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Old 10-04-2018, 07:28 AM
 
20 posts, read 95,388 times
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Guys I'm getting real close to starting a land search. The main things I need are secluded, low tax, some cleared field/some wood lot, prefer no or easy building codes, and probably would like something that has not been recently harvested but even that is open. The thing that keeps me open to recently harvested parcels is possibly planting fast growth timber asap after purchase but I don't know squat about growing yet.


edit: one other idea was to purchase .5 -2 acres just anwhere right away so I have a home base, but haven't thought that through yet.



Also not limiting to just land, barns/cabins are in the mix too. I would like to build my own workspace polebarn in the future. Some of these camps for sale are reasonable which can solve the problem of where to live while building. But I guess this comes with other problems as down the road having more structures increases the value and tax rate.



So i'll be renting a car and hitting southwestern ME, looking for a permanent vehicle while there, and then cruising through a lot of the state until something feels good. The coast is out, too expensive.



I want to keep expenses as low as possible while travelling, so that's the first bit of advice I need. The best I can think of is just airbnb rooms as those are easily booked and flexible. Some people recommended sleeping in a vehicle, and I'm fine with it but I don't want to buy a van and then have to sell it for a truck once I'm on land.


Lower/mid state is good just because if I'm travelling south it makes things easier, but this is not written in stone.


Aside from rv's what's are some cheaper ways to move right onto land once purchased, maybe something like a very easy shelter that can be built in 1-2 weeks. I was looking at rv's, yurts, prefab cabins (too expensive usually), military tent. The only RV I like are airstreams so it would be painful to have to buy a fiberlass shell camper.


Open to any advice that can make the whole land search cheaper and easier and hopefully avoid noob mistakes.

Last edited by george99; 10-04-2018 at 08:10 AM..
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Old 10-08-2018, 08:37 PM
 
Location: Newburyport, MA
12,177 posts, read 9,260,315 times
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Can this wait until spring? Seems like the weather will be friendlier for doing most anything outdoors (including eating, sleeping, and answering the call of nature) from April through October, instead of November though March. If you can camp outside fairly easily for the first 6 months, you can save money on housing for a little while, while you get your shelter situation squared away. I am not clear on if you are planning on working for a paycheck during this time, but if not, then renting through the winter seems like it could burn a lot of money without accomplishing too much?
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Old 10-09-2018, 06:40 AM
 
Location: Newburyport, MA
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Regarding shelter... you mentioned yurts... here is a place that sells yurts in NH and delivers to southern ME:
Two Girls Farm & Yurts

If you're going to be living in the shelter year round, for years, and you have the budget for it, I'd think you'd want something more like a small-ish cabin, with insulation and a wood stove, electricity, running water, a bathroom and simple kitchen. Here is a place that sells kits for small homes that you can design, or they can help you design. A place that's say 20x24 feet (480 sq ft) wouldn't drive you crazy to live in indefinitely if it's well laid out.
https://shelter-kit.com/

I am not an expert on cabins, but read a lot on home design for my own project. If you want to save money, (a) you want a simple rectangle shape, no extra zigs or zags in foundation or roof (b) use dimensions that are a multiple of 4ft to cut waste (c) use 2x6 studs on 24in spacing instead of 16in - strong enough, meets code, saves money on materials, and will be better insulated than 2x6 on 16in spacing (d) concrete piers/footings are the cheapest stable foundation I know of, although you will need to make some provisions to prevent pipes freezing with a pier foundation. Sheetrock is already cheap for interior walls and ceilings, and southern yellow pine, common grade tongue-and-groove flooring is reasonably inexpensive and durable with a good layer of hard urethane finish.

The other thing I'd suggest is a design that doesn't chop the space into itty-bitty rooms. Interior walls cost time and money to put in, they block warm air flow from a point heat source like a wood stove, they block sunlight from windows on the other side, and they only make a small place feel smaller - they're just not necessary or even useful in a small space, in my opinion. All I think you really need is an area in one corner for an enclosed bathroom, and an adjoining closet/pantry space - that's about all the interior walls you really need. Then put a little kitchen along the same (outside) wall with a small table and two chairs to sit down and eat comfortably, and the other side of the place is your sleeping and sitting area. That kind of design is also called an "efficiency apartment", and that's what it does - make efficient use of small space. These days, there are also so-called "tiny houses" - call me a skeptic on those though, and I have heard they can be hard to re-sell.

Last edited by OutdoorLover; 10-09-2018 at 07:22 AM..
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Old 10-09-2018, 10:21 PM
 
Location: Newburyport, MA
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I laid out a 20x24 ft cabin for you this evening. There are certainly other ways you can lay it out, and I didn't polish the design - it's unfinished, with me just trying to throw things down fairly quickly. But, it should give you an idea of what you can do at this scale. It's snug, but I think this would actually be quite livable, and it's about the size of a modest 2-car garage, and I am not doing anything strange like they do in "tiny house" plans.





Attached Thumbnails
homesteading which area, low cost while looking-cabin-no-1-layout.jpg   homesteading which area, low cost while looking-cabin-no-1-inside-bedrm-corner.jpg   homesteading which area, low cost while looking-cabin-no-1-inside-tv-corner.jpg  

Last edited by OutdoorLover; 10-09-2018 at 10:31 PM..
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Old 10-10-2018, 01:02 PM
 
Location: Pennsylvania/Maine
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Thanks Outdoor. Nice work and informative!
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Old 10-10-2018, 03:38 PM
 
Location: Newburyport, MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zalewskimm View Post
Thanks Outdoor. Nice work and informative!
I try to help! I don't think you can go much smaller than this if you want to live "normally"... by that, I mean that's just regular furniture, fixtures and appliances, nothing special, and there's no extra room to play basketball or anything ;-), but you can still move around fine in there without any gymnastics needed, and you have everything you really *need* it seems like, for one person or a couple to live... you've got a stacked washer/dryer and roughly 7 feet of closet space that you could put an organizer in to get the most out of... of course you can always use a little more space for e.g. dressers and such - I think then you need to bump up the dimensions a little to retain good freedom of movement.
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Old 10-12-2018, 08:31 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,331 posts, read 61,154,439 times
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I used a buyers agent to help me do land searches. There is one realtor I know who specializes in remote land and sometimes caters to the survivalist / prepper / homesteader crowd. Also as you drive around you may see FSBO signs, I called one of those and I found a forester who buys woodlot land, he clear cuts it, and lists it for sale cheap.

Give it some effort and you will find exactly what you are looking for.

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Old 10-12-2018, 08:42 PM
 
Location: SW Missouri
15,853 posts, read 35,068,861 times
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Construction - 6 x 8 Hut - The Mad Housers
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Old 10-14-2018, 07:21 AM
 
20 posts, read 95,388 times
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March is a good target month to start, winter would be too difficult. Will not be working while looking for land.

I guess I could have simplified things into just 2 parts, 1) land search and 2) building a temporary structure.


I can't think of anything more flexible than airbnb while travelling through the state aside from living in a vehicle.


I like the yurt idea once land is secured, but also would like to see if I could cut costs down further. Yurt suits me well as they can be used as guest houses or moved. But all in it would probably be close to 8-9k for a 16' including some of the extras and a pad.


FSBO and talking to people will be a big part of the search.



Eventually even in my large pole barn living space I would prefer only one room and then simple build-outs as needed if I want other rooms.
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Old 10-14-2018, 04:29 PM
 
Location: Newburyport, MA
12,177 posts, read 9,260,315 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by george99 View Post
March is a good target month to start, winter would be too difficult. Will not be working while looking for land.

I guess I could have simplified things into just 2 parts, 1) land search and 2) building a temporary structure.


I can't think of anything more flexible than airbnb while travelling through the state aside from living in a vehicle.
I hear you, but if you're going to be doing the AirBnB thing for more than a few weeks, I will bet it will be cheaper just to buy some camping gear and camp. Commercial camp grounds normally have flush toilets, hot showers and hot water to shave with, so not too bad, and I am guessing that may be $35/night versus maybe $65/night for a modest AirBnB? Only thing is I don't think many campgrounds open in Maine until April 1st at the earliest. You can check that out here...
https://campmaine.com/
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