jedsta

parcels not packets lol sorry yep a lot of land ...cash and then build a house can i just go buy land or is there some permit i need before doing so ?

Steve_

How the whole "Alaska" set up usually works is this:

Retired (or lazy) American "moves" to Anchorage or somewhere and has property there and that is their principal residence. Property taxes in Alaska are either very low or non-existent, plus residents get a royalty payment from the govt., plus there are no State income taxes.

Then they drive down to Arizona and have an RV or whatever in Apache Junction or Yuma, where there are also no property taxes.

As for the price of utilities during the winter in Alaska - doesn't matter, you're not there.

I'm sure a lot of people who claim to live in Alaska in reality only spend a few months a year there and really they live in Arizona.

Because their car is registered in Alaska they pay Alaska tag fees instead of the really high tag fees in Arizona and don't pay Arizona income taxes.

And anyone who doubts this, I suggest drives along Deerfoot Trail in Calgary around May or October and see how many RVs you see with Alaska licence plates on them...

jedsta

Just want to know the criteria for a British man with cash for a plot of land that currently lives in England. want a plot that i will build a house on. does any one know if 1) I can legally do this with out having any family in Alaska (or even living there) 2) the method I can make this possible ...seen the sites with the land for sale as over the counter auctions but they have no details how to help a foreigner that wishes to invest .

Michael

Buying land is not a problem as long as you have the cash. Building a house on the land may possibly be a little more difficult but probably not much since I doubt there will be many building regulations especially if it is rural.

Living there is a problem unless you have a visa that allows for that or immigrant status. If not, you'll be restricted by the visa waiver program to 90 days at a time or if you are retired, you probably can get a B-2 visa which allows for 6 months but both are pretty much restricted to 6 months during the year.

Pulaski

In reality, six months is more than enough because there aren't six "livable" months per year in Alaska.

In practice a 90 day VW visit is almost enough - arrive in June, then stay during July, August, and leave in early September. Even if you had a B-2, you wouldn't want to arrive before early May, nor leave after the end of September.

Michael

Around Juneau isn't to bad other than it gets dark very early during the winter. The winter weather in that area is better then some of the Midwest states.

Pulaski

Yeah, well I wouldn't recommend spending as much as six months of the year in the upper Midwest either!

Michael

Why do you think I moved to California?

penguinsix

Yes, you can buy a house or property. Building on the property is subject to the local zoning (planning) rules in that jurisdiction, but generally it is not that difficult. However you might want to consider a few other matters:

1) It will not give you any immigration status. In fact, owning a house in the USA may be used against you by immigration officials as they may feel you are trying to immigrate.

2) You will likely only be given 90 days to visit at a time, with the six month visa a hard thing to obtain if you are young and still of working age.

3) You haven't mentioned health care expenses while living in the USA. This can be a considerable expense each month, if you can even obtain coverage.

4) You are very exposed to currency fluctuations. With the rising £ you may end up losing money even if the value of the property goes up over the next few years.

Ash UK/US

We went on a cruise/land tour of Alaska last year, we spotted a Costco and decided to stop there for a slice of pizza for a late lunch (my kids love costco pizza and frozen yogurt). Anyhow the foodcourt area was absolutely packed with a very long line. Once we get our food and sit down we are watching people come through the check out and just about every single person had milk, some where taking it out by the flat bed cart full, so out of interest we went to look at the price and whilst by the fridge where someone was loading up with milk I ask her how much it would be in another store (costco where charging $3.50 per gallon) she said her local store charged $7-$8 Here our local Costco we pay $1.99.

Beaverstate

Not alot of dairy farms in Alaska, shipping costs for an 8 pound item that needs refridgeration can't be cheap.

Pulaski

I had assumed it was agreeable politics! .... Joking aside, favorable weather is one of the reasons I'm in Dixie.

robin1234

I've thought of moving to Alaska because of the mild climate, compared to the New York north country. Most places folk live in Alaska are close to the sea, so don't get really cold in the winter. But the day length variation between winter and summer would be hard to get used to.

Apparently Anchorage has about 100 days frost free, similar to us, but with the long days I believe you can grow some pretty good vegetables.

Pulaski

Yes, I've heard that because of the extraordinarily long summer days, strangely, Alaska is a good place to grow giant vegetables, especially frost tolerant ones like turnips and cabbages.

Rose tea

So to confirm, my newly retired dad could buy property here in the US, come out on a B-2 and live in the place for the duration (or VWP if the B-2 doesn't work out for some reason), and just needs to take care of health coverage for the duration of his visit? Presumably there's a way to pay property taxes etc from overseas? He has properties in other EU countries but this would be the first in the US.