I Come Seeking Widsom!

bobbydarnell · #1 11/03/14, 09:34 PM

First off, I don't plan on retiring, ever! I want to be like Willie Nelson, still working and doing what I love when I am in my 80's.

That said, what I do can be done from anywhere and involves no heavy lifting...which is good.

What I do want to do is, once we are 'empty-nesters' is to downsize and buy some acreage (I am thinking 20 - 35 acres) and try to become as self sustaining as we can. This will happen in just over seven years.

I am looking at land in Tennessee right now and have been researching this for a while but have so much to learn.

I want to have a small house for my wife and I and build at least one, maybe two guest houses. (300 - 500 SF) for then our children and eventual grandchildren visit.

I am not looking to do the entire homestead thing as far as cows, pigs, chickens, etc. But I am very uncertain about how this country may be in seven years so if I have to truly be 100% self-sufficient/sustaining I want to have the ability to do so.

I am looking for any pearls of wisdom, thoughts, ideas, 'must dos' and 'don't dos', etc.

I really enjoy this forum and have already learned a ton.

Thanks!

Bobby 'D'

geo in mi · #2 11/04/14, 08:09 AM

Good soil, fresh water, level ground, part trees, septic approved, electrical access, sunny side of the hill, near a highway, far from a CAFE farm, or a motor speedway, or a municipal sewage system, or a moonshine still.....

Welcome to the forum.

Oh yes, buy a good pair of gloves.....

geo

light rain · #3 11/04/14, 08:48 AM

Besides at looking at the physical aspects of property look at the tax and tax advantages of have certain tract of land in agriculture and forestry. It could save you big time in annual taxes. That being said, those tax breaks might be gone before you actually buy. Look at the folks that are your neighbors and try to access if they share your values.

In our area flat farmland has really escalated in price in the last 10 years along with the cost of food.

If you have elderly family members that may come and live out the rest of their lives with you look at a place that has an adjoining mil apartment or would be suitable to remodel into one. Also for you, remember for yourselves, no matter how well you age, stairs and essential parts of the house on different floors can be a liability. Big doorways are a plus! Also I would suggest going to multiple local zoning meetings in the area that you are really interested in. You will learn more pertinent information that you WANT to know and maybe some you wish you didn't know...

rambler · #4 11/04/14, 09:06 AM

Zoning would be an issue here, couldn't possibly be permitted to put 3 houses on one property, and if you could you couldn't afford the septic mound that would require!

Some of you will say my property I can do what I want, but these regulations are starting to come from federal, and will be visiting all of us sooner or later, just depends when your county and state start enforcing it......

Paul

FarmboyBill · #5 11/04/14, 09:42 AM

There were supposed to be only one house per 10 acres when I bought here. THEN , they sold off a 5, then a ten that they put 3 houses on, plus one on the 5. Your right as to your last James.

||Downhome|| · #6 11/04/14, 10:16 AM

Personally I would design the house so it has wings.

Kitchen and Baths central with living quarters off of that.

You would only need to start with your own quarters and the core.

You could then add your wings as needed.

What I'm seeing is three wings , yours and two guest.

When its just you two, you only heat your wing and the core.

Company comes you can then turn on those zones for heat.

Plan it so each has its own little living area, so everyone can have a little privacy with out being cooped up. maybe even a sparten galley kitchen, so guest dont have to venture far at night or evening.

For the master wing I would have a full private bath.

I would have two half's in the core , then two separate showers.

No need to tie up the toilet when some ones taking a shower.

That is the biggest bone of contention in a full house is the bath/showers.

For summer visits I would have a outdoor solar shower with a few stalls.

How you sit up bedrooms depends on your expected crew, my thought 3 per guest wing, don't have to be large.

oh a off the core are a communal living/dining area.

Maura · #7 11/04/14, 10:42 AM

Where we currently live we cannot have more than one dwelling per parcel, no matter how big it is. You could, however, have three separate units if you broke up your property into three parcels. But, you would need three separate septic systems. If doing all this building is a problem, do as Downhome suggested and just build a bigger house. You might even be able to separate each unit with a breezeway so the appearance is of one large house when you actually have three. You could also have a walk out basement and use the basement as the guest area.

BohemianWaxwing · #8 11/04/14, 10:53 AM

Most places in TN where the lots are 30 acres in size are pretty flexible on zoning enforcement... That being said, if you wanted to keep your options open and only needed the extra space for occassional guests, a semi-portable tiny house might be an option. Somthing along these lines? http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/prod...leweed-trailer

Use humanure toilets and suddenly waste water disposal becomes a much simpler problem to solve.

Your plan sounds like a wonderful one!

Harry Chickpea · #9 11/04/14, 12:05 PM

Taxes and school fees (ad valorum) can become incredibly important if your income drops as you age. The common rules of real estate, where you hope for appreciation in property value, will work against you with higher tax and insurance costs.

If taxes today are $2000 per year, with inflation and governmental creeps and even a little bit of increase in property value you might expect taxes of $4000 per year in ten years. If your fixed income can't change, that means more than $2000 in today's dollars that you lose per year.

FarmboyBill · #10 11/04/14, 12:51 PM

AND the county WILL tax those extra houses.

Ozarks Tom · #11 11/04/14, 05:25 PM

Your mention of possible future difficulties suggests looking for property well away from large/medium cities, and their "drift" line. I'd be looking for something off pavement, with a certain amount of remoteness.

If your state is like ours, the Dept of Natural Resources would have all the data on wells in your area. That information will give you at least some idea of water table and well costs.

Being self sustained won't take 20 acres, unless you decide you want cattle, so I'd probably look for a place with at least 6 acres of reasonably flat ground, with natural water availability - a spring would be great, but a clear creek would do.

You're going to find all type of people when you go rural, but I'd pay attention to your closest neighbors, and how they keep their places. We got lucky, and have some neighbors who are more or less like minded as to preparedness, but it took quite some time to find that out.

Seth · #12 11/04/14, 05:48 PM

Build your house. Then buy two old log barns and move them to your property and rebuild them. Tell the county they are farm buildings for storage. Couple years later, convert them to cabins and tie into existing utilities. Done and done. Seth

Whisperwindkat · #13 11/05/14, 04:53 AM

Others have given you good advice on the land and house and such. My advice is to start learning now. Learn what you can where you are. If you can garden, even in containers you will be ahead of the learning curve. Start learning to can and put up extra produce. You can go to you pick farms or the farmers market to get your produce to put up. If you can have chickens where you are then you might want a few layers. Anything you can do to get past the vast learning curve that will hit you once you move will make the transition much easier and you will be much more likely to stick to it. Blessings, Kat

light rain · #14 11/05/14, 05:02 AM

Along with all the good advice here, a good source of wisdom, is prayer...

FarmboyBill · #15 11/05/14, 09:16 AM

Yup. The Bible, a good almanac that you know how to use, and USEING it/them, and you cant hardly go wrong.

saralee · #16 11/05/14, 05:17 PM

Since you will be getting older on your homestead, be sure your house has wide hallways and doorways and that a walker can move around in the bathroom, and that the bathroom is on the same floor as the kitchen and exit. We can hope for the best, but even the best of us may need a knee replacement. Or hip replacement. Or get a sprung back. And that the laundry is not in the basement. Think ahead. We didn't.

crazyfarm · #17 11/05/14, 05:19 PM

Chickens are low maintenance. Get some! I bet you'll love them! Nothing better than fresh breakfast too!

crazyfarm · #18 11/05/14, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saralee

Since you will be getting older on your homestead, be sure your house has wide hallways and doorways and that a walker can move around in the bathroom, and that the bathroom is on the same floor as the kitchen and exit. We can hope for the best, but even the best of us may need a knee replacement. Or hip replacement. Or get a sprung back. And that the laundry is not in the basement. Think ahead. We didn't.

Crap. I'm going to have to move or put in an elevator! lol Elevator...hmmmmm.

BohemianWaxwing · #19 11/06/14, 07:45 AM

I certainly agree with the point about putting some consideration into an accessible house since none of us knows when we might be put in a position (temporary or long term) of needing wheel chair or walker access. That being said, though, I know that my wife and I have put a lot of thought into our "aging in place" plans for our TN homestead and we lean a lot more heavily toward building a place that is so wonderful to live in and raising kids who can appreciate both the hard work and the joys of simple living that when we're too infirm to do the laundry, for example, there will be a younger generation in place who can handle the stairs to do that while we settle into a less physically demanding roll as required by our health.

It's not to say life can't dump unpleasent surprises on us and leave one of us old, infirm and alone but that doesn't seem like something that we need to plan on... We're building to accomodate our own parents joining us when they get to that stage and hope to pass on a legacy of caring for those who need it and encouraging an active, involved role as long as life and health permit it.

Our culture spends too much time assuming that the generations will remain disconnected and that kids will scatter at adulthood. We can't change our culture, but we do hope to take a stab at building a family legacy that runs counter to that aspect of our culture.

Not probably what the OP was really looking for, I suppose, but it is something we've spent a lot of time thinking and talking about in planning our homestead.

where I want to · #20 11/06/14, 08:47 AM

Wisdom huh? You demand a lot.

First, since you said you want to get a house built, I assume you will have a contractor. So start making a list of what you want in that house and make sure those are written into the contract so you don't find that you and the contractor are not on the same page. I thought that because the plans showed pretty pictures of a house all on one level that would be what I got. The contractor later explained to me that their job was to make the plans work despite the fact that the land itself mandated something else.

Decide before looking how much work you actually want to invest. I diligently came out to my land in dead winter to see how much sun was available and put the house in that spot. Sun is a precious commodity here. I got the orientation of the house right for having the most sun in the winter and the most shade in the summer. Good for me. Winter is the best time to check things out. More of the land is exposed to view.

I did not think to dig into a small rise in the ground next to the house and only found later that it was not ground at all but a huge slash pile covered with a little dirt. Ended up needing to log off that little rise at pretty large expense as the trees there had no stability and that in turn caused drainage issue. So examine the land carefully, taking an expert with you if you can. Don't let your eye slide over the details because the view is so pretty. Inventory plants to get an idea of the soil quality. Look and find those boundary markers. Visit a few neighbors and let them natter on so maybe they will let some good info out.

Your own good water source is one thing to keep you independent.

Far out in the country mean less government interference and less taxes usually. But, if you need to shop, arrange services or get medical care, that same distance is expensive.

Building my own place has been the most fun I can remember. I would not change my little place in the country for a mansion in town. But there are challenges and I'm glad not to be further out of town.