Okay, Alaska boys...

[Av8r3400 1178]

So, I'm watching this show on TV called Buying Alaska.  

 

Do people actually pay half a million dollars for a rat-nest looking shit-hole with no running water or electricity on a 1/2 acre lot?!?!

 

Half of the homes [sic] I see on this show wouldn't be legally habitable here….

[EDMO 1078]

The problem with buying in Alaska is that all of the untold acres of land is already owned.

The Federal and State govts own what was left after deeding it to the natives and selling cheap to politicians.

Natives generally wont sell to a non-native unless they are married to a native.

There are only about 7 main roads in a state that is 40% as big as the lower 48.

Many areas are only acessable by plane, boat, snowmachine or dogsled.

The public has tried, time and again, to move the capitol from the little hole they call Juneau up to the mainland.  Politicians own Juneau, and wont let it happen - they wont let the money be spent, but cost the state a fortune flying back and forth to their investments.  You cant get there by road.

Building outside of Anchorage or Fairbanks or smaller towns is so costly because of transporting materials - in some places this can only be done a couple of months a year.

I'm sure I haven't covered all of this subject - lets hear what the other "Alaskans" have to say.

BTW:  I had hamburgers with my boss, Jim West of Wild West Guns, and about 8 board members of the Native Borough Council one day in Barrow - My bets are that all 8 of the "poor natives" were millionaires from the oil revenue!

I sold my house in Anchorage for $250,000 on 1/3 acre, and my ex bought one for $300,000 on 1/4 acre, but they are both good houses in the city, where they do have inspectors and permits.

People in California have sold their little houses for millions, and have driven up prices for Alaska houses, so I hear.

I don't watch that show, so don't know what you are seeing, but its a different world out in the bush.

EdMO

Edited 2 Feb 2014 by Ed In Missouri

[SuberAvid 617]

Ed is right, it depends a lot on where you want to buy.  What the Government pays to build housing and support utilities in the Bush for those who are eligable is crazy.  You could give each member of every family $1/2 Mil and move them to Anchorage plus give them housing and it would be cheaper. 

 

In the rural areas outside of Anchorage but within commuting distance the prices are pretty reasonable; one acre with a modest 3 bedroom home can be bought for $200K to $250K

[EDMO 1078]

From what I have been told, the old Homestead act of 1930, which no longer exists, brought farmers from Wisconsin to Alaska, has mostly been a failure - the farms and dairies have never made a profit on paper, and still get big subsidies from taxpayers.

Beware of houses with Zero- Lots.....You wont own the land....Some subdivisions are doing this too.

A bunch of people made mining claims along the road between Seward highway and Kenai, and built homes there, but never mined, got busted while I was there and their homes had to be moved off of government land or bulldozed.

The native houses you see on TV were mostly built with your money, and the facilities are also built and maintained by you.

Life is a lot different up there - but it might have been a lot different for them if we hadn't bought it from Russia.

At least we got the gold and oil - well, part of the oil - for now.

EDMO

Edited 3 Feb 2014 by Ed In Missouri

[akflyer 1427]

Larry, it depends on the location!  On a lot of the "Buying Alaska" shows (I personally know a few of the buyers) they are looking at recreational properties.  These are at premium remote locations and in some cases this is the buyers 3rd or 4th recreational property or cabin to go to.  Pretty much they have one for all seasons and money is not much of an issue. 

 

If your looking at a remote property in some of these areas, yes, your paying for a view, or the land, and not so much for the building on it.  As Ed stated, some of these lands are bordered by the native allotments etc, so there is just not ANY available land in the area so when a chunk comes up for sale, it is a premium price!

 

hell the prices we pay for damn near everything up here would floor you!  A grocery cart not quite filled is gonna run ya 400 bucks.  Av gas at the local airport is 6.80 and in some of the more remote villages, its 18-20 bucks a gallon. 

 

[EDMO 1078]

And remote whiskey can run $200 a bottle, or more, plus jail time!

EDMO

Edited 7 Feb 2014 by Ed In Missouri

[IFMT 36]

Sounds a little like the Yukon right next door. We just have a whole lot more useless government and greens along with the natives who don't want to see anyone do anything. Welfare at it's finest!

[Trackwelder 12]

My mother is from Little Diomede, across the straight about a mile on Big Diomede that remained a Russian possession they pretty much packed everyone up and hauled them to the big cities, back in the 50's they use to walk back and forth across the ice to visit each other but then they started locking people up for doing that. By the way, I have been offered one of those houses for $5,000 but there is no access or place to put a plane.

[EDMO 1078]

Don't they now have one day a year that the divided families can visit each other across the political line between Russia and Alaska at Big / Little Diomede?

EDMO