220_My Homestead Do-Over: How Would I Do Things Differently?

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 220

My Homestead Do-Over: How Would I Do Things Differently?

Certainly most of us have looked back on specific accomplishments in our lives and asked the question “If I had to do this all over again, how would I do it differently?, or Knowing what I know today, how would I have done this differently?

Having the personality that I do, I am always questioning everything even if I keep it all to myself? But that is my process of re-evaluation, meaning checking in with myself to make sure I am on the right track. That said, I look at what I have done on the homestead and I wonder whether or not it is possible for other people to do this same type of thing in today’s world. What if I was the one that had to do it all over again.

So join me for E220 My Homestead Do-Over: How Would I Do Things Differently?

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E220 My Homestead Do-Over: How Would I Do Things Differently.

We have all heard the saying “Hind sight is always 20/20.” What this really means is that sometimes we bump along in life doing things the way we think we should, making mistakes along the way, and hopefully learning from them. But sooner or later we all look back at times and think “Well I certainly screwed that up. I really should have done that differently.” And that is the focus of this episode. How could I have done things differently.

Good news story of the week

But before we get to that let’s talk about the good news story of the week.

As you well know my entire homestead is run off of solar energy. So I am always excited when I see improvements in our country, or any country for that matter, when it comes to renewable energy infrastructure.

In 2024 ninety percent of all electrical grid additions in the United States were renewable energy from solar, wind, biomass, hydroelectric and geothermal. But 80% of the renewable energy additions were from solar alone.

In 2004 it took an entire year to add one gigawatt of solar power. Now it takes one single day. That is enough energy to power around 200,000 homes. In 2024 American businesses and various governments funded the installation of thirty facilities that could produce one gigawatt of electricity.

Additionally, new solar capacity added in 2024 was almost nine times that added by natural gas and nuclear power combined. Part of this can be explained by the fact that fossil fuel plants take years to be built and put online while solar can be installed very quickly. And that is good news for building a sustainable future with renewable energy. After all, it is truly possible to run the entire planet off of renewable energy. 

That being said, let’s move along with this week’s episode.

For me the advantage of being on the homestead property for over 25 years is that I have learned a lot. You have heard me say before that I’ve had some grand successes and dismal failures. At times I look back on all that I have accomplished I think to myself if I had to do this all over again, knowing what I know today, how would I do things differently. And that is the focus of this episode, the mistakes that I made and how I should have done things differently.

As you well know, I purchased raw land and started completely from scratch. If that is what you want to do, then go for it. But I have to tell you that it will be a heck of a lot of work for a lot of years. The advantage is that you can make your property what you want it to be. Buying raw land is also less expensive because there is no developed infrastructure.  But deciding where you are going to live and acquiring the land is the first step. If you want to know more about finding a sustainable place to live, I dedicated an entire episode on that topic, which is E217.

But let’s say for the sake of this episode that you have found some land that you are interested in buying. Now what?

The first thing you need to do is check county regulations, meaning build codes. As a general rule, the more rural you are the less you have to worry about rules and regulations. This is because rural counties typically have a lower tax base. This usually means more relaxed building codes and more than likely no building inspectors. The down side to this is being in a rural area means building materials are harder to come by. You may have to drive a long distance and haul in all materials if you want to find things at a reasonable price.

But, the point being, if you plan to be 100% off-grid, can you do that? If the county requires you to install a septic system that is going to add a considerable expense to your start up costs. If there are no specific regulations about septics, you could go with a composting toilet. Either way has its pros and cons. Septic systems are expensive. Composting toilets are cheap. But the you have to deal with the compost and where to put it.

Trust me when I say you are better off looking into local regulations first. I’ve seen people go to a lot of trouble to set up their place and years later literally be kicked off their own land due to code enforcement via a cease and desist order or have the county show up with a bulldozer and tear down the entire house.  That is not something you want to happen. This is something I should have checked into before buying my land. Turns out I simply got lucky and the county basically couldn’t care less about what I am doing as long as I am not causing a problem. And I have now been on my property for over 25 years.

The next step is to check on whether or not you can actually live on your property in a temporary structure while building a home. Are you allowed to permanently park an RV on the property and live in it. A better option would be to build a nice storage shed or workshop on the property first. It can be used to store tools and as a place to live while building your home. 

This is another mistake I made. I purchased my property with little forethought and planning. Once I made the purchase I had no choice but to immediately move onto the property and live there. The only thing I could afford was a tent and that was what I lived in for 5 months. And I can tell you it was some hard living and this is something I would have done differently.

At this point if all of that checks out in your favor, the next big question is how are you going to make that purchase. If you are buying raw land, most banks are going to required a 30% down payment. The reason for this is that there is no infrastructure on the land to serve as collateral in the event you default on the loan. Your large down payment assures the bank will at least get some money if you default.

The other option is owner financing, which is what I did. This is a much less complicated process but typically requires signing a land contract. What that means is if you default on the terms of the agreement, the land goes back to the seller including all improvements that you made. If you choose this option, you have to make sure you pay down the loan by 30% before the end of the term. Then it’s a walk in the park to get bank financing.

This is another thing I did not think through very well which meant I had to work really hard for several years to pay down the loan to the owner in order to get traditional financing. It’s far better to put more money up front and make your financial life a bit easier. But that brings up another point.

Part of the object here is to live debt free or almost debt free. Putting off your plans for a couple of years so you can work and save money to get your dream rolling is a great idea. A large down payment means a lower monthly payment means you pay off the loan sooner. I managed to pay the loan off on my land in 12 years.

So, just for a quick review on the mistakes I made. I purchased my land with little forethought and planning. I did not check into county regulations prior to my purchase. I could not afford to pay rent and pay the land mortgage so I had to move onto the property immediately. My only option was to live in a tent, which meant some pretty hard living for my first 5 months. You can save yourself a whole lot of trouble, or a whole lot of hard living, by a little forethought and planning.

However, once you purchase the property, if you need to live on it almost immediately, one option it to buy an inexpensive RV, build a storage shed/workshop and live in that. Another option is to purchase a ready made small cabin that can be hauled in on a flatbed truck and dropped onto the land. Yet another option would be to purchase a metal building and have the company come in and set that up, which most likely can be done in less than two days. I’ve seen really nice metal buildings for around $12K.

Yet another extremely important consideration is a source of water. This is one thing I did correctly. But honestly I did not give this much thought because I have access to a year round creek with clean fresh water. I knew when I purchased the property that I would never get a well drilling rig up the road. My only option was to haul in water which is truly not a problem.

But, if you do not have that option, you will need to drill a well. It’s best to ask other local land owners, or even the real estate agent, if they have contacts with local well drilling companies. Ask them the average depth of a well in that area in order to reach the water table. Quite frequently, if the realtor has done their research, they will also have some input on this. It’s important to also check on the cost of drilling a well. But again this was something I did not do because I did not need to. However, a source of water is obviously something you cannot live without so do your due diligence. I’ve seen people buy land, build a beautiful house and spend an enormous amount of money drilling for water only to never find it.

Next on the list is utilities. When I purchased the land the local utility company wanted to charge me $30K to run lines to my property. I of course declined. I got very creative and lived well without electricity for years. At first I used kerosine lanterns for lighting, which I would not recommend. The so called “odorless” kerosene still has an odor not to mention you are polluting the very indoor air that you need to breath. I used camping coolers to store food and later built a root cellar for cold storage

My recommendation would be one of two things. If all you need is lighting as first, install gas lights, which can later be used as a back up. My second recommendation would be to install solar which is a much better option. When I installed solar in 2017 it cost me nearly $12K, including a DC refrigerator and freezer. But with advances in technology the price of solar continues to go down. Currently you could likely have the identical set up for half that price.

In retrospect, if I had it to do over again, this is something I would have done almost right away. But if this is somewhat cost prohibitive for you, start small and expand as you have the money to do so. There are plenty of plug and play systems on the market that are extremely easy to set up. Although I was very creative about living without electricity, I can honestly say installing solar was a game changer. Once I had electricity, lights, and a means of refrigeration it completely changed my lifestyle.

So, as you can see, there are numerous things to take into consideration before you even buy property much less move onto the place and start living. But, if you have gotten this far down the road the next thing to consider is building your permanent home.

There are now two cabins on the homestead, the original log cabin that I built by hand and a traditional stick frame cabin. How you go about building on the land that your purchase will make a difference in whether you remain debt free or how long it takes for you to pay off a mortgage

The way I built the newer cabin is how I should have done things in the first place. I did things a little at a time and always paid cash. What made that possible is that I already had a cabin to live in so I could take my time

I first had some excavation work done in order to install the water cistern. That was followed by the foundation work. For initial construction it was much easier to pay a professional carpenter to frame in the new cabin and dry it in. This means the siding and roof was put on, windows installed and wiring was completed. Basically it was an air tight, waterproof empty shell which had to be finished.

I first insulated it and installed the wood stove so I could heat it and work year round. Then I put up interior siding, built cabinets, installed a shower, then flooring. The next step was to add on the deck and then the sunroom. Solar had already been installed so we had electricity. This project was complete over a period of 4 years, paid for in cash so I remained debt free.

But there are many other options depending on your budget.  Purchase a yurt. Buy pre-milled logs from a lumber company and build the house yourself. Build with regular stick frame construction and start with a small home and add on as you have more money. The possibilities are endless. The point being, it is possible to do this and stay debt free. Once you have the basics in place you can start producing your own food with gardens, small livestock such as chickens or rabbits. Working remotely for a steady income stream is more than possible these days due to the internet. If you live in a remote area, satellite internet is always an option.

Now the homestead where I live was started in 1996 after I purchased the land with nothing on it. At that point in time there was very little development in that area and land was inexpensive. I paid  $2000/acre in 1996 which of course is totally unheard of at this point. Although it took me a few years of financial juggling, I finally managed to secure bank financing with a payment of $450/month. While I truly feel as if I got a screaming deal, I am often curious if such things are even possible these days. So, of course I went looking.

A couple of years ago I visited a small community in southern Colorado for several days just because I had never been there. I met a couple that had moved there from Denver 10 years earlier and purchased 40 acres. They were slowly building a home out of reclaimed building materials. When I inquired about building inspectors, he laughed and said he had never seen one. They are both completely debt free, work as needed to make extra cash, and from all outward appearances they were leading a stress free happy life with no debt.

Just last year I went to Montana to visit some friends and looked at property there. At least in this area of Montana  you can build whatever you want without a building permit. But if you are going to live in what you build you have to install a septic and all wiring has to be inspected and up to date. Land prices in this area of Montana were reasonable especially if you were willing to live a bit more rural.

I met another couple last year in South Carolina that had grown weary of their fast paced life in Atlanta. Both of them worked high pressure jobs with long hours and little time off. The first thing they did was to purchase 15 acres of land in the upper part of the state. Then they sold everything and left their jobs. After that they purchased a large travel trailer and had it moved to their land. Once there, they set up a solar array sufficient to run the entire trailer. Now they make extra money by working online, travel when they want, have absolutely no debt, very low property taxes, little insurance and a heck of a lot of personal freedom.

Just last week I read an article about a younger couple that purchased some rural land in Idaho and was in the process of building an off-grid home. They acquired about $35K in building materials for a fracture of that cost by shopping on Craigs List and other online market places. They did mortgage their land but their total monthly living expenses were $627. This is a far cry from rental prices in Denver right now that range anywhere from $1800 to $3000 a month for an apartment.

Currently there is plenty of land for sale in southern Colorado and New Mexico at extremely reasonable prices. The counties do have some regulations about building and living off grid but these are minimal. 

So, as you can see, what I managed to do 25 years ago is still quite possible. Maybe you have to be a little creative but it is still possible to live the kind of life you want with a lot of personal freedom and be completely debt free. You truly have to think outside the box, be patient, and be willing to do things in an unconventional manner. Unlike what I constantly see on the internet, you do not have to have over $1 million dollars to retire and live comfortably.

Now I want to close out this episode with one of my favorite quotes, although I do not know where this came from but I have always remembered it. If you will do today what other won’t, you can do tomorrow what others can’t.

As I always like to save, go off grid and live well.

Well folks, that is about it for this week. I hope you have enjoyed this episode. Until next week, this is your host Patrick signing off. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.