OK Homesteaders I need ideas (soon to be homeless & unemployed!)

[ErinP]

We have 40 acres of bare ground that we've barely started our house on. We have footers framed for pouring (Hopefully this weekend we'll put in a well.) Ie, we have no concrete, just a hole.

We have 6 horses, 5 dogs, 3 heifers and an assortment of chickens, not to mention ourselves and two children.

DH was just informed this morning that corporate is going to be sending our cattle herd up to the ranch in SD. Ie, unless he wants to move back up there with them (no! There's a reason we left) he's jobless sometime in the near future. Worse, because the house comes with the job, we'll also be homeless.
The job is easy. DH is well known in our area and has already had several job offers. He's not particularly interested in any of them yet, but we sure won't starve.

So far as housing, we have a couple of options:

--A neighbor has offered his really dumpy house (and outbuildings, corrals, etc) to us in exchange for our fixing it up.

--We buy a used camper or trailer house, drag it down to our pasture and live in that while we build.

The neighbor's house:
pros--
*It's a developed homestead site. It's already there. Power, water, septic, outbuildings, etc. It's ready to go as soon as we move in.

cons--
*invariably, those rent-in-exchange-for-work setups go awry somehow...
*And it's still 15 miles from our house site.
*We'd have to move yet again.
*We'd have to spend work time fixing up his house, instead of working on our own.

A camper:
pros--
*it'd be ours.
*We have an outhouse, so septic can wait. Power is coming in the next few weeks. well is soon to arrive, hopefully.
*We'd be sitting right next to our house site, so it'd be easy to work on it.

cons--
*tornado season is approaching.
*no outbuildings or anywhere to store building materials or places to work out of the weather.
*it will cost anywhere from $5-8,000 for one we could live in.


What are some thoughts on this?

[wyld thang]

I vote trailer

[beaglebiz]

I also vote trailer...we would live in ours if we had too, and our last one before the new one was an oldie but a goodie.

[deaconjim]

For about the same money as buying a camper, buy sawmill lumber, set some poles securely in the ground, and build a "tool shed" with a couple of bedrooms. Insulate it, if you have temporary power for the construction site you can have some electricity, and you'll have to work out your water source. Temporary power will supply enough for a fridge, washing machine, water heater, and lights. Use gas or propane for heat, clothes dryer, and the stove. You can put in a kitchen sink and a shower and run off the gray water. Make sure your "shed" has two entrances, smoke and CO detectors, and good ventilation.

[sgl42]

i'd go for the trailer. the fix-house-for-rent deal is likely to consume too much time and energy that should go toward building your own house. get the trailer, and focus all your energy on your own house, and a job that pays real money.

--sgl

[Pony]

I'm with Deacon Jim.

Build a "shed" and live in that for now. It'll cost about the same as a trailer (perhaps less), and you will have an additional building once you get your main house built.

Good luck to you!

[Jennifer L.]

Trailer or shed, since it's spring and you have almost 7 months to build in. Get going on the house and get the shell up and insulated this year (if not done). I wouldn't waste time on the old house unless it were fall with winter coming at you and you needed a place for the winter.

You might consider getting the corral fixed up to have the stock there, though. I think you should put all of your effort into your own house and the stock should take an extreme backseat for awhile, which means don't be spending time doing a whole lot of fence work on your acreage.

Good luck. Sounds like exciting times ahead for you!

Jennifer

[kimmom2five]

Either a camper or shed like others have suggested.
But dig a tornado shelter first. I grew up in OK, I know what is important!

[where I want to]

When I was building my home, the current house I put on the market, thinking it would take a couple of months to close, sold in a week and closed in two.
I put some feelers out and the mother of someone I knew had a large camper trailer she wasn't using and rented to me for a pretty small amount- I lived there 6 months til the house was livable. They then took the camper back- a win win for both of us.

[Sonshine]

I agree with DeaconJim. But then again, if you have a camper it already has what you need in it, such as beds and kitchen, etc. I've lived in a camper and it's not too bad. I would make sure you had a safe place to go though if a tornado comes around.

[DW]

trailer...keep the house very simple...you can add on later.

[canfossi]

I'd go with the trailer, and you can always sell it once the house is up and you have no need for it or keep it for vacations away from home. Good luck!

[RosewoodfarmVA]

Do not spend all your time and $$ fixing up someone elses trash!

I hate to suggest this but in your shoes, I'd get rid of all the animals. Not only do you not have accommodations for them at the farm, but they drain valuable time, energy, money, and resources from other more pressing issues. At this point you need to get the house framed in before winter. Live in a RV or trailer (or tent) if you have to, but get that house closed in, so that you can work on the inside this winter! Horses can be gotten again for little to nothing, calves can be bought, but the time spent and $$ will be a big drain on you this year! Just my .02, get rid of everything not essential, like the animals and any outside 'social' functions, then focus on only the house, then start on the farm AFTER you have moved into the house. I've seen this several times where families get moved into a MH, have all the animals and horses, and it just takes them FOREVER to get the house done because every time you see them, they're out riding instead of working on the house, or just get burnout and have no incentive to finish because they have a roof over them (the MH). I know of a family that spent 5 years fixing up an older house while living in a 2br2bath MH on the property, with 6 children and 4 dogs! Yes they had all the horses, honey bees, chickens, etc and all of their outside stuff and church meetings every night of the week and so on just kept them from doing what needed to be done. If you're building a house you've got to focus!

Remember, any time or resources spent on 'temporary' amenities draws away from getting that house/farm done. Only invest in good quality, permanent things, not things to 'make do' with. If it takes you a year longer to get the house done because you had to deal with setting up a MH, legal stuff, electric and septic and well hookup (all of which cost $$ and time), and constant feeding/care/riding of animals, was it worth it? 2 adults and 2 children can live very comfortably in a RV or popup camper for a summer to get the house closed in. IMO getting a MH set up will only distract you from the house.

[CJ]

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Originally Posted by RosewoodfarmVA

Do not spend all your time and $$ fixing up someone elses trash!

I hate to suggest this but in your shoes, I'd get rid of all the animals. Not only do you not have accommodations for them at the farm, but they drain valuable time, energy, money, and resources from other more pressing issues. At this point you need to get the house framed in before winter. Live in a RV or trailer (or tent) if you have to, but get that house closed in, so that you can work on the inside this winter! Horses can be gotten again for little to nothing, calves can be bought, but the time spent and $$ will be a big drain on you this year! Just my .02, get rid of everything not essential, like the animals and any outside 'social' functions, then focus on only the house, then start on the farm AFTER you have moved into the house. I've seen this several times where families get moved into a MH, have all the animals and horses, and it just takes them FOREVER to get the house done because every time you see them, they're out riding instead of working on the house, or just get burnout and have no incentive to finish because they have a roof over them (the MH). I know of a family that spent 5 years fixing up an older house while living in a 2br2bath MH on the property, with 6 children and 4 dogs! Yes they had all the horses, honey bees, chickens, etc and all of their outside stuff and church meetings every night of the week and so on just kept them from doing what needed to be done. If you're building a house you've got to focus!

Remember, any time or resources spent on 'temporary' amenities draws away from getting that house/farm done. Only invest in good quality, permanent things, not things to 'make do' with. If it takes you a year longer to get the house done because you had to deal with setting up a MH, legal stuff, electric and septic and well hookup (all of which cost $$ and time), and constant feeding/care/riding of animals, was it worth it? 2 adults and 2 children can live very comfortably in a RV or popup camper for a summer to get the house closed in. IMO getting a MH set up will only distract you from the house.

[ErinP]

Well we wouldn't be spending our own money on someone else's house. I don't think he'd even consider that, actually. But it definitely would drain our time.

And we can't get rid of our animals!
More importantly, there's really no reason to. (I've long ago come to the conclusion that a lot of folks here spend way more time on their critter chores than we do...) We'd just turn our heifers and horses out on grass. Just like if we didn't have to move. And the chickens are going to get a snazzy little tractor.
DH has had one of our horses for 28 years! Besides, it's pretty hard for a cowboy to make a living without a horse...

2 adults and 2 children can live very comfortably in a RV or popup camper for a summer to get the house closed in.

This is basically the plan, I guess. Like i said, we wouldn't use the septic. Electric is already taken care of (free). We don't have "legal stuff" in our county. And DH can do plumbing. But even were we to get a trailer, we'd just treat it as a camper....

Yes they had all the horses, honey bees, chickens, etc and all of their outside stuff and church meetings every night of the week and so on just kept them from doing what needed to be done.

I see your point, but at the same time have to wonder; how do you know they weren't doing "what needed to be done?"
It could be they saw the house as needing to fit into their lives, rather than putting their lives on hold to build a house...

[Common Tator]

Start checking Craigslist.org. Do searches for mobile home, and trailer. You may find one cheap or even free!

My brother just bought a 5th wheel trailer for he and his wife. A nice older one with nice amenities and 3 pull outs so there is lots of room. They lost their jobs months ago and just can't keep the mortgage up, so they are planning in advance.

I wish you the very best!

[LamiPub]

I think the camper is a good idea. Since you know where your house site is, I would build a small concrete cellar for a storm shelter and for your canned goods and other storing needs. That way the cellar is something permant and will come in very handy for storing lard, canned goods, potatos, root vegetables, etc. even when the house is built.

[Jerngen]

I would either borrow a camper or use tents until I got the shed/garage up. Finish off the upstairs to live in, then work on the house.
I too would keep my animals!

[clovis]

Camper or future out building would be my vote.

What about one of those two story garage shelters with the living quarters upstairs? While I have never seen it done, it would be easy to make part or all of the downstairs for living space as well.

Unless you can find a steal on a camper, I would put my money into a hard asset if I could.

Clove

[Bonnie L]

I vote for the shack - er, outbuilding. When I was a kid we weren't the only ones living in a garage while the house was being built. It doesn't seem to be quite as common now.