West Texas and Big Bend

[outhouse]

Hey everyone, this is where I ended up for now. I bought land on ebay and decided to move out here. I drive a truck for income and get tired of sitting around on my time off. Besides, I don't have a home...kind of like outhouses. I bought in what they call Terlingua Ranch. In Terlingua Ranch you pay $145 at this time. This has nothing to do with your property, and only the road maintenance throughout the ranch, said to be about 1100 miles. Unfortunately there is alot of clay-silt that will settle and act up with every rain in some sections, while other parts are hard limestone and about 10 miles of paved from Hwy 118 to the main lodge. You can buy well water for 3 cents/gallon, use numerous air strips throughout the ranch, drive any of the roads, and for $25/year have keyed access to a bathroom with showers and a pool. Inside the lodge office there are detailed maps, land ads, and a computer file of all tracts and owners. This doesn't mean that I agree with their operation and spending of a mandatory fee. From what I read in old land deeds, owners are required to pay unless 51 percent of the owners vote otherwise. Until then, I guess they can put a lien on your property if you deliberately stop paying for years. Though there are almost unheard of, some tracts are exempt in old records for some reason. Again, I just hope that if it were to become outrageous, then people would vote against it. I read it in the original document of 1970. Of course no one likes things to be that cut and dry, so I don't reallyt discuss it. Acres can cost from 200 to 900 on Hwy 118. I bought through MAK Land. They are raising the price a little but do not charge interest so far. You can buy it cash for less, or finance for a slightly higher price. It usually makes more of a difference on the bigger tracts. There are also good deals with West Texas Realty, but they charge $1500 in closing fees, even on tracts that cost $750. There is a McCoy's with decent prices about 60 miles north. It is desert with decent patches of arid grassland. Alpine (60 miles north) usually gets abou 12-14 inches of rain, and the town of Terlingua(different, 20+ miles southwest) usually gets about 8-10 inches of rain according to weather.com. It gets drier as you got west toward El Paso. The rainy season is in the mid to late summer, coming from the Gulf of Mexico. The elevation also gets higher as you go from Big Bend to Alpine, giving it cooler temps and more precipitation. Conservative water catchament figures to about .5 gallon/square foot of catch area/inch of rain. Ex. and inch of rain and 1000 sq ft. equals about 500 gallons. Water will be the biggest challenge. It seems to me that about 90 percent of land owners at the ranch only visit or consider it investment. Tracts range from 5 to 40 acres usually, but some are 640. Regarding high-tech, all tracts are garanteed to include fiber optic communication lines that cost $10 to hookup and $18/month for a phone. Other than that, you are on your own. They don't enforce building codes here. What's more, it seems that right up to the panhandle there are almost no county codes, only city codes. There is some comparably priced land all the way up to Lubbock, maybe Amarillo, and down to Sanderson, but certain areas, and most cities are much higher priced. Between Pecos, Ft. Stockton, and a little in either east or west directions seems like nice, less out-of-the-way land for really affordable prices sometimes. It's real plain out there, but I think they can get wells easier, from the Ogallalla, or maybe more precipitation. It just depends what a person wants to do. I think down here in the Big Bend area, it's a good part time place. Somewhere affordable to build something sustainable, or just primitive, and visit in the spring or fall. Winter can get cool at night, but only for a couple months-something to keep in mind when building for a full-timer. Driving a truck only let's me off every 1-3 weeks, so I plant to park the truck in Alpine, load up with materials and some food, and head down to work out my plans. Eventually I would even like to get some permaculture going on my land. There's a great batter operated irrigation timer at  http://www.dripirrigation.com/  and good supplies and info regarding gravity fed water systems.  Among plants to be grown would be the Jujube, Pecan, Olive, Pistacio, Persimmon, and I would even like to try Blueberries. The towns of Presidio, Marfa, and Ft. Davis have year round hydroponic tomatoe production that supplies alot of places. Ft. Davis also has notable organic beef. Alpine is probably the most expensive regarding real estate in this area, but there are decent prices on food, and there are Pecan trees ALL OVER town with tasty pecan nuts sitting on the ground below them. I didn't even know they were pecans until I stepped on one, one day. Most people don't seem to care for them. I have quarter filled a plastic grocery bag 3 times in about 15 minutes each time. Pistacios are bigger in New Mexico and Arizona, but sound like they could grow here. The only thing is you have to have one tree that won't produce anything and just pollinate the others, and I have not found them for sale at very affordable prices. Jujubes are supposed to be incredibly drought productive, and the fruits develope in late summer to early fall, so they might be more in tune with the rain patterns here.

[glenn-k]

We have a couple of members who are there or go there.  Vern bought there.

http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1156045567

[outhouse]

I think my last post was too choppy and wordy so I'll try to outline some points and highlights I find are of value to consider regarding Big Bend and West Texas Homesteading.

1. Terlingua Ranch: Not to be confused with the "ghost town," is roughly 25 miles north of Big Bend N.P.
   off the east and west of Hwy 118.
  A. Current "property maintenance fees" are $145. I'm told they have doubled in 20 years.
     a. The original deed of PM fee incorporation states that it applies strictly to the mainenance of the    
         dirt roads throughout the ranch, and can be voted to end every 10 years by at least 51% of the        
         property owners. "Terlingua Ranch" is kind of a subdivision with this one covenant.
     b. By paying maintenance fees, a property owner has access to air landing strips througout the          
         old ranch, well water @3 cents/gal., laundry, bath, shower, and pool amenities for $25 extra/yr.
     c. If PM fees become too ridiculous and everyone else is too rich or foolish to object, property              
         values will probably be much higher and maybe it would be a good time to put finishing touches  
         on your place and sell. I think it's wise to approach this situation with an air of caution and invest
         outside of the ranch as well. This is a lot like a property tax situation.
  B. Here are some links: http://www.poatri.org/  (see owner for sale to avoid closing fees)                            
      http://stores.ebay.com/MAK-Land-Company (no affiliation, willing to negotiate outside ebay, offers
      warranty deed as opposed to special w.d., family run, offers fair and easy financing.)                                      
      http://www.westtxrealty.com/ (no affiliation, $1500+ closing fee, but fair sale prices.)
      http://www.allen-realty.com/ ( no affiliation, a better source for land in Alpine, the seat of                    
      Brewster County with IRC for building in city limits and services) http://www.alpineavalanche.com/

2. West Texas in General: There is affordable land up the pan handle and over to El Paso.
  A. I'm still getting to know the counties and using google maps to get a feel.
  B. There are good deals and deals that just look good.
     a. Like anywhere I would watch out for high prices, covenant restrictions, special warranty deeds,
        and in some cases high property taxes. Sellers often portray these things as unimportant.
  C. It generally gets drier as you go west and into the lower elevations.
  D. Most counties do not enforce codes on rural land outside of cities.

3. Drought tolerant plants: Here are a few that interest me.
  A. (These can be propagated by cutting) Rosemary, Artemisia, Lavender, Mountain Cedar(Juniper),        
      Italian Cypress, Rabbiteye Blueberry, (I think these are best bought plant or seed) Olive, Pecan,                  
      Pistacio, Prickly Pear, Jujube, Persimmon, Sand Dropseed, Little Bluestem, Indian Ricegrass, and        
      Blue Grama.
  B. Here are some resource links: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/tamuhort.html                            
      http://www.lavenderenchantment.com/index.htm   http://sandyoaks.com/varieties.aspx?r=5                                                                              
      http://www.stockseed.com/about_us_default.asp   http://www.danfinch.com/index.htm
  C. Propagating by cutting is easy to try and many plants can be found in local landscaping.
      a. Cut a 2"-6" tip of outer growth, cut leaves and buds off bottom inch or two, dip in rooting            
          hormone, and plant in "seed starting" mix of some kind. Usually best done in Spring or Fall.
      b. It's easy to look up if you need more info and rooting hormone is available in most garden              
          section.

4. Water is a big deal most places here. A conservative figure for rain catching is a half gallon for every
   inch of rain and square foot of catchament area.

If this helps anyone, I'm glad to have shared it.

[outhouse]

Apollogies, the last post didn't work very well. I'll try one more.

[outhouse]

I think my last post was too choppy and wordy so I'll try to outline some points and highlights I find are of value to consider regarding Big Bend and West Texas Homesteading.

1. Terlingua Ranch: Not to be confused with the "ghost town," is roughly 25 miles north of Big Bend N.P.
   off the east and west of Hwy 118.
 
A. Current "property maintenance fees" are $145. I'm told they have doubled in 20 years.
     
a. The original deed of PM fee incorporation states that it applies strictly to the mainenance of the dirt roads throughout the ranch, and can be voted to end every 10 years by at least 51% of the property owners. "Terlingua Ranch" is kind of a subdivision with this one covenant.
     
b. By paying maintenance fees, a property owner has access to air landing strips througout the ranch, well water @3 cents/gal., laundry, bath, shower, and pool amenities for $25 extra/yr.

c. If PM fees become too ridiculous and everyone else is too rich or foolish to object, property values will probably be much higher and maybe it would be a good time to put finishing touches on your place and sell. I think it's wise to approach this situation with an air of caution and invest outside of the ranch as well. This is a lot like a property tax situation.
 
B. Here are some links: http://www.poatri.org/  (see owner for sale to avoid closing fees) http://stores.ebay.com/MAK-Land-Company (no affiliation, willing to negotiate outside ebay, offers warranty deed as opposed to special w.d., family run, offers fair and easy financing.) http://www.westtxrealty.com/ (no affiliation, $1500+ closing fee, but fair sale prices.) http://www.allen-realty.com/ ( no affiliation, a better source for land in Alpine, the seat of Brewster County with IRC for building in city limits and services) http://www.alpineavalanche.com/

2. West Texas in General: There is affordable land up the pan handle and over to El Paso.

A. I'm still getting to know the counties and using google maps to get a feel.

B. There are good deals and deals that just look good.

a. Like anywhere I would watch out for high prices, covenant restrictions, special warranty deeds, and in some cases high property taxes. Sellers often portray these things as unimportant.

C. It generally gets drier as you go west and into the lower elevations.
 
D. Most counties do not enforce codes on rural land outside of cities.

3. Drought tolerant plants: Here are a few that interest me.
 
A. (These can be propagated by cutting) Rosemary, Artemisia, Lavender, Mountain Cedar(Juniper), Italian Cypress, Rabbiteye Blueberry, (I think these are best bought plant or seed) Olive, Pecan, Pistacio, Prickly Pear, Jujube, Persimmon, Sand Dropseed, Little Bluestem, Indian Ricegrass, and Blue Grama.
 
B. Here are some resource links: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/tamuhort.html  http://www.lavenderenchantment.com/index.htm   http://sandyoaks.com/varieties.aspx?r=5                    http://www.stockseed.com/about_us_default.asp   http://www.danfinch.com/index.htm

C. Propagating by cutting is easy to try and many plants can be found in local landscaping.

a. Cut a 2"-6" tip of outer growth, cut leaves and buds off bottom inch or two, dip in rooting hormone, and plant in "seed starting" mix of some kind. Usually best done in Spring or Fall.
     
b. It's easy to look up if you need more info and rooting hormone is available in most garden section.

4. Water is a big deal most places here. A conservative figure for rain catching is a half gallon for every
   inch of rain and square foot of catchament area.

If this helps anyone, I'm glad to have shared it.

[outhouse]

Not much better, but my goal was just to shed a little light on the subject in case it helps somone make a better decision, or save some time either way.

[glenn-k]

Thanks for taking the time to post that, Outhouse.  Others will surely gain from the information.

I did the over the road trucking thing for several years.  Nice to have a place to go to and call home when you shut that big rig down, even if it's for a little while.  Beats the heck out of sitting in a truck stop. :-/

[outhouse]

I THINK YOU JUST HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD GLEN !   THANKS !  Sometimes I get carried away with the possibilities we have on this planet !

[sdextereo]

Hello outhouse I am currently buying land outside of Sanderson, Texas. I have never been there but plan to spend my winters there.
I hope to live most of my time there as I get older.
I would like to collect my water and have a garden and large trees for shade.
any input would be apreciated.

[glenn-k]

We have quite a bit of discussion on rainwater collection and ferrocrete tank building o the site.

Search ferrocrete for info.

Welcome to the forum

[sdextereo]

Thank you for the tip,Glen
I am currently building a modified, "very modified" 1 1/2 story house in the woods of Alaska. I will go with a well there next summer. The water table is 60 feet, 100 for good water.
The prices for a well here are 37 dollars a foot!

[byathread]

Though I'm not a resident of the area, I have a great love of the Big Bend and thought I'd recommend the following. Other ideally suited fruit trees include figs and pomegranates. Both are desert adapted, will produce on minimal irrigation and should be hardy in the area. Additionally, they're some of my favorite fruits! Also worthy of trial are black mulberries and low-chill grapes, peaches and apricots (though late freezes may limit production on the latter two). And for the ideal fruit and vege-producing desert plant, check out cold-hardy prickly pears (http://www.jpacd.org/Jpacd98/cowan.pdf).
I'm hoping to visit the PAZ Ecovillage in the area soon and see what they've got going on.

[glenn kangiser]

Sounds like those would work here too.  We like pomegranates and are pretty much desert 9 months of the year.