Want to Buy a Remote Property? Think Again or Think Ahead

We routinely hear from friends or colleagues who say that “one of these days... I too will move out to the boonies.” Are you sure that is what you want to do? Developing a remote property is challenging and perhaps that is good, because living there is too and it is not for everyone. In fact, it may appeal to one family member immensely and to another not at all. Below are seven suggestions based on our experience buying and clearing woodsy land for a cabin and various outbuildings in the middle of Alaska, 42 miles from the nearest road.  However, several of the points are also valid even for people who decide to move across the country to a condo in Boca Raton.

In general, the suggestions are to take stock of what you do and don't know about yourself (and your spouse), the land, and the people in the targeted area before you commit to move long distance to an isolated property.

16x24x2 + porches

1. SPOUSAL COMMUNICATION:
   
   a) Do not buy the property before your spouse sees it. He/She will never let you forget it.
   b) If you make the mistake #1, make sure that the property looks REALLY GOOD when you take your spouse to see it. Do not, as in our case, take your Texan wife up to Alaska in her little Land's End jacket when it is 30 below zero and windy and act all enthused about walking around the property in snow shoes. (When my father-in-law showed his wife his proud, rural purchase, the appealing log cabin was obscured by several rusted cars up on blocks and empty barrels of diesel). I promise you, your spouse will never let you forget that first impression, either.
   
   

2.  LEARN ABOUT THE LAND AND WEATHER before you build, garden or buy virtually anything.

a) If circumstances allow, visit the property in different seasons before committing AND TALK TO LOCALS. Ideally, rent a property in the vicinity first. This information absolutely will save you money, time, and regrets. Before even considering the obvious importance of seasonal variations for future buildings, gardens, landscaping, clothes, and activities  is the relevance of allergies!  If you have never lived in the region you are now contemplating, you need to find out first if you are allergic to anything there or if you will be miserable at certain times of year.  In Alaska, for example, the trees bud out so quickly (in Fairbanks, literally overnight) that the pollen count is astronomical during that period, but it is brief.  My sister's dogs are on allergy medications in Phoenix, AZ (!!!) 

Relative to more mundane building placement possibilities, are assessments of where does the sun rise and set at various times of year?   From which directions are the prevailing winds (and rain and snow)? (See websites such as www.suncalc.net).   Such data will impact your desired activities,  your placement and sizes of porches and windows, the angle of your roofs, positions of gardens, trees to keep, and many other decisions. Our location is protected by the ridge behind us, but the hunting cabin at the end of this lake had to have the roof tied down with pulleys to the ground because hurricane force winds tunneled up between the ridge and the mountains!  

Some places that are particularly beautiful have tortuous rainy seasons.  If that was the time of year you most wanted to be there, think again or ask early about adding on huge porches that can function as outdoor rooms.  Add grow lights for plants, etc. Long rainy or dark seasons can be depressing for people.  Research precipitation by month. Plan ahead.    

Favorite Remote Cabin Purchases under $50

 Favorite Purchases under $50 for our Remote Home

 

(no compensation for any of the following testimonials) 

Living far from any store means that any rural or remote property owner relies on supplies on hand.  Some of our least expensive purchases have been worth their weight in gold because we use them over and over, or in a variety of ways, or they specialize in increasing our safety or comfort in a way that no other item can do as well.

IceTrekkers.com cleats

I have purposely NOT included obviously important items, like matches or an axe, that anyone should know.   

 

 Here, I just wanted to illuminate some of the “unsung” products that we rely on to great advantage in the categories of attire, home, yard, tools, and communications devices.  Perhaps this list will be of interest to readers considering a move to a rural location, particularly in a four season locale.

 

I encourage readers to respond with their own "best"purchase lists for various eco-systems and climates.

Windsock Value in an Era of GPS? Very, Sort of, Sometimes.

Our windsock in front of cabin and plane

A contemporary pilot, outfitted with GPS and other equipment, might understandably wonder why a simple, old fashioned airport windsock is still useful.  Who cares?   Bush pilots, among others. 

For one thing, even GPS systems rarely show ground speed at destination.  For another, ours conks out below about +10 degrees on winter flights in our cold Piper PA-20.

The first time this happened, my husband stuffed the tablet between his body and his quilted Carharrts to warm up, but it still did not turn on for 20 minutes, which happened to be the duration of the flight from the nearest airport to our home.  Fortunately, this was a familiar route.  But the mountainous terrain, rivers, glaciers, woods, and bogs result in very different wind, ice, snow, and temperature over very few miles, here.  It is not safe to presume a condition at another location.  The bright orange windsock next to a runway is, therefore, a welcome source of at least one piece of critical information.

Remote Alaska Healthcare

Among the top questions people ask us about living on our own in the Alaska Bush are,

“What do you do for medical care? What would you do in an emergency?”  These are insightful inquiries, especially since four months a year there is NO transportation to/from our cabin, except, when feasible, by an emergency helicopter.

Obviously, we can't take care of every awful scenario, but we have endeavored to assess health risks here and mitigate them where we can.  I imagine that our approach might be prudent for any home, anywhere, especially since national statistics indicate that about 30% of all emergency room visits are the results of injuries, https://www.nsc.org/home-safety/tools-resources/odds-of-dying/emergency-room-visits, particularly falls. For us, I imagine that dirty cuts by power and passive tools could be a problem, and possibly burns and lung issues, too, since we heat the house and hot tub with wood fires every day.

Alaska Earthquake Effects at Remote Cabin

Alaska is VERY seismically active.  At our place, we feel the earth shudder several times a year.  On November 30, South Central Alaska suffered a 7.2 earthquake, followed, in the ensuing month, by more than 6000 aftershocks, some of which were strong enough (above 5.0) to cause additional damage. 

Ceiling earthquake damage

At the time, we were out of state, so we nervously contacted friends in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley – on either side of the epicenter – to see how they fared.  One man said that everything on any shelf, wall, or mantle came crashing down, and his house is now riddled with cracks.  He was particularly devastated that his sons’ clay mementos, like their hospital footprints, had been smashed to smithereens.  A woman lost only one wine glass… and an entire 30 gallon aquarium (on carpet, of course!).  An acquaintance said that her home was fine but that her father’s house was totaled and he barely escaped when his two story stone fireplace buckled, smothering  the couch on which he had just been seated, seconds before.   The closest school to us – some 20 miles by air – is closed for the rest of the year.