Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
If you've been shopping for homestead land lately, you already know it's not easy. Prices have gone way up over the last few years, and good, affordable acreage seems to get snatched up almost as soon as it hits the market. So when you finally find a piece that fits your budget, it's tempting to jump on it before someone else does.
But that's exactly when you need to slow down. Cheap land is often cheap for a reason, and those reasons aren't always obvious from a listing or even a quick walk around the property. Easements, noise, bad water, and other issues can turn a “great deal” into a headache you're stuck with for years.
I recently watched a video on the YouTube channel, Girl in the Woods, where she tours a piece of off-grid land in Interior Alaska and points out all the surprises she finds along the way. Even if you're not shopping in Alaska, a lot of what she covers applies to rural land anywhere.
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You can watch her video and read my summary below.
The Property
The land in question is a 4.5-acre parcel in Interior Alaska with an asking price of $30,000. At first glance, that doesn't sound too bad. It's about 10 miles from a small town, it's close to the road, and the owner already had it surveyed. But the more she explored, the more red flags she found.
1. Check the Plat for Easements
Right off the bat, she noticed a cleared path with markers for some kind of buried cable. She didn't know what it was, which is something you'd definitely want to find out before buying.
Even bigger, when she checked the plat, she found that the strip between the road and the property is a DOT easement. That means about an acre of the 4.5 acres isn't really usable. That's a big chunk of land to be paying for when you can't build on it.
The upside is that the access off the road looked fairly easy. The ground is gravelly, so she figured you'd probably just need to put in a culvert and some gravel to satisfy the DOT.
The takeaway: Always look at the plat map and find out exactly what easements are on the property. They can eat up more of your land than you'd expect.
2. Find Out What's Next Door
One of the nice things about this property is that it had already been surveyed, so the markers were easy to find. But when she walked out to the back corner, she found a surprise. The property backs up right against the Alaska pipeline.
There's a gated access road along the pipeline, and security patrols drive it every day. So while the public can't get in that way, you'd have regular traffic right along the edge of your land.
The takeaway: Don't just look at the property itself. Walk the boundaries and see what's on the other side of every line.
3. Pay Attention to Wildlife
While she was out at the pipeline, a moose crossed right into the property. It turns out the pipeline corridor is a highway for animals, and the property is crisscrossed with deep, well-worn game trails. Some of them were so worn down they looked like they'd been used for centuries.
She guessed the trails were mostly used by caribou, but there are probably moose, wolves, and grizzlies coming through too. That might be great if you're a hunter. But if you plan on raising chickens or other livestock, you'd need to make sure their enclosures are very secure.
The takeaway: Look for game trails, tracks, and other signs of wildlife, and think about how they'll affect your plans.
4. Look at the Trees and the Ground
The property is mostly covered in black spruce, with moss and lichen on the ground. The good news is that the soil is gravelly and solid, and there's no permafrost.
The bad news is that the trees are small and scraggly, so there's no real timber to use for building. Even worse, black spruce is extremely flammable. She compared it to gasoline in a fire. Anyone living there would need to clear out a good-sized defensible space around their home.
She also pointed out that this part of Alaska gets extreme wind and heavy snow. Because of that, she thought a yurt would be a good fit, since they handle wind and snow loads well. There's even a company in Alaska that builds yurts specifically for that climate.
The takeaway: Figure out what the land itself can (and can't) give you, like building materials, firewood, and solid ground to build on. And take wildfire risk seriously.
5. Think About Supplies and Work
The nearby town has the basics, including a grocery store, a building supply store, a medical clinic, and a school. But prices there are high. The next big city is about 150 miles away, so you'd likely be trucking in building materials from there to save money.
You also need to think about how you'll make a living. She always checks her phone for signal when she visits a property. Can you send a text? Can you get online with data? If you're planning to work from home, that's a big deal. Starlink would probably work there, but in a rural area like that, finding a job could be tough.
The takeaway: Consider how far you'll have to go for supplies and how you'll earn money once you're there.
6. Research Military Activity and Past Land Use
This was the most surprising part of the video. There are a lot of Army posts and Air Force bases around Alaska, and the military runs training exercises in this area. When she visited the property a few days earlier, she heard explosions and aircraft.
It's also important to find out how the land was used before it went up for sale. In areas with military activity, there's a chance of unexploded ordnance buried in the ground. She shared a story about a friend's son who was hired to help build a road for the Army nearby. Even though a bomb squad had cleared the site, an excavator hit something that exploded. Luckily, nobody was hurt.
The takeaway: Dig into the history of the land and the area around it. What was it used for before, and what's going on nearby now?
7. Talk to the Neighbors
Locals often know things that the realtor either doesn't know or doesn't want to mention. While she was walking the property, she could hear what sounded like sled dogs at a nearby kennel. That's the kind of thing you'd want to know about before you buy.
For her, noise is a dealbreaker. She doesn't want to hear cars, airplanes, or a bunch of barking dogs. That's why she recommends visiting a property on different days and at different times of day so you can get a real feel for what it's like to live there.
The takeaway: Talk to neighbors and visit the land multiple times. It's the best way to avoid surprises.
8. Have a Plan for Power
There's no grid power at this property, so you'd have to make your own. Wind would be a good option since it's so windy there. Solar would work great in the summer, when there's almost 24 hours of daylight, but not so well in the winter, when there are maybe five hours of daylight.
Interior Alaska winters are long, dark, and brutally cold. She said it averages around 20 below zero and she's seen it hit 60 below.
The takeaway: Figure out how you'll generate power year-round, not just during the best season.
9. Don't Assume You'll Have Good Water
This might be the biggest issue of all. She was told that wells in the area can have arsenic in the water. The only way to find out is to drill a well and test it, which could cost thousands of dollars only to find out you can't use the water.
Collecting rainwater is an option, but Interior Alaska is actually considered semi-arid. She collects rainwater herself north of Fairbanks, and there are times when her barrel is totally empty.
The takeaway: Research the water situation before you buy. Ask neighbors about their wells and look into local water quality.
10. Look for Public Access Points
Just a short distance from the property, she found a trail onto state land that anyone can use. It loops around the back side of the property and keeps going. Along the trail she found shotgun and handgun shells, along with bones and carcasses. It's clearly used by hunters, and it looked like people were doing target practice pretty much in the direction of the property.
The takeaway: Check for nearby public land, trails, and hunting areas. They can mean strangers, noise, and even stray bullets near your home.
Her Verdict
In the end, she decided to pass on this property. Between the pipeline access, the military exercises, the public hunting trail, the DOT easement, and the busy road, there were just too many red flags. She also felt the price was too high for what you'd be getting.
For her, noise was the number one reason. The road out front is a main thoroughfare, and if she's going to live in Alaska, she doesn't want to hear cars at all.
Final Thoughts
Finding affordable homestead land is hard enough without getting stuck with a property full of surprises. Before you buy, check the plat for easements, walk the boundaries, look into the water situation, talk to the neighbors, and visit at different times. A little extra homework now could save you a lot of money and frustration later.
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