Hey All

[bullfrog !]

Rents at Caballo Loco have increased slightly, up to $1,200 I believe for yearly boondocking lot when we paid ours a few months ago.

 

[Overland One]

Rents at Caballo Loco have increased slightly, up to $1,200 I believe for yearly boondocking lot when we paid ours a few months ago.

Thanks. I don't doubt it, everything else has gone up, a lot. Still sounds like an excellent deal to me and it is on my growing list of places to check out when traveling out to the west. Paying $100/month average to have a "home base" with facilities is an attractive idea to me, well, except maybe in the summer months, ha ha.

 

[bullfrog !]

If you are like me and like remote locations it will be a good winter solution as in summer most residents use their rented lots as storage or weekend getaways, this last winter it was pretty full for most of the winter season. The eight mile dirt road keeps a lot of people from staying long term as well. You will have increased vehicle maintenance compared to simply pulling a few yards off a paved road as most people seem to do. Older well built heavy duty vehicles or stationary trailers seem to work best. The fewer trips over that road the better your experience will be. A few people still ride horses as well as motorcycles but ATVs and UTVs have pretty much unlimited access all the way to the Mexican border about 30 miles south. You can get fuel, groceries and hardware 20 miles north once you hit the pavement. There is propane for sale on property.

 

[jacqueg]

I have occasionally looked at land to purchase in order to have a backup plan to always traveling. Sharing with others in a sort of community or RV Village has an appeal to me. There are many vacant land opportunities listed with almost nothing down, owner financing, and payments well within most of our reach. Certainly much less than RV lot rents. But, I also see terms like due diligence, As-IS, HOA, etc. in the documentation and statements that any build requiring permits is not allowed until the land is paid off. What is most often lacking are answers to questions about RV parking. IE: Is it allowed, for how long, etc. To learn that, one is told to go ask the county agencies. I haven't even decided what state appeals to me! Researching at every county office is daunting.

It would be nice if we could leverage our community of RV nomads to gather such information so each of us didn't have to start from scratch. I think this would be a great first step that could actually build into something. "Many hands" = "light work" sort of thing.

TYPICALLY - you are not allowed to park your RV indefinitely on land that you own. Sometimes you can park for, say, six weeks out of the year, so you can camp on your land. Sometimes you can park on it IF you have a building permit and are actively building. Sometimes you can use your RV as a homestead IF you have water to it and an approved septic system of some kind. There is really no other option than calling the local permitting authority and finding out what is permissible in which zones in that county, since local laws and zoning are all over the map. And they can change with little notice. IF you use a realtor to find land, keep in mind they want to sell the land they are showing you, and may not tell you everything you need to know.

I can say that I have heard fairly recently that Williams, AZ is very flexible. Further than that, I know not.

You might google "counties that do not require building permits" and see what pops up.

Keeping a data base of all the permissible actions in all the zones of all the counties in the US is far beyond the capabilities of a group of part-time volunteers. There are something like 3,000 counties or equivalents. (https://thefactfile.org/us-states-counties/ ) But if you want to volunteer, well... it would definitely be a useful service!

 

[rruff]

I can say that I have heard fairly recently that Williams, AZ is very flexible. Further than that, I know not.

I'm very curious where you heard that, as Coconino County was not good at all when I looked a few years ago. There are several areas in AZ that are better; Cochise, Greenlee, and Apache Counties for instance.

I don't think a place with no codes exists; you always have national and state codes. What you find are places where county code enforcement is lax, or non existent. But even in places with no enforcement, you may find yourself in trouble if someone complains about you. I don't think a low budget RV camp site is going to fly under the radar very easily, but a single RV or simple dwelling on a good size plot might not be bothered.

 

[jacqueg]

I'm very curious where you heard that, as Coconino County was not good at all when I looked a few years ago. There are several areas in AZ that are better; Cochise, Greenlee, and Apache Counties for instance.

I don't think a place with no codes exists; you always have national and state codes. What you find are places where county code enforcement is lax, or non existent. But even in places with no enforcement, you may find yourself in trouble if someone complains about you. I don't think a low budget RV camp site is going to fly under the radar very easily, but a single RV or simple dwelling on a good size plot might not be bothered.

I heard it from nomads who recently bought land there. And that's ALL I know about that. I have absolutely no experience on which to base an opinion as to which places are better or worse.

Typically, when it comes to code enforcement, it's the neighbors who turn you in. (And yes, I do have experience with that. Unfortunately.)

 

[Texas Gypsy]

Yep. I always end up with those neighbors

 

[rruff]

I heard it from nomads who recently bought land there.

If it was Bob et al, he even mentioned that other places were easier. In Coconino you can apply and get some temporary wavers, but it isn't a sure thing.

 

[jacqueg]

If it was Bob et al, he even mentioned that other places were easier. In Coconino you can apply and get some temporary wavers, but it isn't a sure thing.

No, it wasn't Bob.

 

[Fork King]

I have land in Valle, where Bob has land. I would not recommend Coconino County. They are very strict on the rules and regs. If you stay a very short while it is not bad. However if long term camping you need a septic system. It cost 20k to 30k because you need a special septic due to the lack of water and the land will not perk. No well either you have to haul in water.

 

[user 22017]

You might google "counties that do not require building permits" and see what pops up.

You can also select "recreation" land in the filter on land or real estate housing websites. Sometimes in the listing agent's comments they state that trailers/RV's are ok.

 

[Overland One]

You can also select "recreation" land in the filter on land or real estate housing websites. Sometimes in the listing agent's comments they state that trailers/RV's are ok.

Good tip. I would also suggest people do their own research to double check what the real estate listing says or what the agents tell you. I was looking at a really nice lot up very near the lake here and I told the agent I wanted to buy it to park an rv on it where I would stay between travels. (At $5,000 for this really nice lot I thought I had found a real deal.) He said "RV's are no problem you can park one there and live in it as long as you like. There are no building codes there and no one will bother you." Well, I decided to call the city hall in the town where this lot was located and they assured me that in no way could anyone live in an RV on that lot, or any lot in that area. She said I "might" be able to get away with it while I was building a house on that lot but she could not assure me that would be ok either. I am glad I double checked. That was 2 years ago and, that lot was still for sale the last time I checked a few months ago.

 

[rruff]

You can also select "recreation" land in the filter on land or real estate housing websites. Sometimes in the listing agent's comments they state that trailers/RV's are ok.

I don't think that means much... it sounds like visiting, hunting, camping are ok temporarily, but long term is another matter. At the very least they will want you to have a septic on it if you are there more than a few weeks out of the year.

I would also suggest people do their own research to double check what the real estate listing says or what the agents tell you.

Sad, but true... wish there was an easier way, but they don't want it to be easy.

 

[user 22017]

I don't think that means much... it sounds like visiting, hunting, camping are ok temporarily, but long term is another matter. At the very least they will want you to have a septic on it if you are there more than a few weeks out of the year.


Sad, but true... wish there was an easier way, but they don't want it to be easy.

I think it depends on if the land has been altered. I don't think septics apply to primitive land. Not sure, but they differentiate between the two under septics in the Illinois Compiled Statutes.

There are plenty of cabins and trailers on land in Illinois without septic systems.

 

[Malamute]

One place I built on and lived in a while, a legal alternative to a septic was a concrete pit outhouse, similar in concept to what many campgrounds have. I had to have a special made concrete chamber made, essentially a small septic tank with no baffle or inlet and outlet ports, and had them cast a hole for my seat riser and vent stack, then I was legal. The cost was similar to what the actual septic tank cost, which was about $1000 or so at the time, but there was obviously far less work and cost than a full septic system once the tank was done and I built the Deluxe Outhouse on it.

 

[user 22017]

Good tip. I would also suggest people do their own research to double check what the real estate listing says or what the agents tell you.

Yeah, you always have to check with the city and/or county officials. I was just suggesting a way to get leads on land where RV's MIGHT be allowed.

 

[rruff]

There are plenty of cabins and trailers on land in Illinois without septic systems.

Well... I know we had an outhouse back in the day, and the small town nearby used the creek that went through as a sewer. That changed when I was a kid though.

Honestly it makes sense if you have plenty of land, but that isn't how they do it in the west. Human waste is treated as toxic for some reason.

 

[Overland One]

Yeah, you always have to check with the city and/or county officials. I was just suggesting a way to get leads on land where RV's MIGHT be allowed.

Yes, and I admit I never would have thought to search that way and I am glad you suggested it as it is a great idea.

 

[rruff]

One place I built on and lived in a while, a legal alternative to a septic was a concrete pit outhouse, similar in concept to what many campgrounds have.

Those are just like sealed containers right, that need to be pumped out periodically?

Found this list of laws by state. I guess more places allow privies than I thought, but I didn't look at the specific regulations.

https://www.primalsurvivor.net/living-off-grid-legal/

 

[Overland One]

Those are just like sealed containers right, that need to be pumped out periodically?

Found this list of laws by state. I guess more places allow privies than I thought, but I didn't look at the specific regulations.

https://www.primalsurvivor.net/living-off-grid-legal/

That is a great resource on the state laws and I thank you for posting it. (I am still reading it) Interesting that it points out that many of the issues being discussed are locally controlled by municipalities or counties rather than the state. That is a good thing to know. I can not believe some states have the audacity to charge people a high percentage fee on the power they generate using their own solar equipment that they paid for and paid to have installed. That is nuts and should never happen.