Mortgage Free Homesteading

DH and I moved onto his family's 18 acre estate. So we only pay 1/2 the taxes each year. We went to Ware County in south GA in 2006 when they had the wildfires and fought fire for a 9 day stretch each. We cleared $4000 and bought the 1998 singlewide mobile home we live in. We have added a porch, deck with hot tub, and skirted it. Insurance has it valued for replacement at $50,000 this year. We gave up a lot for 9 days, but it got us what we wanted. In these trying economic times, I look back and thank the Lord for the blessings we have been given. The peace of mind we have far surpasses the sacrifices we made.

I think there are more challenges to that now than ever before. If you own property in a place like where I have my little itty bit of land (not the city house I live in), the county has a LOT of restrictions on things to prevent blight. If you can live on your property in a camper or even in a yurt then you have more time to do what you can with cash. If you don't have a time limit from build start to total completion, ditto. If you don't have a lot of restrictions and inspections, ditto again.

Yet, so many places, cities and counties have very stringent rules that make building as you can pay cash almost impossible and with very little creativity allowed in who does what (licensed electricians only, etc) then you're even more limited.

I think it is still possible, but it is getting increasingly hard in an expanding government sphere of control. You can just buy land and build a house to your own liking in many places anymore. You can lots of places, but not everywhere, and that is going to limit many.

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Christy
Growing Human
http://growinghuman.blogspot.com

When wearing narrow lenses of hate and ignorance, is it any wonder one finds it difficult to see clearly? - Me

I don't know if you would call me a homesteader or not. I don't farm, raise livestock, and I only live on 2 acres. I did however set out to live rent & mortgage free, and I accomplished that.

I was a land vendor at eBay, selling land in NE Nevada, mostly near Elko. I had an offer accepted for a property that turned out to be in a prime location, with power right next door. I got it for a song, so I decided to keep it for myself.

About that time (maybe 3 years ago) I was becoming very concerned about the economy. I decided that living rent & mortgage free was the best way to hedge against homelessness during a depression. About 2 years ago I made the decision to try to build a home with pocket money on that property.

I found a plan online that I liked that only cost $20. I bought an old travel trailer to live in while I built the home. Here's what the home looked like as I headed into the first winter (photo taken October-November 2007).



Since that time I've added a 12' x 5' bathroom to the right side of the structure and planted some fruit trees, but that's basically what it looks like today. Proper siding is first on the agenda for the summer projects.

My goal was not so much to be self-sufficient, a farmer, or a rancher. My primary goal was just to live rent & mortgage free.

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Ask Me About Linux System Administration

Not yet, but about to dive in!

The housing market is FINALLY coming down to real worth. I've seen some homes (in town)go as low as under $20K.

I think the housing market is still over bloated, but getting darn close to my price range!

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I see a very dark cloud on America's horizon,
and that cloud is coming from Rome.
- Abraham Lincoln

We paid cash for our 6 acres, including orchard and (barely) habitable house.

We'd planned to have more cash in fist when we got here, but the bubble burst before we got the house listed, and so, while we did sell and make a profit, it was nowhere near the profit we'd banked on.

Taxes here are very low, less than 1/10th what we paid back in IL. Utilities are manageable (heck, less than $30 a month for rural water, and once we get our well working, that will become next to nothing).

We're living mighty frugally these days, but our home and land are OURS, and we are happier than we've ever been (not counting the happiness when we found each other, of course).

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Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

That's true for many places, I'm sure, but if you're willing to do your homework and willing to relocate, there are indeed places where land is reasonably priced, and there is precious little government intervention.

For instance, where we now live, there is no local building code, nor enforcement of the national code. Is it a good idea to follow the national code? Of course it is. You want your house to be safe, and you want to get the job done right the first time.

If you're open to doing many different things to earn money and make the choice NOT to be locked in to any one career track, your opportunities for freedom increase exponentially.

Where there's a will, there's a way. But you have to be willing to take those steps outside your comfort zone -- sometimes WAY outside that zone! -- to get where you want to be.

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Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

Building and zoning codes are making it tougher many places. Our new house will have stairs (to the basement) and they take up a lot of precious floor space. But they HAVE to meet code for rise and run. My mother's old house has stairs where the rise is greater than the run! They take up about half the space that 'code' ones do. But Mom's only 83; when she gets old, we may have to do something about that. Don't get me wrong- codes are great, and they keep people from A) living in a dangerous house, and B) More importantly, they protect the next owner from living in a dangerous house. But it does add a lot of expense for people trying to build on a shoestring. Zoning causes lots of trouble for folks like us, too. I think towns should be required to set aside a percentage of land for people who want to live naturally and not keep their lawn at 3.678" tall at all times. Our city allows chickens for suburban residential areas. One slight catch- there are NO lots zoned suburban residential in the entire town! What a cute way to say "No" without saying "No". Sorry- I went off on a rant!

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"What one generation tolerates, the next generation embraces." -John Wesley

A lot of money is required these days, and of course there is going to be sacrifices. As the old saying goes "there aint no such thing as a free lunch". My grampa homesteaded mortgage free in 1934. He and granny moved onto 120 acres of sagebrush and rattlesnakes with my dad taggin along at age 8, and my aunt age 10. They moved into a 10 x12 shack that grandad hauled out to the farm on the back of a T model ford truck. He proceeded to clear the brush with a team crowner which cut the roots just below the ground and a railroad rail, dragged behind a 6 horse team that would pile up the brush. Lots of rattle snakes back then, he killed as many as 27 in one day. Once the land was cleared off and the brush all piled and burned, he then leveled the land for irrigation, built irrigation ditches and fenced the place. He had to have 80 percent of the land in production within four years. He had the place all ready to roll in two, and planted alfalfa the third spring, ran sheep on it that fall. When the farm was producing, he traveled across the state of Oregon in the T model, and bought an old house to be moved. He pulled the roof off, took the walls apart in the corners and layed them on the truck bed and hauled it back to the farm. That was two trips worth of hauling but it worked. I grew up on that farm, quite a while later and that old house kept most of the rain off our heads and some of the dust off our dinner plates. I can recall the linoleum in the living room floating up a couple inches everytime the wind blew from that side of the house. I remember mom sometimes sweeping snow off the window sills when it would come in around the windows. Those were prolly some of the best years of my life. Learned to hunt, swim, trap, and fer sure learned how to work and to live on nothing.

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

I did all right. There were sacrifices, and even compromises, but I got my 2 acres for $1,000 and built my 2-story cabin (see photo above) to the point where it was inhabitable for about $5,000.

First, I saved construction costs where I could. The post foundation was a lot less expensive than a concrete slab foundation, and I could do it all myself. I did some scrounging (free carpet, free water heater, free bathtub), but since I needed to get in by winter I didn't have as much time to scrounge as I wish I did.

The big factor was deferring a lot of the work:

• Instead of having a well drilled I made a deal with the guy next door for water. I feed his livestock (he buys the feed, I just throw hay over the fence and fill the stock tank with water every day) and he lets me draw as much water as I need. To have flowing water, I setup a pressure system using a $50 RV water pump that delivers 3 gallons/minute. I have a 275 gallon cistern (tote tank) that I bought from a neighbor for $50. I fill the cistern with 200' of garden hose periodically.
• Instead if having a septic system I use an inexpensive portable RV toilet with 5.5 gallon holding tank. Actually I have two. I got them at Walmart for ~$70, and I dump them at a local gas station that has a free RV sanitary dump (well, it's free if you buy gas there).
• I didn't put siding up right away. I just left the OSB exposed, protected with some 30# felt.
• I haven't finished the interior. The insulation is exposed in most of the house, but it keeps us warm.

Get the picture? You can get real creative when you have to.

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Ask Me About Linux System Administration

Well, if it's stories you're after, and you don't mind not knowing the end, here you go...

http://uppertupper.blogspot.com/

Please don't let anyone tell you it can't be done, just because most people don't do it. If it's important to you, you'll find a way. Thanks a lot for asking the question; I find it really inspiring to hear how other folks managed, too.

We are still doing this after 3 years of land ownership. Mind you the house is almost done but I've got fifty bucks waiting to go buy yet some more sheetrock. It might be slow but is still faster than 30 years of wage slavery.

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http://montanaiceweasel.wordpress.com/

Government sponsored property right violations (let's call them what they are folks) were our number one deal breaker when we "mobile gulched" looking for our piece of heaven.

Where we are there is no zoning, no planning department, and no building department.

I built this with no more government interference than a $50 septic permit.

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http://montanaiceweasel.wordpress.com/

We decided that we were too far in debt and wouldn't last 3 months if I lost my job so we started a 2 year search for a house & land that would have no mortgage or at least a small payment.

After 2 years we found the place where we are now. 3 bedroom 1 bath stick built house on 3 acres. Not a lot. But enough for us.

When we first saw it they were asking $28k. We watched it for a while and they dropped the price to $24k. I called my realtor and told her I wanted to look at it one more time and we were going to submit a bid.

We were walking around looking at the house and my realtor said "Look, this house is a bank repo and it has been on the market for over a year. I wouldn't offer them a penny over $10k. If they want to counter offer they can."

I would have never had the guts to do that (even though my wife was pushing me to bid $15k because I was thinking $21K).

So we bid $10k and they never batted an eye. A few days later Wells Fargo called us and said they had been looking over how we pay our current note and they felt they could give us a loan. They came TO MY HOUSE (go figure) and sat in my kitchen and told me they could refinance my van and give us nearly $10k cash out.

We did it... cash closing... $300 closing cost...

So... we don't have a mortgage on the house. Our van not did go up about $130 per month but they can't take my house away over a mortgage.

We love our little place. We have added a chicken coop... some fencing... a goat pen... a garden... we are fixing to add another garden area and some fruit trees.

Making it home a little at a time.

That's about what we've managed thus far.
Though ours is 40 acres and we financed $6K.

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

In our early 30's we bought 1 acre of land with a mobile home with an addition on it. Within 2 years we had cleared and built a home on the other part of the property. We then rented the mobile home for a few years till it was time to put a lot of $ into it or tear it down. We tore it down. In our late 40's we took the equity that was built in our home and purchased 55 acres with the off grid cabin and barn in NY.
We are now waiting for the correct time to sell here and build in NY or do a partial land swap with someone in the south to avoid the harsh winters.

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"I yam what I yam" Popeye (btw I yam a woman!)

Thanks for sharing the link! It does help to see that others are doing it as well.

We looked for a while after selling off our WI land. Sometimes, we were pretty discouraged, but most of the time, it was just part of life.

When the opportunity for this place came up, we were MOSTLY ready for it. It was only $25K for a livable (barely) house, 6 acres, and a neglected orchard. But it's lovely, the price was something we could swing with an equity loan, and we bought it.

Then, of course, we had to sell the suburban 'stead. That would have been easier if a couple of detours hadn't popped up, but like the song says, "Life is a highway." Gotta figure the road will take a few interesting turns here and there.

We finally sold the suburban house. While we certainly took a hit, we didn't take a total bath, so we did all right.

Only rough part was moving in two days after Thanksgiving. It's pretty cold around these parts, especially when you move into a drafty old house with no water or central heat.

But we survived the Winter, and things are looking up for Spring. Got hot and cold running water now, figured out how to use and best utilize our wood burning cook stove, Earth stove, and Lincoln parlor stove. (I used to say that running water is my favorite appliance. Heat is now giving that choice a run for its money!)

Sure, it's been interesting... harsh at times... a little rough. But it is so worth it! By giving up so-called "security" of living in suburbia, we've become truly free to do as we will.

If you're looking for a way to do it, if you really WANT to do it, if you can get past your fear of stepping out into the unknown... It's an incredible rush.

GO FOR IT!

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Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

We did but I am not sure that we count...

We made a deal with the devil and got a mortgage at a stupidly insane interest rate (due to bad credit at the time)on a run down rental in 1995. Lived there for nine years, Worked on it (some) and refinanced and bit by bit rebuilt our credit and paid down the note.

Inherited money. Used part to buy the ten acres and house cash outright and put enough $$$ into fixing up the first house to make it sellable. Apparently we did a good job because we closed on the old house 30 days after it was listed, after a bidding war. Used proceeds from old house to put up a barn and fencing.

paid cash as we went to build a grade A dairy and milk plant which is now our family business.

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LeeAnne, wife of Tim's youth, homeschooling mother of twelve seventh generation Texans.

Swede Farm Dairy

Dairy Berries

The one acre and three-bedroom-two-bath manufactured home we live in are mortgage-free, thanks to Grandma selling the property she had been living in before we moved over here. The land she sold had originally been part of her grandparents homestead on the Oregon Coast in the 1870's, so it was pretty hard to see it go, although it was bought by a cousin so is still in the family.

My ex and I bought land for cash many years ago, using money he'd gotten as a bonus for reenlisting in the Air Force for six more years.

Now I'm waiting on my Dad's house and five acres in Alaska to sell -- the proceeds will be split between my four siblings and myself, and hopefully I'll have enough cash out of that to buy a small acreage somewhere with no building regulations and low property taxes, and will build a little off-grid cabin for my DD and I to live in. Lord willing.

Kathleen

Wow, I guess I'm living in the wrong state!

Prometheus: Your homestead looks great (I checked your blog) but man those roof lines look complicated. My wife and I plan on moving to Missouri next year and we will be near debt free but our plan is to buy an old house and gut it and remodel while living on the property. If I had the skill to build my own like that I would do it...keep posting pics.