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FYI, we also looked in Williams. It’s a beautiful area. Wells are cost prohibitive, so water haul or collection or co-op well are your options. Didn’t get much past that, in terms of county regs, etc.
Also, winter’s there can be very cold.
We did not use a realtor. We used a title company and surveyor. That’s all you need to buy/sell land.
The title company will ensure the property can legally be sold and that there are no claims or liens against it. The survey identifies the specific boundaries and provides details that are filed by the title company to the county property records upon sale.
Raw land is a straightforward process to buy and sell. If you don’t feel comfortable engaging the two companies mentioned above, then you need a realtor.
We found the land on our own using Zillow and Realtor.com apps.
Keep in mind all realtor transaction are overpriced. There is an expectation that offers and negotiations will take place. So without a realtor, that’s up to you to negotiate the price.
We chose not to use a realtor because we have transacted land before. Drafting warranty deeds is very simple and filing is also simple. The cost of the land was also insignificant versus the value a realtor could provide. Unlike a house, where things can be hidden behind walls (requiring inspection), land can easily be walked and historical usage can be found through local sources.
@Pippi
Just to clarify, I said Pima county allows people to live in their RVs, but the property must be zoned for it. The acceptable zones are TH (Trailer Homesite) and RH (Rural Homestead).
A TH zone is typically your RV parks and mobile home parks. RH zone has a minimum lot area of 180,000 sq.ft. (4.13 acres) and are typically outside of the suburbs.
Today we applied for a permit to designate our RV as the primary structure on the property. Once a primary structure is built or designated you can apply for permitting of accessory structures, like a garage port for the RV (to shield it from the summer sun).
A work around the accessory structure code is to keep any structures under 200sq.ft. No permits required then. We used this loophole to build a shade structure over a connex (metal storage container) and one over our water tank. Both of those structures also act as rain water collection surfaces.
When we travelled the country and were looking at properties we had several items that were important to us.
1. We wanted to be near civilization (town or city), but not surrounded by it. Access to medical, food, and shopping/entertainment was part of that reason.
2. We had to have connectivity via cell phones.
3. No CCRs (covenants, codes or restrictions) or HOAs (Home owners association.)
4. Had to allow RVs.
5. The property had to have legal access and had to be relatively easy to get to during the entire year.
6. The state had to somewhat embrace conservative values. To us this is important because ultimately your handing over your tax dollars and want it to foster your values.
Honestly, the best “monetary value” properties we found were in the south/south east. These were the states mentioned in a post above, like the Carolinas, Alabama, Georgia…for a similar price of land out west, these states often included better natural resources like water and trees. They are also relatively low cost of living and somewhat RV friendly. But we felt that part of the country still struggles with division and didn’t really want to be entangled in it, especially when you start looking at properties in the “boonies”.
Although extremely beautiful, the west coast (Cal, Oregon, Wash) was ruled out due to mismanagement and conflicting values.
Most of the North East was ruled out due to properties not being accessible year round. Same with the beautiful central north states, like Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Dakota’s.
For us that left basically the South Central part of the US. Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana.
Ruled out NM due to values, ruled out Louisiana due to divisiveness. OK didn’t really appeal to us. We looked hard in Colorado, but ultimately their water rights restrictions, cost of land, and changing values prevented us from buying there. We are lucky to have a friend that has a 35 acre ranch that we stay on during the summer.
We are Texas residents, so it was very appealing, but remote West Texas is not. If you get near a major city you can’t overcome the restrictions.
My wife and I grew up in Arizona, so we are very comfortable here also and ultimately it’s where we landed outside of Tucson. Tucson reminds us of Phoenix in the 80s. There was only 1 freeway. Today it’s a mega-metropolis. I suspect Tucson will follow in it’s footsteps and it meets all the items listed above.
You may want to check out Boondockerswelcome.com.
It’s a site that puts property owners that are RV enthusiasts in touch with each other and do exactly what you are proposing.
Pat, the advice here is pretty accurate. However, you can do anything with unlimited funds.
Practical is subjective, but our solar system is 1000w with a 900AH battery bank (450ah usable).
Our panels only line one side of our RV so no balancing act required to service anything on the roof.
That being said, we still don’t/can’t run our heat pumps/AC units off this system because of the battery type (SLA).
However, we do run everything else. That’s coffee maker, 2 x TVs, microwave, all lights, water pump, furnace, fantastic fans, ceiling fans, stereo, 2 x refrigerators, etc.
We use propane for the furnace, water heater and fridge. We have 2 refrigerators. 1 is a 120v compressor style for drinks, and the other is an 18cuft LP/AC style.
We only use the generator to run our ACs in the summer if needed, however, we typically move to Colorado for the summer where AC is not required.
So yes, it’s possible/feasible/practical with limitations like funds or willing to accept something’s can’t be used like heat pump/AC.
Most summers we are not here. This past summer, we came back for a few weeks before going east to visit family. While here we had to run the generator to keep the ACs going.
I am exploring the covered RV port (garage). My issue is that it will cover my solar panels on the rig. If we build the RV port, I am thinking we will put a larger array (~2500 watts) of panels on the RV port and use MC4 connectors to “plug” into the existing combiner box on the roof of the RV. That will eliminate the need for a whole new system (charge controller, inverter, etc.). In the future, when we can afford it, we would like to get LifePO4 batteries.
Hi Pippi,
My wife and I have been following you on Youtube for a few years.
We have been fulltiming since 2016, and been to every state, except Hawaii. Been looking at all states for a homebase.
Like your topic and I’ll share what we are doing. We have a similar size 5th wheel (40ft) and Ram dually like you.
We purchased raw land outside of Tucson last year. The land is surrounded by National parks land and also land that the city of Tucson purchased to own the water rights. Not many neighbors, but access is easy for any size rig. Location is 30 minutes to downtown Tucson.
The land is only under the jurisdiction of Pima County, not the city of Tucson. There are no CCRs. (Covenants, codes, or restrictions). We only need to comply with county regs, which makes this much less beauracratic. Pima county allows full time living in RVs.
After buying the land we wanted to put in septic. As you point out, it required an address. We went to county office, and they let us select the address number (they gave us a range). No building on the property required. We then permitted through the county for the septic. Had a local contractor install septic on land that has no buildings, although we did do a “future” diagram map of the property to show the county what we wanted for a future home placement.
The county required the septic to be full (1000 gallons) of water on final inspection. We paid to haul out the water ($150) to fill the septic, and the remaining water we had put in a 2500 gallon water tank we purchased to store water. We built a small structure (pole barn) above the water tank for rain water collection. It is currently over flowing, so we are in the process of getting a second tank.
Our RV has a 1000w solar system, and we have backup generator.
So now we have septic, water and solar/generator. All on 10 acres of land.
This year we plan on expanding the water capacity to 5000 gallons, putting a water pump and pressure tank on it so we can simply hook up to use like an RV park. We are also looking at covered garage like space to shield the RV from the summer sun. We have to use the generator in summer to run the ACs. A covered space should help alot.
If you come back through AZ, send us an email if you want to stop by.
