A few questions about homesteading

[TomWilliams]

Hi all,

My wife and I are considering moving out to either Kentucky, Tennessee or West Virginia. We currently live in LA county in California, my wife is from here and I am from England. I am thinking I will have to commute to a city up to 1 hour distance. I have a degree in IT and have worked as a materials manager for a factory, general IT person and clerk for a clinic. Any recommendations on where to move to?

I will have to work full time to provide for us both and will probably only be able to work on the homestead for a few hours a day and the weekend. It will mostly be done by myself. I'm thinking of getting around 2 acres for a vegetable garden, chickens (egg layers and broilers) with the possibility of bees and goats in the future. I would like to be able to hunt and fish locally as well.

With a budget of 100k with up to 75k going towards a property and the rest for a truck and money to sustain ourselves until I find a job do you think this would be possible?

Thanks for the feedback.

Tom

[FarmboyBill]

Come to NE Okla, and with that money, you can buy a good 40 acres, and still have $25Gs to play with. Tulsa has all the jobs in the world. IF you get in between Tulsa and OKC, I don't see how you could miss finding a job within an hr drive therebouts.

[Callieslamb]

Get a job where you can do most of your work from home.

[MO_cows]

From England to LA to Appalachia, what an adventurer you must be. Better save some money in the budget for a translator. (just joking)

Suggest you travel and check out those different areas to narrow down your target area. What your $75k will buy in one place versus another is going to vary.

Sounds like you could get a job most anywhere there is a good size city.

Welcome and good luck!

[TomWilliams]

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

Come to NE Okla, and with that money, you can buy a good 40 acres, and still have $25Gs to play with. Tulsa has all the jobs in the world. IF you get in between Tulsa and OKC, I don't see how you could miss finding a job within an hr drive therebouts.

Thanks, I'll look into that area, we were worried about tornados though. Would we need a property with a storm cellar there?

[TomWilliams]

Originally Posted by Callieslamb

Get a job where you can do most of your work from home.

I wish I could, so much easier to work for someone else though.

[TomWilliams]

Originally Posted by MO_cows

From England to LA to Appalachia, what an adventurer you must be. Better save some money in the budget for a translator. (just joking)

Suggest you travel and check out those different areas to narrow down your target area. What your $75k will buy in one place versus another is going to vary.

Sounds like you could get a job most anywhere there is a good size city.

Welcome and good luck!

Would be adventurer lol.

Thank you, we'll see what we can do about travelling.

[Cookie2]

Oh dear ... have you ever lived in a small town?

I grew up in the SF Bay Area, CA, moved to just outside of Boise, ID, then moved to rural MS. I can assure you that a move from urban CA to an exceptionally rural area will be quite a culture shock. It might be such a dramatic change, you may not like it.

While I'm sure you're used to hard work, rural living or homesteading is a much different kind of hard work. It is much different. There are no vacation days. You'll be tied to your land - rarely an opportunity to travel if you have crops or animals. Friendships will take years, perhaps decades to develop - if they ever do. If you buy land, your place may always be referred to as "the previous owner's place" by other people. Cultural opportunities ... even seeing a movie ... may be few and far between if they exist at all.

My recommendation ... travel and check out different areas. This is not a decision you can make from a distance. Try to be in the area during regular working hours. Commute during your regular commute times. Shop at the local stores, especially grocery stores. Try not to act like you're on vacation. Every place seems nice when you're on vacation. DO spend a day or two house hunting. A $70K 3-bedroom, 2-bath might be over 100 years old and remodeled in the 1970's - a startling prospect in real life and far from the romantic farmhouses featured in magazines. Talk to everyone you run across. Ask them what they like about the area ... and what they don't like. Ask them if they could live anywhere, where would they live. Look to see if there are rentals where you could live while you're looking to buy (it takes time). Go to church on Sunday.

Good luck.

[TomWilliams]

Thank you for being frank Cookie. To be honest i haven't lived in a small town before. It sounds like i definitely need to do some traveling beforehand. I appreciate all your tips. I was talking to my wife about going to church as well (we haven't been and it's been write a few years since i have).

Thanks again,

Tom

[FarmboyBill]

Must be hail in Idaho

I came here from NE Kansas in 81. Im the only farmer around for 10 miles. Lots of ranchers or wanna be ranchers. People are as friendly as they need to be.
Yes we have a few tornadoes a year, but if youl notice, everywhere seems to have a few nowadays. Weathers all crazy. We have mild winters. You can get 2 crops of the same piece of land here.

[Paumon]

Originally Posted by TomWilliams

Hi all,

My wife and I are considering moving out to either Kentucky, Tennessee or West Virginia. We currently live in LA county in California, my wife is from here and I am from England......

If you don't mind me asking, what prompted you to choose those places?

Cookie2 gave you really excellent advice - in particular this:

Friendships will take years, perhaps decades to develop - if they ever do. If you buy land, your place may always be referred to as "the previous owner's place" by other people. Cultural opportunities ... even seeing a movie ... may be few and far between if they exist at all.

My recommendation ... travel and check out different areas.

Cookie2 was being diplomatic but the message read between the lines (and I agree with it) is that because your wife is from LA California and you are from England in all likelihood you both will not fit in with the closed rural society and culture in those states, you will be shunned. There's a strong possibility that you could be driven out, especially if you're wanting to live in a very small rural town.

I agree with Cookie2, you need to travel and check out different areas and I think you should check out several states across the country. Do your homework intensively before choosing any place, do internet research before you travel and have a well informed idea of what you could be walking into before you visit places to investigate. Check out the demographics and the drug cultures, social, religious and political cultures of different areas in several different states. Find out about the economies of places, the employment opportunities for yourself and the education opportunities for your children if you're planning on raising a family. Learn about the geography and land restrictions, the wild animals, the pests and diseases, whether or not there are dangerous animals and insects, the availability and condition of water, and very importantly learn about the climate. And most importantly - learn about the people and what they expect from newcomers and who they will shun and who they will welcome.

[Terri]

For my husband and I employment was the big thing.

DH got a job, and he followed the main roads out to a reasonable commute. Then he looked between that spot and his job: we ended up with a house and an acre just half an hour from his job.

Life is good! Though, if we had 3 acres we could have a cow, alas! But life is still good.

[DamnearaFarm]

Whooooa.
Shunned? Driven out?

Although we may be a bit behind the times (born & raised in KY, lived in TN for goin' on 25 years now) we rural folks are far from the middle ages......

OP-
When we moved from TN to NM I had narrowed down a few places to visit. I did it all via research online. We sat down and came up with a list of what we wanted in our new home town. Be general at first, come up with a list and then get specific and winnow it down. Then visit. Subscribe to the local paper after you visit but before you move. Learn all you can about the area and make it as stress free a process as possible.
Good luck and if you end up with specific questions about areas in KY or TN, let me know

[TomWilliams]

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

Must be hail in Idaho

I came here from NE Kansas in 81. Im the only farmer around for 10 miles. Lots of ranchers or wanna be ranchers. People are as friendly as they need to be.
Yes we have a few tornadoes a year, but if youl notice, everywhere seems to have a few nowadays. Weathers all crazy. We have mild winters. You can get 2 crops of the same piece of land here.

Wow, so you're used to tornadoes being from Kansas right? Have you ever had one close to you?

[TomWilliams]

Originally Posted by Paumon

If you don't mind me asking, what prompted you to choose those places?

I did some research and made a spreadsheet, average house prices, property tax, sales tax, income tax, average temperatures, rainfall etc. Those were the ones with the best overall features.

Cookie2 gave you really excellent advice - in particular this:...

Well I've always been a quiet person and kept to myself, not having friends isn't a big deal to me, but I understand the importance of being friendly and trying to be part of a community. Like Cookie said, going to church will be important.

I agree with Cookie2, you need to travel and check out different areas and I think you should check out several states across the country. Do your homework intensively before choosing any place, do internet research before you travel and have a well informed idea of what you could be walking into before you visit places to investigate. Check out the demographics and the drug cultures, social, religious and political cultures of different areas in several different states. Find out about the economies of places, the employment opportunities for yourself and the education opportunities for your children if you're planning on raising a family. Learn about the geography and land restrictions, the wild animals, the pests and diseases, whether or not there are dangerous animals and insects, the availability and condition of water, and very importantly learn about the climate. And most importantly - learn about the people and what they expect from newcomers and who they will shun and who they will welcome.

I'm good with the internet research, but i definitely need to go traveling once I've narrowed it down to one state and county. It would be to expensive to visit more than one state though.

Thanks for the info

[TomWilliams]

Originally Posted by Terri

For my husband and I employment was the big thing.

DH got a job, and he followed the main roads out to a reasonable commute. Then he looked between that spot and his job: we ended up with a house and an acre just half an hour from his job.

Life is good! Though, if we had 3 acres we could have a cow, alas! But life is still good.

Thanks this really helps. Does that mean you stay at home? If so, is it difficult for you and do you get lonely? My wife says she'll be fine but i worry.

[TomWilliams]

Originally Posted by DamnearaFarm

Whooooa.
Shunned? Driven out?

Although we may be a bit behind the times (born & raised in KY, lived in TN for goin' on 25 years now) we rural folks are far from the middle ages......

OP-
When we moved from TN to NM I had narrowed down a few places to visit. I did it all via research online. We sat down and came up with a list of what we wanted in our new home town. Be general at first, come up with a list and then get specific and winnow it down. Then visit. Subscribe to the local paper after you visit but before you move. Learn all you can about the area and make it as stress free a process as possible.
Good luck and if you end up with specific questions about areas in KY or TN, let me know

Thanks that's a great idea about subscribing to the local newspaper.

My wife spent some time in Alabama when she was young and hated the humidity. I've been looking at the area around Knoxville and they seem to have less humidity, what do you think? I've also been researching around Lexington, ky too what do you think about that area?

Thanks!

[MichaelK!]

We are already doing things the way you are suggesting, in California. We have kept our carreer jobs and suburban home and used our income to pay the mortgage on the homestead land. We've reached the point where our cabin has met 20th century standards, and our trees have started to produce a harvest of fruit and nuts.

There's homesteadable land within 2 hours of your present location. Two such properties just sold across the road from my own in the last year. One was 27 acres for 75K and the other was 40 acres, for somewhere around 150K.

Honestly, if you can't find a homestead on your own, you must likely don't have the abilities to actually own a homestead. Part of your problem I think is the fact that you are heavy into IT. The problem with a lot of people today, and IT people in particular, is if it isn't on the computer, it doesn't exist. My personal observation is that only the poorest properties get sold via the internet. They're the trash that can't be sold any other way. The way to find a good property is the old fashioned way, by hoffing it!

[Rosepath]

"Cookie2 was being diplomatic but the message read between the lines (and I agree with it) is that because your wife is from LA California and you are from England in all likelihood you both will not fit in with the closed rural society and culture in those states, you will be shunned. There's a strong possibility that you could be driven out,especially if you're wanting to live in a very small rural town.

I have lived in (and hail from) several little rural towns, and have yet to see anyone "shunned and driven out". Must be rough where this person lives.
The way to enjoy a rural area or small town is to be open to learning how things are done in that location, be friendly, and DON'T ever utter: That's not how we do things in LA, or wherever. The answer, usually unspoken by those in the newly-chosen locale, is "then why the heck don't you go back there." But that's as harsh as it gets.
Examine why you want to relocate from urban to rural, and then figure out what locales will meet those needs. Kind of hard to do when you've not lived that way, but renting is a good suggestion to get to know an area before committing to a purchase of home and land.
Good luck, hope it works out for the best for you both!

[TomWilliams]

Originally Posted by MichaelK!

We are already doing things the way you are suggesting, in California. We have kept our carreer jobs and suburban home and used our income to pay the mortgage on the homestead land. We've reached the point where our cabin has met 20th century standards, and our trees have started to produce a harvest of fruit and nuts.

There's homesteadable land within 2 hours of your present location. Two such properties just sold across the road from my own in the last year. One was 27 acres for 75K and the other was 40 acres, for somewhere around 150K.

Honestly, if you can't find a homestead on your own, you must likely don't have the abilities to actually own a homestead. Part of your problem I think is the fact that you are heavy into IT. The problem with a lot of people today, and IT people in particular, is if it isn't on the computer, it doesn't exist. My personal observation is that only the poorest properties get sold via the internet. They're the trash that can't be sold any other way. The way to find a good property is the old fashioned way, by hoffing it!

Your homestead sounds wonderful. We're really planning on getting out of California though because of the climate and taxes.

Thanks I'll bear that in mind and not rely top much on the internet.