.
Vern
(http://www.outbackers.com/forums/uploads/1157072353/gallery_2_3_653.jpg)
I could get use to waking up to that view.
Kevin
We just love it out there. The wife and I saw some tracts in the mountains outside of Study Butte that had the most awesome views. We will be going back in a week and a half to check some of them out. While we were up there I saw what appeared to be a small cottage that looked exactly like the builders cottage with the loft, wanted to go and check it out but figured it wasn't a good idea. :-?
Vern
PS: Kevin, same here...
Here's another one for you. This mountain is to the left of us and is called 9 Points Mesa Mountain. This was taken by another land owner in the area at sunset.
Vern
(http://www.outbackers.com/forums/uploads/1157072353/gallery_2_3_19978.jpg)
WOW Vern, thanks! That is my picture that I took with my little ol Canon Powershot
I took it from the first five acres I bought on Terlingua Ranch -- a mile north of the ranch road just past the camel humps
You must have bought your land from MAKlandCo because I leant Andrew Meade (who is one of the owners) that picture to sell his land with. ;-)
I subsequently sold that piece to a friend of mine--bought 20 acres off of Seaman road which is in the same area
in fact it adjoins these people's land
http://www.velacreations.com/
AND I am meeting a friend of mine out there in three weeks and hope to purchase 10 acres from her right on the ranch road with electric
I just love the area.
So howdy neighbor!
That is my favorite area of the ranch-- so central located to 118, terlingua, the park, alpine and the ranch headquarters. PLUS the views are incredible!
I currently live in Austin and stumbled upon this town when visiting the hot springs in big bend national park in June of 2005.
AND I bravely ran for the board of directors and was elected this past Jan. :o
The manager and two attorneys, one owner and six directors are indeed currently being sued. Myself and the two other board members who were just elected are not involved.
There is rural grant for underground fiber optic phone service. So matter how remote your land, you can get a phone line for $10.00 installation and $18.00 a month.
Though it might take you six months to get it.
Any questions about the area, feel free to ask.
You honestly can go there and enjoy and never be involved in the politics of the place.
So peaceful and beautiful.
I have a yahoo group that any and all are welcome to join.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TexasOutback/
Kathleen
QuoteHere's another one for you. This mountain is to the left of us and is called 9 Points Mesa Mountain. This was taken by another land owner in the area at sunset.
Vern
(http://www.outbackers.com/forums/uploads/1157072353/gallery_2_3_19978.jpg)
Vern, this place is near your land.
http://www.vrbo.com/global/siteFrame.asp?mainurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.terlinguaretreat.com&returnurl=/92141
Darling little place, huh?
Kathleen
Howdy Neighbor!
Kathleen, nice to meet someone in the neighborhood. That is a really nice cottage, I do remember seeing it when we were out there but looked at so much land and drove around for 3 days I really forgot where it was. About the only places I really remember is how to get to the ranch office and our place. We are in the Big Bend Valley area where you go thru the white boarded ranch road entry area of 118 by the veterans lodge. You guessed it I did purchase the land from MAKlandCo, Andrew Meade and his brother Alan took care of all of the paperwork, survey, etc. for us. Andrew is a really nice guy and I am already thinking about purchasing more land closer to the Christmas Mountain area. I have plans to build the builders cottage from the plans I purchased from this site on our land but I live in Del Rio and that's a 570 mile round trip each time I go out there. I'm going to have figure out the logistics of how this is going to work.
I found it interesting that your Yahoo group is called TexasOutback when I own a RV Forum/Site called Outbackers.Com. We are definitely "Outback" at the Terlingua Ranch aren't we. ;) You do know that the Chili cook off is around the time you plan to be there. I had hoped to take our RV down there during that time and stay on my land but don't know if the road crew has cleared the one spot in the road that has grown over. Guess I will have to check up on them and see how it's going.
Vern
Ahhh you aren't in the north Carazones area
so that picture of mine is not your view
but the Big Bend Valley is very nice also
and it is right over the hill from me
AND being so close to 118, that is also a very convenient location.
Yes, I really like dealing with MAKlandco-- they are so professional and Andrew is just the nicest guy. I have not met Alan yet.
Just call Alida Lorio, the ranch manager and she can tell you if your road has been worked.
There is really a fantastic road crew there now and they have done some outstanding work this year.
Also, see if your road has been named and if it has not, then you can name it if you would like. Just tell her what you want it called.
Yes, I am aware of the chili cookoff the following week but it is the weekend of the board meeting so I have to be there.
As a board member, I get a free room at the lodge for three days the weekends of the board meetings.
I have driven the del rio to terlingua route-- it sure is a pretty drive going through sanderson and all.
Mine is a little bit further than yours.
Just make a list and plan on staying out there a while when you build. ;-)
Kathleen
QuoteHowdy Neighbor!
Kathleen, nice to meet someone in the neighborhood. That is a really nice cottage, I do remember seeing it when we were out there but looked at so much land and drove around for 3 days I really forgot where it was. About the only places I really remember is how to get to the ranch office and our place. We are in the Big Bend Valley area where you go thru the white boarded ranch road entry area of 118 by the veterans lodge. You guessed it I did purchase the land from MAKlandCo, Andrew Meade and his brother Alan took care of all of the paperwork, survey, etc. for us. Andrew is a really nice guy and I am already thinking about purchasing more land closer to the Christmas Mountain area. I have plans to build the builders cottage from the plans I purchased from this site on our land but I live in Del Rio and that's a 570 mile round trip each time I go out there. I'm going to have figure out the logistics of how this is going to work.
I found it interesting that your Yahoo group is called TexasOutback when I own a RV Forum/Site called Outbackers.Com. We are definitely "Outback" at the Terlingua Ranch aren't we. ;) You do know that the Chili cook off is around the time you plan to be there. I had hoped to take our RV down there during that time and stay on my land but don't know if the road crew has cleared the one spot in the road that has grown over. Guess I will have to check up on them and see how it's going.
Vern
wow...absoluty amazing..... very pretty.. congrats!
I am currently in Terlingua right now. The weather is amazing this weekend. All the recent rain as packed down the earth so even when there have been breezes there hasn't been dust blowing. Good times for the chili fest folks who are all out here this week and all the activities this coming weekend.
Good friends, good times, sad to be leaving to go back home today.
Kathleen
Just found this - thought it may be of interest to your explorers if any.
http://www.mindat.org/loc-4135.html
Hello all of you West Texans.
I have been paying on a peice of land for a few years now in the Sanderson, Texas area.
I have not visited my property yet "do to extreme distance from home" but plan to spend
my winters there in a few years.
I hear the area is very remote, the sort of thing I like.
Quote from: phalynx on August 29, 2006, 08:03:55 PM
Well,
YOU have a ton more information than most at this point. I think you'll be ok as long as you watch them. I have heard there is NO water on the entire property except the 3-4 wells that are there and they happen to be on the officer's properties. I really don't want you to feel bad about this. It's important that you know all of this and make it work for you. There are a bunch of owners in that master property. Eventually, it isn't going to work out for the "wrong doings" that are taking place. I would get in contact with the guy that has the lawsuit against the owner and see what he has had to deal with.
This company's business plan is pretty common in the area, West TX and New Mexico. Sell the land VERY cheap and even offer financing with a nice down payment. Charge Home owners fees that are extremely high for providing nothing. Eventually, people that never looked at the land, stop paying for it and he re-claims the property. Thus, making constant income. You can go to the home owners website that is on the tereluga ranch site and read the turnover rate per year. It's like 50% new owners each year. The biggest problem people don't realize is there is no way to get to thier property. They have "access" which means they are allowed to travel across an easement to get there but since there is no road, no one can really get there. Eventually, the "group" will gett enough money to make more roads than is there and then the price goes up. I would imagine that you can't vote the current officer out of his office for some "voting" reason and # of voting shares, etc...
So, go see your land. If you can get to it and like it, have fun. If not, you will probably try to sell it like the other 50%. Again, I hate to bring bad news, but I would be much happoer knowing the truth now and working with it than finding it out over time.
Let me know how it goes.
Scott
I have to chime in on this Terlingua topic as a property owner that lives a days drive (25 hours) from the Ranch:
Yes, there are some current legal issues taking place (this is America the lawsuit world capital); however, let's look at the subject here:
The HOA fees are next to nothing when looking at any other place.
Annual cost = $140 plus $25 for a key to the pool, bathhouse. I almost bought a condo somewhere to use and rent that had monthly fees of $400 plus a management fee if renting out. The majority are like this near 'resort' communities. This is highway robbery. I was disappointed in my yearly search throughout the US. Amenities were the same. Pool, bathhouse, lodging, etc.
Roads are maintained. However, there is no guarantee that those off the grid, high elevation, and slopes of mass degree can get there in a 2wd. This should be known via the seller and due diligence. There are those that choose to be way off the grid. Anyone with a car has a hard time down my paved road in Michigan during a medium snow storm. I pay $3000 a year in taxes and my road gets plowed late in the day.
50% turnover rate? Well people are just unrealistic. They knowingly purchase property they will never use or see if at all once; yet, they wont admit it.. Somewhere down the road they find something else to spend their money on. They didn't spend the time searching for what was right for them. When they come back to reality , they know they can't live in the desert.
Moreover, there are those that want to try and make a buck. They buy and resell. They buy, divide, and sell. This will also cause a high turnover rate.
Yesterday, I received a huge packet in the mail from an outfit in SW Texas. They want a down payment without even listing the tracts available. I have yet to have a question answered by this outfit regarding tracts. Instead they send marketing material that is no different from its website.
In the end the buyer must perform due diligence on the land and ones own self. What is right for you? What are you willing to pay and for what?
Hats off to all that have and those getting ready to venture into the wild be it desert, woods, mountains, beach or the mind.
I see you found it. Thanks for the update. Some people moving to the country are surprisingly incapable and will of course, whine. :)
Quote from: davidW on February 05, 2008, 12:21:32 PM
I have to chime in on this Terlingua topic as a property owner that lives a days drive (25 hours) from the Ranch:
Yes, there are some current legal issues taking place (this is America the lawsuit world capital); however, let's look at the subject here:
The HOA fees are next to nothing when looking at any other place. Annual cost = $140 plus $25 for a key to the pool, bathhouse. I almost bought a condo somewhere to use and rent that had monthly fees of $400 plus a management fee if renting out. The majority are like this near 'resort' communities. This is highway robbery. I was disappointed in my yearly search throughout the US. Amenities were the same. Pool, bathhouse, lodging, etc.
HOA fees should be non-existent on raw land. I don't pay one penny for an HOA in a subdivided, restricted property. Terlingua has a long history of taking advantage of people (no real crime in that, there is a sucker born every minute). My statements above were intended to make people aware of issues of them and others who are buying property site unseen or on Ebay, etc.. If you go out to the place and love what you see, clearly it's not an issue. It's when people see beautiful brochures of sites only to find out that none of it exists yet. Sure, it may happen. Sometimes it does.
With the legal issues of that place, there is a "non-representative" # of lawsuits against the ranch than the average place. The database upgrade was a clean example of the "questionable actions" taking place out there.
To you point, due diligence is absolutely what anyone should do before buying any property. In Vern's case, his expectations were right on par with what he purchased and was thus, very happy. I am glad for him. I know finding the right property is a real pain.
Re-reading my post, I sure seemed bitter. I really don't know why I was that morning but, as with some future communities, my intentions were noble.
HOA fees vary. My Uncle lives in subdivision that charges zero HOA on undeveloped land. However, my parents own a home 10 miles away in a different subdivision. Undeveloped land is charged half of the HOA fees. Why? Because of the lake, beach, pool, clubhouse, etc. Even though one hasn't developed yet, they still are entitled to use the facilities.
That being said, I am all for reduced HOA fees on undeveloped land if there are amenities. Otherwise, I agree that there should be none at all if there is nothing for the community.
In my personal land search, I have yet to find no HOA fees for undeveloped land where there are amenities as previously mentioned. It would be nice :)
QuoteThe HOA fees are next to nothing when looking at any other place. Annual cost = $140 plus $25 for a key to the pool, bathhouse. I almost bought a condo somewhere to use and rent that had monthly fees of $400 plus a management fee if renting out. The majority are like this near 'resort' communities. This is highway robbery. I was disappointed in my yearly search throughout the US. Amenities were the same. Pool, bathhouse, lodging, etc
My first post and I am going ??????
You are paying people to tell you what you can and can not do on land you are buying
So you can have a key to a pool that isn't built and a club house that isn't.
Wow where was I when this idea was being hatched. ?????
QuoteHOA fees should be non-existent on raw land. I don't pay one penny for an HOA in a subdivided, restricted property
I wouldn't buy restricted property either. . ..
If I want to open a junk yard on my land I should be able to - oh yeah I forgot I can. :)
QuoteWhy? Because of the lake, beach, pool, clubhouse, etc. Even though one hasn't developed yet, they still are entitled to use the facilities.
They are entitled to use the facilities that don't exist yet
Why an I the only one that thinks this is nuts?
I must live in an alternate universe or some thing.
Gosh now I wonder if I can sell tickets to ride on my space ship even though I have not developed it yet?
QuoteIn my personal land search, I have yet to find no HOA fees for undeveloped land where there are amenities as previously mentioned. It would be nice
Hmm quit looking at sub-divisions clusters with big promises and just buy land. Regular land is just as undeveloped and you ain't got no body of idiots telling you what you can and can not do on your land.
All this property I see in the pictures on here is in the country just like mine is. Yearly taxes any my land payments is all I have to pay for - and I can have a junk yard, goat farm, or nudest colony what ever I want on my land.
Good points, TS_TX.
I hate any kind of HOA's but like to keep my junk semi-presentable if in public view or out of main public view.
My nudist colony I like to have semi-private. I don't care to have all the young perverts lusting after my perfect body.
Welcome to the forum. :)
Quote from: TS_TX on February 16, 2008, 03:55:47 AM
QuoteThe HOA fees are next to nothing when looking at any other place. Annual cost = $140 plus $25 for a key to the pool, bathhouse. I almost bought a condo somewhere to use and rent that had monthly fees of $400 plus a management fee if renting out. The majority are like this near 'resort' communities. This is highway robbery. I was disappointed in my yearly search throughout the US. Amenities were the same. Pool, bathhouse, lodging, etc
My first post and I am going ??????
I am going d* over your comments
You are paying people to tell you what you can and can not do on land you are buying
You can do what you want with the land. However; do no forget the government. They will tell you when they want they are ready
So you can have a key to a pool that isn't built and a club house that isn't.
The comment was directed towards the undeveloped property of the land owner. Not undeveloped facilities
QuoteHOA fees should be non-existent on raw land. I don't pay one penny for an HOA in a subdivided, restricted property
I wouldn't buy restricted property either. . ..
I wouldnt buy investment property with severe restrictions either unless it is for the purpose of resale, lease, or renting to others. It is called investing and making money
If I want to open a junk yard on my land I should be able to - oh yeah I forgot I can. :)
I can too! However, I do not want a junkyard on every piece of land I own
QuoteWhy? Because of the lake, beach, pool, clubhouse, etc. Even though one hasn't developed yet, they still are entitled to use the facilities.
They are entitled to use the facilities that don't exist yet
'One' refers to the property owner, not the facilities
Gosh now I wonder if I can sell tickets to ride on my space ship even though I have not developed it yet?
Virgin has sold out completely for its initial space launch.
My posting had nothing to do with undeveloped facilities so please do not misconstrue what was written. Moreover, if people didn't invest in unseen/non-existent, tangible/intangibles, goods and services, where would we be today? It is called investing :)
QuoteIn my personal land search, I have yet to find no HOA fees for undeveloped land where there are amenities as previously mentioned. It would be nice
Hmm quit looking at sub-divisions clusters with big promises and just buy land. Regular land is just as undeveloped and you ain't got no body of idiots telling you what you can and can not do on your land.
To each their own. I personally like a variety of land. Just because a person is looking for an immediate return on investment with long term strategies doesn't mean they 'out there'. It is very satisfying to know that every month you get a check for an investment you made even if it is a condo/house/etc in a sub that has crazy idiots running the HOA as long as profit is over cost. Good research will allow one(the individual) to decide what to buy.
All this property I see in the pictures on here is in the country just like mine is. Yearly taxes any my land payments is all I have to pay for - and I can have a junk yard, goat farm, or nudest colony what ever I want on my land.
I am the same; however, the secluded land that I own doesn't make me money.
BTW w*
QuoteHmm quit looking at sub-divisions clusters with big promises and just buy land. Regular land is just as undeveloped and you ain't got no body of idiots telling you what you can and can not do on your land.
I agree completely!
See my post about "paying more than it's worth." ;)