Tour of Idaho

[joecool911]

Wife and I are looking to book some time a in-laws time share. Two locations available. Across from Spokane and sun valley. Both of which are like 4+ hours from Michaels. Our goal is to explore potential home site that's off the grid. We prefer wooded land rather than all pasture. We desire 10+ acres that has good access to firewood. Cheap price of course. Any suggestions as to where to look?

[AH64ID]

Central Idaho will be the cheapest and N Idaho is closer to central than South, aside from the Salmon/Challis valley which has some nice areas as well. I think I would stay in the CDA area and plan on putting some miles on. 

[joecool911]

Blanchard and sun valley would be our timeshare location options. Either location free to us.

[AH64ID]

The 4 places in the state you are most likely to find what you are looking for are Mike's region which is New Meadows to Grangeville (out to Elk City), the highway 12 corridor, North Fork to Challis area, and around Island Park. There are other areas but those are the biggest ones. 

 

Look at google and see what the best place to stay is... either way you will get a LOT of windshield time. There is no fast way around the state. 

[joecool911]

Pretty cool place in Bonners Ferry. Small house on 23 acres set up for off grid for $175,000. 328 dove rd. just miles from Canada and Montana. Pretty out of the way. Just needs a well. Has an old spring hole that's dry, so I bet water is not too deep. Just sell one rental and buy it! We could afford this without selling our home and go into it slowly.

[Mopar1973Man]

I would welcome you down this way but not much to see with all the smoke and fires now burning. Beautiful country up her but right now its not a good time to come look.

[joecool911]

I've been looking at property via the Internet. Seems to be some prospective properties in the panhandle. I had no idea that could be 4-5 hours from your place. Bigger than it looks on a map. Oregon has such screwed up land use laws that if you want to get away from town you have to buy like 40 acres. So you're going to spend a half million to get something here. Looks like it's possible in Idaho for $200k.

[joecool911]

How is Idaho for vehicle registration? Expensive? Here in Oregon 2 years is $86. How nazi are they about trailer plates? Oregon under 1,800 gvw don't need plates. I've got a couple trailers that don't have titles or plates. Love the idea of towing two trailers at once!

[AH64ID]

It is county specific. Last year I paid $102 for my Cummins, which I register to 26K lbs. 

 

There are 3 weight classes for non-commercial vehicles in Idaho. The weights are for GCW. 

 

0-8000

8,001-16,000

16,001-26,000

 

If you not specify you will get registered for 0-8000lbs and Idaho has been pulling more people over the last 5-7 years for this. 

 

RV's don't count towards your weight but anything else does. 

 

My trailer cost $87 last year. 

[joecool911]

Wife and I doing some serious number crunching. We figure we could clear about $250k on our house and still have 2 rental properties and no debt. So whether we buy an unlivable cabin on land with septic and well for around $80k and build a small home and pole shop or find a turnkey place...I think it's doable. Would prefer to find a house that's fixable. Preferably a log or wood frame. Having water on site seems to be the big issue. Running water year round would be nice for electricity generation. We hope to come over before winter hits and look at some places we've only seen on the Internet. Not picky about location. Canada border down to maybe hwy 90 or so. And anywhere east to west. Looks good for fishing and hunting and retirement. Hope to mostly retire. I'll be 58 this year. Will probably need some income. Wondering about non emergency medical transportation service. We could make it, but some income would give us more to invest into the property. We think we can live on the rental income, but it may not be FUN.

[Mopar1973Man]

Also depend on which county you re-new in as well. Like Valley county is about $5 bucks cheaper than Adams county. Little weird secrets I know.

[joecool911]

We're attempting to sell our 2 rentals to the current occupants. This will provide for monthly income without any outgoing expenses. One step towards moving to idaho. Working on downsizing possessions and doing known home repairs. Jag1 too busy to help. Will find someone though to help with rot from a leaking valley. Maybe next summer to move? We'll see how it goes. Not a fast process. Nice places from White Bird to Bonners Ferry in our price range and wish list.

[JAG1]

Thanks for thinking of me Joe, I just don't have any time is the problem. Busiest season I have ever seen in Oregon.