Cheap weekend homestead outside BIG 500K population city?

Any ideas where to buy cheap land and live outside of a major 500K population city?

I like minivan life but would love to own my own homestead with very loose housing regulations. Arizona or New Mexico I know have some liberal housing options. But are there any other areas?

land prices around 10-30K be my max I can afford. Would love to work and live in my minivan during the week but on my weekends I could drive 1-3 hours and then be HOME. Have an address, be able to have a garden to grow food and just live life affordably. Ideally near a freeway so would have good cell coverage as well as working online might be a long term goal.

Is it possible? Would love to have a tiny house and own some good amount of land so I don't have to worry about neighboors to much say 5-10 acres. Outside of Omaha, Denver, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Lubbock, Maybe even Sioux falls area but that's getting on the smaller side.. Albuqure could be an option but it seems to hot for good portions of the summer. As for the big cities in Arizona that be to hot for me.. Although Flagstaff could be an option but it's such a tiny city I just don't know..

Has anyone else ever thought about living outside of a big city and just living there on the weekends and living in town in a minivan so you can OWN your own home affordably while still having a place to sleep in your minivan during the work week?

I think it would really help me feel better about minivan life if I knew I really DID have a nice home, even if I slept during the day at a local park. I had a home I COULD go home to just rather not during the week to save on travel time and cost. However I just go home on the weekends and could take time off to do extended weekends and have time away.

I just can't justify 1000 a month in rent anymore. It's just to insane. Yes, some places are still 700 but with utilities its back up to 900 a month! I just can't anyome I want a decent life.. not great, but not awful. I'm not ready to start buying land today but within a year or two. I'm just trying to plan for the future. I feel like a bum, plus I want to build my own home. This one youtuber built an outside shower that still makes me smile thinking about it! Some day I could easily drop down to working 4 days a week then having 3 day weekends which I could go HOME and live my life...

Maybe even the west coast? Although I'd assume everything 3 hours out would already be beyond expensive still.

In my opinion you are expecting too much for too little in this day and age. Most county governments that big cities are in have strict zoning laws although many do not always enforce them the price of property in them is usually high especially if you are looking for 5 acres. Even rural Kentucky where you could grow a garden an hour or two away from Louisville or Nashville Tennessee you are looking at more than your maximum budget if you have access to utilities. A lot of us have been looking for just a place to park without any utilities for years anywhere. Remote rural areas are cheaper but still the cost to commute and haul water or drill a well, set up solar and deal with sewage and trash legally is again way more than your budget in my opinion. I looked at a one acre lot on the outskirts of Tucson with access to utilities in the GR1 zone that was $50K a few years ago and it sold quickly. There are some lots out there in harsh hot or cold climates but they will be difficult to develop the way you want and much smaller than 5 acres and end up costing close to or more than a $1,000 a month to develop and live on in my opinion. If you can find a place to park in an urban setting with everything you need to live nearby and mainly free maybe a community garden that is probably the cheapest way to live in my opinion. Remote living can get expensive quickly even in places like Quartzsite if you need internet, power and want to take a shower everyday.

The small acreages surrounding cities are expensive as they are commutable. Commutable because existing businesses that want to expand into new or larger facilities keep moving out into those areas for the lower tax base.

Detroit's population is 620,376, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2023 estimate. That's an incredibly precise number.2 hours ago

Lance22 said:

Any ideas where to buy cheap land and live outside of a major 500K population city?
land prices around 10-30K be my max I can afford. Would love to work and live in my minivan during the week but on my weekends I could drive 1-3 hours and then be HOME. Have an address, be able to have a garden to grow food and just live life affordably. Ideally near a freeway so would have good cell coverage as well as working online might be a long term goal.

5-10 acres. Outside of Omaha, Denver, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Lubbock, Maybe even Sioux falls area but that's getting on the smaller side.. Albuqure could be an option but it seems to hot for good portions of the summer. As for the big cities in Arizona that be to hot for me.. Although Flagstaff could be an option but it's such a tiny city I just don't know..

Click to expand...

I wonder why you are concerned about heat but not cold. Working at night and sleeping during the day? Can your job be transferred? I had a look at your other thread, but didn't see... except that you tended to work nights, getting up at 8pm.

Albuquerque isn't that hot, low 90s in summer and dry. Of the other main ones you mentioned only Denver would be cooler once humidity is considered. I know the area around El Morro is popular for low budget off grid living and that's a ~2hr drive west of ABQ.

That's like commuting from Pahrump to Vegas, isn't it?

Or from Salton Sea to San Diego...

If Reno is in your size range, you have a LOT of options.

And remember commuting isn’t free!

$1000 can rent you a decent room in Socal.

bullfrog ! said:

In my opinion you are expecting too much for too little in this day and age. Most county governments that big cities are in have strict zoning laws although many do not always enforce them the price of property in them is usually high especially if you are looking for 5 acres. Even rural Kentucky where you could grow a garden an hour or two away from Louisville or Nashville Tennessee you are looking at more than your maximum budget if you have access to utilities. A lot of us have been looking for just a place to park without any utilities for years anywhere. Remote rural areas are cheaper but still the cost to commute and haul water or drill a well, set up solar and deal with sewage and trash legally is again way more than your budget in my opinion. I looked at a one acre lot on the outskirts of Tucson with access to utilities in the GR1 zone that was $50K a few years ago and it sold quickly. There are some lots out there in harsh hot or cold climates but they will be difficult to develop the way you want and much smaller than 5 acres and end up costing close to or more than a $1,000 a month to develop and live on in my opinion. If you can find a place to park in an urban setting with everything you need to live nearby and mainly free maybe a community garden that is probably the cheapest way to live in my opinion. Remote living can get expensive quickly even in places like Quartzsite if you need internet, power and want to take a shower everyday.

Click to expand...

Yes, I am going into this kinda blind and just starting the conversation to see if it's possible. I am just thinking I might have to go farther out into the wild which is possible. Might be a two step plan 1st. trying it out on a tiny cheap 1,000 buck plot of land and seeing what it is like before investing some 20K in some rural land. I found a piece of land that would have been nearly what I wanted it was 30 acers next to the interstate and next to a railroad in Arizona near the boarder of New Mexico which has very loose housing building rules.

The extend of my building would be pretty cheap and phased in. Some type of cargo trailer like an old uhaul I'd buy and use that as a storage shed. Then buying some type of broken down RV or RV trailer that I can fix up (just the inside, and paint the outside) and use that as a house. Would love to build an outside house out of old lumber and pallets over time but I don't plan on living there year round so anything to fancy I'm sure would get stollen or I'd worry it would at least..

As for commuting it be a weekend house not a weekday house. Maybe I have to get creative and work out that my 2 week schedule ensures I work in a way that rotates my 2 days off to line up with both weeks? (instead of working M T W H F Off Sat & Sun it be work M-F Off Sat Sun Mon Tuse work W-Sun) I don't know.. just trying to build a life I can find some type of normalicy and happiness in this market where everything is to damn expensive!

As for utilities.. I'd be composting if not just doggy potty bagging it. I did that for my dog, and I done that for myself it's cheap and it works just fine. Trash can easily be burned during burnable seasons composted as well. Cans can be smashed down and recycled. Not a big issues since I'd be in and out of the place pretty often.

Power be via solar. I just put 400 watts on my minivan so I have enough in my van to meet my needs. If I needed AC putting 1,000 watts for AC during the day seems fine. Overnight batteries don't seem as important. 200-400AH seems more than enough.

As for Internet, I been working towards living off cell phones less. I downloaded tons of content to keep me entertained offline if need be. I pay 100 bucks a month and have 3 cell phone plans that runs off each of the major 3 networks so long as I get one or two of them that be perfectly fine.

I don't NEED a shower. I done the wash up in a bucket DAILY in about 20oz of water and that is where I draw the line. Which I can easily haul in 10 gallons of water. When I stayed at the LTVA I hauled about 12 gallons of water in. Then at the new mexico state parks I hauled in about 18-20 gallons and that was more than enough to last me 2 weeks. ( I went during pandemic so their showers were turned off so washcloth and bucket was all I had nor needed)

I think I am pretty resourceful.

rruff said:

I wonder why you are concerned about heat but not cold. Working at night and sleeping during the day? Can your job be transferred? I had a look at your other thread, but didn't see... except that you tended to work nights, getting up at 8pm.

Albuquerque isn't that hot, low 90s in summer and dry. Of the other main ones you mentioned only Denver would be cooler once humidity is considered. I know the area around El Morro is popular for low budget off grid living and that's a ~2hr drive west of ABQ.

Click to expand...

I'm a native Minnesotan, that has moved south.. Dealing with cold is just one thing that I never had issues dealing with. (keeping warm hack, is just get more blankets if your cold haha) Don't get me wrong still a learning curve. I recently switched out a bunch of my big thick comforters with a wool blanket and I am thinking about getting 1-2 more wool blankets but holding off a bit still. I've bought sweatshirts and sweatpants I have kept my wool socks and while I have some gloves I am looking into maybe getting some better ones that are a good blend between warm and function where I can use my hands still. I still have to fix the blend door on my minivan so I can use my minivan for heat so that is somthing I gotta fix before winter hits!!! Oh and I recently got a snuggy so now I have a functional blanket I can use to keep warm while I am doing things with my hands in the minivan such as making coffee or breakfast.

Right now I'm in Oklahoma City and year before this winter I was living in my minivan for a few months. Yea, it was cold getting out of bed but I managed. There was one week where there was a day cold snap of about 0 degrees to -10 and the winds were 40mph or something I just got a week stay at a motel cause I had to much anxiety sleeping in the minivan during that! Nights that are into the 20's but it warms up into the 40-50's during the day seem perfectly fine for me.

Cold don't scare me.. unlike that summer I spent in Texas... That pushed me to my near breaking point. But that's a story for another day.

Yes, my job can be transfered. I am looking to move up to Omaha or Souix Falls not this spring but next spring! I'm super excited actually! This fall im moving back into the minivan then spring moving up so I can live in cooler temps given I will be sleeping during the mornings cooler outside temps is critical. PLUS since I work 5 days week I only have 2 nights where I am inside the van at night meaning colder nighttime temps will bother me far less. Much more less if I can find things to do like go to the gym on my days off.


I might have to eventaully see about places like Flagstaff AZ or Sante Fe NM but with my company I can transfer every 6 months if I want to. I still am working on saving money still before I can afford land since I'd rather pay at LEAST 50% down if not all down given the APR rates are crazy!

Plus I am looking at eventually upgrading to a hybrid minivan so having climate control would really make a MASSIVE impact as well. Living in an apartment and keeping the dial between 55-75 brings ALOT of comfort while being rather cost effective with heating and cooling temps. Although I've done 45-78 temp ranges when I was REALLY trying to save money on my utilities bills.

Frood said:

That's like commuting from Pahrump to Vegas, isn't it?

Or from Salton Sea to San Diego...

If Reno is in your size range, you have a LOT of options.

Click to expand...

Reno.. hmm. I am going to add that to my searches. Thanks for the suggestion.

bullfrog ! said:

And remember commuting isn’t free!

Click to expand...

I get 22MPG so it feels LIKE it is free haha..

I typically drive 6min to work right now that im in an apartment so I actually HAVE to drive once a week or two and take a long drive to charge up the battery and to clean out the carbon in the engine to keep it running better. So driving a longer distance for the weekend seems like it's more helpful vs harmful for the usage of a minivan anyways.

If I had a full size van or a rig that was far lower than 20MPG yea, I would absolutely agree with you more then. but I don't so. I rather have land I can build a home on than not have it and end up just driving more in town anyways cause I have no home to go to.

Happy Camper said:

$1000 can rent you a decent room in Socal.

Click to expand...

Maybe someday... but I want to try investing that money and saving it vs. spending it on a space to sleep and then having nothing to show for it.. 1,000bucks a month requires 1,250 pretax money so at my current wage I'd have to work 62 hours to afford JUST a place to sleep. which is 735 hours a year. OR 14.1 hours a week.


So that means if your working 5 8 hour days that means MONDAY and TUSEDAY your JUST working to sleep in a room each week. Then what WENSEDAY is just to cover food.. then THURSDAY AND FRIDAY is for bills.. then we start the whole cycle over again next monday..

Make it make sense Sir... PLEASE convince me that is a good investment of my life each week... CONVINCE ME IT MAKES SENSE! I can't convince myself that anymore.. Living paycheck to paycheck worried about if I loose my job then I am back to going back into the hold I just dug myself out recently...

I just can't..

There is land in remote areas on poor roads available that will eventually destroy your vehicle prematurely. Property close to town on paved roads without enforced restrictions or zoning laws pretty much non existent. As I said before we looked hard for several years and everything we found was restricted or well over $50,000. We ended up buying a house on a little less than an acre that was GR1 zoned in an area with little enforcement and basically renting the house to make the mortgage payment while taking 1/2 the property to stay on. This was before the mortgage rates went up and therefore easier. It was a risky move on our part as the mortgage payment is $1,800 well beyond our ability to make if we had to when we bought it, but it solved several problems for us and now we have built back up savings as we are paying only utilities which run between $300 to $600 dollars a month depending on the season. I look at our time at Caballo Loco RV park in primitive camping area as our trial at living outside of town. It taught us what 8 miles of dirt road and an hour travel time to town was like for us and it wasn’t good as we got older and needed more trips for medical problems. Traveling to work even twice a week would be a pain for us, just saying.

High elevation (5-7k ft) in the SW will have the most moderate year round temperature... the farther south the better. ABQ really is a good choice I think, with the El Morro area being near. Check out zillow, there are tons of 2+ acre properties for <$10k. Cell service will be poor though.
https://map.coveragemap.com/signal-strength

Paying for a room makes sense if your salary justifies it so you can still bank. High price areas usually pay better... but it's nice to just sleep in your rig if you can figure it out. Unless you have a secure place to park and sleep in your van, that's always going to be iffy.

Fuel is only a small part of the cost of owning and operating a vehicle. The problem with minivans is that they really struggle offroad, and if you want to camp or buy remote land, that is important.

I really think you should wait to buy land. If your employer lets you switch every 6 months, that sounds like a great deal to me... just do it. Work in a warm place in the SW in winter, where you can head out and camp on BLM land in the winter if you want, and head north in summer and do the same. You'll have good weather all year. If you can sleep in your van, you should be able to save money quickly.

Save up enough to buy the land and have a stash, then switch to working seasonally. You should easily be able to afford working half the year and still save money to develop your land.

Lance22 said:

Any ideas where to buy cheap land and live outside of a major 500K population city?

I like minivan life but would love to own my own homestead with very loose housing regulations. Arizona or New Mexico I know have some liberal housing options. But are there any other areas?

land prices around 10-30K be my max I can afford. Would love to work and live in my minivan during the week but on my weekends I could drive 1-3 hours and then be HOME. Have an address, be able to have a garden to grow food and just live life affordably. Ideally near a freeway so would have good cell coverage as well as working online might be a long term goal.

Is it possible? Would love to have a tiny house and own some good amount of land so I don't have to worry about neighboors to much say 5-10 acres. Outside of Omaha, Denver, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Lubbock, Maybe even Sioux falls area but that's getting on the smaller side.. Albuqure could be an option but it seems to hot for good portions of the summer. As for the big cities in Arizona that be to hot for me.. Although Flagstaff could be an option but it's such a tiny city I just don't know..

Has anyone else ever thought about living outside of a big city and just living there on the weekends and living in town in a minivan so you can OWN your own home affordably while still having a place to sleep in your minivan during the work week?

I think it would really help me feel better about minivan life if I knew I really DID have a nice home, even if I slept during the day at a local park. I had a home I COULD go home to just rather not during the week to save on travel time and cost. However I just go home on the weekends and could take time off to do extended weekends and have time away.

I just can't justify 1000 a month in rent anymore. It's just to insane. Yes, some places are still 700 but with utilities its back up to 900 a month! I just can't anyome I want a decent life.. not great, but not awful. I'm not ready to start buying land today but within a year or two. I'm just trying to plan for the future. I feel like a bum, plus I want to build my own home. This one youtuber built an outside shower that still makes me smile thinking about it! Some day I could easily drop down to working 4 days a week then having 3 day weekends which I could go HOME and live my life...

Maybe even the west coast? Although I'd assume everything 3 hours out would already be beyond expensive still.

Click to expand...

I have been doing this for 30 years...

You will need to be hours South of Denver east of I-25 and the same in Seattle area, maybe as far as Yakima because things are unbelievably expensive... That ship sailed a long time ago in those areas. Even Spokane is ridiculous now.

New Mexico is OK, but Govt here in some places where they cut large subdivision areas are aggressively on people... Deming area is a NAZI program, as are places like Cloudcroft where spending one night on your land is not legal. There are treed parcels along I-40 east of Albuquerque before Santa Rosa, around 5000 feet I looked at years ago.
Hudspeth County south of El Paso has zero regulations for land use, I had 142 acres directly on the Rio Grande, $60,000. But it's bloody hot in summer..
In actuality there are few places it's legal, the key is no enforcement. In smaller population areas they have less Govt.
Mountains in Colorado near Denver are Govt Regulations insane. I owned 5 acres off I-70 and I almost got charged with access with no driveway permit, inside the National Forest on a dirt road.....the driveway was there long before me... I just laughed and told the woman it was better here before they hired all Nazi compliance people like you and I walked out.

The key is.. Out of sight out of mind and no fancy house neighbors next door. Most properties red flagged were reported...

Maybe in the South you can find land in the price range you stated but out west close to a city... I wish you luck.

El Morror west of Albuquerque or Ramah, south of Grant's is a reasonable drive to the city, a few hours .. But if it is wet the roads there are not passable. I looked at 6 acres directly on the Continental Divide, and an extinct volcano ... Less than 20k, but you need a super 4x4.

I agree cool summer is more important than warm winter.... It's easier to stay warm.

Good luck but it is 25 years too late for cheap suburbia close to the city, out west anyways. Maybe no tree scrub land.
The 2008 crash ruined it all actually

bebewanna said:

El Morror west of Albuquerque or Ramah, south of Grant's is a reasonable drive to the city, a few hours .. But if it is wet the roads there are not passable. I looked at 6 acres directly on the Continental Divide, and an extinct volcano ... Less than 20k, but you need a super 4x4.

Click to expand...

Many parcels are much cheaper than that, and the driving to and fro is nearly all paved... or county gravel roads that are well maintained. Sure the last bit to your parcel might be crap if there isn't a POA that collects for road maintenance. Apparently Cibola County does not have any code enforcement... it's the POAs that handle that, if anyone does.

For example... https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1-Tin-Can-Alley-Rd-Ramah-NM-87321/349958035_zpid/

rruff said:

Many parcels are much cheaper than that, and the driving to and fro is nearly all paved... or county gravel roads that are well maintained. Sure the last bit to your parcel might be crap if there isn't a POA that collects for road maintenance. Apparently Cibola County does not have any code enforcement... it's the POAs that handle that, if anyone does.

For example... https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1-Tin-Can-Alley-Rd-Ramah-NM-87321/349958035_zpid/

Click to expand...

Pine Meadows Ranches.. Yes, I remember when 2.5 acres there was 2k. Only in one unit are you not under HOA rules/covenants. Some of the covenants are ridiculous.

There is property all over that area... El Morro Ranches is right next to the pavement. With a locked gate. I tried to buy 20 acres there in 1996. But the cowboy woman owner did not like I had long hair and a VW Bus, ... . It was unbelievable. Made some hippie comments... I just left.

The crime rate there is a concern...

Would it necessarily have to be 500K ? Could it be smaller ?

I would imagine a city with population of 500K would have quite a few people wanting a week end retreat outside the city. It may take a longer commute to find cheap land or lease land around the big city and as Bullfrog mentioned the commute isn't free and you would also need to consider the time involved in the commute. My own commute is nearly 20 miles from a town of a little less than 50K. (in southern Ohio) Since I've been here it has grown considerably with people wanting to live where it is much less expensive than the town.

This WIKI page list USA Cities by Population: (if it helps)

Population by Cities

qwik comment. A city having a population of 500,000 probably has a metropolitan area population exceeding 1 or 2 million.

Detroit for example: city population about 650,000;
Detroit Metropolitan population is about 3.5 million

INTJohn

Your population statics will be screwed because large cities in the center of a metropolitan area are surrounded by additional cities with their own boundaries and those cities often have more cities adjacent to them. In the Seattle metro area that is a normal situation, you can drive for hours to the north and south with no break between those adjacent towns and cities. Los Angeles is that way, so is Chicago and Houston, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix and many other places.

I suggest you just go online, pick a place with a climate you might want to live in and start doing a property search and also look at job situation in that area. There is no waving of magic wands that will turn up something that meets your own personal standards. Basically you just have to narrow your focus then do a whole lot of house and job hunting. Find a job before you look for property to buy. If you love the job you can take your time finding property to buy. You need a matching set, work you enjoy, climate you like and a property that works for your personal preferences.

bullfrog ! said:

In my opinion you are expecting too much for too little in this day and age. Most county governments that big cities are in have strict zoning laws although many do not always enforce them the price of property in them is usually high especially if you are looking for 5 acres. Even rural Kentucky where you could grow a garden an hour or two away from Louisville or Nashville Tennessee you are looking at more than your maximum budget if you have access to utilities. A lot of us have been looking for just a place to park without any utilities for years anywhere. Remote rural areas are cheaper but still the cost to commute and haul water or drill a well, set up solar and deal with sewage and trash legally is again way more than your budget in my opinion. I looked at a one acre lot on the outskirts of Tucson with access to utilities in the GR1 zone that was $50K a few years ago and it sold quickly. There are some lots out there in harsh hot or cold climates but they will be difficult to develop the way you want and much smaller than 5 acres and end up costing close to or more than a $1,000 a month to develop and live on in my opinion. If you can find a place to park in an urban setting with everything you need to live nearby and mainly free maybe a community garden that is probably the cheapest way to live in my opinion. Remote living can get expensive quickly even in places like Quartzsite if you need internet, power and want to take a shower everyday.

Click to expand...

My friend.
Have bought a lot outside of Phoenix about a 100 miles. I forgot the name of the town. There were 2 or 4 acre Lots and one of the big problems and he put a trailer there, then he didn't go back and all sorts of stuff got stolen and that's something I've heard over and over again from people that own Homestead lots in the middle of nowhere I would be hesitant about putting anything up.I mean, he had telephone poles that he was gonna use and they stole that as well broke into trailer and stole refrigerator and a bunch of stuff.So unless someone's gonna be there pretty consistently.I wouldn't build anything like that for that reason alone..he just sold it for 9500 dolars

My back is too damaged to want to own land and look after it. Cheap land is undeveloped but that means lots of work including hauling water and keeping the access road passable. NONE of those cheap land deals are on paved roads or located along county maintained roads or close to places to buy supplies including water. Many have no place to get mail or are not located where you can get Amazon and UPS deliveries. The rules from towing companies about higher rates to go to dispersed camp sites on BLM lands will most likely also apply. That land is cheap for a reason! It is no good for grazing, farming or much of anything as permits to put in a structure with foundation are not cheap and to get a permit for that you have to put in very expensive improvements.

I visited such a property and the owners had big shed kits they put up for a kitchen, bedroom, living room and storage. But as they did not bother to put in lightning rods and there were no trees taller than the sheds one of those buildings got hit by lighting. Fortunately they were not home that afternoon and the lightning strike just burned a hole through the wall but it could have caught fire and destroyed everything else they worked for years to put up including their solar panel farm and other sheds as well as all the vegetation and other vehicles.

I bet few of you have considered that on those properties you will need to have lightning rod protection for all your shed buildings…

maki2 said:

My back is too damaged to want to own land and look after it. Cheap land is undeveloped but that means lots of work including hauling water and keeping the access road passable. NONE of those cheap land deals are on paved roads or located along county maintained roads or close to places to buy supplies including water. Many have no place to get mail or are not located where you can get Amazon and UPS deliveries.

Click to expand...

Good points about the hassle of maintaining a home on remote land and how utterly silly the prospect is for an old retired person... but...

I know where you can get cheap land on a county maintained dirt road that is 2 miles (by road) from town, and 25 miles on pavement from a "big" (~15k) town. Great climate, and zoning laws as good as they get. The near town is very small, but has a restaurant with very good reviews, gas station, laundromat (and showers), library, propane, water, etc.

There is an airport 25 miles away with commuter flights to a big city, but it's nowhere near a large metro of 500k+.