Ok...we have the land...now what?

[JessieGirl]

Hi there,

Question to all you experienced homesteaders out there. My husband and I are in the process of buying 2.5 acres about 5 miles from our home now. To make the purchase, we have acquired a home-equity loan. Once the purchase is finalized, we will sell the house and own the property free and clear.

So, how did you all make the transition? We plan to get a mortgage to build the new home (it will be a modest steel home www.allsteelhomes.com ) and that is why it is necessary to sell our current house before getting too far into the construction process, as there won't be much cash left over.

The land has power and water close by, and we will have to put in a septic tank. We have 2 little girls (ages 4 and 2) and run a business from our home (need computer set up with 2 phone lines), so we can't "rough-it" too much (at least I don't think so??). Did any of you use temporary housing and what type? We've discussed renting an apartment or house, or purchasing a used single wide manufactured home and living in it temporarily on the land (although the land is going to need alot of tractor grading to even get close to that point). Or even purchasing a travel trailer and parking it in hubby's parents backyard and living there may be an option. We are expecting construction to take 6 mos - 1 yr.

I would appreciate any suggestions! Thanks....

[BamaSuzy]

I would rough in the steel building and finish maybe the inside of one or two rooms to "live" and work in while you are finishing the rest...

Getting a mobile home on the property seems like a good idea BUT if you put much money into it into making it liveable then that is money you could have been putting into the new house....

Even with two small girls you can do this. That way all your money is going into the new home and not into something else. If you get a mortgage you want it to be as low as possible and as much money as possible going into the new home...

Since you need electricity to run your computers and phone lines you can start with that....also with kids you'll probably want running water and a working bathroom....a roughed in kitchen and then you'd be good to go...

I always remember a woman who wrote into COUNTRYSIDE when they were letting people tell things that they would have done over and one thing this woman said was that she put a mobile home on her property like 17 years before but wound up living in it because there always seemed to be something else that came up and needed the money and she never got her home built....

Now if you were going to LIVE in the mobile home permanently that would be different because you could get as nice a mobile as possible and then add on decks, porches, additioinal rooms etc....

But to me it is kind of scarey to put money into one home when you're trying to build another...

I did spend one summer in a pop-up camper, cooking outside, with children sleeping in tents until we could get a house roughed in one time....we were on the property and got a lot of work done we wouldn't have if we had been living somewhere else. I was more physically fit then because I worked and walked a lot!

[JessieGirl]

Originally Posted by BamaSuzy

I would rough in the steel building and finish maybe the inside of one or two rooms to "live" and work in while you are finishing the rest...

Thanks for your response. I'm thinking now that maybe we should go the travel trailer route and stay on our in-laws property (they are on 1.25 acres and already offered). That way, we could even set up our office during the day in their home, since they are gone at work most days anyway. But in the meantime, we could bust our butts to get roughed in, and then move in ASAP...so we don't wear out our welcome (and there is no way we would get overly-comfortable staying there ).

And the travel trailer wouldn't be a waste of money, since it would be kind of fun to have one anyway!

Thanks for your suggestion, Suzy

[halfpint]

When we built our house, we already had a travel trailer, so just moved it onto the property. Because there was no zoning or building codes at that time, we were able to put in a temoporary septic tank for it. We put in the water and hooked up the trailer to the temporary power line, and had our phone line run. We only had one child (age 3 at the time), and I became pregnant and had our 2nd child 3 months before finishing the house. Living in the trailer was fun, and let us do work on the house at odd hours. We put in all of our own telephone line and an intercom system, as well as keep an keen eye on all that the contractors did each day. We had thought that we would be able to finish a part of the house and move in, however the mortgage company would not let us do that, so we had to wait until the house was completely finished and closed on the loan before moving in. Now that there are building codes here, I know that you cannot move into a house until the inspector has signed it off as completed, so that is something that you might want to check into.

I'm not sure how big your business is, but if you don't need much room then you could possibly build a small barn that you use for your business which you could use until the house was finished, then you would have it for use after the house is built - either as a barn, storage, business or play area.

[Jan Doling]

We put up a steel building as our garage and lived in it until the house was fininshed. It had a bathroom and I devised a camping kitchen so we did not suffer discomfort.

[Mudwoman]

When we bought our property, it was just raw land. Put in a well and septic and electric. Eventually put a travel trailer on it. All this before we moved. We built our house ourselves and we are still "building" as it isnt' completely finished. We lived in the travel trailer for 2.5 years.

3 years later of living here full time and looking back-----what I would do differently.

I would start compost piles right at the start and also get the garden going, even if it was only some large pots.

Build some type of place for the washer/dryer.

Storage cost us a pretty penny. If you aren't careful and get climate control in a nice storage place, the mice and rats will eat everything you have. Keep only what you absolutely LOVE and can't replace. Get rid of everything else. The money saved in storage costs will be worth it.

[terriv]

I'm thinking now that maybe we should go the travel trailer route and stay on our in-laws property (they are on 1.25 acres and already offered).

Here it's a health violation to have a home on less than 2 acres, much less 2 homes. First thing I would do is call the health department. One call from the neighbors and you might be moving again.

[JessieGirl]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all your suggestions. I'll keep you posted. We just found 2 acres with a single wide on it already for the same price as the 2.5 acre parcel that needs alot of work. It's only about 2 miles further out.

May be worth it to have somewhere to live right away...while we build the house.

You all are the best! I love this site...and hope to be able to contribute more soon (once I gain some homesteading knowledge to share )

[JessieGirl]

Originally Posted by terriv

Here it's a health violation to have a home on less than 2 acres, much less 2 homes. First thing I would do is call the health department. One call from the neighbors and you might be moving again.

Thanks! I'll check into that, but where I live, they put 4-5 houses on an acre, so I don't think it's the same here as it is by you. I'm 30 minutes outside of Phoenix, AZ. I WISH it was 1 home per 2 acres...it's really sad how everything is building up around here, that's why we are moving out onto acreage!