I finally went out to the land today for the first time since the purchase completed and it actually became mine. I brought my dog, who enjoyed running around off leash, though she got a little hot in the midday sun and I had to carry her back to the air conditioned car.
I was looking for the surveyor's markers, for which I found some, but not all. I think I have a rough idea of the boundaries, but would be nice to have it demarcated more clearly. Two more orange ribbons on spikes would have made a huge difference!
Here are some photos of the little hogan already there, which I might actually have scrapped instead of repaired.
This is the outside
This is just as I open the door to step inside
This is a gas lamp
And the space for a gas stove
This is a little closet. The guy who built this really lived in this little hut with no plumbing or electric!
I have a few more photos of the interior and views from the interior, but to keep this from being too long, I'll switch to the exterior. Especially since I may really tear down this "hogan."
Below is a view of the hogan from the property line, which is also at the neighbor's fence. (The surveryor tied one of the orange ribbons to the neighbor's actual fence post LOL.
And here below is a view looking out over the cliff
This next one below is toward the neighbor in the other direction. It really is quite flat on this plateau.
Well that's probably enough to get an idea of the place. They were actually paving the road today. So now it is officially worth more than I paid for it.
And you know what?
I've decided I'm probably not going to build on it. It will just be an investment to resell some years from now. I'm going to build overseas. I just can't get enough for my money here in the US.
Though the dollar is falling, crypto is rising. If I wait a couple years to build, I can very likely use crypto profits to do the complete build, so the falling dollar won't even matter. Even if I have to use current savings, it will still be cheaper to build overseas than in the US.
So there you have it. Not building anytime soon, but a good investment I think. And everything I've been learning about natural building here in this national locus of such building is going to serve me well as I plan out my overseas build. I will hopefully be working with a climate that never has snow or temps anywhere near that, so that will take a lot of complication out of the situation.
I like it.