FAQ
The Questions Worth Asking Early.
Including the ones people feel awkward asking an agent, which are usually the ones that matter most.
Territory
Where you work
Which towns do you actually cover?
Hurricane, La Verkin, Toquerville, Leeds, Springdale, Rockville, Virgin, Apple Valley, Hildale, Enterprise, Veyo, Central, Pine Valley, New Harmony, Dammeron Valley, Gunlock, Cedar City, Enoch, Parowan, Paragonah, Brian Head, Kanarraville, Beaver, Minersville, Milford, Panguitch, Kanab, Orderville, Glendale, Big Water, Tropic and Escalante. The towns page has them grouped by county.
Why do you have two websites?
Because they cover different ground and the detail that matters is different. This site is about towns across five counties — land, water, access, distance. The other one is about the St. George metro at subdivision level: build eras, HOAs, master-planned communities. Same person; one site trying to do both would do neither properly.
Do you work in St. George itself?
Yes, but not through this site. St. George, Washington City, Santa Clara, Ivins and their subdivisions are covered at homesforsalestgeorgeutah.com.
What about Mesquite, Nevada?
Mesquite is in Nevada, and Nevada has its own licensing, disclosure requirements and contracts. An agent licensed only in Utah cannot represent a buyer or seller there. Ask me directly and I will either confirm I can act or put you with someone licensed in Nevada — I am not going to imply coverage I cannot back.
Is it worth using an agent for a town this small?
More so, not less. Small markets have thin comparable data, more unusual title and water situations, and fewer transactions to learn from. Those are exactly the conditions where getting it wrong is expensive.
Land
Buying land and acreage
What is the single most common mistake?
Assuming water comes with the land. A water right is a separate property interest and does not automatically transfer with a parcel — it has to be appurtenant to it, and the paperwork has to say so. This is the issue that most often unwinds a land purchase here, usually late and expensively.
Can you tell me if a parcel has water?
I can tell you what to ask and help you get it answered by the people whose answers are binding — the Division of Water Rights, the local water company, the county. What I will not do is give you a verbal assurance about a water right, a well or zoning. Utah water law varies by basin, it is genuinely complicated, and this is a material fact you would be spending money against.
What about access?
The question is whether the access is a recorded, deeded easement or simply decades of driving across a neighbour’s ground because nobody minded. The second is not legal access, and a lender will notice even if a buyer does not. It is checkable before you offer.
Can I get a mortgage on bare land?
Land lending is a different product from a home loan — typically a larger deposit, a shorter term and different rates, and some lenders will not touch a parcel without legal access or a water source. Talk to a lender who does land in this region before you make an offer, not after.
Can I put a short-term rental on it?
Do not assume so. Nightly-rental rules vary by town and by parcel here, and an HOA or a covenant can prohibit what a city permits. I do not state STR eligibility for any property on this site — it is unverified on every record and it is precisely the kind of claim a buyer commits money against. Get it in writing from the jurisdiction before you offer.
Living here
The honest questions
Am I going to regret how remote this is?
Some people do. The ones who do not are usually the ones who visited in February as well as July, and who worked out in advance how far they would be driving for groceries, fuel, a hospital and an airport. The relocation guide lays out the trade-offs plainly — I would rather you read them and still come than not.
Will the internet be good enough to work from home?
Sometimes yes, sometimes emphatically no, and it varies street by street rather than town by town. Get the provider to confirm serviceability at the exact address. Coverage maps in this region are optimistic and a neighbour’s experience is not evidence.
What is winter actually like?
Depends entirely on elevation. Hurricane and Kanab are mild. Cedar City, Panguitch and Brian Head get real snow, and at that point who ploughs your road becomes a genuine question with a cost attached. Ask before you buy, not in December.
How hard is it to get work done on a house out here?
Harder and dearer than in the valley. The trades market is thin, quotes often carry travel, and a contractor may be booked weeks out. Budget more time than you would for the same job in St. George, and be sceptical of a renovation plan that assumes metro timelines.
Money and the move
Costs, and the practical half
What do you charge?
Out here the distance changes the number as much as the house does. Tell me the towns involved and I'll put a plan and a figure in front of you.
As for the commission: it is negotiated, and it is agreed with the brokerage rather than posted here. There is no fixed rate for this region, whatever a comparison site tells you.
What is my property worth?
Not something I will answer from a web form. An instant valuation on a rural or acreage property is a marketing device — automated models handle these badly because the comparables are thin and the land component swamps the house. I will give you a real opinion after seeing the property and the paperwork.
Can you help with the move as well?
Yes, and out here it is worth more than it sounds — national carriers quote these addresses badly or decline them. Moving, storage and consignment run through businesses I own. See The Next Move Program.
Is the move included if I buy or sell with you?
There is an offer along those lines and it is not published yet, because the terms — especially the mileage cap, which matters enormously at these distances — are not written down and the brokerage has not reviewed it. Ask me and I will tell you exactly what applies to your move, in writing.
Do you have reviews?
Not on the real estate side yet, and I am not going to write some. The moving company has a long review history, but that belongs to the moving company and putting its rating on a real estate site would be borrowing a trust signal I have not earned here. When real estate clients give me testimonials they will go up with their names on.
Got one that is not here?
Ask it. The awkward ones are usually the ones worth answering before an offer rather than after.