Extreme rural location - lost counties

[offroad]

Was speculating about finding places to stay that are extremely rural. Two hours or more from major highways-freeways. Maybe less than 1000 residential people living there. No major business interests in the area.

Is it not possible to find abandoned but livable locations in these areas? In these lost counties? What would the land ownership records research cost you? Find a place that is abandoned that has a good well, maybe a good septic system. And electric. And cellphone coverage.

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Rent there or see if it's possible to rent there in some context. Maybe you could trade easy yard work of cutting grass, using weed wacker, organizing junk, care taking for a month for ability to stay there.

Would you need a relationship with a small town real estate service, or a with the county land records office? Or with the farm bureau or some

 

[Patrick46]

There are lots of old ghost towns in Northern Cal and Neveda (apparently)

I wouldn't be suprised if nobody cared if you squatted there in the summers or not.
Who's gonna complain....and to whom??

You'd definately need satellite interwebs though.

 

[AltTransBikes]

Interesting post and some good questions of which I'd be curious in finding answers to myself. Off the top, I can't think of any new ideas that would add significantly to the conversation but I hope others might be able to. I think boots on the ground will offer the final answer to some of this though, and grab the right opportunity if it should come your way.

Something along these lines that has interest for me is if there exists places, perhaps unincorporated townships for example, that are or would be beyond the purview of entities like municipal building and zoning departments. Somewhere one could build socalled alternative housing and such.

 

[Scar]

@offroad: I call a town of 500 too big for me usually, the less than 1000 people living there comment made me laugh. If you really want rural I can tell you places in Idaho, and montana you could live with no one within 10 miles. Or, a middle ground would be Bone Idaho. Bone is 20 miles or so in the middle of nowhere in a forest that is used for hunting and snowmobiling, 20 miles from Idaho Falls Idaho (a town of 50k where you can shop occassionally.) But the reason I bring up Bone is it has a permanent population of 2. (two, not a typo) And they run its gas station/grocery store for the tourists every year.

I grew up 5 miles from a town of 300, which probably is why I consider my town I'm in right now of 900 to be a thriving metropolis and would go insane if I did anything more than just visit a large town. I am considering/wanting to live more rural myself.
In the past I have failed to tell some people that have asked me about seasonal work nearby about an opportunity that many haven't considered, but might be a good idea for RV people willing to boondock: Sheepherding. Many pay $700 a month plus food, a quad etc to watch their herds, which during the warm months are randomly in the desert or mountains of Idaho. If you want a rural opportunity to make a few bucks off grid, it's an option.

 

[user 423]

Find a place that is abandoned that has a good well, maybe a good septic system. And electric. And cellphone coverage.

A temperate climate would be nice. I would be willing to do without municipal electric service or cell coverage. With no rent to pay, a nice solar setup and satellite phone service would be affordable. You could also afford to sign up for an air ambulance service.

 

[sl1966]

Wonder valley just east of Twentynine Palms almost fits the bill. It's unincorporated and outside of the city limits. However I believe you need to own the land. I checked prices and can't seem to find a date attached to any of them. The prices vary from as low as 3k to 10k for 5 acre platts (roughly).

 

[Reducto]

Cell coverage or some form of internet with cheap bandwidth would be a barrier for me. Driving rural highways I spot tons of abandoned buildings that could be wonderful with a little work. Nice heavy brick walls around what used to be a gas station or supply store before interstate highways and giant corporate farms made them obsolete. There's probably some sort of well and septic under all that. The roof is usually gone or on the way but that could be remedied.

I'm sure there are more such buildings away from the highways but still close enough to reach it and a cell signal. Add it to my "some day when I have the money and time" list!

 

[akrvbob]

I'm not sure I understand the thread.

Do you want to homestead there, or park your van or RV?

Do you want to buy or Squat?
Bob

 

[Lucky mike]

I travel the less travel roads & back hiways alot.....normally I just pull over...I never have a problem now I know Im in an RV so its rather obvious why Im parked....I've never been questioned about it..Ive stayed up to a week....I've had the LEO stop, I just tell them what I'm doing....if there is a problem they usually give me a pointer on where another good spot is.....I stop at farms, always give me space.......just dont overstay your welcome and leave it better than you came!!

 

[Scar]

I'm not sure on the point of the thread myself. But I really find it funny the use of 'extreme rural' and 1000 people, plus the guys who want wifi etc on that. Not really extremely rural with those quantifiers, unless you're a city slicker ;P.

If you are looking to buy a place, there is also small sites being sold at a now defunct idaho town near the Montana border for $3k a lot. They are small, and no one lives there and the guy is taking $50 a month payments because he picked up the whole town at an auction a few years ago. It is extremely rural even by my standards, and I'm sure that power,water,wifi etc is not available except maybe thru satellite.

 

[owl]

I understand the thread, what he's saying is he sees abandoned property and wondered how to go about exchanging work to reside there. Who to contact etc. I think every property would be different. The county recorder would be the place to start, perhaps online.
From experience I will say, the smaller the population in an area you are in the more you will stick out. If you want not to be noticed go big, if you go small every person within 50 miles will know everything about you by breakfast. Camp 10 miles outside Yuma no one sees you, camp 10 miles outside Camp Verde, Az. Whoa Nelly

 

[sl1966]

camp 10 miles outside Camp Verde, Az. Whoa Nelly

I camped there last year June. Not a soul bothered us. Then again ... I guess I don't exactly look like I'm from around those parts. Which really doesn't recommend the place if that's the reason why they weren't even social to us.

 

[Scar]

I gotcha, if you're right about what he wanted. I see old falling apart houses and farms all over the backwoods of Idaho. The attitude I have gotten pretty much every time I expressed interest was something along the lines of 'it was grandpas cabin/house/brothel/barn and we don't even want to talk about anyone using it or buying it, we just want it to finish rotting away...'

I always found that an odd way to look at it, but the most common. I also see them all the time in these parts and often they are the old house they used til they built the new house, and NO we don't want to sell it til after the county condemns it.

(The brothel part was a joke btw)

 

[offroad]

I'm not sure I understand the thread.

Do you want to homestead there, or park your van or RV?

Do you want to buy or Squat?
Bob

Park for one to four months. For no real cost. Have electric- water-sewer

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of 'it was grandpas cabin/house/brothel/barn and we don't even want to talk about anyone using it or buying it, we just want it to finish rotting away...'

I always found that an odd way to look at it, but the most common.

This is what I was thinking. Sad that people literally want it to rot away. Maybe they feel if it attracted any use, the county could tax them on it. That rotting away is less and less taxes. Better than care taking.

 

[MrNoodly]

I think another attitude you're likely to run into are the folks who think a plot of land and abandoned building are worthless -- until someone expresses interest. Then they see dollar signs, particularly if the local economy is bad.

I was getting supplies in a small town last week. It was one of those places where most of the storefronts are boarded up, but there's still a hardware store, a market and a gas station. There was also a big cell tower on the hill. Yay, five bars of Verizon. It was a nice, quite village and the folks were friendly. I half considered asking if someone had a small spot, part of a lot, where I could spend a few weeks. "Is it any skin off anyone's nose if I park the rest of the month in the alley of this empty shop?"

 

[jeanontheroad]

A nice quiet abandoned place in boonies with a well maintained working well, electric, Some sort of sewage arrangement. And wifi. That's not going to an easy find. Even if you did find a place like that, there's going to be people in a long line for the spot. If you are up to some isolation and hard work, have you thought of looking for work as a sheep or cattle hand on a remote station? No, I am not kidding.

 

[gadgetMe]

I have done some checking on this in areas we visit often,
I stay in an area where a friend purchased a small lot in a small town by paying back property taxes, so the first place to check would be the county court houses tax dept. you will get better info from them then a local with an agenda (such as seeing dollar signs) utilities can be cheap, along with taxes, using GPS coordinates helps for locations.

I have come to loathe property ownership of any type. (the property is owned by a friend)
The property I use has electricity, no sewer or water, but a Verizon tower is nearby I paid to have the power installed on the utility pole on the property, cost was $35.00 for the meter (used) & $100.00 deposit.
This spot is located in the town so the mature neighbors look out for any mischief.
As noted anyone who has not lived there all of their life will be noticed immediately, they have very little to do, so watching everyone in town is the pastime. Hell, the locals knew what beer I drank, they saw the empty box setting outside.

One of the problems of not being there full-time is vandalism, meth and other drug usage are still a problem in remote areas.

 

[Zil]

Paying back taxes does not give you ownership or any other rights to the property, you are only allowed access to take immediate action to protect the property. Such as boarding up a vacant building. Often the owner is still there. You can foreclose after 2 or some number of years as long as you keep paying all the other liens. Some one holding other liens can foreclose on their leans and then you lose.
Most communities sell tax liens at an auction once per year. The bids are by interest charged on the lien. There is a large group that bids at these auctions, I have seen liens sold at negative interest. If none bids, then the lien goes to the municipality. You can buy these by paying the full amount owed, usually many, many years of back taxes plus interest.

 

[highdesertranger]

well I had to laugh at extreme rural location with electricity, water, and sewer. anyplace that has those is not extremely rural. I know of several communities with non of those and no phone , cell or land lines. those are extremely rural. hanging around one of these areas is usually no problem, if you are willing to exchange labor(farm/ranch hand) for a place to park the options out west are endless. however if you are not at least a partial redneck you might not last long. highdesertranger

 

[mconlonx]

Would WWOOFUSA fit into what you're looking for...?