Free land in Kansas?

[bull]

Have you or anyone you know of taken advantage of this?

http://www.kansasfreeland.com/

http://www.rookscounty.net/free_homesites.htm
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/Mankato/free_land.htm
http://www.cityoftescott.com/Free%20Land.asp
http://www.smokyhilldevelopmentcorp.com/WHP.html

[Mike DC]

I'd be surprised if there wasn't some kind of catch or backdoor expense involved in it somehow.

[The70RT]

I'd be surprised if there wasn't some kind of catch or backdoor expense involved in it somehow.

Yeah..........taxes and then maintenance. If you don't maintain it they will and charge you for it.

[Troy]

That Plainfield one is 1/8 acre in a rural town with a population of 2,000. You have to contract with a builder within 6 months and start construction within 12. Land can't be all that expensive there so, if you really wanted to live in the area, you could probably buy a much larger spread for not much more.

Mankato has 900 people but doesn't list the lot size.
Tescott says you can buy the lot outright for $8,000.
Smoky Hill is offering .38 acre lots.

All require a "real" house on a poured foundation (no mobile homes). Houses must be a certain size as well. All have time limits for getting started and completing the house. Like anything else, for the right person/family it may be an ideal situation. For others, it may still not be worth it.

Troy

[max]

That Plainfield one is 1/8 acre in a rural town with a population of 2,000. You have to contract with a builder within 6 months and start construction within 12. Land can't be all that expensive there so, if you really wanted to live in the area, you could probably buy a much larger spread for not much more.

Mankato has 900 people but doesn't list the lot size.
Tescott says you can buy the lot outright for $8,000.
Smoky Hill is offering .38 acre lots.

All require a "real" house on a poured foundation (no mobile homes). Houses must be a certain size as well. All have time limits for getting started and completing the house. Like anything else, for the right person/family it may be an ideal situation. For others, it may still not be worth it.

Troy

with the size of those towns it sounds like they "might" be a good retirement area.

[moparstuart]

come on out guys we need more mafia members

[472 R/T SE]

You mean Plainville?  There used to be a dirt track there for ATV's, bikes.  I remember taking my 3-wheeler up there practicing, I took the girlfriend out in the woods for some maintenance.  Ahh, the good old days.

With the resurgence of the price of oil, I had heard the patch was booming again back in western Kansas.  I would think it'd be a good deal for someone working the industry.  I walked away from any opportunities I had back there but it's definitely a great place to raise a family.

[bull]

With the housing market the way it is you could probably pick up a decent house on a few acres in "small-town midwest" that would cost you less in the long run. One thing I thought of that Troy kind of touched on is that the contractor you choose would most likely have to be local so in a sense I could see some price fixing going on. It may just be a way for the local govt. to drum up business for their local builders, which will in turn trickle down throughout the community while creating a larger tax base with a growing population. Maybe a win-win for everyone but it's hard to say unless you talk to someone who's actually done it.

[RD]

this has been going on for a while now, mainly to attract foreigners to move to kansas (legally) to re-populate the rural areas that have seen massive population decreases within the last 20 years.  I know, there is a reason for them leaving, but at the same time you cant blame them for trying.  It really is beautiful country out there with no pollution in sight, and very low cost of living.

[cpthowdy1369]

Wanna know why the land is free?  One word.....TORNADOES

[472 R/T SE]

Wanna know why the land is free?  One word.....TORNADOES

Funny you say that, I lived in Hays for 30 some odd years and never seen a tornado until I moved to the NW and seen a wall cloud going over the 1-205 bridge 10 years ago. 
Everyone asks me what I thought of tornadoes and are shocked when I tell them that.

[moparstuart]

Wanna know why the land is free?  One word.....TORNADOES

Funny you say that, I lived in Hays for 30 some odd years and never seen a tornado until I moved to the NW and seen a wall cloud going over the 1-205 bridge 10 years ago. 
Everyone asks me what I thought of tornadoes and are shocked when I tell them that.

I have lived here 40 years and never have seen one in person either 

[bull]

Everyone thinks the whole state of Kansas gets pummeled with one twister after another. But if you look at real estate throughout the country, as I do from time to time, you'll see that there are some really old houses all over the place in Tornado Alley. If a certain state and/or town has a bunch of 100+ year-old houses it's pretty safe to say it has dodged a lot of trouble.

[BB1]

You can build tornado prof homes.

I was always interested in one of these dome homes.

http://static.monolithic.com/gallery/homes/index.html

I call it the Hemi Home. 


Hurricane? no problem.

http://static.monolithic.com/domesinnews/2008/doahpressrelease/index.html

[The70RT]

I live in Topeka. We had the 66 tornado, biggest ever in the U.S. at that time. It wiped out a half mile wide area through the middle of the city. I was only 5 at the time. We had another one in I think 84 or 85,that one I seen after it hit 2 trailer courts then hit out by Lake Shawnee where it hit in a nice neighborhood and took out a lot of houses. I worked at a restaurant and our power went out so we went out side and seen it like 1-1/2 miles away. It looked like tin foil and paper in the air but it was from all the trailer houses it sucked up. Another one hit around 87. That one hit Topeka West High School and a Wendy's. (which is 3 blocks from me now) I have also been camping at some local reservoirs and luckily twice it hit on the opposite side of the lake we were on  So lots of brushes for me. We had at least 4 or 5 tornado sightings / warnings in our county last year. When you live in Kansas and the sirens go off you don't go down the basement first, you go outside to see if you can see it. 

[quentin]

I've lived just south, in Oklahoma, for 43 years.  The only tornado I've seen in my life was a small waterspout last year in Playa Del Carmen Mexico.  That said, I've known people who got their house wiped out by one.

[4cruzin]

  This makes me think of the old and wise saying . . . "nothing is free" 

[Chad L. Magee]

Everyone thinks the whole state of Kansas gets pummeled with one twister after another. But if you look at real estate throughout the country, as I do from time to time, you'll see that there are some really old houses all over the place in Tornado Alley. If a certain state and/or town has a bunch of 100+ year-old houses it's pretty safe to say it has dodged a lot of trouble.

I have seen quite a few tornados while living in the NW corner of Kansas.  The most tornados that were touching the ground at the same time that I can recall seeing was six (all small ones, rural eastern Colorado town) and they soon combined to form two larger ones when they went on.  They were not the common dust devils that get kicked up in farm fields by the twisting winds as these dropped down from the clouds above.  That was not a fun feeling, as the entire week was nothing but tornado warnings off and on for that area while I was there visiting my sister.  I blamed them on her at the time.   They are quite common during the late spring/early summer months.  What most people do not realize is that the population in this area (NW Kansas/SW Nebraska/E Colorado) is so spread out, the chances of being hit by a tornado is fairly small, unless you are actively chasing them.  You have to go about thirty miles either way before you reach another small town, with just farmsteads in between.  Most tornados that travel through NW Kansas are going through pasture lands and farm fields, not major cities (some people around here call any town that has a Wal-mart a big city ), thus the older houses still standing intact.  My uncle's farm in SW Nebraska has been hit three times in the past thirty years, last one was this summer that caused $80,000+ damage to their secondary house (they were in their primary one at the time).  That was the worst damage that they had ever got from one.  Now the further east you go in Kansas, the rules get bent a bit since the population per area increases enough that an actual larger city could be hit by one......

[Chad L. Magee]

When you live in Kansas and the sirens go off you don't go down the basement first, you go outside to see if you can see it. 

Yep, that is a community-get-together time (to see if you can spot the tornado first).  When it does get spotted, the direction it is traveling will dictate whether or not to go to the celler....

I have heard stories of old timers that got the call of nature shortly before a tornado warning was called for the area.  They waited out the incoming storm in the comfort of a small rickety outhouse.....

[Silver R/T]

living in the middle of nowhere, come on even town is called PLAINville. No, thanks

[mikesbbody]

living in the middle of nowhere, come on even town is called PLAINville. No, thanks