How realistic am I being?

SurvivalRealty.com: United States Archives is a pretty good website that has listings for "turnkey" (move-in-ready) type off-the-grid properties. The site is aimed at the survivalist/prepper type community as opposed to being a generic real estate so, so a lot of the property descriptions are oriented towards this like us value more so than the average property buyer.

I've scoped out some nice Montana properties on there in the past. Unfortunately, most of the properties on that site are out of my budget range because they are turnkey properties, many with houses/cabins/barns, solar installs, septic already installed, etc... but you may find the site useful.

 

You want....chocolate?

 

I moved from near Peoria, Illinois to near Arkadelphia, Arkansas in November 2012. I've always been an eccentric bachelor so i had a Budget moving van full of carpentry and welding/ fabrication tools, alot of old Toyota 4x4 parts, but no furniture, just boxes of my personal belongings.

The deal i made with my friend in Arkansas was, I build him a shop and house, he gives me the 3 acre plot next to him. (He has a 4 acre and a 3 acre plot) After moving down i find out he's still paying off the two properties. He had 8 or so dogs which have now bred themselves into 25 unruly barking mutts, at least one of which is pregnant. Really the barking is driving me nuts. The 3 acre plot is the drainage for his land, the highway, and his neighbor. It slopes north and is heavily wooded with trees he doesn't want me to clear for building space. I got the 30x48 shop built before he ran out of money, they are living in the back half of it. He arranged for exotic parts for my 84 Toyota pickup as compensation (instead of the promised 3 acres).

So now i'm looking to the north part of Arkansas for more suitable land. I have researched alot and I know i can build a naturally-cooled, wood-heated house and shop for under $10k. Not including the cost of the land. (I can describe the construction process step-by-step if you're interested.) My friend assures me land can still be had contract-for-deed with a low down-payment. We'll see.

Ill-annoys (Illinois) was where i grew up. No snakes, fire ants or excessive chigger population like Arkansas has. Ill-annoys is full of other pests however. Revenue officers (police) and yard pigs (building and property inspectors.) In Illinois i couldn't go a month without getting harassed by the police. I don't drink, smoke or do drugs, BTW. I haven't been stopped ONCE since moving to Arkansas. It's like i moved to America or something. In Arkansas you'll see a $400k home and across the road three moldy house trailers, piles of scrap metal and 30 rusting cars. (I have pictures. )I really didn't mind the weather (snow and ice) in Illinois. Arkansas is humid 13 months of the year where as Illinois was only humid for 2 or 3.

Another member said check on taxes? Illinois has no 'personal' property taxes, Arkansas taxes you on things like trucks, cars, trailers, boats, etc. (yearly) But if you own older vehicles like i do, the taxes are very little. Illinois wants $101 for a license plate sticker. Arkansas was less than $20? Illinois wants you to pay yearly for trailer stickers. Arkansas wants $41 to register my 20-ft trailer, once, permanent plate. Illinois was unending fields of corn and soybeans. It seems like half of Arkansas is national forest. I love to hike and backpack.

At the moment I'm trying to build enough capital to rent shop space near where i'll be looking for land, so i'll have a location where i can live and pre-assemble roof trusses and such. I've rented several shops in the past, they can always be had for $200-$300 a month, far less than a small apartment. Cheap living space if you don't mind roughing it, and work space to boot. I own a 20-ft flatbed trailer for transportation of building materials/ salvaged concrete/ etc.

 

I made the mistake of moving down here without researching the area properly. I didn't know that my friend hadn't paid off his property. (You can't give someone something you don't own) I want to live off-grid, to me that means wind and solar...I had only visited Arkansas in the winter months, coinciding with a huge Toyota off-road event in Gilmer, Texas. When i visited it was fairly breezy. Now i know that most of Arkansas is rated a 1 on the Govt wind charts (the scale is 1 to 7). Northwest of Hot Springs it is 3-4. Most of Illinois is a 2. Hence my need to move NW of Hot Springs.

I should have explored the 3 acre plot more on my visits also. Paid attention to drainage erosion and solar exposure. Due to the northern slope I can't clear enough trees for decent solar PV exposure. Most of the year the wind is non-existent. Days will go by and nothing more than the slightest breath of moving air. That makes the extreme humidity a lot worse. I hear northern Arkansas is alot less humid.

It would have helped had i moved down here with some savings. I figured with the amount of equipment i own i could make money anywhere. My truck had a major mechanical failure and with no savings i couldn't fix it for months. 5 miles from town is a poor place to try and run a business. I'm hoping my sculpture will sell, as that is the only income i can see making anytime soon.

In short, live your life by the seven P's. Proper prior planning prevents pith-poor performance.

 

I think that it is possible to do it with that amount of cash and income stream. You just may not be as comfortable as you would like. I agree that you should think about an RV or something small to live in while you get your well in place first. Some other things to consider:
Where are you going to get your power?
How much is the property tax?
Do you want cell service or not?
How often are you planning to go to town?
If you are going to be somewhere that you don't need AC, then you'll need heat: wood stove or propane?
Do you have enough room to garden?
Are you going to have your own livestock?
Not knowing your age, what about kids? and hospital care?

I do like your idea of living with someone already off the grid, and learning from them. You may also consider jumping into a commune to start with. My wife lived with an off grid Christmas tree farm in Oregon for a while. There are also people looking to join up with someone else to start a new commune. Go to off-grid.net and look up hawaii-off-grid-farm for an example.

 

You are probably right. I forgot to check the date, until after I submitted the post. Thank you.