Looking for land, looking for friends

Hi everyone. I just wanted to share some ideas and maybe get some thoughts. I am right now pretty new to the forum and searching through all the old posts so if I repeat things that are already discussed, please forgive me!

My fiance and I are looking to move to a small piece of land, maybe 5 to ten acres and live as self sufficiently as possible. She is a massage therapist and I an aspiring clown. We have what we think will be some extra money making ideas including some pioneer skills events/parties with my clown character about 4-5 times a year. Additionally, if we are close to a town I would work a regular part time job and she would do massages(she is certified.) We have a dozen or so more ideas, and also wouldn't need much as we plan for our only energy needs to be those we can provide with our hands and feet, or a bit of solar(no computer, no tv.)

Well, we would like to know if others are interested in working together on something like this? Also, in looking for land anything we find in our price range(under about 15,000 and we know that's low and would take less acreage if needed) are in subdivisions and such and require mobile homes or residences. We do not intend to do this, but would use a yurt, tipi, or possibly a pop up trailer. Is it possible to do this kind of thing anymore at all? Can you buy land that is just in a very reclusive spot and isn't zoned that would be more like camping land than anything? Please help! Also, like I said, if others would like to consider coming out there we would be more than happy to have them. We envision a place where people could come to chill out and step away from things while the world undergoes the beautiful shift in consciousness we believe is coming. Thank you...Chance

 

Here in central Alabama there is plenty of good land in your price range. In fact, over the past year, as gas prices have gone up a lot, the land prices have gone down a little. Folks wanting or needing to end their commuting. Plus several long time farmers/land owners dying and their land divided up, with some of those who inherited it just wanting to sell quick.
No restrictions, zoning, or any of that crap. Lots of owner financing with very low down payment & no credit check. Very low property tax - my 5 acres w/mobile home & several "outbuildings" yearly tax is about $86. Plenty of solor power potential & a long (250 days) growing season, not much of a winter & so not much heating cost.

How many thousands of dollars do you have for the solar system? When I bought my farm I paid $168, the electric co-op installed 5 power poles down to the end of my little road & my main breaker box. After a year as a customer, they refunded the money with interest.

Based on my years of experience, you might want to re-consider the TV (with satellite dish) and computer with internet. When you come in at the end of a long hard day (every day) of work having the ability of information, communication, education, and yes, even entertainment can be very welcome. It may sound good to think about living without any of that, but the reality is that after a while a life of work, eat, sleep, repeat, can get rather boring. Living out on your own land you have to strike a balance, or compromise, between idealogy and reality, with affordability factored in, while keeping in mind that some things will take some time and work to achieve. Besides, if you have TV, computer, etc., you can always unplug them. Don't limit your options.

As to "a place where people could come to chill out and step away from things", well, good luck with that. Again reality meeting idealogy, a lot of us folks have found that you wind up with a bunch of drunk, stoned, deadbeats & leaches who'll eat you out of house & home and contribute nothing. Might not happen to you, but it has happened to a lot of us (isn't that right HHB/Dilli?). Just beware.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

There is a county in Colorado called Alamosa County that has cheap land and I think it still has no building codes.
But I have been think about looking into a small piece for a get away type spot It would be cool to find some people who were interested in something like that so someone would be around to watch things when others weren’t there and maybe go in on a community well.
My girlfriend and I have lived off the grid for lot of years, right now we live in town and like were we live but a place for vacation and hunting would be cool and just to have something to fall back on.

I agree with poor old dad about the random hippies.
I have had to clean up after and support alot hippies before. But I would like to own some cheap land around some neighbors to help each other out.

But if you guys are interested in Colorado I will might be looking more in to land around there this summer.

The thing that sucks about that area is there is not many jobs though…
Not sure how many massage therapy and clown job you guys could get out there, it is pretty rual.

 

Thanks for the posts. I will definitely take a look at the land in Alabama. Any suggestions on paper names I can look for, or some sort of website? Actually, a southern state would be great.

Colorado would be good as well. Really, we just want to find the land and aren't overly particular. We are pretty industrious, so finding work in other fields is always a possibility...and not having to be completely reliant on full time work is an eventual goal anyway. I may have forgotten to elaborate- we actually wouldn't be staying without the electric and other things long, just taking a look at the growing needs and such and then slowly working our way up to having some of the other stuff-like the tv and computer. Money would just be tight at first and we are both huge readers and watch little tv. It is likely we may come with a laptop and use that.

As for the chilling out, I mainly meant that family, friends and activist acquaintances of ours would have a place to relax once in a while-but I think we'd have to at least consider those who came to us looking for a few nights rest and food/work or whatever. Again, thank you both and any further you have would be greatly appreciated...Chance

 

http://www.themuletrader.com/default.asp

There is a pull down menu that starts saying "All Categories". Click on it and go down the pull down to "Real Estate". There is a new list on line every monday morning. I haven't looked at this week's, but if you see "Mikul" that's the agency I got mine with. Paid it off several years ago, got my clear title etc., no problem.

If you see something interesting, let me know & I'll check it out for you.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

The cheap land I was talking about in Colorado is in an 8000ft valley so winter is a little harsh. It is not the nicest place just cheap.

Alabama might be a little easier place to homestead. Plus having an experienced local that has already done it helping you in a huge bonus..

My life with work and family has been busy lately but I plan on looking into the cheap land sometime soon, I’ll post more when I do.

 

i also am looking to do something similar, but on a bigger scale. i am in arizona now, but i am from ohio and i want to go back, buy some land and live in a sustainable fashion. i want to invite people from all over to come out, help build organic homes, plant gardens and live off our own abilities. i am still working out the details, and saving the money, so it will be a while, but if you're interested let me know.

 

I live in central georgia. Crawford county. Peach orchards. A LOT of land is going up for sale around me. Same as alabama, mostly family dying off and the ones that inherited it want to unload it. You could look up MLS for land on Hwy 42 in crawford county Ga. would be a starting point. No zoning restrictions that I knowof. Hell, I have 4 junk cars in my back 'yard' and my neighbor literally has a scrap yard in his front yard.
D

 

Indeed. In this part of Alabama there are a lot of things that make homesteading more likely to succeed. Among them are the already mentioned good land at a low price that is easy to finance and a very long growing season. Of course with a very mild winter, gardening year round is very doable. But also, the entire area is very agricultural. Although small industry is growing, more on that in a minute. Not only is the area heavely agricultural, but there are no big corporate farms. That's because the prominate crops and the "lay of the land" aren't good for the big corporate farming style. The biggest crops are peaches and necterines which are crops that are labor intensive and machinery is of little help. Other crops are small scale vegitable farming and small cattle and goat farming. The key to all this is "small". The lay of the land is very hilly (hilly, not even close to mountain) and there are few large chunks of land. Anyway, the point is there are lot and lots of small family farms, and it has been that way for ever (well, the last hundred or so years at least). What all that means is that everything is geared to the small farmer, from what businesses there are to how they do business to the county extension service to, well, everything. It's a very accepted lifestyle.
Another thing about the area, there are 1,500,000 people living within a 2 hour round trip drive, although very few within a 1 hour round trip. That means lots of customers for farm produced items and good privacy too.
Another thing about the area, jobs: This part of Alabama now has 3 large auto manufacturing plants... Mercedes, Honda, and Hyundai. Draw a line from one to another then the other and you (of course) get a triangle. The area I'm in is right in the middle of that triangle. Over the past several years there have been many "spin-off" manufacturing/supplier businesses started. Some are international companies that have been long time suppliers to these auto companies, others are newer. These folks manufacture everything from the seats, wiring harnesses, and tires to hub caps. That means plenty of fairly good paying jobs, which can be handy if you are inthe early, getting it all set-up part of your homestead/farm. And then later, it means customers for what your farm produces. BTW: there is a very good chance that VW will build a plant in the Huntsville area, which is a ways off but will mean more business for the local auto manufacturing suppliers.

OK, poor_old_dad's poor_old_fingures are tired, time for a break.... where is that cork screw & the matches if you know what I mean .....

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

Just a suggestion - if you do come to Alabama you should check out my area. I live in a town called Gardendale, about 20 min. from Birmingham. There are a lot of rural areas nearby, including Morris, Warrior, Mt. Olive, Kimberly, Pinson, that I think could serve your purpose.
It's beautiful here. G'dale is a small growing town. It's nice to live in a quiet area that still has what you need just around the corner. g'dale is only 5-15 min away from the rural areas I mentioned above.

Good luck to you and your wife.

 

Thanks again for all of the posts. We are now looking in the southern states which until now we neglected. I guess we thought land in such positive climates would be well out of our reach.

How many acres would you all suggest? We really just want to grow our own veggies and fruit, have some chickens and possibly a dairy cow. We do not eat much meat beyond chicken, but rabbits would also be a possibility. We really would like to be able to feed our cow with mostly stuff grown on the land. Please, any suggestions?

Thanks again, and I look forward to talking with you all again....

 

Gardendale is indeed a happening place and I very much like Morris, Warrior & Kimberly. That whole area has such a hugh biodiversity. My second try at my own farm was just north of those towns (in Blount county). Before that I lived for a while in Centerpoint, next to Pinson. Anyway ....

I've never heard anyone say, "I wish I didn't have so much land". In general I'd say get as much as you're able. Some will disagree with me on this but I'd set a lower limit at 5 acres, but with a cow that may be too little. For dairy products you might also look into goats. I don't have chickens, don't like them, they're noisy, messy, and prone to disease, but they can, I've been told, lay eggs. I've found that I can more easily barter for all the eggs I need. I've raised rabbits a few times in various places and they aren't noisy or messy. Their "droppings" are easily collected and are great for growing red worms to sell for fish bait, then after the worms have "processed" the rabbit droppings you are left with fantastic fertilizer.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

i'm looking at cheap land in new mexico.. i'll pm ya