Where would you move to?

[Quiver0f10]

To find a place that has atleast a few of these qualites:

• secluded/rural
• lots of woods but also some tillable land
• mild non-humid summers
• snowy winters( ideally we want to be off grid so I am not sure how this would work in too cold a climate?)
• where land can be found for @$1 to 2K an acre or less
• no or low income/sales/real estate tax
• few/no regulations on building code/zoning
• few/no homeschool regulations
• no/little regulations on buying/selling raw cow's milk or other farm products etc
• likely to find conservative minded folks
• likely to find christian minded folks

Does a place like this exist? Our dream is to move back to Northern Maine, but what else is out there?

[chestnut]

I think you have to die first to find that kind of place. Anyway pennsylvania is not it.

[Jubilee]

We have plenty of rural/secluded areas and lots of woods with some tillable areas. Our summers are humid though. Our winters are snowy but they can be bitterly cold. Land varies by location. In the west central portion we live in, land goes for $4K/acre. Taxes are... well... taxes. A good deal is to get into MFL (Managed Forest Law). We have our 40 acres of woods in MFL and the taxes are very low. Building/Zoning codes are sometimes a bummer. The only homeschool regulation we have is to send a form into the Dept. of Public Instruction. Otherwise the school leave us alone. It is illegal to sell raw milk, but if you know how to word it and who to ask you can... um... give it away (for donations) or sell a share in your cow/goat or take donations for your animal feed.... etc. We have lots of conservative, Christian people in WI. Just stay away from Madison and Milwaukee.

[geo in mi]

How about SW Michigan, if you're willing to settle for five or six out of eleven?--and they could be of your own choice...... We usually get portions of our winters that are cold and snowy, some parts of our summers are cool and dry, and we have a few conservatives, and lots of people call themselves Christians. I don't know of anyone or any bucket or any cow or any milking room that is clean enough to make me drink raw milk( I milked cows for lots of years), let alone buy it from someone else--but barter may be possible among your own friends.. If you get I & M Electric Co, the $/kwh aren't that pricey($.077), as compared to other electric companies, so maybe being 'on-grid' would be reasonable. Home schooling is your choice, but all my kids are public school teachers, . Taxes and building/zoning ordinances are about the same as everywhere else--pretty regulated, but usually follow national norms and codes.

Personally, I think you can make your own 'heaven on earth' just about anywhere you go, unless you want to be always discontent. There is no state in the US named "Nirvana"

[7thswan]

I put an add in down in the Real estate section of this site- log Home and 20 acres 140,000. It is pretty close to me. Dh drove by it. Looks like it has nice soil, a Pond and is a short sale. Seems by what the realtor said the people might have been Homesteaders.

[ET1 SS]

Quiver0f10-
During my Active Duty career we kept being transfer around a lot, right after we made our decision to stay in for the pension, we started looking for retirement property.

So we did search for a place for us in the Southern region of the West Coast, and Northern West Coast, and Southern East Coast, and Northern East Coast.

Granted I missed the middle of the country, I was never stationed there.

We choose Maine, without actually living here.

I would have to say that we are happy with our choice.

... To find a place that has at least a few of these qualites:
[*]secluded/rural

Yeah

[*]lots of woods but also some tillable land

Yeah

[*]mild non-humid summers

[*]snowy winters( ideally we want to be off grid so I am not sure how this would work in too cold a climate?)

Yeah

We have a few neighbors that are off-grid.

[*]where land can be found for @$1 to 2K an acre or less

I paid $300 and $900 / acre.

[*]no or low income/sales/real estate tax

I pay no income tax, our income is below the minimum amount to be eligible [deductions, exemptions, etc]

We do have a sales tax,

Our property taxes are very low.

[*]few/no regulations on building code/zoning

Yeah

[*]few/no homeschool regulations

We homeschool too.

This is really the best place that we have been for homeschooling.

[*]no/little regulations on buying/selling raw cow's milk or other farm products etc

Folks do it.

[*]likely to find conservative minded folks

Yeah

[*]likely to find christian minded folks[/LIST]Does a place like this exist? Our dream is to move back to Northern Maine, but what else is out there?

Yeah it exists.

[Tricky Grama]

I think NC. But here I am in N. TX so the grass is always greener...

Patty

[ET1 SS]

Originally Posted by 7thswan

I put an add in down in the Real estate section of this site- log Home and 20 acres 140,000. ... .

Oh my God!

Maine has had a depressed economy for decades. Few high paying jobs, few industries. Folks raise families of minimum wage, and have been for many years.

Maine did not experience the housing bubble that most of the nation had. So this current market crash has not effected Maine's home prices either.

We see 3bdrm homes on 5 acres selling for $40k.

An 80 acre property that was once a cattle operation, with farm house, equipment barn, milking parlor, hay barn, creek running across, and hay fields, will cost you $100k.

[Darren]

Rural areas of WV meet a lot of your criteria. Once you're away from the interstates, you can be as isolated as you want. The western foothills of the Appalachians from the Ohio River east get moderate snow. Rarely any heavy snow. The mountains get quite a bit. Prices will vary depending on the county. In the rural areas you can pretty much do anything you want without a building inspector looking over your shoulder.

The exceptions are drilling a well and installing a septic system if you don't do it yourself on the sly. Then you'll need permits from the county sanitarian.

[Kmac15]

we have hot summers, mild winters, low property taxes.
And my friend is selling her 45 acre blueberry farm. Info is on the real estate board if you are interested or just PM me

[Shagbarkmtcatle]

I don't recommend West Virginia. The summers are humid and the eastern part is not cheap anymore. Not your price anyways.
But I love West Virgina. It's beautiful and it does meet some of your other criteria. Where it's secluded though, there is not much work either. Can't buy or sell raw milk neither which is ridiculous.
I do not recommend Maryland nor Northern Va either. Way out of the price range you want and way too many laws, rules and regulations.

[FrontPorch]

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

We see 3bdrm homes on 5 acres selling for $40k.

An 80 acre property that was once a cattle operation, with farm house, equipment barn, milking parlor, hay barn, creek running across, and hay fields, will cost you $100k.

WHAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You gotta be kiddin' me?! That would be worth millions here. MILLIONS. And three bedrooms on 5 acres would never be less that $250k.

I totally need to move.

[paul]

Well, we have hot and muggy summers and the last few winters have had more ice than snow, but other than that, the Ozarks in southern Missouri might be a pretty good fit.

I own 50 acres, no buildings yet, and my taxes are under $20 per year. The only code in this county (Douglas) is a state-mandated rule requiring a code-approved septic system if you own less than 3 acres. The last I heard there was nobody in the county that actually checked, so the rule was being ignored. Milk and eggs can be sold from a farm, but there are restrictions on advertising and such, especially for milk. Homeschooling is very popular. You can find anything here from paint-yourself-blue-and-hug-a-tree Druids to some of the most fundementalist Christians in the world.

I just reread your list. Real tillable land is hard to find in large tracts, but plenty of pasture and garden spots.

homesteadpaul

[indypartridge]

Originally Posted by FrontPorch

WHAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You gotta be kiddin' me?! That would be worth millions here. MILLIONS. And three bedrooms on 5 acres would never be less that $250k.

I totally need to move.

Not sure where in Indiana you are, FrontPorch, but Southern Indiana has much more reasonable prices.

2300 sq ft, 3 BR log home on 15 acres - $98k
http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...3304?source=hp


home + cabin + 40x60 workshop + 24x40 shed + fenced pasture on 95 acres: $685k
http://www.landandfarm.com/lf/s/63/h...ing95acres.asp

[Quiver0f10]

Thank you all!!!

[Quiver0f10]

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

Quiver0f10-
During my Active Duty career we kept being transfer around a lot, right after we made our decision to stay in for the pension, we started looking for retirement property.

So we did search for a place for us in the Southern region of the West Coast, and Northern West Coast, and Southern East Coast, and Northern East Coast.

Granted I missed the middle of the country, I was never stationed there.

We choose Maine, without actually living here.

I would have to say that we are happy with our choice.

We do love Maine and lived in Fort Fairfield for 3.5 years, so Maine is #1 on our list right now. Our only hesitation is the extreme cold. We would love to be of grid eventually so I worry about the cold. I know we can heat with wood easily, but still it is a concern. The summers in Maine are perfect for us. None of us enjoy the summers in Arkansas. Too humid and I personally would be happy to never experience a tornado warning again. Ever. I'd like a longer growing season, which is another reason we were thinking of areas other than Maine, but I think we could always do a greenhouse to start things earlier. Of course work is another consideration. It's pretty unlikely my husband could find a job in his current career field so we need to consider that as well.

[Freeholder]

Originally Posted by Quiver0f10

To find a place that has at least a few of these qualities:

• secluded/rural
• lots of woods but also some tillable land
• mild non-humid summers
• snowy winters( ideally we want to be off grid so I am not sure how this would work in too cold a climate?)
• where land can be found for @$1 to 2K an acre or less
• no or low income/sales/real estate tax
• few/no regulations on building code/zoning
• few/no homeschool regulations
• no/little regulations on buying/selling raw cow's milk or other farm products etc
• likely to find conservative minded folks
• likely to find christian minded folks

Does a place like this exist? Our dream is to move back to Northern Maine, but what else is out there?

The only place I know that meets most of your qualifications is some remote state land being offered for sale over-the-counter by Alaska's Department of Natural Resources. Alaska does prohibit the sale of raw milk, but it's easy to get around that by doing cow-shares (or goat shares). The remote areas may not have the kind of people you are looking for, but they will probably be good neighbors in spite of that. If you do look at the State land sales pages http://dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/landsale/ the only land that meets your criteria would be in the Northern Region. Look at land that's NOT in an organized borough, as the boroughs all have property taxes. The Tok area has some land that would meet your criteria, and there are churches there, and possibly work, depending on what your husband does. Then over on the other side, west of the highways, there are some remote, fly-in parcels that would meet your criteria. Not many people live out there, and there wouldn't be much for work, no church, etc. That kind of life isn't for everyone. Just be aware that all of this part of Alaska has very long winters. You CAN use solar and wind power there, but in the darkest parts of the winter you might have to use oil lamps/kerosene lanterns for light, hand-pump your water, and so on. Like I said, not for everyone.

Kathleen

[Kmac15]

If selling raw milk is a deal breaker, you can check out the web site realmilk. They list the states that allow it. YA SC is one

[Elizabeth M]

Antler, North Dakota

[Pizza Guy]

Perhaps Idaho or Oregon.