Looking for my own private Idaho ....

[CountryGent]

So, on the household "To Do" list for some time now is to expand our land holdings to locations that are not in the immediate area. What for?

• As an investment. They ain't making any more land.
• Potentially, after development, a second home/base of operations for use on a temporary basis.
• Something to give my children after I shuffle off this mortal coil.
• As, possibly, though unlikely, a bug out location.
• Just because.

Our first inclination, and where we had been doing the deepest research, has been in Eastern Oregon. We loved our time out there, the climate is lovely (wow, actual seasons!) on that side of the mountain, and land prices in many locations are quite reasonable. As time marches on, though, it is becoming more clear that Oregon and Washington are sliding towards California: crippling taxes, BS laws, anti-RKBA measures, cultural rot, et al.

As such, we've started looking towards Idaho for this project. The reason why I started this thread is I've begun the preliminary research and I will be headed out there when things start to thaw come spring. While I've spent a ton of time in Oregon and, to a lesser extent Washington and other neighboring states, my time in the Gem State has been limited to a few visits over the years and/or crossing over around the Ontario area. The same can be said for my wife's experience there.

Can anyone on board recommend locations to research that:

• Is nowhere near a large city (e.g., Boise, Nampa, et al.).
• Not too far north. Say not much farther north than Lewiston.
• Land prices are reasonable. I'm looking for something in the 10-20 acre zone. If the price was right, I could see buying more acreage though.
• Not totally fricked up with crime, drug idiots, etc.

Thanks all.

P.S. Below is a, very roughly, marked-up map of the zones that might work.

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[Fastfoltz]

McCall or north of McCall.

 

[albin25]

I have a vacant undeveloped river view lot in Lewiston for sale, underground utilities in, near the country club.

 

[Fastfoltz]

Copy

 

[Bushman]

I hear you on doing such projects out of state. I too have been looking at Idaho. Last year I almost bought a little 1 bedroom ski cottage in Mullan. Almost wish I had bought it now, it was a steal of a deal. Alas, I ran across a similar deal here in Washington but much better, other than the fact that it is in WA...Eventually will get one out of state as well.

 

[parallax]

Country gent,, i have your same dream….I have spent time in McCall and lewiston, as well as boise. Boise suxs,,,,, McCall is beautiful, the police dont tolerate crime there..but houses are expensive there.. lewiston has some crime problems..drunks and druggies., my search continues as well

 

[slimmer13]

If it's only for seasonal use, I wouldn't disqualify the panhandle. Some of the best country in the world.

 

[BBQ Guy]

I have not spent a lot of time in the places i am about to suggest but i rode through the area this summer and found the areas to be beautiful.

Payette and the surrounding area
Riggins
Grangeville

I also found the beauty east of Orofino very nice. Kooskie would have been a neat place to spend some time in/around.

One thing about small town Idaho from what i understand is the meth issues. To some degree i think you might be able to escape those things with property, fencing, and a mean dog or 2. Especially if you are well outside of town limits.
Good luck with your search.
The wife and I are increasingly thinking the same thing.

 

[notazombie]

I just bought in Owyhee county. It's full. Don't look here.

 

[CountryGent]

McCall or north of McCall.

Thanks for the note. I have heard good things for the area, including from my father who has a good eye for land. The city itself is still too large for what I am thinking of, but outside of said sounds good.

I have a vacant undeveloped river view lot in Lewiston for sale, underground utilities in, near the country club.

PM inbound. Thanks.

I have not spent a lot of time in the places i am about to suggest but i rode through the area this summer and found the areas to be beautiful.

Payette and the surrounding area
Riggins
Grangeville

I also found the beauty east of Orofino very nice. Kooskie would have been a neat place to spend some time in/around.

One thing about small town Idaho from what i understand is the meth issues. To some degree i think you might be able to escape those things with property, fencing, and a mean dog or 2. Especially if you are well outside of town limits.
Good luck with your search.
The wife and I are increasingly thinking the same thing.

Thank you for the ideas, details, thoughts, etc.

Concerning the meth issue, that is one of at least a couple things I do not like about southern Oregon. (The other being too much damn rain, though, admittedly it isn't nearly as bad as, say, north coast.) Sadly a lot of rural America is so blighted with methheads, so it is hard to completely escape. That said, I've seen some areas in Eastern Oregon and Arizona that are just about wastelands because of that garbage, so I want to avoid those kinds of areas.

I just bought in Owyhee county. It's full. Don't look here.

Roger-dodger.

 

[BBQ Guy]

Thanks for the note. I have heard good things for the area, including from my father who has a good eye for land. The city itself is still too large for what I am thinking of, but outside of said sounds good.



PM inbound. Thanks.



Thank you for the ideas, details, thoughts, etc.

Concerning the meth issue, that is one of at least a couple things I do not like about southern Oregon. (The other behind too much damn rain, though, admittedly it isn't nearly as bad as, say, north coast.) Sadly a lot of rural America is so blighted with methheads, so it is hard to completely escape. That said, I've seen some areas in Eastern Oregon and Arizona that are just about wastelands because of that garbage, so I want to avoid those kinds of areas.



Roger-dodger.

My wife grew up in Southern Oregon. She escaped the trappings of small town drug life. Thankfully.
It truly is a shame that so much of our country has been devastated into complete barren wastelands due to a drug and its horrible grasp on human life.

If you dont mind shooting me a message about any prospects that come across your radar, i would certainly appreciate it. I will stay lipped about them.

 

[IronMonster]

I just bought a little house in my home town in southern Idaho, I bought it as a base of operation while I sell my place in Washington and scout. One thing I can see already is a guy should have bought 10 years ago. Compared to what real estate has done in the Seattle area prices here have gone nuts. (In 10 years my house in Seattle has gone up maybe 20% while farm ground here doubled)

If you are not worried about being were jobs or money are there are still some great places that are very reasonable. Simply getting on Google and looking for small remote towns will get you looking in the right place. I have always dreamed of a place in Murphys Hotsprings or Jarbridge Nevada but there are similar locations all across the south part of the state.

I would not get hung up on the meth issue. It's real and they are out there but if you are in the country it's unlikely you will ever see the ugliness of it.

 

[mjbskwim]

Really there aren't any good place left over here. This state is infested with Californians and them darn washingtonians.
Terrible
So I just looked on zillow till I found a house,well some houses i wanted to see,then investigate this area a lot. And found my little place and town quite nice
One guy I heard,looked at google "night" ?,picked the place with the least lights and moved between here and challis

 

[BBQ Guy]

Really there aren't any good place left over here. This state is infested with Californians and them darn washingtonians.
Terrible
So I just looked on zillow till I found a house,well some houses i wanted to see,then investigate this area a lot. And found my little place and town quite nice
One guy I heard,looked at google "night" ?,picked the place with the least lights and moved between here and challis

Genius, pure genius.

 

[Brutus57]

I like Wallace area as does the wife....for me Lewiston N to Wallace would work but I too have not explored much of ID. It's top of the list after 7-8 years here in the Gulag of Kommiefornia. We are here, got the U-Haul and trailer unloaded in to storage. Snuck over the Siskiyous in the snow Saturday.

I like seasons and trees.

Brutus Out

 

[CountryGent]

Thanks all that replied with information and thoughts. The information is helping narrow the search patterns. Much appreciated.

Parenthetically, I suspect I will be necroing this as things develop.

 

[CoastRange57]

There is an obvious migration from the more populated portions of Oregon, Washington to the east side. I have friends in Central Oregon who are tired of that now and are moving to Idaho.

We recently purchased a one acre lot in Crooked River Ranch. Not the isolation some are looking for, but after 50 years of living in the area west of Portland we are making that move in about 2 years. We were not able to kill the current mortgage since I gave my ex wife 20 + years of child and spousal support, and in order for the wife to retire we need a mortgage free place. Properties in the Willamette Valley are simply out of a reasonable price for our means anyway. $ 250,000 gets you a shack with 70k of repairs needed.

We will be moving to an area that has 26,000 people in the entire county. For the equity we get we will be able to build a nice house, shop and have money in the bank. We have two kids and grand kids over there now, one more son heading over there. It is oknly 3 hours from two other kids and 3 grand kids, but we have to do what we need to do to make our retirement years affordable and Northwestern Oregon sure as hell is not it.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

I stare at the owyhee mountains out my front window. Very best place. Dry. But,,,the water is bad. To much mining over the years. Arsenic.
Between Boise and twin falls is great. But I'm a farming kind of guy.