I am often reminded of back in 2009 and 2010 when I started looking at replacing my Ford Ranger with a bigger, newer truck. I decided to hold off a few more years and was able to get a nicer truck with more money saved, and relatively low prices due to do the recession. I had originally looked at getting a stripped down work truck or something used, but I decided to throw some more money at the Ford Ranger, and keep it on road for a few more years, despite pushing over 140k miles and needing more parts and repairs. But I ended up getting Big Red, and then lifting it with a 6-inch lift during the beginning of 2015.
I so want to buy a house, and I’ve been looking but I concede I don’t want to buy or build in New York State if I can avoid it due to the gun laws and burn ban. Plus most of the houses locally are your run of the mill, plastic-coated, vinyl-sided suburban houses with gas heat and grid-tied electricity on a tiny piece of land. There are a handful of rural houses that pop up on the market, but they are mostly a variation of the suburban house some in neighborhoods that smell like cow shit with a longer commute. But if I hold out for a bit longer until I’m 55, I know I can have something much better.
I’ve been watching how much battery, inverter and solar technology has improved over the past decade, and it’s truly remarkable. With advanced electronics and LiON batteries – it’s such a different world then old fashioned lead acid batteries and old-style MPPT controllers like Midnight Solar ones. It’s only going to get better and cheaper in the next decade. Combined with more money saved, I can build or rebuild really the ultimate off-grid homestead that I actually want, not some crap suburbanite-lite house with a big blue bin and grid-tied solar panels on the roof and Tesla Swastika-Car on driveway. I don’t have to stay in Albany or New York forever, if I don’t buy here but just focus making through age 55.
I spend too much downtime flipping through the Land and Farm website, which markets hunting camps, farm land, off-grid properties, and other rural lands. It’s kind of a fun hobby to have as it doesn’t cost anything but the unlimited mobile bandwidth I currently have and is a good reminder that the money I save and invest today will have benefits tomorrow. I have some thoughts what the land would like and ads I’m most interested in. I’m not buying this week or next, but it lets me know what’s out there and what I could reasonably afford eventually.
Generally the properties I’ve been looking at have been priced between $200k – $250k. I picked that amount as I think based on what I’ve saved and what I project to save, that gives me the ability to buy with cash plus have money to make repairs and address my significantly lower income when I move to rural area where fewer good-paying jobs are available.
I am interested in properties that are roughly 50 acres give and take, with the value of land being roughly 2/3rd of the value of property. I am most interested in properties that have small cabins, shed-to-homes or even mobile trailers on them, because it means the majority of my investment goes into the land, not the home or barn itself, which for me is far less important.
I would probably want to live at least 15-20 minutes outside of a small town, maybe 30-40 minutes from a bigger city, just so I don’t have to deal with suburban houses being built nearby and increasing codes and regulation as time goes by of my land and hobby farm operation.
I am attracted particularly to land that needs work — land where invasive species have taken over, the soil degraded, run-off or a certain amount of dumping and debris exists on it and needs to clean up. These aspects will help reduce the cost of land, but also provide an enjoyable project to work on restoring the land using goats, pigs, fire and heavy equipment to clean and restore the land.
I like the idea of either having diverse habitats on the land or rebuilding them. For example, areas that are mature forest for timber production, some that are brushy lands, some that are meadows for grazing animals. Maybe a wetland and small pond. This will bring in wildlife for hunting and trapping, and provide for interesting wildlife and bird observation.
I want to have buffer from neighboring residential properties. I like the idea of having livestock, a gun-range in my backyard, and being able to burn trash and debris. But I don’t want to smell my neighbor’s pig pen and horny buck goat or smoldering burn barrel for endless hours while I’m trying to enjoy some fresh air outside.
I don’t want to have to worry about keeping the noise down, or being too close to neighbors to shoot my guns whenever I want.
I really like the idea of being off-grid — for the simplicity and self-reliance nature of it. I like if I have a problem with my electric supply, I can fix a fuse or replace a broken component. I don’t want to have to worry about my power going out. I want to keep the system simple enough that I can repair it myself. I want simple plumbing, so if I have issues I can fix them myself, and safely process and dispose of wastes on site, in ways that aren’t polluting the environment but returning them back to nature.
It’s super nice, with a view of the mountains and nine acres of land. I am jealous because the parcel I grew up on was only 4.9 acres and the neighbors were a lot closer it seems. It also makes me kind of happy to think things like this still exist in the world, because $150,000 isn’t a lot of money in these inflationary times, and I could if I decided to sell of some stock go out and buy something similar, if I so wanted today.
To be sure it’s more of a large hunting cabin then a house, and it’s electrically heated and not far from the road. But it shows what kind of deals once can get if you out there and looking — he apparently snapped it up from the man that was selling the first day it went on the market. Plus Schoharie County has been bleeding population ever since Summit Shock Correctional closed — nearly one out ten people have left the county since then. But it’s a reminder of what’s out there if you are looking.
It really gives me hope that there is a tomorrow, and some day I will be able to afford my own land, preferably with cash and no borrowing costs. And that the only choice need not be suburbia with neighbors right next door, looking down on your redneckery. Seems like there is a bright future ahead, and if I want to leave way out in the sticks, there are eventually very affordable options out there if you know what your looking for. And if you keep it simple, and it’s paid with cash, rural living can be affordable and possible.
I am not a conservative. If anything I’m libertarian leaning, but I also see the benefit of a state that helps people, especially through the kind of public services that are largely indivisible and free for all to use without discrimination such as public parks, plazas, mass transit and libraries. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think the conservative style of living is fun and has a lot of benefits.
I often think liberals are too intellectual, too concerned about others to have a little fun and relax. At the same time, many on the left lack the inhibition to be respectful of those with traditional values. Now I’m no bible humper or anti-environmentalist, but I think it’s fun to live a life of owning guns, having bonfires, riding quads and snowmobiles, hunting, fishing and farming. A life where you don’t spend your whole life fretting about other people’s problems, where your not worried about saving the planet or country, your just looking to have a little fun.
Conservatives are often seen as dour, but I think many on the left have adopted dour politics as a central tenant of their identity. And while it’s certainly important to control pollution and address racism, especially in our urban areas that are densely packed and impacts of pollution and racist policing tactics can be acute, people should be left alone and not looked down because they live a life different then the imaginary liberal ideal. It’s good to care, but you shouldn’t be so dour in your mannerisms and outlook on life.
