An interesting and remarkably informative day at the Beta Site. This was the first time I’d ever gone up there by myself and I was looking forward to doing whatever I wanted, at whatever pace I wanted, however I wanted, without worrying that I was eating up someone elses time. So, I get up there and I’m trimming some branches from the road, making notes to myself, when I hear a fourwheeler in the distance. And, it seems, it is getting closer.
I looked up on the hill and, sure enough, on my road, comes this old guy on a beat-to-crap four-wheeler. He comes to a stop and I say howdy. “Im your neighbor”, he says. We shake and introduce ourselves.
He has the 20 acres kitty corner to mine. As we talk, he tells me that he used to live up here full time but now (he’s 80) his wife wants to live closer to the hospital. So, he comes up here on weekends and whatnot ‘to get away from the wife’. Alright, I don’t want to tip my hand too much because no doubt anything I say will get passed around as hot gossip. I ask for recommendations for people to deliver propane, who does excavation, etc.
Then, I tell him that he might see some surveyors creeping around and that theyre on my dime. There hasn’t been a survey done since Wilson was president so theyre gonna be wandering around a bit.
He looks at me like I have two heads and says “Nah, hop on the back and I’ll show you where your corners are.”
Uhm..okay.
So he leads me to two corners that are approximately where the cadastral and OnX says they would be. One corner marker is an old t-post surrounded by a cairn of painted rock and reflectors. Dubious, but things were a lot more casual back in the day.
Other corner is a bright, shiny, and dang near new looking cap with flagging tape that hasnt even faded yet. This too was approximately where Onx and the cadastral said it would be. I took photos of the newer pin with all its info engraved on it and forwarded it to the surveyor. I am hoping this will provide enough info to be useful to them and possible reduce the workload, thereby reducing the price for this project.
The neighbor and I talked and I tried to get across that I’m not here to change anything, Im just looking for a place to enjoy the quiet and be left alone. Hopefully that message got across.
Next weekend is a three day weekend and I’m really keen to spend it out there camping out. Working on a platform this week to put together up there.
Sounds like a good visit. You never know… Once I arrived at my place in the Ozarks I started buying my older neighbors out, once they were ready to sell. Always good to be neighborly, especially to the 80 year olds..
Precisely.
Glad you met the neighbor. It’s literally the most overlooked part of preparedness. And having lived up there full time, he’s a Spanish Galleon of information for you.
Yeah, I just need to be careful how I phrase my inquiries so they dont set the local rumour mill a-spinnin’. Good: can you recommend someone for excavation. Bad: know anyone who can dig a bunker?
Sounds like you’re well on your way to bringing to reality your dreams…
Good Luck, and always be thinking several moves ahead, like a game of chess…
As I tell my friends, who are watching and participating in this project, “I can afford to do whatever needs doing here, but I can only afford it once.” Which means I can do whatever needs doing, but I absolutely have to do it right the first time since I’ve no margin to do it twice. So, yeah, moving carefully and purposefully.
An excellent way to approach it, and define it
Wouldn’t it be funny if that old geezer (said respectfully, as I am one) was one of your readers.
Then I’d have to sell and find another spot….
bet the old guy has a crap load of material & machinery that won’t be leaving – see about any possible dealing before he makes that one last visit – you’re bound to get a better deal than the next guy that buys up his property …..
Need to check out what he has for living up there. If you like his digs you can increase your holding and save few years of the development cycle.
If you want the development cycle, you can ignore that. On the other hand owning it will keep anyone else taking a short road that you might not like overly much.
Oh theres a whole host of questions I need to throw out there:
Hey, what do you do for power?
What do you do for septic?
Who up here should I be wary of?
Who delivers propane on these crazy roads?
Is there another route into this place?
What do you do for water?
Etc, etc, etc.
Exactly! Sounds a next visit is in order. Now what to have in the truck to gift him: plate of brownies, case of beer, good bottle of bourbon, pound of elk jerky… (might bring all until you feel him out on what he is like- or what he likes!)
Knowing propeorty metes and bounds is especially important when property fencing is involved. My wife’s property (2.5 acres) was legally surveyed when divided amongst her siblings, but the fencing company she hired installed the fence 14″ too far, encroaching on the other’s property. After verifying this was the case, we had to install another fence 14″ away back, correcting the error. this was last year. This mistake had been done around 2003, so the fence was 22 years old, holding our livestock inside its limits. The fence material WAS aging, and required to be replaced anyway. The new fence posts to do this is extra cost. The new fence should last past my wife’s and I expiration date. About $2300 in materials and labor cost. Expensive mistake but we were responsilble.
Some areas have adverse possession, aka squatters rights. After so many years of undisputed fence encroachment, original owner may lose rights to property. Of course this may not be worth blowing up family bonds over. Curious how this error came up after 22 years.
My wife’s brother who formerly owned the neighboring 2.5 acres sold it some years later to the current owner. No survey was provided at the time. When this owner had thoughts to selling the land, she hired a surveyor who found the error and reported it to us. That fence line boundary is approximately 660 feet long. So new posts w/ fence braces and 60″ H Kijng Ranch rolled wire fencing (heavy duty to help deter animals from stretching neck though to eat) as well as a butt load of fence staples. It was a lot of work which could have been prevented.
We left the old fence as is in place. It was barbed wire strands and re-using it probably would have been more trouble than worth in frequent fence repairs. Again – all our fault.
After our last big storm, a relatively-new neighbor came over to inform me “You have some big limbs down and my ex would be happy to come by for free with his crew to remove them. Oh, BTW, my two sheds and the trailer are four feet over the line onto your property; I have a paper to show you if you want a copy.” I said I’d love a copy. She went inside her place and didn’t come back. This was two weeks ago. Hmm. On the plus side, the big-ass limbs are gone.
Given your neighbor’s age and his wife’s infirmity, one question that you should (tactfully) get around to asking is “what’s up with your kids?”
It would be great to know what his plans are for bequeathing the property, and just what those future owners may have in mind for the land once they own it.
As there were people living next door for years I want to know what they were living in and how did they get it there.