Advice on land..please
 

I will shortly be moving to San Francisco to live though I will retain my citizenship from my native country. I'm moving for personal reasons and will be married there in a few months.

I shall have some $50k or so which I wish to use for the purposes of buying land, maybe half as much more if it feels right- and want to get as much bang for my buck- as you say:wink:

O.K it's CA and I might be able to get 206 square meters of land :sarc:

But really, I hope to be able to get something nice. I looked into land in Klamath county, Oregon and you know what- I figure the drive is just too long. I want somewhere I can enjoy, a place to work on at the weekends to get things in place- act like a squirrel- a prudent squirrel even :wink:

Perhaps a couple of hours drive at most from the Bay is fine. I need a water supply of some sort and could have got a stream in OR. I'm just not sure where to look.

I'm sure I'll receive good reasons to consider looking elsewhere but for the time being at least- that is where I'll be living.

Water, Trees, good land for growing trees and crops, annual taxes that won't sting, is it all out of reach?

Re: Advice on land..please
 

Re: Advice on land..please
 

For 50k anywhere close to san francisco its way out of reach. You couldn't buy a house in the slums for 50k when I left there. That was 8 yrs ago maybe its cheaper now but I doubt it.

Re: Advice on land..please
 

For at least a year or two we'll be living there so I guess all I can do is prep without having the land in place. If I'm renting, which I will be- I'll buy water filters, food supplies, medical supplies and get the car kitted out with as much prep stuff as I see fit.

Perhaps I'll be able to buy some land with cash in hand if things go pear shaped and there is a run on the banks for FRN's.

Re: Advice on land..please
 

What about a mining claim?

Re: Advice on land..please
 

Buy PMs and forget about land, unless you come across some place with good topsoil and cheap -- think "free" -- water.

The only land I'd buy right now is agricultural, and that has at least a 25% drop ahead of it, if only to keep pace with the 50% drop coming in all other forms of real estate.

Seriously, as far as land goes, you have time. Hold your money in PMs for now.

Re: Advice on land..please
 

I've got to agree with the donkey. Buy EMERGENCY PREPS (survival) first, then put the rest into gold. Then start thinking about how you are going to get out of California. Oregon/Idaho might be a good place for you to investigate. Alaska is best -- if you are up to it. Eventually I'm moving from gold into farmland WITH a water source (preferably a spring, but I'd settle for a creek). Welcome, and good luck!

Re: Advice on land..please
 

I would have to agree in the short term I know there are nasty new laws coming to cali as a result of this housing crisis and it wont be friendly to land owners.

They will make you pay so the pork can keep rolling in.



Be cautious at this time......


T

Re: Advice on land..please
 

Thanks guys. I appreciate the advice. It's nice to step back for a moment and be flexible as to the best way to prepare and I'm inclined to agree with you- that it can wait and that other things can be done in the interim.

Re: Advice on land..please
 

Hi Goald! You might want to think about the mountainous area due north of Santa Cruz. Look on a map for the towns of Felton, Ben Lomond, and Boulder Creek. It is rough country, poor roads for the most part, lots of trees, few if any "services" (such as water, sewer, garbage service, etc.) Land is reasonably priced the last time I looked, but you may have problems with building permits, so be careful and do your due dilligence before purchasing. A perk test for a septic system is a MUST. There are numerous small creeks in the area, so perhaps you can find land with water running through it. As for growing crops, I can't tell you. The area is only a few miles (20?) east of the ocean, so they get a lot of rain and fog there. If you're looking for "sunny" California, this area is NOT it. Anywhere around the Bay area is going to be WAY out of your reach financially, even for bare land with no improvements whatsoever. Also, I should warn you, property taxes and sales taxes in California are atrocious, building restrictions in many areas are prohibitive, the air is almost unbreathable unless you're in an outlying area, traffic jams are enough to make the most placid person homicidal, and 25% of the population doesn't speak English. I'm not knocking California -- I'm a native, spent 50 years there and loved it -- but it isn't what most people expect it to be. Also, if you're in a major metropolitan area you will have to be very careful of the gang activity. It's a lot worse than even the mainstream media wants you to know.

By the way, on a map Felton looks like it's a one hour drive to San Francisco. Don't kid yourself. You're looking at a 2-3 hour commute depending on the traffic.

Best of luck.

Re: Advice on land..please
 

That sounds pretty honest but BOY is that some madness!!!


Thanks for the honest assesment


T

Re: Advice on land..please
 

California at its best is as close to heaven on earth as you'll ever find. At its worst it is nothing short of hell warmed over. Lived there 50 years and loved it. Don't live there anymore and am not sorry...but I do love to visit. Especially Gold Country and Frisco.

Re: Advice on land..please
 

Drill, you really think agricultural land will drop in price that much? I think ag land will get snatched up by foreigners using a stronger currency than the dollar, if not by the already wealthy (i.e., Ted Turner), and that demand will keep prices at least stable, if not driving them up.

I hope you're right though - I wouldn't mind picking up another parcel for a decent price....

Re: Advice on land..please
 

Where are you coming from? And why do you feel the need to live here but not naturalize?

Re: Advice on land..please
 

Now you KNOW when shirley spills the beans that info has got to be good!!!!

:s9:


T