Is an old mobile home on a large acreage in a rural town.

I think that would be an excellent start to building what would eventually be my dream homestead — not necessarily because I would want to keep the run-down trailer — it would probably be best scrapped but could greatly reduce infrastructure costs (water well, driveway, septic) compared to building on raw land. Plus if it was not in complete disrepair, it could provide immediate shelter to live in until I could build a more permanent and desirable structure. Not to mention, at least in my mind, it’s not as bad as tearing down the woods to build a new home site. I bet it would be fun to tear one down — scrap the metal, either reuse or burn the 2x4s and landfill any unusable debris. But I’d probably try to reuse a lot in creative ways in my off-grid home.

That said, I’ve come to realize such properties are probably exceptionally rare, because most properties that come with a mobile home are very small acerage, because people who typically can afford a mobile home, can’t afford much land. But I do examine every piece of acerage I do see with a mobile home coming up for sale. And those who do, often are kind of odd characters, and as such those properties are exceptionally rare. It’s not like I’m the only one with such a thought, and I’m sure many others in market are looking for similar properties. Yet, it never hurts to look.

Another option that is somewhat common on raw and minimally developed properties is people living in campers until they can develop their land. In the hilltowns this isn’t uncommon, and it’s an option. Certainly then I wouldn’t have to pay rent, and I could carefully watch what is happening at the construction site. Used campers aren’t that expensive, and my tastes certainly aren’t fancy. But they probably are cold and very energy inefficent in the winter, even if I don’t need or want much space. Indeed, when my off-grid house is done, I doubt it would be all that much larger then some of those campers you see at the RV parks. My grandfather years ago had one of them at a park in Warrensburg. Maybe not peak living, but I could see one as a decent temporary arrangement.

I am not convinced that building in New York is right for me. I have a lot of reservations about the state’s laws, even if I do like my job and for now my family is located in state. I do want to get back to the country. But buying land with a run-down mobile home on acerage is an idea I’ve discussed with friends and they agree that would be a good potential start from building a homestead without an existing house, allowing me to implement more green-building and off-grid techniques.