# Anyone know about southwest CO?



## mezzogirl (May 25, 2008)

I am in the early stages of land hunting. I have visited CO a few times but mostly on the eastern side and also in the Denver area. Prices for acreage seem very inexpensive in southwest CO. So what's the catch? Anyone have a personal experience of this area? In pictures it looks gorgeous. 
Just some background info- My purposes for buying the land would be to build a small house for ourselves and our 3 young kids. We would like a garden (not anything on a grand scale) and to raise a few animals.
Thanks in advance!


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## bbbuddy (Jul 29, 2002)

Hot and dry, water is the biggest problem...wells have meters, water police, also very clannish, newcomers not usually welcome.

This is what info I had when we were looking.


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

Colorado is not all water friendly. You cannot catch rain off your roof legally. The most common kind of water well only allows you to use water INSIDE your house. Can't water gardens, stock, etc. There are too many RULES for my taste. I'll take the Hill COuntry of Texas (just written up by NY Times) as the NUMBER ONE vacation destination. They said it was the Tuscany of the U.S.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Yeah but Hill Country property values are going up too high for my taste. Been there..lived in Austin for 20 years. Too expensive.


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## mezzogirl (May 25, 2008)

Yes, Austin area is beautiful! But too expensive and now, because of all the publicity in the recent years, it is getting very populated. I'm tired of people- well, that sounds bad, but I think you know what I mean.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Actually it's been populated for a very long time. It started around maybe 1990 when I graduated from high school there...houses were going for $50k. Now those same houses go for $160k and up! It all started when Michael Dell built his manufacturing plants here. Landlords found out that renters would pay ANYTHING to live there so they kept upping the rental prices to the insane level it is today. I was paying $600 a month for a 422 sq foot apt 5 years ago. No more. It's over a million people who live in the Austin area now. Oddly enough, Dell had had to lay off many, many people and close down some areas of his plants to just keep surviving. He has some illegals who work for him at $7 an hour and even if they do OT, they still make $7 an hour...the thing is they're not contracted under his company...under another company so he won't get busted for hiring illegals. Those illegals do trash takeouts, cooking the food, and cleaning the plants. They don't do the manufacturing though. I worked in that area on and off for several years before I got fed up and quit.


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## oz_sprog (Jun 5, 2008)

To water livestock or outside you'll need over 35 acres, we live about 60miles out of denver in the mountains and we have no water restrictions, but then at our altitude (9,000ft) gardening is a bit tricky


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## greatam (May 23, 2008)

How about a built in business in Northern Missouri. No water problems there-in fact, it is very wet this year (we are over 100 miles from the flooding).

Please see my thread about Greenhouse/house-$28,000.

Needs some fixin, but enough land to build another house or bring in a larger mobile, LOTS of garden area, greenhouse that need to be recovered (plastic is on site). We made a good income selling herbs/flowers/mums/share farming, even though we didn't do it full time. With proper management, an income of $40-50,000 is NOT unreasonable. Produce shares in Kansas City are $500 per share. 100 shares-$50,000 gross, NOT counting the herbs, which are BIG sellers in KC. We made over $10,000 free and clear just with our herbs. About $500.00 per day at the farmers markets in Des Moines and Kansas City. AND we could have expanded our business greatly by selling fresh to restaurants in Kansas City. But we moved to Arizona (and we have other greenhouses + we farm).

VERY small town, rolling hills, farmland for 75 miles in any direction, green, green, green landscape. Everyone sticks pretty much to their business, but are there to help if needed. Schools are VERY small. And kids don't get into much trouble-EVERYONE knows if your kid is out drinking or raising h****.

If you need further info or pictures, please email. [email protected]


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## rafter (Feb 26, 2003)

bbbuddy said:


> Hot and dry, water is the biggest problem...wells have meters, water police, also very clannish, newcomers not usually welcome.
> 
> This is what info I had when we were looking.


:rotfl:

Umm, don't think so, at least where I live. I live just outside of Pagosa Springs. We had 167" of snow in Jan. Then it sort of tapered off after that. 

We have monsoon that starts in mid July and generally runs to the first of Sept.

I look out and see green grass up to my knees.

Of course we can have dry years like anywhere else.

Highs are in the 80's and it cools off at night to the upper 40's and lower 50's. You don't have to have a/c. In the winter during the day you can get by with a light weight jacket or a sweatshirt, as the sun is always intense.

I know of no well with a meter. And I have never seen the water police. 

Beings that there are few natives and 90% of everyone is from somewhere else...I don't recall ever seeing a clan either.

I will say no where in Colorado is cheap. Mostly because of the huge amount of National Forest...and down here Indian Reservations.

But I live on the edge of hundreds of thousands of acres of land I can go hunting, camping, and firewood cutting. I see herds of elk in the winter that number in the hundreds.

We of course have hundreds of deer, (big ones, muley's) and the usual mountain lions, bear, and bobcat.

Turkey's aren't scarce either.

I'm originally from Mo, and have lived all over the state of Colorado, and IMO this area is the best, but anyplace here beats the heck out of MO.
I'm just not a humidity sort of person and like living outside almost all year.

We lost our house in the flood of 93 and have never regretted moving here. I love adventure and there is plenty of it.


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## oz_sprog (Jun 5, 2008)

oh yeah, I like Pagosa Springs, the cops let me off for speeding there once:happy:


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## Montanarchist (Feb 24, 2005)

We moved from the Durango area; cheap it aint. There were meters required on wells, and the whole county was uber-regulated. We moved to Montana to escape the regulatory BS, and for the cheaper land.


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## rafter (Feb 26, 2003)

prometheus said:


> We moved from the Durango area; cheap it aint. There were meters required on wells, and the whole county was uber-regulated. We moved to Montana to escape the regulatory BS, and for the cheaper land.


We are in Archuleta, so I don't know what goes on the wells that irrigate up on Florida Mesa. I do have friends that lives on the Mesa, but doesn't irrigate and their well isn't metered.

How much is land running for say 5 acres in SW Montana?


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## Montanarchist (Feb 24, 2005)

rafter said:


> We are in Archuleta, so I don't know what goes on the wells that irrigate up on Florida Mesa. I do have friends that lives on the Mesa, but doesn't irrigate and their well isn't metered.
> 
> How much is land running for say 5 acres in SW Montana?


With semi-seasonal (rough) access between 20-30K.


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