A Veteran's Preference Auction — Your Bid Beats Higher Ones, and the Parcel Comes With Conditions
State residential parcels of five acres or less, zoned residential, are offered through a Veteran's Preference Auction under AS 38.05.067: veteran sealed bids are opened before the regular sealed-bid auction, and the highest veteran bid takes the parcel even if higher regular bids follow. It is a bidding preference rather than a fixed price. The parcel carries obligations — once in a lifetime, no sale or transfer for five years, and proof within two years that residential development has begun.
Verified August 27, 2026
What this benefit is
State residential parcels of five acres or less, zoned residential, are offered through a Veteran's Preference Auction under AS 38.05.067: veteran sealed bids are opened before the regular sealed-bid auction, and the highest veteran bid takes the parcel even if higher regular bids follow. It is a bidding preference rather than a fixed price. The parcel carries obligations — once in a lifetime, no sale or transfer for five years, and proof within two years that residential development has begun.
What it's worth: Your sealed bid is opened first and beats higher regular bids — with a five-year transfer bar and a two-year build obligation
- The mechanism is a Veteran's Preference Auction under AS 38.05.067 and 11 AAC 67.050. Veteran sealed bids are opened before the regular sealed-bid auction, and the highest veteran bid wins even where higher regular bids are subsequently opened.
- This is a preference in the bidding, not a purchase at a set appraised price. What you pay is what you bid.
- It is usable once in a veteran's lifetime.
- The land may not be sold or transferred within five years, except as the Director determines.
- Proof that residential development has begun must be provided within two years. This is an obligation attaching to the purchase, not a suggestion.
- Eligibility is: 18 or older; one year of Alaska residency; and either 90 days or more of active service with an honorable discharge, or 90 days or more of Alaska Territorial Guard service.
- Eligible parcels must be five acres or less and residentially zoned.
- The agency page states the preference cannot be combined with the 25% veteran land discount — the two are alternatives.
- Because you pay your own bid, the value of this preference is the chance to secure the parcel at all, not a reduction — which is why no figure is given.
Who is entitled to it
- The character of service meets the usual state test.
- Your home is in this state.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
How to claim it
Deadline: Before the parcel goes to auction- 1Get on the notification list for state land offerings early — the preference only helps if you know a parcel is coming before it is auctioned.
- 2Check the three parcel tests before spending time on a listing: five acres or less, settlement classification, residential zoning only.
- 3Ask the Department of Natural Resources on 907-269-8400 how the preference is exercised for the specific offering; the process is theirs, not the veterans office’s.
- 4Remember this is a right to buy at appraised value, not a price cut. If you want the price cut, the once-per-lifetime 20% discount is the other route.
- File with
- Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mining, Land and Water
- Documents you will need
- dd214
- No renewal
- Once granted it does not need renewing.
Sources
- authority · published policyOffice of Veterans Affairs — Taxes and Land (veterans land purchase preference)
Why only one source type: Only the veterans office page states the preference; the statute hosts refuse automated fetching and the land agency pages were not reached this session.
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.