Claim It!: haunted land

10/6/13

Driveway Gate Entrance to Highway

And the for sale sign.
The gas ? meter is in the lower left portion of this photo.
The gate is a heavy duty newer metal gate. And there is actually about one car-length of asphalt paving the opening of the driveway. But the driveway doesn't extend beyond that; it is too covered with trash.

10/2/13

9/29/13

25 Reasons Why the Land isn't selling

As of today, the land is still for sale...
Here are some reasons why the land is still for sale:
1) Wells haven't been tested and landowner does not know if the water is good.
2) The land is strewn with trash that accumulated on it for decades. The one man had a tractor repair business there, and there are many tires all over the property. There is a lot of rusted scrap metal and miscellaneous debris that is not only on the surface of the soil, but has been buried in the soil, so the land itself is equivalent to an old junkyard.
3) The two houses on the property are in "to be condemned" condition, and the foundations are probably not salvagable, either. One would have to demolish the houses and remove the debris from them, and one of the houses is quite large.
4) All of the outbuildings on the property are in "to be condemned" condition, or have already collapsed and there are piles of wood, scrap metal, etc. where they stood. A few might be salvagable, if one had carpentry skills, but that is a big IF.
5) The soil is very alkaline -- thus, only certain types of plants grow on such soil.
6) Although the new owner would have access to the hot springs water that runs through the ditch alongside of the property, the owner would have to invest in a method to pipe some of it to the property if they were to use it for irrigation, filling a fish pond, etc.
7) The trees on the property are old cottonwood trees with limbs falling off, and a few russian olive trees which are an invasive species.
8) County utilities can be accessed; they run to the edge of the property. One would have to spend money to connect them if one were to put a trailer, etc. on the property. The utilities are gas, water and electricity.
9) There is no concrete slab for a home or trailer on the property; thus, one would have to invest money to create a slab for such purposes.
10) As soon as the new owner would put a liveable trailer, etc. on the property, the property taxes would soar.
11) After having done some title research, it appears one would have to pay a lawyer to get a clear title on the property to ensure your rights to the property weren't infringed, etc.
12) The property borders an established protected wetland area. Thus, the wetland could cause flooding on the property.
13) The culverts that house the hot water that is piped into the canal are in need of repair, and this hasn't been done. There is no guarantee the hot water will continue to be available.
14) There are rattlesnakes on the property.
15) The property has no privacy -- it borders a main highway where anyone can view the entire property. One would have to invest in a very tall fence if you wanted privacy.
16) There is danger of contracting hantavirus when entering the buildings on the property, so any removal of the buildings would require taking measures to ensure you wouldn't get that disease that can kill you.
17) There may be lead paint and asbestos materials in the buildings on the property. Thus, removal of the buildings may require paying someone that is certified as an asbestos removal contractor to remove them could cost you a lot of money.
18) The current asking price is $48,000 for less than 5 acres of land. The landowner has reduced the price only once in the last 2 years. It is very hard to get a loan on "raw land" and much easier to get a loan if it has an existing, liveable home on it.
19) If one had no help, and you were just one person, it probably would take you several years just to clean up the property before you could make it liveable property that wouldn't endanger you.
20) There are other invasive species of plants growing on the property. Removal of them and revegetation and fertilization of the property would be expensive and a lot of work.
21) I was told the property is zoned for both commercial and residential use. There seemed to be very little information available as to what types of homes are zoned for the property, and as to what types of businesses could be had on the property.
22) The property would have to be cleaned up and made safe before entertaining investing in any sort of business that would involve the public accessing the property, which could take several years to do that.
23) Right now, the property is pretty ugly the way it is, and the landowner isn't going to improve it in any way - I was told this by the landowner and realtor. If you were to buy it, you would be buying it "as is". Caveat Emptor! (= Latin for "Let the buyer beware")
24) Although supposedly the land is zoned for livestock such as cattle, horses, etc., I believe any animals put on the property in it's current condition would have their health and safety jeopardized. One would have to remove the trash, etc. before allowing animals on it.
25) The asking price for the property should be lowered again - to about $40,000.

9/7/13

Stone House - An Ancient Dugout House on the property?

This is a photo of a "dugout" home built by early western settlers.

My title research performed on this property does not indicate there are more than two houses on this property.

However, I believe this outbuilding is in actuality a third house on the property - that it is an old dugout house. I believe at one time people may have lived in it and that the chicken coop was added on to the house.

There may be a lot of history buried around this building.

In the first photo here, there is an old sod house. Now if you look at the photo of the front of the outbuilding on the property, the construction resembles that of a dugout house.

9/6/13

The Shop on the property - was aTractor Repair Outbuilding?

This outbuilding appears to have been an open shop. There was a tractor repair business in trhe past on the property, so perhaps here is where they worked on the tractors.