Becky's Homestead and others

[gcal]

Check out Becky's Homestead and similar channels on Youtube.

I have been reading thru the "getting old thread." Some people have been forced into rv/van life. Some people chose it. But everyone has to winter somewhere and everyone eventually gets old. If they don't, of course, planning does not matter. For those that do make it, the younger you start to plan for a place to land when you are old, the better.

You probably won't take the same path Becky did. But how she got her land should give you ideas about how to get your own place to live when age catches up to you and the rigors of the road are too much. For the ones who were forced onto the road, that chunk of dirt can be a source of stability, hope, and self-respect. 

Yeah, some people are going to get huffy at the "stability, hope and self-respect" thing. But the huffers will not be the people forced onto the road, they will be the ones that chose it. We have hit the road both ways. There was a heavy sense of shame and guilt and failure when we were forced that is entirely absent this time around, when we had options and freely chose it. For those who were forced and don't like it, a piece of ground makes all the difference, even if you are still roaming.

 

[TrainChaser]

I'm not going to get huffy at the the "stability, hope and self-respect" thing, but I'm going to question going this route to "... give you ideas about how to get your own place to live when age catches up to you and the rigors of the road are too much."

THIS ^^^ is where I am RIGHT NOW!  And it doesn't get easier as you get older, it gets harder.

I looked at Becky's first video and turned it off.  She has horses "for riding", the first clue that she doesn't have much in the way of money problems; she has a good income, alimony, or won the lottery.  Horse are a dead giveaway because they are non-productive, and are a financial drain.  When the last recession hit, nearly all of the pet horses around here disappeared, probably the first things to go.  And the log cabin:  did she cut, notch and stack those logs herself, or did she have someone build it for her?  And she also has just a tiny garden.

Where to build it:  many/most states & counties have building codes.  If you find a place that doesn't have any, fine, but I'll bet it's out in the boonies.  Is that really where you want to live with your declining health?  Here in W. WA the minimum living area is 400 sf, built to code, with expensive permits.  And no, you're not allowed to live on your own land in an RV indefinitely in most places.  The local govt wants your tax money, and if you don't have a regular house on it, with the amenities, they can't tax you very much, and they don't like that, so they don't usually allow it.

Next, the home.  Building a log cabin is crazy.  You don't just build it and ignore it.  The logs shrink over time and need attention.  And it's hard to do that with a walker or two canes.

Suggestion:  Go to a decent local shedmaker and get one they can deliver in one piece by truck.  Around here, a 12x28' (336sf) costs about $5,000 (delivered), built of good plywood and 2x4s (no crap OSB or pressed wood).  This way, you'll only have to install the insulation, wood stove/venting, shelving, toilet, rainwater harvesting, etc.  But even this will need maintenance, and if you don't stay on top of it, you'll end up with trouble.

When you chose your land, did you pay any attention to the growing-quality of the soil?  Or did you get it for the nice view?  It's sandy with a lot of rocks?  It's straight gumbo?  Too bad.  Even if you have really good soil (quite rare), you have to amend it with manure and minerals to continue to produce nutritious food.  When you're taking nutrition out of the soil, you have to return it, or the garden will fail to yield well.

Chickens tend to lay well for two years, and then the feed costs more than the return in eggs.  Ducks produce wonderful eggs, and will lay for 7-8 years.  Will you be able to slaughter and process them when they are no longer productive, or if you have chicks and half are male?

Most Americans seem to take it as normal to buy feed for their productive livestock, like pigs and cows.  Add the cost of buying the animal, plus the lifelong feed, plus any vet or med care, plus the fencing, and it's probably cheaper to buy meat.  Still just getting SS?

How do you plan to handle your garden, physically?  Without decent income (not just SS), you can't replace broken equipment, pay to have it repaired, or hire someone to do the work for you.  You get to do it by hand.

In a perfect world, we could buy a city lot and have a concrete pad installed, and park our little rig on it, and grow food all around it.  We would have enough money to hire a guy with a tiller to show up every spring and do the hard work in an hour for $60.  We wouldn't have to have a lawnmower because we wouldn't have any useless grass.  The taxes would be low because we wouldn't have a regular house. 

And we would be surrounded by nice people who were doing the same thing.

 

[gcal]

Becky's way of homesteading would not be our way, either. I, for one, would not have a horse if it were free. We also would not building a log cabin for the same reasons you bring up. There are perfectly good travel trailers that would do us fine. But her ideas for how someone with little money can acquire a piece of land are still valid. She says her expenses run about $900 a month. She works 30 hours a week.Yes, I could kill chickens and ducks if I had them. I don't remember feeding my great aunt's chickens being a problem. She let them  loose in the yard and they did a lot of feeding themselves. I do remember my grandmother puttering in her garden into her 90's.

This is not a solution for the very feeble. It is not assisted living. It could be a solution for someone who is not up to continued gypsy life, but can still take care of themselves.

 

[AltTransBikes]

Interesting. For those who don't do a lot of youtube, I wonder if you could offer a brief synopsis of her ideas for how someone with little money can acquire a piece of land? Thanks.

 

[gcal]

She chose a low tax area where the land price was also low. You will want to check coding. She spent some time searching for the right piece of land with owner financing as she could not get a bank loan. She used her tax refund as down payment and paid $60 a month until it was paid off. I recall her mentioning a $6000 figure. Make sure you plan for taxes. Those of us on social security may be able to do that, too.

After the land was paid off, she built herself a log cabin from a kit. She used the equity in a house she sold, which is something most people on this forum either would not be able to do or would not want to do when good used travel trailers are (in my opinion) perfectly comfortable and so much easier. So, check your codes. Once you actually own a piece of land, you have a collateral asset that will make it easier for you to get a bank loan for the trailer. Alternatively, you could get owner financing for that, too. She is now working about 30 hours a week and lives on just under $900 a month. Her basic philosophy has been to plan, be patient, and keep small.

If you are in your 30's or 40's (even in your 50's ?), you should have plenty of time to get your land. You are probably working or doing something to live, anyway. Disability, crowd funding, donations, whatever. That $60 a month may be doable for you.

What she has done took years to do, but did not seriously cramp her lifestyle while she did it - if you don't count the year she lived in a tent while building her cabin. She kept on doing exactly what she had been doing and waited. This will not suit some people here. It will suit others very well. People here do beet harvests and Amazon work. They sell crafts. They have social security or disability. They have to winter somewhere. Coming back to your land every year gets you known in the community and may even get you enough work to pay off the land.

This is not for the feeble and frail elderly. But it may be a fine thing for those who were forced on the road by economic events or for those who just get tired of a nomadic life and want a change.

 

[gcal]

I am not saying that this is great for everyone here. Some are just natural born gypsies who would never be happy with being tied to a place. But if you have been reading for a while, you know that some were forced into the lifestyle and did not choose it. They would like some roots, even if they need or want to stay on the road for a while.

 

[Wanderer]

Just for the heck of it, I sometimes wander the site "Land Watch" which lists land for sale in various areas of the USA.

Many properties to be had for less than $4,500...
Florida  (208)
Arizona  (86)
California  (71)
Texas  (60)
Michigan  (58)
Arkansas  (56)
Tennessee  (53)
Georgia  (49)

Not easy to set up a some places, but with the right search, could land a nice place...

http://www.landwatch.com/default.aspx?ct=r&type=5,27;268,6843&r.PRIC=3500,3599