Papercreters: [papercreters] Re: eBay Land

Thursday, June 18, 2009

[papercreters] Re: eBay Land

LOL Many years ago, I, too, bought property on ebay. In fact, I've sold that way and it's not so bad. The place I bought was two 20-acre plots near El Paso, properly surveyed and plat maps provided by seller. It wasn't an absolute auction - I bid on a down payment and made monthly payments on the property. Same benefits - no restrictions, no neighbors, no...nuthin'! Nothing but sand, wind and rattlesnakes. There was a pretty area in the region which he showed in his photos but he also included several photos of the actual pieces and for a tree-lovin' midwesterner, it seemed sparse and desolate and the only reason it appealed to me was I'd have 40 acres and no neighbors - and it was relatively cheap. Time passed, payments were made on time, all was good but my own life changed and I had to let the 40 acres go back to the seller. As I mentioned in my post about pc fencing, I'm not a "neighborly" type of person. I like solitude and space around me and there have been many times in recent years when I remembered my 40 acres in Texas and felt a longing and sadness at letting them go.

If your seller has done what he's required to by law, your transaction should be relatively painless should you win it and you'll be the proud owner of your own little sandbox in Texas. I sold one of my houses in Nebraska via ebay and a good local lawyer who handled all the legal stuff and money transactions. That way, the buyer was assured of an easy and legal transaction and I just had to sign a few things and cash the check.

Good luck (if you've decided you really want it - and you must have when you hit that confirmation button!).
diane in mo
--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, Perry Way <perryway@...> wrote:
>
> Am I crazy? This is what I'm asking myself right now. I just bid on 10
> acres of land on eBay without seeing the property, without a plat map,
> without photos, without any knowledge whatsoever of the specific property
> other than it is 10 acres in the middle of the chihuahuan desert in Texas
> near Big Bend. On a good windy day with wind at my back and a hot load in
> my 30-06 or World War II Russian rifle, I might be able to actually hit Big
> Bend if I aimed up high in the sky. It is literally in the middle of
> nowhere in a depressed economy in a depressed economic region with no jobs,
> no markets, no gas stations, no cable TV, no power poles, no phone cables,
> I'm certain it has rocky sandy soil. Soil? You call that soil? Haaa! The
> loam and clay elements have long since been carried away in the wind and
> spread all over the prairies I'm sure. This is so different from
> California's Central Coast where in the summer time the golden grass meets
> the deep green chapparal or Live Oak woods. Over here we have water at
> least. Right where I live, the water table is measured in feet. Out in Big
> Bend Texas, you might be better off measuring the water table in hundreds of
> yards. I don't know. I'm kind of hoping I lose this auction. It's a rare
> auction. Started at 99 cents and is a "total purchase price" auction. I
> bet someone would spend about $20,000 putting in a well on this property
> seeing they might have to drill halfway to China.
>
> Well, a couple of positives. Taxes are low. I think it's $75 a year.
> There is no building and safety commission to interfere with someone who
> would want to build say.. a papercrete home. A few dump trucks of topsoil
> and a well and you could think about raising a small garden to keep food on
> your plate. Hunting for meat? Well, heck, that's all around, and cheep
> too. Texas loves hunters. A few cows, a few goats, some chickens.. small
> garden.. solar electricity, compost toilets, water for garden and showers
> and cooking and cleaning, not much is required really. Actually this
> property is starting to sound a wee bit nice. Eh?
>
> Come to think of it, that sandy earth in the ground there, that just might
> be the aggregate necessary for a perfect papercrete mixture. Oh, and come
> to think of it, the dry climate.. why.. someone could order a dump truck of
> cement and just leave it out under a tarp (to keep the wind from carrying it
> off) and use it as required, rather than only risking keeping small amounts
> handy.... y'know, now this is really starting to sound like doable.
>
> I dunno... I might still be crazy though..
>