My Annual I Hate Winter & Want to Move thread

[2DogsFarm]

Warning;
This will be looooooong, but what I’m looking for is info on horsekeeping in Pahrump, NV

My only family is a brother now in Summerlin, NV.
He & longtime (10+yrs) GF rent & were just told landlord wants to.move into the house they’ve been renting.

Because it’s a gray, sunless February day, with a forecast for “wintry mix” tomorrow, I searched & found a 2+ac place in Pahrump.
House is decent & already fenced for horses with mare motel type setup for 4. Listing mentions trails nearby.
I also found a boarding barn 20min from the place with a Dressage Club.
I’m not interested in showing, but the occasional lesson would be good.

I msg’d the realtor asking if an ADU/Tiny Home would be permitted.
The pipedream is move bro & GF into the house, I get the Tiny.
Based on latest Zillow/Redfin/Realtor.com my place is worth more than twice what I owe.
I could put 50% down & a 15yr mortgage @ 6.8% would be eminently doable on my own.
Even 1/3 of that, plus help with taxes & utilities put in by bro would be less than I owe now to loan(s) & card debt.< It’s been a bad year for major systems needing repair/replace.

So, Nevadan COTHers, what say you?

[luvmyhackney]

Not a Nevadan COTHer but financially it makes sense, but if you are paying for the property, you should live in the big house.
And maybe it’s a lack of trust, but do your research about the tiny home being permitted on the property. According to ChatGPT - they are allowed but need to be approved by a local planning board and meet code.

[JanM]

Or put in a 700 sq ft 1 bed 1 bath small house, like the Pear Orchard House from Tiny House Hunters on HGTV. There used to be a nice long article about it, but it seems to have disappeared. It’s all on one level, No ladders, conventional plumbing, and sewer hookups, full sized stack laundry. They are very custom homes, so zero entry shower and other features can be built in.

Here’s a short version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIX7Eh_kE0s

Here’s another You Tube about the Pear Orchard House that shows more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKFI8ZAKnOY

Here’s the link to the original episode, but it may have to be accessed with a log in:

https://watch.hgtv.com/video/tiny-house-hunters-hgtv-atve-us/going-tiny-with-a-custom-home

Something like that would be comfortable, and can have good insulation and air conditioning.

Last time I looked at Nye County, they didn’t have the emissions testing that Las Vegas area does. On OP Live they said it’s the third largest county in the U.S.

[2DogsFarm]

Bro said the same, suggesting we share the house.
It’s big enough, but I’d prefer being on my own.
I’ve been coveting a Tiny for a long time.
I basically live in around 400SF of my current 1400SF house.
I’d be much happier in the smaller house located right by the barn.
Listing shows a huge RV there & says hookups are already in place.
So if connecting to house electric & sewer/well was $$$, there’s alternatives. The Tinys I’ve looked at provide RV connections as well as standard.

@JanM I’ve seen the Pear Orchard vids - algorithm knows I like Tinys & I get a lot of links on my newsfeed
Builders got the msg, a lot of the newer models are w/o lofts.

As long as I’m thinking, I’d like to hear about horse amenities like availability & cost for hay, shoers, vets.

[goodhors]

Check on water and mineral rights of the property owner. “Out West” the rights to underground things (water and minerals) are often separated, belong to other people than the land owner. Land owner may not be able to keep underground owners off the property should they wish to access their water or minerals!! Laws vary from State to State.

Friends in Colorado had to buy water for their stable and horses because their property had sold the water rights years before they came along.

There can be other (Peculiar things to Midwest folks!) things they do with property in the western states, which Midwestern folks may not even know they need to ask about!

Not sure you will want to be that close to brother. He was not happy very long on his last visit to you and went home early. Going across the acreage to house may not allow the two of you enough “apart space” to coexist peacefully. He may NOT WANT to help you keep up the fences and horse things you can’t do by yourself.

Also consider hay and Vet availability. Only 2 acres, minus house and barn area, is not much grazing. You will need hay year around for the equines. Not sure of the local weather, but winters will be cold, maybe snowy that you will need to deal with. May be more severe than your present location, with less amenities like snow plowing the roads.

It would be a BIG change if you move. Any chance of renting there, before purchasing to try things out?

[4horses]

Well I hate summer and want to move… The heat and bugs are too much.

I do know someone in Nevada. She uprooted from Miami and moved and she loves it. They have land, wild horses that visit in the backyard, and plenty of wonderful places to visit and explore.

I’m thinking more of the lines of Oregon or Colorado but I really think I need to go visit those states before making the plunge. Honestly I’d like to buy just a property with fencing, put a mobile home on it, and move… I don’t need anything fancy.

What are hay prices going to be if you relocate? Insurance prices? Proximity to jobs or work? Tax prices? Cost of electricity? My house has cheap electric from the co-op. The nearest city has electricity that costs as much as rent… it’s insane what they are paying per month for electric.

What condition are the roads in? My area does not maintain roads so there’s potholes everywhere.

It’s easy to think about moving. Actually doing it? That’s harder. Renting may be a good idea first.

Access to veterinary care is important. Access to medical care for yourself is important too.

[JanM]

Nye County does have a lot of gravel or dirt roads, but not in Pahrump. If you watched the early OP Live you could see some of Pahrump, mostly out in the county though. You might get some good information on Reddit, either the Nevada topic, or a Pahrump topic. And I look at city-data forum for specific areas, sometimes there’s good information on there.

On Ugliest House in America on HGTV, a season or two ago they had a ‘castle’ in Pahrump featured. It was interesting.

[3horses1]

I live in northern Nevada, east of Carson City and Southeast of Reno( 25 miles and 40 miles away respectively. I bought a horse in Pahrumph, it is like a rural bedroom community of Las Vegas. There is a fair amount of dressage/hunter-jumper activity in Vegas, it’s a big city. It’s all desert, very little green even in the winter, and no pasture unless it’s irrigated. You are reasonably close to CA for shows and clinics.
If you like wide open spaces for days and like lots of separation from your neighbors, you’ll like it. Summers can be hot, I mean like in the 100’s in July and August , they rarely get snow ( Even in Northern Nevada snow is not usually a problem, it usually melts in a few days) Very modest amounts of rain, but boy oh boy we do get wind in the spring and fall, not sure if Vegas does or not but guessing so. We moved to Reno area over 30 years ago from CA and never looked back. We have moved progressively further away from towns, and both me and DH drive 40 minutes to work and 25 miles to the grocery store. People are friendly , at least in the rural areas. Reno is so full of Californians it’s like any other big town, don’t smile, don’t make eye contact. I pay $15/ 100# bale of Teff hay and a few dollars less for the best alfalfa you’ve ever seen. Orchard grass is more like $17.Just my two cents, hope it helps!

[mmeqcenter]

I would price out the cost of a tiny home before deciding your financial approach. It might make far more sense to put only 10-20% cash down on the initial property purchase and pay cash for your ADU. Financing an ADU is often just a personal loan (in my experience) which typically have a higher interest rate than a mortgage.

Sorry, I know nothing about Nevada itself. Maybe try looking for equestrian Facebook groups in the area to post in

[2DogsFarm]

Firstly, Thanks to all.
I’ve considered a lot of things & until that realtor gets back to me, all plans are on Hold.

@goodhors Good tip about water rights & something I’ll have brother ask if he goes to scope the place out for me.
& As you recalled, his recent visit ended poorly.
But his issues shouldn’t affect me if I’m not sharing the house.
If he stiffs me on costs, I’ll be able to carry the totals myself.
He’s not a handy guy, so any maintenance is on me. As it’s been here for the 20yrs I’ve had my farm.

@3horses1 That’s the kind of info that will be helpful if things move forward.
My pastures now are somewhere around 2-3ac & never anything you could call lush. I feed hay year-round, just less when there’s grass.
Those prices are decent & comparable to my costs here.
The listing showed green grassy areas & trees
I’m retired, bro works from home & GF works as housecleaner for upper income families & said she’s seen promising jobs in Parumph.
I’ve visited them & know Summes can be brutal.
Unlikely I’ll show horses, but the ability to trailer nearby for a lesson is nice.

@mmeqcenter I’ve been following Tiny builders for years. I’m most interested in a TX one that includes appliances & nice finishes in their units - most under $100K.
I’d rather put down a higher down payment & deal with a smaller monthly payment.
My calculations include outright purchase & delivery cost for a Tiny.
Still need to investigate hooking up to utilities, but that can wait.

[mmeqcenter]

Oh that’s fantastic! Sounds like a good plan.

[volvo_240]

I have a relative in Summerlin, I’ve visited and it’s beautiful though most of what I saw is pretty cookie cutter, all new. Really lovely easy hiking nearby.

However I can’t even fathom horse keeping there. We have a habit of exchanging screenshots of the data weather forecast, and it’s literally Hades several months of the year. With barely any relief even at night in the summer.

[atr]

I bought a horse in Pahrump. Have you been there? It wouldnt be my choice for horse-keeping. Or as a place to live. And I already live in the high desert in Utah…

[2DogsFarm]

Thanks to you & @atr for the added info