How did you find your homestead?

On the internet! $11,500 for 13.6 acres of Ozark land with rural water and electricty already on the place. Oh, plus it was on the milk route for the goat milk plant.

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Rudeness is a small man's imitation of power.

basically word of mouth that an older couple had desire to move into town. They lived on the stead for all their life and didn't want to, or know what to do to sell and move. 3 years in the process I finally asked if this was 'the year' they intended to make the move. So we got together with the r.e. lawyers to make the sale and transfers. It was a little nudge that got them to finally sell the property I'd had my eye on, but it was a nothing of a small house with lots of expense to fix up which commenced over the next 10 years and continues to this day.
It felt like a 'steal' at the time, but it was valued about what it was worth then for non prime land with wetland, but it's the beauty to me. Not everyone wants to live near wildlands, nor to spend a lot to develop the infrastructure to make it liveable. Depends on what you want to call 'Home'.
Lots of land available because there isn't much job to hold people here, and it's rather remote otherwise. The prime recreational property will cost you an arm an a leg. Quite a paradox within a proximity of land and use. Cheaper land can cost a lot to develop. That is one thing to really consider.

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The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.

Nice place ravenlost the grass looks so green you could support quite a few cows on it.

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

We had friends in the area that kept their eye out for property for us. They called us out of the blue and told us about this property. We then looked at is with an agent and made an offer adn bought it. It's our little piece of paradise. Chris

Partial inheritance paid for in blood.. I don't recommend it. But basically I cared for my grandmother for 10 years, the years most people are getting married, having children, building their own families. I was "compensated" when she died by inheriting the property (sibling got all the cash assets and pick of any items from the property he wanted... so there went the most valuable and portable of the antiques!). I married 9 months after she died, at age 35, and was never able to have children despite intervention, including surgery.. and we were "too old" to adopt by the time we realized we weren't having our own.

So. "Inheritance" is not all it is cracked up to be.

That said, before I came up here to take care of my grandmother I lived in a rental on a farm and had everything my little heart could desire without the headache of actual ownership. While this arrangement probably wouldn't have been ideal at 40, when you want to be building equity in something, it was great in my 20's. I couldn't possibly have afforded the land, let alone the infrastructure at that age, the farm was thrilled to get a free hand, and I got to drive a tedder around in circles. It was a good deal all around. And since the little secret (at least around here) of most "successful" farms is a rental unit (or two) replicating my experience wouldn't be too difficult even today.

Up side of an on farm rental: experience, lifestyle, and, if you take advantage of it, land for gardening and sometimes even a farm stand where you can sell "stuff" as long as it doesn't compete directly with what the farm is selling. If you're young and can't buy outright, I highly recommend looking around for this kind of rental.

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Icelandic Sheep and German Angora Rabbits

I'm just buying my place right now. I should be moving there in a couple of weeks. My husband and I like to look at realtor.com. You put in your search criteria, and it shows you matching properties. We found a 2900 sq ft 1825 Federal style Colonial house on 12.5 wooded acres. It was a bank-owned forclosure. Comperable properties in the area were going for $300,000. They were asking $180,000.

After we looked at it, I offered $105,000. I'm a fierce negotiator They countered and we eventually agreed on $135,000 with the seller paying ALL the closing costs. Then the septic tank failed the inspection, so the seller is paying for a new septic tank and leach field Yippee!

Did I mention that the last time (year 2000) that this place was sold it was for $266,000.

The deals are out there. Keep looking.

RedTartan

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www.redtartanwoolies.blogspot.com

Etsy Shop:
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Currently have Icelandic roving & (for a limited time) 100% Suri Alpaca roving.

We looked while we saved.

A few bits of interest:

realtors do not always advertize their cheapest properties. It might pay to visit their office or e-mail them if you are living out-of-state.

Cheap land usually has a reason for being cheap, and it might not be a motivated seller. We bought a parcel that would not have city water for at least 3 years. We did not care about the water but it did lower the price.

Word of mouth can work, but it is hard to say just how to hear about them.

www.unitedcountries.com does NOT sell land that is underpriced. If they have a reasonably-priced parcel, so does every realtor in that area. That will help you pin-point which areas to shop in.

I searched and searched.

While stationed in Bremerton Washington, most weekends that I got 'off' I traveled to looked at 'for sale' land. I went up into Canada, I went into Utah, I went down into Oregon, I went into Nevada, I went over around the Olympic range. but we just did not find what we wanted.

Then we were stationed overseas, again. When we got back stateside, [this time back in New England] I contacted some realtors in Maine, and began making trips. I drove up into Maine for two weeks at a time, the realtors would give me print-outs and I drove and drove. Finally I saw that the only things realtors listed that we could afford and that would satisfy our requirements, would have been way out on 20 mile dirt roads with no power-line or power within a 10 mile radius.

A couple times, while sitting in restaurants, folks would tell me about locals who were dividing their land, and they would make calls and soon that land developer would be in the restaurant offering to take me to see his development.

So while still driving around looking at land that a realtor had sent me to, I called a phone number on a 'for sale' sign. The couple had their own three page list of properties that they were selling. This guy is a logger who buys land from logging companies. Half of his properties are river-frontage and they are all thick forested.

I found one I liked, [approx 42 acres] 1/4 mile square, with one side on a river, one side on a paved county road, all 'tree-growth' forest, for under $1,000 / acre. We got a local lawyer to handle the sale for a flat fee of $200.

I took lots of photos and told my in-laws about the land across the road [105 acres for about $300 / acre].

Looking left:


Looking straight out:


Looking to the right:

You cant go by how much someone payed for a place in 1978, for goodness sake. It depends on WHEN everyone bought their property. My parents payed 20,000 for their farm, in 1978 and now its worth 600,000$. I bought my farm 7.5 years ago. 75 acres with 3 bedroom house and 3 barns for 54,000. It needed a lot of work. Tons of work. I did it and now its worth about 175,000. But the property values and prices have almost tripled since I bought this place.

Also what about the quality of the school?, how much dept is the county your purchasing in?, What are the taxes? are there jobs to support that place? dont expect the farm to make money, as that may not happen.

Also I had to get the loan myself. for over 10 years befor that it was save save save!!! Eating potatoes and cheap meat cuts, canning all our food etc. And as others said God and Jesus gave me my farm. He brought it to me. Ask and ye shall recieve. I ask Jesus to guide me and help me save or not make stupid financial mistakes and it works!!

How much land are you looking for? what kind of money do you have to spend?

Marie

I was wondering why no one mentioned a VA loan...have those been done away with also?

First find out what kind and how much of a loan you qualify for. Then find something in a price range 15-20% lower then what you can borrow. Lending instituation will make you mortgage poor without anything to fall back on if you are not careful.

If you can not first afford the property of your dreams, purchase what you can afford; anything is better then your rental money going down your drain into landlords bank account. As soon as you are moved onto your new purchase...start looking for the next step up..and offer your first place on the market as soon as possible.

Best of luck to you.

Marlene

P.S. Think I been watching to many of those get rich quick shows?

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It is the one with persistence and determination that brings great ideas into being.

I did have a VA loan years ago. At that time, VA loans required a mobile-home to be 'new', or a regular house to be perfect.

[take a trip with me into my 'realm of personal opinion'] A local bank can loan you a mortgage, but they will use their own private assessor. When they run it through a federal program, then they must follow the guidelines of that program [HUD, FHA, VA] there are various levels of requirements according to which program you try to qualify for. It is my understanding that VA loans have the highest most strict requirements for the home.

So if a house you are looking at needs any repairs it will never qualify for a VA loan.

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http://www.mofga.org/

http://www.mofga.org/Programs/FarmAp...2/Default.aspx

Growing up in Maine near Augusta in the 1970-1980's I never understood how folks lived on less than 1acre of land....we had 2-3 where I grew up but the neighbors on both sides were farmers(25 acre farms) and allowed me the privilidge of milking cows, catching horses and riding bareback among other things!
When I bought my first house in 1990 it was an old farmhouse, 4bdrm 2car garage with apple trees and asparagus beds with only 2.5 acres($66,000) BUT I knew that the land behind me was non-buildable...swamp(30 acres) leading to Great Pond in Belgrade....so I had privacy and lots of wildlife.....meanwhile my future husband was also buying a house by China Lake with very similar attributes, a smaller swamp and 400acres locked up in a trust and another "Pond" abutting that as well as a 100 acre farm on the other side of the 400 wooded acres. His property was 6 back acres (off the road w/duck pond and pasture) and the house was a 1978 single wide modular on a partial foundation (there is SERIOUS ledge)for $46000 in 1991. We have added onto both sides of the house without a loan and updated most systems, now appraising at around $130,000. I only broke even when I sold my Belgrade house in 1994 but I learned alot and had a baby on the way and didnt need the "rental" burden anymore.
I wouldn't consider anything with less than 5 acres just for privacy reasons! We have a couple of other prime properties worth more than the house we live in....so long as folks keep liking mountain views and stream frontage and hunting and fishing in the wilds of Maine.
Goodluck in your search.

Me n my lifelong Buddy n Business partner started lookin almost 9 months ago for retirement- homesteading land, in paper booklets, newspapers, the internet... after lookn at dozens of properties we made an offer on the first place we looked at

We settled little over a month ago on 20 acres in upstate Pa near Sayre..

In the middle of winter when no-one was looking at properties and buying, and xmas bills were coming due, we made an offer of 54k Cash on 20 acres, that they were asking 62k Cash on.... our first offer was accepted! the realitors cut from the price turned out to be 10%. Taxs are around 700 yr
We were discreetly screened and accepted too cause the neighbors on one side are the sellers Parents and live there.

There is one restriction on the Deed... a real goofy one.... That no more than 1 Veh without registration is permitted on property !!! turns out decades ago when the father sold two parcels around the bend, 2 tiny auto junkyards opened up, and he didnt want that to happen again in his last years

There is no local zoning or anything.

Our land is level to gently rolling, 1340- 1260 elevation (mtn top endless mtn region Pa) zone 5B, ( a couple miles from 5A Brrrrr) The front 5 acres is field, back 15 are wooded, perc tested, power n phone on corner, 480 feet of year round creek across rear corner w 30 foot drop... small stands of pine throughout...
only thing its lacking is it could use more hardwoods..

The neighbors on other side i feel confident in already calling FRIENDs... we are surrounded by farms n dairy farms both English n Amish....

We think we did alright !

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The Journey -IS- the Destination

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, Its about learning to dance in the rain....

This is how we found our first quarter in 1978 for $3,000:

• Looked for two years around CA -- too expensive -- always looking
• Vacation to Banff
• Bought book How to . . . by Angiers read in car
• Decided to drive 600 mi north to visit authors
• Running out of time, stopped at Moberly Lake, BC (why there? who knows?)
• Meet Sig Paul
• Fell in love with his land

Land for Sale

"Moberly Lake land is for sale," Sig Paul said.

"No, that’s not what we’re looking for," I said, according to the book. Sig Paul’s Moberly lake land has power, a road, and a house already built right at the lake – with people all around: that’s not what we wanted.

"Do you know of any other land for sale . . . more remote . . . away from neighbors?"

"Well . . . yes . . . I do have some land on a road you can’t always get in on . . . and there is no power . . . no water . . . and only four or five people live on the Boucher Lake Road, four miles past the reservation," he said.

"Perfect, how much is it," I said without being too excited?

"I’d sell it for $3,000 . . . only it’s illegal for me to sell it to you . . . and I don’t really own it yet." We were stunned.

"A non Citizen can't lease government land," Sig said. He was leasing the land from the crown for $44 per year: he was homesteading it! He had to prove-up about sixty-four-acres and build a house, then he could buy it for $8 per acre.

"How many acres do you want to sell," I asked?

"It is a Quarter"

"What’s a Quarter?"

"One-hundred-sixty acres"

"Well let’s go look at it," I said. It sounded great: one-hundred-sixty acres, no power, $3,000!

A handshake to Buy

Simple and easy, and a handshake was how we sealed the deal. With a handshake we promised to be back in one year. A handshake to buy one-hundred-sixty acres, when a handshake meant something, when it was your word; then there would be no question of buying or making any deal, but in these days of lawyers and lawsuits was this possible?

Homesteading was our plan: go away and then come back one year later and start. Prove up thirty-four more acres, thirty acres were already in hay, then we could buy from Sig: after he bought form the Crown. The process was set-out by the Canadian Government for homesteading.

. . .

Rather amazing to us, yet common, good luck,

Alex

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Thou art That

It's not uncommon in this area, as I suspect in many other remote areas of Canada, to find undeveloped land that is still close to road access. For example a 30 acre tract recently I saw real estate advertised for $15,000 with road frontage easy to get to. An 80 acre parcel further from a secondary road can be had for the same price, and I've seen some advertised for less if the land is low lying.
Yes, it can be developed, but bringing in hydro and well drilling escalates the cost that is much higher than the cost of the land. Codes and restrictions don't allow occupancy without minimum development and water usage is controlled as well. Leased land in areas that were put up by ministry of natural resources for 'cottage lots' sounds similar to what you mention that have 50 year leases that are renewable later that is determined upon what that land is going to be used for 50 years down the road. It may turn into sanctuary or conversation land, requiring leesees at that time to turn over the land back to crown, so development with cabins leaves it for the purpose of recreation and not many people ever put their livelihood into it. The idea is they live in a home already.
So, yes there is 'cheap land' with caveats.
A guy I know moved from Germany here in 1950's and bought a Dignam property that is laden with beaver dams, but he loves the one high spot he built a good house and lived there since. He was happy getting the land back then for practically nothing, though he's always chasing away deer hunters that encroach thinking it's remote for their privelege. Wetlands are cheap, but hard to find a building spot. Low lands are cheap, but not that great for gardening due to constant frosts laying there most months. Higher ground isn't so cheap, and for good reason. Also, flood areas are something to consider in the costing of what you can live with.
Just a few more thoughts on the subject. Non residents not living in Canada also in this area are subject to an extra tax, something like 20% above the cost a resident would pay. Last I heard the cost to bring in Hydro (electricity) to a remote property is $10 a foot from the nearest hydro pole.
I know of several people talking at work who paid 5 figure thousands of dollars to bring in hydro like a mile. One guy only 1/4 mile from the nearest hydro pole waited years before he could afford something like $40,000 to bring in electricity. The cost for fuel in his generator was more than paying monthly hydro fees also, but that is fairly common up here in the remote parts, also.

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The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.

are you wanting to stay within commuting distance of indy? that makes it pretty tough if so. the cheapest I've seen around indy is up by lebanon (northwest of indy) and southern johnson county (edinburgh and flatrock). a few acres there are going for about 5k an acre whereas any closer to indy it's going for 10-20k an acre.

if you can afford more acreage then you might want to watch the auction sales. there was a sale here a couple of weeks or so ago for larger tracts of land and they were selling for around 5k or a little less an acre. but they were 40 and 64 acre parcels. not really even sure why they went THAT cheap as a 150 acre farm in this same area just recently sold for $9500 an acre (and is going to become a subdivision).

the farther you can move away from indy, the cheaper you'll find land. watch realtor.com and/or contact a local realtor to watch foreclosures for you. a couple of years ago there was a brand new 3 b/2ba home here on 5 acres for only 75k but it lasted about 48 hours. the land alone would sell for 50-75k. there was also an old home locally on 5 acres that sold only for the price of land because the house was in such bad shape but again it went quick. a house I looked at last summer on 3 acres went for 75k which was a fantastic price since it was right off I65 and within commuting distance of indy. there is going to be a farm split into parcels sold on SR 44 and I65 sometime this summer. I think they are expecting to get 10k an acre for it since it is right off the interstate. it will be smaller lots but probably at least 5 acres as johnson co doesn't want you to build on anything smaller than that.

Thanks! Hubby is planning to raise a few cows when he retires in a year and a half. It'll take him that long to build the fences!

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I'm running so far behind I thought I was first!

http://hickahala.blogspot.com/

Thanks for all the good info, Mel. Please keep an eye open for me and drop me a line if anything good comes up.
Thanks!
Sarah

I was a divorced mother, in a low income bracket, who wanted to own my own home. I bought a small house that most people wouldn't consider good enough. The payments were less than the rent I paid for an apartment. The lady who lived there was put into a nursing home and it had to be sold, so I made a low offer and got it. It wasn't pretty, but the roof didn't leak and everything worked.

I made extra payments on it and got a HUD home improvement loan through the county at 3% interest to bring it up to code and make it nice. I paid it off in 11 years.

I found a larger house in the same area that had 2.5 acres with a barn. I used the equity in the small house to buy the new house. The 2nd house had been inhabited by an old man who smoked in it for 40+ years. It wasn't pretty, smelled bad, and needed lots of cleaning and updating, but structurally it was sound. I made it easy on his son by buying it with everything in it. I sold some of the stuff, burned a lot, and donated items to Salvation Army. I spent every night after work cleaning, ripping out carpet, painting, etc. until I could move into it.

I purchased the 2nd house with the money I made on the little house and had money left over to replace the roof and replace some carpeting. I even had extra money to put in the bank!

Again, I applied for the HUD loan to update it. After living in the 2nd house 6 years, I took an equity loan out to buy a newer home in another state, with more land. As soon as the 2nd house is sold, the new house will be paid for.

From my experience, buy something you can afford now. It should appreciate, you can sell it, and get something better later. A lot of people want something big right away and get discouraged. If you start small, you will make the steps to achieve your goal.

Good luck!

I forgot to mention this in my initial post. My husband and I already own a lovely home. There are only two things about it that don't suit us.
1. It is a two bedroom and we have two young boys and hope to have many more.
2. It is in the city and we want to be in the country.
So, hopefully, as many of you have mentioned, it will appreciate and we will make a little bit when we sell. However, we don't want to start the selling process until we are a little more confident that we have found another home.
Just to catch you up
Sarah