1942 Ranch on 6.4 Acres Backs Up to Lava Beds National Monument — $100,000

The property line ends where Lava Beds National Monument begins. That is the thing to understand first. On the other side is the Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge. So you have 6.4 acres of your own land with a barn, horse stalls, a chicken coop, a hunters cabin, and a new storage shed, and then federal land in two directions after that.

The house is a 1942 ranch, 1,688 square feet, three bedrooms and one bath. The roof is new. The bathroom plumbing and shower are new. The agent says it needs paint and polish, and that reads as accurate. The bones are solid, but this is a property that needs work and the price reflects that.

The barn has horse stalls and a chicken coop. The agent calls it solid but in need of TLC, which probably means it functions but you would want to look at it carefully before you count on it. The hunters cabin is described as rough. It could be brought back but you would be putting time into it.

From the living room you get views of the wildlife refuge and the valley. Given what surrounds this property that is a real thing, not a throwaway line. Lava Beds is a lava field and cave system, high desert, sparse and quiet. The wildlife refuge brings birds, a lot of them, which is part of why hunters come through this area.

Tulelake is a small farming and ranching town in the far northern corner of California, close to the Oregon border. This is remote land. You are not getting urban proximity here. What you are getting is six acres with infrastructure, a workable old house, and federal wilderness on your back fence for a hundred thousand dollars.

Three sales fell through according to the listing. The agent says none of it was the property's fault. That may be true. Remote properties with work to do can be harder to finance, and buyers sometimes realize what remote actually means once they start looking closely.

If you want acreage with elbow room and you are comfortable with a project, this is worth a serious look.