Price & services

What it's worth, and what the owner's engineer can carry for you

Three honest price bands for the two claims, the market evidence behind them, and the post-sale civil engineering the owner - a Colorado-licensed PE - can provide under a separate agreement. The engineering is why the top band is defensible.

Both claims together — 9.53 acres

Cheap / quick close

$100,000 - $128,000

$10.5k - $13.4k/ac

Wholesale, as-is, cash

Cash, as-is, no engineering help, short due-diligence window. You are buying raw claim acreage and inheriting the paperwork.

Fair market

$185,000 - $240,000

$19.4k - $25.2k/ac

Both claims, 9.53 acres, improvements credited

What the improvements and the file are worth to a normal buyer with financing and a 30-45 day diligence period.

Premium / fully supported

$265,000 - $315,000

$27.8k - $33k/ac

Land + PE design package carried to permit

Land plus the owner's licensed civil engineering carried through permitting — the buyer pays more and skips a year of consultant hunting.

Claim by claim

The claims are offered together. These splits exist so you can see how the value is carried: the Humming Bird holds the pad and the built driveway, the Ontario holds the ridge, privacy, and the ground nearest Soda Creek.

Humming Bird Lode (south claim)

≈4.76 ac

Cheap / quick close

$55,000 - $70,000

$11.5k - $14.7k/ac

Raw-claim pricing, ignoring the pad and driveway work.

Fair market

$105,000 - $135,000

$22k - $28k/ac

Carries the graded building pad and the built portion of the driveway.

Premium / fully supported

$150,000 - $175,000

$31.5k - $36.8k/ac

Buildable-today framing: pad, access, survey, and the design set that fits it.

Ontario Lode (north claim)

≈4.76 ac

Cheap / quick close

$45,000 - $58,000

$9.5k - $12.2k/ac

Steeper ground, no pad; priced as recreation acreage.

Fair market

$80,000 - $105,000

$16.8k - $22k/ac

Privacy buffer, ridge views, and the Soda Creek frontage view corridor.

Premium / fully supported

$115,000 - $140,000

$24k - $29.4k/ac

Priced as the second building envelope and creek-adjacent amenity ground.

Market evidence

Patented claims in Clear Creek County. Untouched acreage trades low; anything with access, survey, and a buildable envelope trades several times higher per acre.

Comparable	Acres	Price	Per acre	Status
Big Dipper - three patented claimsNo road, no survey work, no pad. This is the floor for untouched claim acreage.	12.89 ac	$55,000	≈$4,270/ac	Active
Trail Creek area - 6 claims packageBroker-listed multi-claim package; individual 5.16-ac claim priced at $72,240 (≈$14,000/ac).	27.04 ac	$269,178	≈$9,955/ac	Active
Lizzie Claim - split claim, road frontageClosest structural analogue: a split claim with two distinct parcels and direct road access.	3.44 ac	$48,900	≈$14,215/ac	Active
Eliza Lode - patented 1910 gold/silver mineSold on mining heritage and cabin potential, 15 minutes from I-70 - the same buyer pool as this offering.	3.56 ac	listed	see listing	Active
3747 S Spring Gulch RdClosed sale of large unimproved acreage - the discount the market applies when nothing is engineered.	26.94 ac	$145,000	≈$5,382/ac	Closed

What's already spent here

Replacement cost of the work in hand, at 2026 Front Range mountain rates. This is the bridge between raw-claim pricing and the fair band.

Recorded boundary survey (2022, licensed PLS)
Corners set, claim lines resolved on patented ground.
$6,500 - $11,000
Graded building pad
Excavation, haul, and compaction already performed.
$18,000 - $32,000
Driveway, roughly 80% built
Mountain access is the line item that kills these deals.
$55,000 - $95,000
Engineered road / civil drawings (2026)
Stamped plan-and-profile for the remaining run.
$12,000 - $22,000
Two logged well holes + hydrology notes
Depth-to-water evidence before you buy, not after.
$9,000 - $18,000
Mountain-home design set, ~70% complete
Site-fit architecture, not a stock plan bought online.
$25,000 - $60,000
Code, zoning, and snow-load research package
The register published on this site, sourced and PE-reviewed.
$3,500 - $8,000
Total replacement value$129,000 - $246,000

Post-sale engineering, three ways

Offered by the owner under a separate professional services agreement. Pick the level of help you actually want; the land price stands on its own.

Cheap / quick close

Handoff & Orientation

$2,500 - $4,500 flat

2 - 3 weeks after closing

A buyer with their own engineer who just needs the file transferred cleanly.

Includes

+Full document transfer in native CAD/PDF with a written index
+Two-hour on-site walk: pad, driveway stations, well holes, claim corners
+Written summary of the driveway's remaining scope and grade constraints
+Warm introductions to the surveyor, driller, geotech, and excavator already familiar with the site
+One follow-up call with the buyer's own design team

Not included

— No stamped deliverables
— No county submittals
— No construction-phase involvement

Costs a buyer's new consultant $6k-$10k just to reach the same understanding of the site.

Fair market

Design Continuity Package

$18,000 - $32,000

8 - 14 weeks, phased with county review

A buyer who intends to build and wants the existing engineering carried forward instead of restarted.

Includes

+Stamped completion of the driveway plan-and-profile, drainage, and culvert sizing
+Grading and erosion-control plan for county access permit submittal
+OWTS coordination: soil evaluation scheduling and system layout with the designer of record
+DWR well permit application support and driller coordination
+Snow-load, wind, and frost-depth design criteria memo for the buyer's architect
+Two rounds of county comment response

Not included

— Structural stamp on the residence
— Geotech drilling and lab fees
— County and state permit fees

Market rate for the same scope from a fresh consultant runs $28k-$48k and adds 3-6 months of ramp-up.

Premium / fully supported

Owner's Engineer, Shovel to Certificate

$65,000 - $110,000, or 6 - 8% of site + civil construction cost

12 - 24 months, through final inspection

An out-of-state or first-time mountain builder who wants one accountable party from closing to move-in.

Includes

+Everything in the Design Continuity Package
+Full civil design: access, drainage, retaining, snow storage, utility trenching, fire-apparatus turnaround
+Water and wastewater engineering: well, cistern, pressure, and OWTS integration
+Off-grid and hybrid power coordination: PV, storage, generator, and micro-hydro feasibility carried into the electrical design
+Bid packaging, contractor vetting, and bid leveling for site and civil work
+Construction administration: submittals, RFIs, site observation visits, as-built and stamped closeout letters
+Single-point owner's representation with Clear Creek County through certificate of occupancy

Not included

— Contractor labor and materials
— Architectural and structural stamps by others
— Permit and tap fees

Replaces a civil engineer, a permit expediter, and an owner's rep - typically $120k-$180k assembled separately - and protects the build schedule where a single missed mud season costs a full year.

Why this supports a higher price

Sell certainty, not dirt

Raw claim acreage nearby trades near $4k-$14k per acre because the buyer prices in every unknown: can I get a well, can I get a driveway up it, will the county approve access. Each of those unknowns is already answered here, in writing.

Bundle the engineer, raise the ceiling

A buyer comparing $240,000 raw against $300,000 with the owner's PE carrying design and permitting is comparing $60,000 against $120k-$180k of services they would otherwise buy retail - and against the schedule risk of hiring strangers.

Price the tiers openly

Publishing cheap, fair, and premium bands anchors the negotiation high while giving a cash buyer a legitimate as-is number. It also disqualifies tire-kickers before they burn a showing.

Keep the services in a separate agreement

Land price and professional services should sit in separate contracts so the engineering fee never clouds the appraisal or the lender's collateral value.

Read this before you rely on it

• These bands are the owner's opinion of value informed by public listings, not a licensed appraisal or a broker price opinion.
• Professional engineering services described here would be provided under a separate written agreement, subject to Colorado licensure rules, scope, and insurance limits.
• Bundling services with a land sale can affect appraisal, financing, and tax treatment - confirm the structure with your own attorney and CPA before signing.
• Comparable listings are point-in-time and change; open each link to confirm current status and price.

Want a written proposal for the engineering?

Tell us which package fits and we'll send scope, fee, and schedule alongside the land packet.

Start an inquiry