Jim, renting or spending time there or any new place is good plan. Good luck!Originally Posted by Jim Fitzgerald
Jim, renting or spending time there or any new place is good plan. Good luck!
Looking at all of the options. Renting and buying. Renting at first makes sense. Need to find resources as well. Google will have to be my friend. Trying to figure out when we can take a road trip to check things out. Any more suggestions would be very helpful.
Jim,
Renting is a pretty good option. Rents have trended upwards due to the foreclosure mess, but they've stabilized somewhat. Below are some areas in Tuolumne county to look at:
Gold Springs (Columbia)
Willow Springs (Soulsbyville)
Mono Vista (Soulsbyville area)
Lambert Lakes (East Sonora)
Jamestown area; Lime Kiln Road, Algerine Road
Pine Mountain Lake (Groveland) (Fairly long commute to Sonora/Columbia)
Mi Wuk Village (a few miles east of Twain Harte)
Wards Ferry Road area just south of Sonora.
Critters are less of an issue than one would think, unless you're in a very rural or remote area. I have seen all the critters you mentioned above, but only rarely. Like anywhere else where the wild is adjacent to built-up areas, vigilance is called for, but run-ins are infrequent in the areas I mentioned.
As far as a good time to come up for a look-see, I would say in the spring after Sonora Pass opens, assuming photography is on your list of things to do when you come up this way. Early spring, before the pass opens is also a nice time.
On another note: I have a long standing relationship with Columbia College. I got my AA there and worked there as an administrator at the fire department for 15 years. The school is fairly small enrollment-wise, the campus is beautiful, and the people there are very friendly and helpful. I hope your wife does well on the application review process.
--P
Preston-Columbia CA
"If you want nice fresh oats, you have to pay a fair price. If you can be satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse; that comes a little cheaper."
Preston knows that specific area better than me, but one relevant difference I'd add, is that real estate prices are still close to historic lows, but probably won't stay
that way as our coastal pricing rapidly recovers upwards, and that part of the world is near the I-80 corridor, so overly-familiar to Bay Area emigrants looking to retire
elsewhere. In other words, it's not as cheap as other hill country above the Central Valley, and prices will probably rise more quickly. Angels Camp is an interesting
area too, but well below the pine belt. I'd personally be utterly paranoid by the lower pine belt under the best of circumstances. It's a flagrant tinder box.
Preston and Drew, thanks. We are looking to come up for a look sometime in February just to check the area out. Like I said earlier even if June does not get the job we will be okay financially. Could be a great place to retire for the both of us. Still she wants to teach. It is her passion like us with our photography. Preston I have several places bookmarked on Trulia checking prices for homes and there are some amazing values out there. At least on the surface. The devil is in the details when it comes to buying a home, any home but especially something in the woods. We don't want total isolation up the canyon by ourselves kind of living so Sonora and Columbia are not out of the question either. Preston, we may be neighbors at some point!
If you do buy, here's a helpful trick if you haven't sold your SoCal home first: try to get your previous agent to write both insurance policies. What is trending in the
hills is that some agents are actually being incentified to cancel policies, not write them, then refer their clientele to a different insurance company at much higher
premiums based on higher fire risk. Naturally, the same company that happens to be canceling also happens to own the expensive company, so there's a fly in the ointment. But they've also undergone huge losses in that area, and will inevitably undergo more. So it helps to have an agent who isn't part of the local game per se, or whom the local think you can trust. The Forest Service calls for a defensible space of twenty feet or so. Ha! I kept three acres of mowed and green around the house, a tin roof, and far more acreage cattle-grazed low around that, and it was still a close call at times. I've seen hot ash rain down for days, for many miles around, like an eruption of Vesuvius. And that pine belt above Sonora came darn close last year, and has indeed had a few mid-sized fires in recent years.
Drew, some excellent points. We are renting right now. Ex got the house! But I do have renters insurance! You brought up a point that I forgot to ask about fire danger. When was the last time fires went through this area? I know that with our terrible winters lately it will make things much worse than ever. The defensible space called for seems crazy and it makes common sense to have more like what you are talking about plus your own water source and some kind of fire suppression system if that is even feasible, let alone cost effective. So much fun!
My wife and I looked around Groveland (Pine Mountain Lake) ten years ago. My overwhelming impression was that those communities were not to my taste, but most of all, even with all the talk of having their own fire department, it looked ripe for a major and dangerous burn. I suspect many residents now feel the same after last summer. Frankly, I've become scared ----less of any western Sierra mid-elevation conifer forested regions since the onset of recurrent drought conditions, year around fire seasons, and a world full of irresponsible, self entitled nut jobs. But, ya' gotta live somewhere.
Since you mentioned medical, I'll caution you about one anecdotal thing at living at elevations higher than 4,000 feet. I lived and trained full time in Squaw Valley (6,000+', I know, Drew) for a few years in the early '80s. When I got sick, I stayed sick for easily twice as long as I did at sea level, and I was one of the fittest high altitude athletes around at the time. I was happy to return to lower elevations and forego the 2 month long cold and flu. Fresno anyone?
The defensible space rules contain some anomalies. For one thing, your own space applies to your structures up to your property line. If a neighbor happens to
have a flammable junk pile immediately adjacent, tough luck (and in the hills, backyard junk lots are abundant - photogenic, but often a real headache to neighbors).
There have been several fires right off Hwy 108 in recent years, but that giant fire outside Yosemite last year could have easily jumped into the MiWuk or Long Barn area, and have become even bigger. Once the fires hit the canyons, they're extremely difficult to fight, and can spread almost explosively. No way you can actually fight them with a home water system if the power lines burn down first, and your well pump can't work. But in those big fires, evacuation won't be elective anyway.
And there will be more of them. Another thing with rural lots, esp if city-style developers have been involved ... make sure your neighbor's leach line isn't leaching
into your own water source and visa versa. Sounds silly? Nope. Happens all the time when bottomland or otherwise permeable soil is too closely developed. Five
acres is a bare minimum. Unless you're on a town water system, don't ever buy anything without hiring a legit hydrologist first. You photographer's dream home
will be worthless if your well goes dry or gets contaminated. I know this not only from direct experience (I had two good wells and even sold water to adjacent
properties), but also have a serious background in geomorphology itself. And this is a vital subject which local realtors naturally tend to avoid. Water is everything,
and in this current drought, that fact is becoming blatantly apparent. ... Otherwise, given some common sense, it's a wonderful area to live and photograph. I have a major body of work from that area, mostly in Cibachrome.
Coastal Humboldt County -- so moist that moss grows on the north side of a campfire...
Raining today! Not hard enough, but we'll take what we can get!
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
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