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How do you find land for your off the grid house?
(7 posts)•Started 4 days ago by John Phoenix
•Latest reply from 12vman
Tags:
•land buy small house solar wind power
John Phoenix
Member
I live in Louisiana. I want to build a small house on 1 acre of land although I’d prefer 3 acres. I need it to have cell phone and dish type internet service available and on or close to water that can launch a small boat and is good for fishing for personal use. I plan to live off the grid. I want to go with solar (sunny days) & wind (storms) for electricity, propane or wood stove for cooking, a solar heater for heating, well water (filtered) and rain water for drinking water. All these things I will attempt to make or buy dirt cheap. (including the house of course) The House, I hope can be 1500 sq feet or a bunch of smaller houses like “rooms” all connected with a tunnel.
This guy is my inspiration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJsDOD0dTQI&feature=related His channel is called solarcabin. He shows how to make a 14×14 cabin and use solar, wind and propane to live off the grid for Cheap.. he says. He said you can find a 3/4 acre of land from 400 to 700 dollars (2009 prices)
After watching his video and looking at his website, I started searching cheap land prices on the web. It’s almost impossible to buy 1 or 2 acres or smaller and if they do, it’s Not anywhere near Cheap. Lowest I have found is 1000 an acre but these are very few and far between. It’s hard to find land at this price with the features you are likely to want unless you can move very far to a very deserted area with no cell phone or dish internet for emergencies.
That’s been my experience so far. Is there a better way? I have watched a LOT of videos about Tiny Homes and getting off the grid. It’s been said that tons of people actually want to live this way so all the bankers who only finance large homes ( including city planners, construction companies everyone who stands to make a buck on you buying a large home) are actually doing the community a disservice by refusing you – people want this they say – but you can’t tell that from the people who is selling land.
Is there a better way? I don’t quite know where to turn.
Posted 4 days ago #
caverdude
Member
Man if you find any land that cheap anywhere I’d be very surprised. In most rural areas I’d have a hard time finding an acre or less for anyone close to $1000. In Arkansas I was looking at a lot that was 15 miles from a decent sized town, it was on a state highway, so not extremely remote $2500 for about 1 acre. Another lot far more remote, 3.5 miles from state highway, with a few storage buildings and an old mobile home and water well, $5000.
Also there are other cost, like title work, surveying, closing cost, application fees if you want a loan. If you are buying it with cash you better get the title work done, as there may be a lien on the land. You also want a copy of a recent survey from the tax assessors office.
Posted 3 days ago #
John Phoenix
Member
I’ll look at your link Thanks caverdude.
I should mention that the 1000 dollar land I saw was actually two instances, one 5 acres for 5000 and the other 8 acres for 8000. I could do 5 acres for 5K in a heartbeat with room to hunt, grow and fish. Don’t know if there was a stream running through that land but I’m sure the new owner is very happy with that deal!
Posted 3 days ago #
Dust of the Sun
Member
Try this company for off-grid land cheap…they have a real good reputation. The only thing is you have to check often what they are offering…sometimes very little, sometimes all kinds of deals in various states. They really do alot of the homework for you on their properties.
dust
Posted 3 days ago #
Bikerman
Member
Dust makes a good point, look for Realtors dealing in such properties. I’d also sugget you ask about “Expired Listings”, these are properties that did not sell under the listing. Sometime you can idenify these properties yourself, go tothe Parish Courthouse and look up the tax records for the property. Most people paying taxes on a property own it! You can get that name and mailing address for taxes. Approach them and make your offer.
Alot of searching can be at the local utility company and at the courthouse. If a property is not servicedby a utility, being a mile off a road for example, bring utilities to that property can be expensive and that has an impact on the value of that parcel, it will be cheaper without utilities.
You can look up the owners of the property through the tax records, the folks at the courthouse should be willing to show you how to find the properties.
And, if you find land for $1,000 an acre in La, it’s probably under water! LOL Farm land has increased recently throughout the country, so trying to go cheap may not be a good plan.
I’d suggest that you look to your personal finances and see what you can afford on a monthly basis and then try to go with “seller financing” where the seller will carry the loan or contract for you. I have two rules about this, always get the property appraised so you know what it’s really worth (as seller financing does not require an appraisal) and 2. Never pay more for a property because the seller is financing it! They are not really doing you a favor as they will likely have favorable tax benefits from doing so and they will be earning more interest on the deal than they can get anywhere else.
As a buyer or seller doing a seller financed deal now, see an attorney as there are new federal laws governing the sale of residential properties with seller financing.
Lastly, there are several here, it seems, offering property for work, if you are willing to move, that’s an option.
And, as to building tunnels in La. near water, well I doubt there are any due to the water table, there are few basements in La. for that reason. Building on poles might make more sence.
Posted 1 day ago #
caverdude
Member
If you are good, you can berm above grade just about anywhere and benefit from ground/earth living. Good drainage and waterproofing are required. You might want to buy a backhoe or tractor with front end loader and backhoe attachments. Do the foundation and outer wall construction and berming yourself, then if you must sell the tractor or backhoe to get some money back after the project is complete. Though I’d want to keep the tools. You might want to do the same for a barn or other structure. Tools can be a good investment if you take care of them.
Posted 1 day ago #
12vman
Member
I found a piece of junk land that nobody wanted. I had no concern about any public utilities. I started with a used 20′ camper and 2 marine batteries, being charged with my van during the day while I was doing my job.. (1989)
It’s been a long voyage but I now have a nice place with no danger of anyone building next to me. I paid cash for the property (10 ac./2k) and the taxes are cheap. (undeveloped, no septic/well, no utilities)
If you choose to be off grid, you already plan to seperate yourself from the norm. Might as well use that mindset when looking for property..
Posted 1 day ago #
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