Chapter 22

Where to Build It?

Whether you buy your plot or rent it from Uncle Sam at a pittanceit's your duty to study this article to learn just how and where the land lies.

There ore over a million fine campsites available in the D. S. today—many ior as little as $25 a year.

CHANCES are that you have already given some thought to the land you will build on. You may already have the deed in your pocket. On the bet, however, that you still may be speculating on whether to get that fine lake-front lot, or the exhilarating mountain-slope location with the tremendous view, we've planned this article.

If you are at the undecided stage, and one piece of countryside looks like any other to you, perhaps we can be of some help. First of all, every strip of land in

America belongs to someone, either an in­dividual, a corporation, or a governmental agency. It naturally follows that most land you see and like for cabin-building pur­poses will have a price on it, although that price may not always be within pay-check range.

Don't settle on or for the first parched plot you come to. Consider everything from glistening peaks beyond wild pine lined lakes to the lush, regal backdrop of a willow draped  riverside.

Even eliminating land that indi­viduals, corporations, and governmental agencies won't part with for any price, and cutting away those sites which are avail­able for a price, but too steep to consider, the estimate is that there are close to a million and a half good campsites available in the United States. Today. Now. All around you.

Here's the best way to go about finding the one perfect site in the United States for your cabin: You'll need detailed refer­ence works if you're serious about getting that perfect site. These references contain valuable information about where they are exactly located, how to appraise property like an expert (we'll give you important tips in this article, but the pamphlet we think you should have is the one used by professional appraisers and has more words in it on the subject than we are prepared to use in this article), and maps of the site you will decide upon. Most of these book­lets and pamphlets come from the govern­ment printing office, and are relatively in­expensive.

Get these if you can by writing to: Superintendent of Documents U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C.

1. Underwriter's    Manual—cost,    $2.25. This book contains all the professional ap praisers go by in judging land and build ings.  It shows methods of dwelling  and land evaluation, and will help narrow your thinking considerably when it comes time for you to make a final choice of the site.
2. National  Forest   Vacations—cost,   25 cents. This pamphlet lists all the national forests and gives the name and address of all forest supervisors. This may seem like an odd one, but it's given for good reason. Uncle Sam has an enormous amount of property for rent in the forests for a very nominal sum.

It may be to your advantage to rent from the government, for as little as $25 a year for a choice site, on a long or 108 a short-term lease. You'll find Uncle Sam a fine landlord to deal with in this respect. These campsites are mostly located in the West, as are the national forests, and the supervisors listed in this booklet are the fellows who can tell you where and when you can grab a good lease on a typical 3/4 acre plot. If this sounds like a good deal to you who are near a national forest, act fast or you may run into a waiting list!

While on the subject of government land, let's explore further. Herein may be your best bet, for the government now has a program set up whereby they are simply . waiting for private citizens to petition them for the purchase of land, and that at a very nominal price. The U. S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, D. C, has a free booklet en­titled Facts on Small Tracts which can be of enormous help to you in copping a choice piece of government land. This booklet has listed the names of seven regional directors who administer government land. The one who administers your region  is the man for you to see. It will be worth your while. By letter or personal visit, you can learn from this gent where the unreserved public lands are located. From there on it's more or less up to you. Take a car trip, if you can, to the land he tells you is open and public. If you find a promising site, get a survey made of the tract you like for five acres or less, or at least get a good descrip­tion in writing as to its location. Then you have the right to proceed to your local BLM office, by letter or in person, and ask the man in charge to apply to have the land classified under the Small Tract Act as for sale to the citizenry. It's his duty; he'll do it. Then you wait. A BLM investigator will then go look the property over to make sure you're not trying to con the govern­ment out of five square acres of uranium, or some such, and then if he thinks it might as well be on sale as not, as regards its value as a recreation or vacation site, the wheels really turn in your favor.

Local real estate men who are "in the know" can help you find—and clear—dream sites like this.

Washing­ton headquarters will declare an opening, publicly, in a bulletin called the Federal Register, found in any public library, and you, my lad, get first crack at a lease on the property for being the Dan'l Boone who brought it to public notice. If you like this idea, you're in good company, for about 32,000 Americans are now holding leases similar to the type explained on some 140.000 acres of government land. And much of the land has been sold, in addition to the rented land, since you can usually get an option to buy written into your lease, and the price for it will be named ahead of time. Who knows, you may even make money on the deal if you sign a lease on a piece of land that shoots up in value from the time you have signed the lease at the set option price.

If you don't care to go to the trouble of writing, visiting, etc. the regional BLM man, don't, and you may still make out fine. Just keep checking that Federal Reg­ister regularly for any land up for sale or lease.

If you're in the "let's drive around and see the country, who knows but what we may see our future site" stage, that's fine, too. Let's say you are on a drive—if you can, have with you a good real estate cata­log, such as the one offered by the Strout Realty Co.. 255 Fourth Avenue, New York City, for free. It has thousands of listings in every state of property available—and it names the price and terms, too. Anyhow, here you are touring a fine section of beach or desert or hill or mountain country, and there it is! The site! But there are no signs on it saying for sale or no farms around where you could inquire as to the owner­ship, and it's not in the catalog. What now?

Simple, my dear Watson. Follow me to the tax office and we'll show you what gives. Make a note of exactly where the land lies, then visit the local courthouse. See the tax assessor or his counterpart and give the information you have to him. In nine out of ten cases, he'll have the owner of the land on his tax rolls, and you can get the name and address of the owner from him. From there on it's up to you to make the best deal you can.

If you don't really trust your judgment to make a good deal, it might pay you to visit the office of a reputable real estate dealer. This works the same if you are rushed for time and yet want to find a proper site. The real estate man will cut through all the red tape, and in case the land you've spotted was the one in ten not listed at the tax man's office, he will help you out on that score. For a fee, of course. It's possible to skirt the real estate man's fee if you hang onto all your marbles while making the deal, and come out on top. We're referring to the case where you may want to do the whole thing on your own, a common happening and in truth, the reason for this article. If you've been figur­ing all along on doing business through a real estate firm, you need read no further. For from here in, we'll discuss those things which a real estate man, a professional, would do for you for his fee.

Let's presume, at this point, you've lo­cated the land you like and have found the owner and have gotten a fixed price on it to your liking. That's not really the end, but in a sense the beginning.

An overhanging plan like this demands a sloping site.   II  this   is   your   plan,   don't   settle   for   less.	You will be very unhappy, indeed. U. after years of dreaming of a watery vista-—you build inland.

Here's what we mean:

Look into the ground itself. Is the drain­age away from the place you want to build your cabin? Maybe you have a bit of culti­vation in mind, even if the vegetables you plant go untended for a time. Is the soil rich enough for what you may have in mind? Does it look like it will need exca­vating or stump removing? This is an ex­pensive thing, so you'll have to count on adding it to the original cost of the site. A costly filling or digging operation might offset the low price of "bargain" land.

The size of the lot you buy is also very important. If you get a rambling number of acres, your privacy is guaranteed, but otherwise, take a good look and think. Is there enough land to carry out plans you may have for the future. Would you later construct a boathouse, woodshed, work­shop, or other structure that would require space?

Scenery can fool you. Think about the demands you or your family may make on the cabin. If you enjoy totally roughing it. there is, of course, no need for worrying about details such as power, water or gas supply. If you plan a large cabin you'll be spending much time in, however, you should give a thought to these things and the possible expense of bringing them to your property. How about fire and police protection? Again, if you are out in the rough, these considerations may be just the things you want to get away from. The ear­marks of civilization, however, should not be lightly disregarded if you plan an exist­ence similar to your present city or sub­urban standards. We realize there are such things as septic tanks, water pumps, generators and bottled gas, and you'll forgive us for mentioning them in due course—we just want to make sure all of our readers are aware of the extra expenses these en­tail, and that they should be considered when purchasing the property for your cabin.

If you plan to have the wife and kids along, you'll want to think in terms of other family conveniences, such as access to churches, schools if necessary, shopping, transportation and any outdoor or indoor recreation you might favor.

It might be wise to get an outside ap­praisal of the lot before you sign on the dotted line, just as a check upon yourself. Any local bank or savings and loan com­pany will give you a competent appraisal for a nominal fee. This is one way to check on the purchase price and the information that will go along with the appraisal price will list the good and bad points of the campsite.

Getting a free title is important, so you might want to visit the local tax assessor before signing into the lot, just to make sure there are no tax liens on the property. When dealing with the government there is, of course, less need for this rigid looking into, but if your business is with a private individual or with a company you have had no past dealings with, this procedure is recommended.

Read the deed. You will want to know just what you are allowed to do with the land, and what you aren't allowed to do. Often property comes with zoning and other restrictions on it, so check into it, before you whip that old checkbook out.

A   rustic   cabin   without   a   wooded  setting  is   like a boat without water. Choose your site carefully . .	. . . and your cabin will seem to grow out of the ground and foliage as part of Nature's own work.

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