This blog covers our journey as we searched for land in Arizona. We were finally able to purchase a land but currently lack the resources to develop and live on it.
After reviewing all the properties, we settled on the 2 acre parcel on Cedar Rd.
The cost is less than all the other properties
The area is twice as big as any of the other properties
There are clear, level areas that do not require tress/bushes to be cut down
It's not covered with stickies, cactus, anthills or rocks
The roads are dirt maintained and it's only 10 to 15 minutes from the freeway.
The listing agent selling the property was also the registered owner. We signed an agreement with him to purchase the property on the condition that it passes perc.
Apache County has a list of soil testers on their website and we arranged for Karstetter Construction to perform the perc test on Wednesday.
We went to Arizona this week to look at 8 properties at $5,200 and under. Each property is at least an acre. Here is a short clip from the trip:
Here are the notes we took of each property:
KERREN DR. - $5,000
Very rocky. The trees are actually big bushes. Not much shade. There are no stickies. It has a slight slope. There are both soft and hard areas. Water drains medium to slow. It has 2 easy to clear areas. There is a marker on adjacent lot. It offers privacy. The road to the parcel is a maintained dirt road - 1 minute away from paved road. Electric pole is 200 feet from property.
HILLSIDE RD. - $3,997
This property has rocky but maintained roads to parcel - about 10 minutes to paved road. Not so rocky. Clear view of neighbors so there is less privacy. It has a large clear area. Power line is on road. Three huge anthills. Dirt is more sandy. Marker across road.
TRAIL ENDS RD. - $4,000
Electric is over 700 ft away. Rocky maintained dirt roads - 15 minutes from paved road. Taller trees/bushes. Privacy with clearings. Water drained at a medium pace. Slight slope. No markers found. No reception.
STRAWHORSE RD. - $4,700
Marker found across the road is 24. There is a lot of cacti. A lot of clearing. Rocky surface. No shade. Water drains very fast. Electric is close but not at property. Good maintained dirt road.
CEDAR RD. $1,700
Lots of debris. Taller trees/bushes. Clear areas.
CEDAR RD. - $3,000
Two parcel. Nice clear areas. Big bushes. Water drains very slow. Not rocky. Lots of short weeds. No stickies. Level. Maintained dirt roads. Electric at 300 feet.
PONDEROSA - $4,800
Parcel marked at all 4 corners. 700 to 800 feet from electric. Water drains slowly. Level. Road onto property. Bushy trees don't provide much shade. Area cleared for building.
LEIGHTON RD. - $5,200
Very rocky. Slopes. Very small bushes. Lots of stickies. Next to electric. Dirt road. No markers found.
Now that we gathered data on the parcels, I started calling the Realtors of each parcel to learn more about the properties. I asked the following questions:
Why was the owner selling? This gave insight into how eager the owner wanted to get rid of the property and if there was any type of improvement done to the property.
Are the roads to the property maintained?
What's the nearest water haul location?
What are the utility companies that service the area?
Has any perc-test been performed for the parcel?
Anything else you can tell me about the property?
I also made calls to the utility companies to verify if electricity or water lines were available near the property. I found out that:
APS electric will extend lines for free up to 700 feet or $10,000.
Navopache will extend electric lines for free up to 100 feet.
Liveco water company charges $600 to install a water meter.
Most of the properties we're looking at doesn't have access to a water utility company. APS was able to verify 7 or the properties with electricity nearby. They're going to call me back about the properties that have only a lot and parcel number.
Alhumdulillah (Thank God) we were able to raise a few hundred dollars but not enough to afford land in the price area of $9,000 to $15,000.
So we have adjusted our budget and priorities. We are now looking at land $5,000 and under. Even at $5,000, we can negotiate paying a lower price and eliminate monthly payments.
Zay did the initial search for properties that were:
Under $5,000
Had the availability of electricity
Not in a flood zone
Near some form of civilization. It's likely that we would have to haul water and we don't want to drive far.
Zay found 12 properties that appeared to meet these standards and I added 4 others that I came across while doing further research on the 12 properties.
I initially started entering the information in an Excel spreadsheet but found that using index cards were a lot easier to manage and reference to.
Each card contains:
Price of land
Address, Lot Number or GPS location
Acreage
Zoning
Flood Zone rating (we only collected land zoned as X or D which is minimal flood areas)
Parcel number
Owners name and the length of time they owned the property
Taxes
Distance to freeway or main center
Realtors name and number
Small map of parcel and nearby streets
We gathered this information from the listing, County GIS maps, County Assessor online, google maps, and FEMA flood zone website.
I also drew larger maps of each county to show the relationship of properties to each other and any nearby freeways and amenities.
We found land between $9,000 and $15,000 that has a septic, well, and/or electricity on the parcel. This seems like a good idea since it can cost $30,000 to get a well drilled, $6,000 to get a septic installed and $3,000 to get an electric pole on your property. Also, owners allow payments to be made over a 3 year period with a down payment.
The problem is that - after paying the down payment, our pockets would be empty and we wouldn't be able to afford the monthly payments. So we are starting a campaign to help raise some funds.
