LAND BUYING: DO'S AND DON'TS

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Location is, of course, an influence upon the price of any property . . . but in the mountains, the lay of the land is the key to real estate value. Tracts that are craggy, precipitous, and hard to get at may sell for $400 to $500 an acre . . . while more accessible parcels in the same vicinity could be priced ten times higher. "The steeper the cheaper" is a rule of thumb, yet such relatively inexpensive land might fit your plans perfectly. I've seen great chalets and A—frames built on slopes that many people would have vetoed as homesites. As a matter of fact, I recently sold two tracts of land for $15,000 each. One was 2 acres and the other 43 acres ... . and both buyers were pleased with their purchases.

Many mountain properties can be bought through owner financing, which is desirable because the interest rates charged will usually be much lower than those demanded by banks or savings and loan associations . . . and terms and down payments will often be negotiable, as well. It's hard, however, to lay down absolutes about owner financing, since there's considerable variation from one situation to the next. A lot depends upon all parties' being fairminded.

PLAN AHEAD

Before you even start to search for mountain land, it's important that you visualize as clearly as you can exactly what you want. This bit of preparation will save you, and any real estate agent, a lot of time and effort. Be as detailed in this undertaking as possible. Try to forecast what you'll want from the property five or ten years down the road, as well. If that includes a herd of cattle, for example, make sure your paradise has pasture potential. (Bear in mind, too, that any piece of mountain pastureland with a good water supply will be very expensive . . . and the costs are increasing rapidly in most areas.)

Aside from price, of course, there are other factors that will affect your buying decision, such as proximity to schools. The possibility of having to force your children to ride a bus for 20 miles over winding dirt roads is definitely worth pondering. Other factors you might consider include the locations of the nearest stores, churches, airports, and recreation facilities.

And what about past-purchase costs? Will you need to put in a drivable road, for instance? Many of the "jeep trails" mentioned in ads would challenge a Baja racer, and you can figure on spending about $4.00 per foot to have such an access graded, graveled, shouldered, and culverted to pre vent washout. (That's a ballpark figure, of course, but it ought to be fairly close.) Furthermore, a well may run $2,000 to $4,000 . . . while a septic tank can also be a costly item.

Right-of-way in the mountains may be an especially thorny proposition, too. Worse yet, merely verifying it is often time-consuming, since each property owner affected (some of whom possibly live out of state) must be contacted and enlightened as to why his or her signature is required. (In my role as a notary public, my latest deal turned into an ordeal when the would-be buyer and I had to hike to a remote cabin, and face a pack of snarling dogs, to get two of 18 necessary signatures.)

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