Offgrid home in the Sierra for sale

[Dave Sparks]

Offgrid Home for sale 20 minutes out of Mariposa CA.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5385-Paddy-Hill-Rd-Mariposa-CA-95338/70398060_zpid/

[MountainDon]

Looks as nice as I remember it.
Different fridge.
Added a larger PV array?

[Dave Sparks]

Looks as nice as I remember it.
Different fridge.
Added a larger PV array?

Hmm what year was that Don? I really have not done anything to it since 2016, I think....

How are you doing ?  I heard most of the fire was out, I think?

[MountainDon]

Probably 2011 or so.

In our area, where the Cerro Pelado fire started, it is out, but it is continuing to move east, sometimes northeast and sometimes southeast. 32,000 acres at last count that I saw and still a potential danger to Los Alamos.

We have lots of all black, needleless trees sticks that are dead. Other areas are that faded, lightly toasted green-brown that could survive; others brown-brown that won't. And a surprising number which are still bright green in the cabin area. Fire can sure be fickle at times. The ground around the cabin is mostly untouched; not even ember marks on the wood deck. Thirty feet away the gazebo is a complete burn. Melted aluminum from the chiminea that puddled slightly downhill will become a piece of outdoor wall art at home. There is a small circle around the PV pole that is pristine grass and the wiring going down into the conduit in the ground is perfect. Power still flows to the cabin. In between the ground is very scorched in places and many trees are completely burnt toast. There are enough standing all-black and dead trees that we are going to look into the cost for a local tree contractor to do most of the work.

[Dave Sparks]

Wow that was close! You did a good job of describing it also !!

One of the lessons I learned before you were here in 2011. I really screwed up by taking down trees that I was not ready to burn or dispose of. I got lucky as all I found of them was ash and they burned hot enough that they could have laddered up into safe trees and shot embers into the vent screens. I am up to current code on those now at 1/16" screen. The old was 1/4" I think....

Not bigger arrays just more of them. 2 KW is a easy size for a 6" pole mount. 6KW can easily run 22 cu ft refrigerator, freezer and 2 heat pumps for cooling /heating 24/7.

The place is for sale but we are in no rush in these times.  

[MountainDon]

Some properties sell fast. Maybe it is the location or something...  We just sold a condo we used to rent out. It was listed for less than 18 hours and we had 3 offers. We accepted the one that was $10K over our asking price (which we had jacked up by $15 over our initial thoughts) and never had to do a dimes worth of anything to complete the deal. It took a neighbor 6 months. Go figure. You have a very nice place, someone else will fall in love with it.

This is what the re-smelted chiminea looks like now...

[Dave Sparks]

Selling an offgrid home is a completely different planet than regular grid real estate.

Completely different planet!  Based on over 500 offgrid homes I am well acquainted with. Over 30+ years doing this so it is not any shock that it takes time and good marketing. 

I love the chiminea

[MountainDon]

I zoned out on the off-grid aspect scaring away many potential buyers. I am not fazed by that at all so never thought very deeply about it. I got used to it with our cabin in the mountains; power, water, etc.

Speaking of solar PV power though, we, here in the suburbs, are installing PV panels (Hanwha Q) and grid tie microinverters (Enphase) in part to be able to offset some capital gains on the condo sale. We average 400 kWh a month for use. They have to go on the roof here and I don't feel like clambering all over it anymore so it is being contracted out. Maybe more capacity than needed for domestic use as there may be an EV in our future too as another possible credit against the cap gain.

[Dave Sparks]

As long as it is a good company that will be there. I see and hear too much about microinverter failures. I like a good old string inverter down at ground level,  but I see why they are alluring.  Anyone can change a string inverter out if it fails.

[MountainDon]

The installer company is local, employee owned, and been doing solar since '97. Seems a reasonable bet to us.

[Dave Sparks]

We sold the house on 7/8 and moved over to northern Nevada that day.
 There were forest fires on both sides of our route over the Sierra. We shall not miss fire season. 
Did they get the array working?
Cheers !

[MountainDon]

Great news on the sale and move!

We are still being processed through the permitting process. A two-stage permit hell. Everything has to be approved by the power utility and then the city. I estimate another 45 days according to what I have heard from others. The installer will likely only take a day, two at the most. Then another wait until the city signs off and the utility sets the new meter.

[Adam Roby]

Awesome views...  

[Dave Sparks]

Thanks ! Two weeks after escrow closed the OAK fire started 2 miles from our old house. It has been burning since July 22 and 127 homes are burned to white ash. We are very blessed to not have to live through another wildfire. The old house is OK but you can imagine how they feel. At one point there were over 500 homes without power in 100 degree heat and smoke. Link below of pictures.

https://www.google.com/search?q=oak+fire+mariposa+county+%2B+pictures&sxsrf=ALiCzsaQzQRjUTplVCyuv0Xit1SubFkuNQ:1659827149389&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQ2IL9qbP5AhXeEEQIHTkXBXYQ_AUoBHoECAEQBg&biw=1600&bih=757&dpr=1

[MountainDon]

Yes, I was watching that fire.

Here in NM, we have been dealing with the aftereffects of monsoon rains on burned areas. We are seeing firsthand what only a half inch of rain in a short time does as it flows through, or over, badly burned slopes. I've seen enough photos from past wildfires in the county, but it is something else to actually walk and drive the areas. Our property is on a ridge top, so water runs away from us. However, that means the water runs down or across our road and the forest roads we use to get to and from the highway.

[Dave Sparks]

Is that not pretty normal in or near desert lands? Flashfloods are the norm and can do alot of damage. Monsoon or just a bad fire year can sneak up on folks.

You are right that it is quite a thing to walk or drive through after the downpour in a fire scarred area. I for one got very tired of seeing this in the Sierra. We drove 12 trips from Mariposa to Gardnerville in the last 6 months. The fire scars that we saw are huge !  The thing that sobered me on living there, was how much more there is to burn. The money it would take to bring the forest back to the way it was, really is not there.

Oh well, got tickets to see Jackson Browne over the mountain in South Lake Tahoe next month!

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNaxV51q5K5_izz1FDWqVj7YdlFPoBn9oZKGHwF

[MountainDon]

The link comes up with 
"404. That's an error.
The requested URL was not found on this server. That's all we know."

Is that not pretty normal in or near desert lands? Flashfloods are the norm and can do alot of damage. Monsoon or just a bad fire year can sneak up on folks.

Yes, that is commonplace after a wildfire. But in all the time we have had the cabin property we have never been so directly affected. This past wildfire was closer and run through on the upside of the slopes. Our property has not been affected by the rains, being on a ridge. Access through lower elevations is another matter entirely.  Wish I could fly and owned a helicopter.

[Dave Sparks]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cqAqHcoFQG6EGU1y6

The pix is from the backyard here, over that mountain, a 20 minute drive, is Heavenly Valley ski area and Stateline Lake Tahoe.

We saw Robert Plant and his lady there Saturday night. We are having way to much fun not having wild fires to take up our time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fajsz0nPwtQ

Cheers !