Buying Land: Part II

Negotiations ensued alongside my new friendship with Rusty.  The trouble was, he wanted more for his land than my budget will allow.  And it was way more than I had originally anticipated a piece of land on the Mesa would cost.  I'd heard so many stories of cheap parcels out there, as low as a few hundred bucks.

What I've been learning though is that a) land prices on the Mesa, like everywhere else, are rising; and b) you can still get those dirt cheap pieces, but they're not necessarily in a savory spot.  You get what you pay for, as we all know.  It didn't take long to realize that I was willing to pay substantially more than I'd initially factored to get Rusty's land, largely because it's located in an ideal spot near the slope of Cerro de los Taoses, also known as Two Peaks, meaning its features are more interesting than most of the Mesa, which is just plain flat, and it's in a good "neighborhood," which is extremely important on the Mesa for a variety of reasons I'll go into another time.  But beyond these practical reasons, the truth is I already felt that this was where I belong.  Graeme and I both felt it as we stood there watching the moon rise that first night.

That sense of certainty led me to wrongly believe that I could make an offer to Rusty and he would immediately agree to it, tra-la, even if it wasn't for the amount he wanted.  I had decided on a maximum amount I could put down, and I wanted him to let me finance the rest over a period of a year, but he wasn't keen on owner financing at all.  

The other trouble that entered paradise at this point was that Rusty was less than excited about my plan to use earthbags, as they involve plastic, something he considers ugly and evil.  He spent a good bit of time in the beginning trying to talk me into a different method of building, and I found myself conflicted, because just as strongly as I felt his land was the right place, I believed that earthbags were the right method.  

After a rather intense week of spending a lot of time together both socially and negotiation-wise, I decided I needed to leave it alone, and let go of what was already an attachment to this land.  I resisted the temptation to call Rusty and badger him to make a decision about my offer, and I began to look at other land for sale on Craigslist and such, albeit halfheartedly, I'll admit.  

I began to wonder if the serendipity was running out, especially when I didn't hear from Rusty for close to a week.  However, during that time, a wonderful new aspect of this project developed, which was that Nicole, my very best friend in the world, and I began to discuss buying land together, as we've often longed to live together as single mothers, building community and supporting each other.  If she bought a quarter acre of Rusty's land, which is what she could afford, then I could afford to pay him the minimum he would take for all of it up front.  (This minimum, however, was less than what he thought the land was worth.)

We were on the phone one night discussing this, and I was telling her I just wasn't sure anymore what was going to happen with Rusty's land, that I hadn't talked to him in many days.  Then the other line beeped.  And guess who it was, calling to tell me he'd decided he was fine with me using earthbags, and that he could divide the land into an acre parcel for me and another quarter he'd sell to someone else, if I could come up with the  the exact amount Nicole and I had been discussing pooling together.

I called her back when I was done talking to Rusty, and get this:  She'd been doing a Tarot reading while I was on the phone with him, and the card she'd gotten in the future position was a picture of women building a house together.  No lie.

from the Motherpeace deck, the card Nicole drew

Buying Land: Part I

"Buy land; they're not making it anymore." 

~ Mark Twain

A bit of backstory:  The seed was initially planted for my decision to build a house back in December, the night my van broke down.  I had gone out to a favorite music venue (the Adobe Bar at the Historic Taos Inn) and immediately met a man who I ended up conversing (and dancing) with all night.  It was one of those instant connections, where you feel as though you're reestablishing an old friendship.  When he walked me to my van at the end of the evening, out of the blue it just wouldn't start, so I left it there and he brought me home, but we didn't exchange phone numbers, and the next day, I wished we had.

I was without the van for a month while local mechanics tried to figure out what was wrong with it.  After thinking it was one thing and ordering the wrong part, they finally decided it was the ignition switch, and because a) it operates with one of those ridiculous newfangled keyless systems, and b) our local Chrysler dealer closed down THE DAY my van broke down, I ended up having to get it towed to Santa Fe to get a new "key" reprogrammed.  So this was when I first started thinking about selling the van, which of course led to thinking about what I would do with the money (my parents said they didn't want it back).

The first day that I looked on the Cid's bulletin board for land for sale - Valentine's Day as it so happens - I saw a flyer featuring a really nice 1.25 acres on the Mesa, and as I was studying it, up sidles the man I'd met that fateful night (I'll call him Rusty), and he says, "I'll give you a good deal on it."  Yes, it was Rusty's land.

You'd better believe we exchanged phone numbers this time.

I was checking out other pieces of land too, so the day I went out to see Rusty's, I looked at another place first.  My 13-year-old son, Graeme, who will be my main building partner, went with me and we spent a lot of the afternoon wandering around some land that was definitely a good deal, and being sold by a very nice guy I'd talked to on the phone earlier, but didn't feel right at all.

By the time we got out to Rusty's, it was pretty late in the day, and I was tired, overstimulated, and feeling very uneasy about taking my prissy van down the rutted dirt roads of the Mesa.  We went down the wrong road and almost got stranded on some rocks, so at that point I was ready to hang it up and go home.  But then Rusty drove out to meet us and led us the rest of the way.

The moment we stepped foot on the land, a truly magical thing happened.  I looked over to the west, and the sun was just dipping below the horizon, which was lovely enough.  But then, I looked to the west, and the enormous full moon was just barely peeking up behind the mountains.  We watched it rise in awe.  So quiet and vast, that Mesa.  This photo was taken just a few moments later:

Click to enlarge - you won't regret it.

While walking around that first place Graeme and I had visited, I'd been hoping for some sort of sign to let me know if this was to be my land - an interesting rock, a feather, maybe.  Something.  I had no idea what was in store for me on Rusty's land, in that perfect moment of stunningly beautiful balance.

Serendipity.  Apparently it's one of the hardest words to define, but from reading Wikipedia's discussion of it, and combining that with what was already my visceral sense of the word, I would define it as "meaning-laden good fortune that surpasses that which was sought."

Hey, I have a Master's degree in English - I can make up definitions if I want.

A Budget, a Blazer, and a Bus

Since I made the decision to build a house on the Mesa, things have been coming together in a serendipitous way.  In terms of the initial financing of this project, the plan consists of several intricately timed steps, including getting my tax refund and then using that to buy a used 4W drive vehicle and and an RV to live in while building, and then selling my nice newish (and completely useless for the rough terrain of the Mesa) Chrysler Town & Country, in order to pay for land and get the initial things in place needed to live and build out there (i.e., a cistern, a generator, tools, and building supplies).

Wanna buy me?

I realize that it's somewhat taboo to publicly discuss the details of one's financial situation, but I will be flying in the face of that taboo on this blog because part of my purpose in writing about this project is to demonstrate that it's doable for anyone, no matter their budget.  As a single mother receiving no child support, I have been on and off food stamps and Medicaid for years.  With rent as high as it is in Taos, I've even considered getting housing assistance, but something in me has never let me go and turn in an application.

I do need to clarify that I have been blessed with parents who can and will help me financially from time to time, and my van was a gift from them.  In that sense, then, I have it a bit easier than many single mothers who find themselves dancing with the welfare system, but honestly, the level of my resolve at this point is such that even without the van to sell I would find some way to move forward with this.

So we're talking about a tight budget here, folks, but for $4000 I managed to get a 2001 Chevy Blazer in good condition and a 32-foot converted schoolbus.

Now that's more like it!

Our local organic grocery store, Cid's, has a huge community bulletin board, so I went there as soon as I had the tax refund, and found both vehicles at the same time.  It all went swimmingly, even better than I had hoped, in that I got a newer vehicle and a bigger living space than I had anticipated.  The bus is old (a 1968 - the year I was born) and in need of cleaning, but is really well-designed for livability, and actually feels spacious inside.  It has a kitchen area, a good sleeping section, a bathroom, and even a woodstove.  And, it's already out on the Mesa, so moving it once I have land will be relatively easy.  I'll take pictures of the bus to post next time I'm out there.

I haven't had time to deal with getting  the van ready to sell (i.e, gotten all of my crap out of it), because being so preoccupied with this project and spending hours researching various aspects of it, I've gotten really behind with work.  I've been making myself focus and get caught up this week, so no money for land yet, although I've looked at a couple of pieces.  More about that next time.

Incidentally, you may have noticed that I've used the word "serendipity" (or some derivative thereof) for two posts in a row now.  Because of how things have been happening, it's a word I've been contemplating a lot lately, and have now decided that this is what I will name my place, once I have it:  "Serendipity."  You know, kinda like "Tara," except without the slaves or the melodrama.  Or the trees, for that matter.