Buying cheap land and setting up a mailbox

[shelbyville]

I am new here and thinking about getting in the van life.  I know I can get a corporate address on my drivers license in Texas.  But I can't do that in Michigan.  I was just thinking, can I buy a cheap piece of non-buildable land like swamp land and set up a mailbox where I can use as my ID and my official residence but yet I have no house?

 

[barleyguy]

Honestly, if Michigan won't let you get a driver's license without a physical address and you're going full time, I would move your residency to a different state. South Dakota is probably the closest to you that's really easy.

The CheapRVLiving Youtube channel has a stack of videos on residency and receiving mail.

 

[highdesertranger]

I was talking with someone on the phone today and they said that both S. Dakota and Nevada made it tougher to establish residency.

does anybody have any experience with this?

highdesertranger

 

[desert_sailing]

https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/voting/register-to-vote/residency-qualification.aspx

It is under the voting selection but it does say what makes a person a resident of South Dakota. It may be just a yet to be updated website. It is the official webpage.

"A person is considered to have gained a residence in any county or municipality of this state in which the person actually lives, if the person has no present intention of leaving."

For the purposes of this title (Title 12), the term, residence, means the place in which a person has fixed his or her habitation and to which the person, whenever absent, intends to return.


Is/Was it really that easy?

 

[VanForNow]

Yes it really is easy. I hope SD does not tighten up residency requirements. Under current law, a nomad qualifies for SD domicile status by staying anywhere in the state for one day. After that one day, you go to the DMV to get an  SD driver's license, then vehicle registration, voter registration, library card, etc. And in SD there is no state income tax, pollution checks or safety inspection. Very low insurance rates too. They should change the old John Denver song to "South Dakota, almost heaven..."

 

[B and C]

Have a receipt for the night spent, RV park, hotel, etc. Sign an affidavit that you intend to return to live there. (not sure of the exact phrasing but something along those lines.

 

[desert_sailing]

I am considering again gettng Alaska residency. The main thing I like is that you can get lifetime vehicle registration. There also is no  state income tax nor is there state sales tax. I am not sure about property tax. Of course they also have the dividend which has its won requirement.

But I don't see going up that way each summer as a problem.. it is gorgeous. Of course right now I am not sure how passing through the Alcan is... can always take the ferry I guess.

Any other states that you know of that have lifetime registration on vehicles?

 

[B and C]

I've made the trip up the alcan one time and probably will one more time. After that I won't be back again. I do like it there but the haul through canada is a bear. Took me almost a week to get there in my van and did $2k in damages when I hit an unmarked frost heave right at the top of a rise. It was like jumping a curb straight on at about 45 MPH. That is how high the heave was and I wasn't on the ramp side of it, I got the abrupt edge. Gas averaged around $2.20 a liter but could have been higher. The further north you go, the more expensive the gas is and don't pass up a chance to get gas. What is that, like about $8 a gallon US? I think the ferry would cost more than the gas but wear and tear?

Everything is much more expensive in alaska. Goods get there by barge or plane. A lot of sites won't ship to alaska either.

SD lets you mail in for renewal or new plates, no vehicle inspection. I wonder how much that lifetime registration costs?

 

[eDJ_]

I'm wondering if a person could buy a cheap small parcel and list it as owned by an "absentee owner".

If you had your rig on the land away from view,  and met the rural mail carrier as he or she drives  by,
and ask them for a box number for the box you will have in place the next day or so.  Explain to the mail carrier
that you have a post office box in a nearby town so you won't get much mail but it marks your place so family
& friends can find you. 

The less said the better, but you could drop a hint that you travel in your work as a contractor who works with telecom.  So this PO delivery person will have some back story for you.   You could even apply for some employment information from a telecom company and use the new address so the delivery person will see it
when he/she delivers. 

Explain to the PO person that when you are out of town you will remove the box until you return. 

So,  you're there...but you're not there.   And you have a place you can stay until you are ready to sell it.

There are those who will stack up hay bales around their rig and over the roof during the winter and covert that with camo tarps. 

[img=697x2375]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/99/f0/33/99f0332b53ea58559da07635f9fb8a8a.jpg[/img]

 

[gslanm]

Hm. I always thought you could get a UPS store address or something like that but as a back up I hypothesized that I would stay in a motel for a month that accepted mail for me and essentially treat it like an apartment until I got any mail I needed cleared up. There are actually some poorer people who the state subsidizes in motels. I know I lived in a motel for 6 months when I was much younger and treated it as my address. I put "xx street drive, unit #, city, zip) kind of thing. Not sure what you mean by "corporate address" so if this is something totally different than what I'm talking about just disregard. My response might help those generally who need an address and have no ideas.

 

[wayne49]

"Commercial mail address" would be a UPS Store address or any commercial mail forwarding service. Those addresses come up as Commercial Mail Box (CMB) in address validation databases.

Some jurisdictions may have an issue with those types of addresses for one or both, of Real ID driver's licenses or local voting. NJ allows a CMB for DL, but the local board of elections will kick it out.

Lying to the local highway contract mail delivery agent, good way to develop local relations. And if they think you are lying, with "see something, say something" you could possibly be a potential terrorist.

To get an address for a property (since the global war on terror, most everywhere in the USA now has to have a physical address, for 911 purposes in case of emergency) one would get that from the local jurisdiction. That address would be also be the mailing address. To get a local PO Box requires a physical address.

When I first moved to NV my mailing address was HC nn BOX nnnn. Then it became nnnn US-95 BOX nnnn. Now it's a different nnnn US-95 with SPC nnn. I am still in the same spot. Still receiving my mail at the same mail/parcel locker. The same Highway Contract agent delivers my mail. Bureaucrazy.

 

[wayne49]

Here's your homestead in SD. 10K,  and $160 /year for tax. You get an address, and a business front if you so wish.
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/106-W-Main-St_Bryant_SD_57221_M95192-37349?view=qv

Sure, how long do you think before the town requires the new owner to renovate at least the exterior?
Boarded up windows and fading paint on Main Street is not a good look.

 

[desert_sailing]

I've made the trip up the alcan one time and probably will one more time.  After that I won't be back again.  I do like it there but the haul through canada is a bear.  Took me almost a week to get there in my van and did $2k in damages when I hit an unmarked frost heave right at the top of a rise.  It was like jumping a curb straight on at about 45 MPH.  That is how high the heave was and I wasn't on the ramp side of it, I got the abrupt edge.  Gas averaged around $2.20 a liter but could have been higher.  The further north you go, the more expensive the gas is and don't pass up a chance to get gas.  What is that, like about $8 a gallon US?  I think the ferry would cost more than the gas but wear and tear?

Everything is much more expensive in alaska.  Goods get there by barge or plane.  A lot of sites won't ship to alaska either.

SD lets you mail in for renewal or new plates, no vehicle inspection.  I wonder how much that lifetime registration costs?

https://doa.alaska.gov/dmv/reg/Perm_Reg.htm

Looks to be 25 bux for permanent tags. Of course the initial amount will be higher as Ak does require an emissions test.

I really am strongly considering  going back up. I was there for 10 years and it is a different world. It is a little more expensive for some things but what you get as far as being away from all the garbage in the lower 48 is worth  that financial trade off.  Winters of course are very hard... but that is why we are nomads right?

There also many parcels that are put out for homesteading and are very cheap. I sure would love to find a nice piece on the Kenai Peninsula, especially something on the Kenai river.. omg it is a gorgeous river.. the most beautiful blue I have ever seen..for a river.. all glacier water.... My budget would probably require me to be more in the interior.. :/

The Alcan is closed to leisure travel but if you are moving it is allowed with some restrictions.. It looks like your only allowed 24 hours to get through the Yukon.. a bit over 500 miles.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/202...48-can-still-drive-home-heres-what-to-expect/

 

[riptorn]

Not to be a killjoy about getting a Dr license in South Dakota , But First lisence you will need a birth certificate or pasport + SS card + 2 peace's of mail (bank statment, Electric bill etc) showing resadance, every renewal or change you'll need 2 peaces of mail , Bright side you can renew by mail (up to 6 month early they'll just use your old photo), South Dakota Escapes may have more helpful information, 
Your not going to get a license just passing through,
 Tags & ins arn't bad though & no auto inspection

 

[LERCA]

Following this discussion with interest. Reading daily about people losing homes and apartments and nowhere to live. Eventually they will figure out vehicles and I suppose some could use and friends and families addresses but probably not most. This is going to become a big issue and I’m wondering how the states will deal with it. I also always wonder about those under 65 what to do about jury duty since the last time I went the judge was in a rage issuing bench warrants like crazy.