Best AZ counties for off-grid and low/no regulations?

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by being1

What county lets you live in an RV on your land as the primary residence?
Cochise seems to only allow that "while" you are building an actual large house.

Which is true, but Derek mentioned that they (Cochise County) give you like 5+ years to actually build that "permanent" structure, so just sell the land and move to another part of the county, then rinse and repeat every 5 years!

With regards to your building inspection question, there was definitely "opt outs" that Derek mentioned he chose with his latest house, but even with whatever was mandatory, he said the county didn't even come got and just said it was approved, and he had to laugh at that.

The big thing Derek mentioned about having little to no inspections, is when and if they come to sell their new house, no bank/credit union will ever give someone a loan for that purchase, he would have to either find someone able to pay in cash or basically he and Hannah would "float the loan" and the new buyers would have to pay them every month until the full price is met.

Having said all that, Derek and Hannah, mentioned it might be 10 to 20 or more years before they decide to sell, if ever. You might want to email Derek, if you have any specific questions with regards to Cochise County, he seems very knowledgeable and willing to help others with that off-grid lifestyle, even if someone doesn't have the amount of money he and Hannah have.

[being1]

Does anyone know which counties besides Cochise allow you to opt out of building inspections and codes?

[StrawberrySoup]

Originally Posted by cjseliga

There's a YouTuber I follow called Handeeman, his name is Derek and he and his wife live in Cochise County near St. David.

They built a tiny house on a trailer while living in an apartment in Tucson, then bought land out in Cochise County and did solar, rainwater harvesting, etc. and are now building a larger home on their land to live it.
\\.

That was my first thought, that Cochise County was a reasonable answer even though it violates the OP requirements.

I've seen some of those videos and always have to laugh at the offthegridhomesteadin' youtube channels where the money just flows and flows into the project.

I imagine that Cochise County will get rid of those rules at some time or the other, so if the opportunity is currently still present I'd jump at it. You do have to wonder how they deal with valuations for property taxes and how fire insurance might work sans inspections.

[being1]

I bet things like having home insurance, or selling to someone who wants to finance are impossible. Mortgage companies like to finance homes that are connected to the grid , and ones that didnt build without inspections and code.. so, its not a good investment if you want to build something to sell.

[DAXhound]

Originally Posted by being1

I bet things like having home insurance, or selling to someone who wants to finance are impossible. Mortgage companies like to finance homes that are connected to the grid , and ones that didnt build without inspections and code.. so, its not a good investment if you want to build something to sell.

Even rural, fully permitted property can be much tougher to get a mortgage on. It is much harder for them to appraise. Buildable lots with city water and electric can be had for less than 10,000 in Rio Rico, if not 5000. My closest neighbor was about 1300 feet, when I moved in, in 2001. I had 1 acre, and acquired an adjacent 3.5 at the tax sale with the assistance of a good real estate attorney.

[StrawberrySoup]

Originally Posted by cjseliga

Which is true, but Derek mentioned that they (Cochise County) give you like 5+ years to actually build that "permanent" structure, so just sell the land and move to another part of the county, then rinse and repeat every 5 years!

I always thought that an interesting way to game these systems, and it might work most anywhere that's rural, is simply to build a slab + barn + water/power/septic somewhere and then use it as an interior docking station for a nice RV.


That would be a cool way to keep your property tax at a minimum while giving you the opportunity to travel for part of the year.

[Desert kid]

Greenlee County is extremely isolated. Very sparsely populated.

Northern Greenlee County, north of the Morenci mine, is basically undeveloped national forest, got little hamlets up there like Hannagan's Meadow, Blue and Alpine.

South of Morenci, you have York Valley, Sheldon, Franklin and Duncan. Alot of brush land, cattle ranches, cotton farms and low Chihuahuan desert.

[SRcap]

Hello. Is there an update to your move to AZ? I have been researching for quite sometime. I was originally looking into Mojave County AZ, but now venturing to northern or southern AZ and even new mexico due to the septic and rv laws in AZ.