Seligman, AZ

Last week I got the strangest phone call. The guy is a Buyer. He saw my listing on Trulia. He liked the remote land, which is a 36-acre parcel, that I had listed. He has been to the property and thoroughly walked it and researched it. You can see the Property on my Seligman maps page here and the Virtual Tour of the lot here.

In our phone conversation he told me he had summarized his offer and sent it to me via e-mail. On further questioning, he told me that he used Trulia to send me the e-mail. I stopped paying for Trulia Pro around two years ago. I suspect that his e-mail went to an Agent who pays Trulia for Buyer Leads.

This story has a happy ending though, as the Buyer told me to write up his offer and we are now in escrow. Both the Buyer and Seller seem happy with the accepted contract. I am also happy that the Buyer did not stop with the e-mail to Trulia.

Lesson to Buyers who may read this: Do not depend on Trulia or other search site such as Realtor.com or Homes.com to make the connection with the listing agent.

This project is proposed by Foresignt Wind Energy, LLC has applied for a 50-year easement over Arizona State Land northwest of Seligman.The purpose of feasibility studies and potential development and construction of a wind energy generating facility (referred to at the Boquillas Project).

More specifically, the applicant plans to utilize the State land parcels for a right-of-way access easement, a transmission line (tie line) easement, and a wind farm easement. The wind turbines are proposed to be located along the mesa at the top of the Vermillion (Aubrey) Cliffs.

Here is a map showing the location of the proposed wind farm.

Each of the small squares is a one square mile section, so this map covers about 28 miles across. The red line is Interstate 40 and the diagonal line running off the upper left side of the map is Historic Highway 66 leading westward from the town of Seligman.

Don't expect this project to have a major impact on the town of Seligman. I understand that the components of the wind generators are imported from plants outside the USA. The contractors come from out of state, and very little local labor will be employed as work is specialized. Even the maintenance is expected to be provided by the same contractors that come in to build the windfarm.

The BIG winners in this project will be the Navajo Indians, as they will own a majority interest in the project and will be able to sell the electricity produced by this wind farm. Read their Newspaper article and their Press Release.

Shadow Rock Ranch is seven remote sections of land west and south of Seligman, Arizona. It was developed in three phases of lots of 36 or more acres each. Most of the lots are heavily treed with numerous Juniper and Pinion Pine trees. Many have bluffs and rock outcroppings. I believe that Shadow Rock Ranch was named for this rock.

Shadow Rock Ranch lies within Township 21N and Range 7W in the northern part of Yavapai which is also in northern Arizona.
It includes Sections 19-21 and 27-30.

Access to the area is via Interstate Highway 40 at exit 109, south on Anvil Rock Road to left on Our Street. I suspect Our street refers to the property owners of Shadow Rock Ranch. Our Street provides legal access to the development. Elevations range from around 5,500 feet on the east end of the development in Purcell Canyon to around 6,200 feet on the higher peaks.

Our Street winds around this rock outcropping and runs steeply up in order to get to the top of the mesa that includes much of the Shadow Rock Ranch Development.

The views from the top of the mesa are breathtaking.

This 37-acre lot is currently for sale on MLS # 940763. See the virtual tour for this lot.

My listings in Shadow Rock Ranch are shown on Google Maps as shown on the screen grab below.

This map on my website is interactive. If you click on the icons, a thumbnail photo and a short description will appear. Click on the thumbnails to see virtual tours of the individual properties.

The icons on the interactive maps are red "KW" squares are lots for sale, the red house icons are residential properties for sale, and the green icons of both shapes represent SOLD properties.

I made a flyer that shows a map of the Shadow Rock Ranch area. It can be downloaded here.

I have a client who would like to trade at least one of his four lots for other properties in Arizona. He has four lots, each over 36 acres that range in price from $50,000 to $60,000.

Two are remote but in the vicinity of Seligman, Arizona in Sierra Verde Ranch. The other two are also remote and are closer to Ash Fork, Arizona. These two are on a main (dirt) road but are adjacent except for the road passing through.

I will return to edit this post to provide links to details about these properties.

I list and sell land parcels in Arizona. I am often asked why the development occurs in a checkerboard pattern.

When the railroads were being developed, the railroads were given twelve square miles of land for each mile of track that was laid. The railroads were not given the land in contiguous tracts, but were given odd numbered sections only. This checkerboard land pattern of land use exists in many western states.

In Arizona, at least in some areas, the remaining land eventually was given to the Arizona State Land Trust and was for the benefit of our school systems. Income for the schools is still derived by grazing leases of these lands. In the areas with the checkerboard pattern still intact, the public land provides around 50% open space. Much of the privately held land, which was originally held by the railroads, has been developed. In the Seligman, Arizona Area, many of these sections were divided into lots of 36 acres or slightly more. Those parcels with borders against the public lands are desirable because of the sections of open space. Very few of these parcels are fenced, so the area is mostly open range.

There are three major developments of this type southwest of Seligman. These are The Sierra Verde Ranch, Shadow Rock Ranch and Juniper Mountain Ranches. Elevations range from around 5,100 feet to about 6,200 feet. As of the time of this writing, the number of dwellings run about three to five dwellings per square mile and most of these are getaways and not permanently occupied.

A portion of The Prescott National Forest (PNF) includes an area that is in a checkerboard pattern. In the map below, the sections belonging to the PNF are in green. Some of this is in an area designated in The Yavapai Ranch Land Exchange and an elaborate land swap has been approved by the US Congress. This land swap will result in part in making this portion of The Prescott National Forest contiguous and in making other sections of land outside the PNF contiguous, as well. The Yavapai Ranch Land Exchange is in the stage of gathering appraisals.

[Update: On 4/15/11 I was in the Prescott office of the Bradshaw Ranger District of the Prescott National Forest. There I learned that the Yavapai Ranch Land Exchange, although approved by Congress may not happen. There was a specific amount of time granted for the exchange to happen. It seems the money was never put up to have the necessary appraisals performed.]

This example map shows an area southwest of Seligman, Arizona that is a checkerboard pattern. In this map, the yellow sections are private land, the blue is Arizona State Trust Land, and the green designates land in The Prescott National Forest.

Please see my map of this area showing properties that are for sale.

I have many listings in the Seligman Area, as work in the area gives me a chance to get out of the office and to see the sights and watch for animals.

Check out my land listings at Prescott's Land Man.com