How My Land Project is Going

Submitted by lettuceLeafer in lobby

So I have put an offer onto 5 acres of timber which was accepted. It has some serious flaws but I was able to buy for less than 2k an acre with most of my conditions met so it should work out well. So now I should be able to close within the next couple days to the next 2 weeks. Anxiety from waiting commence. lol

I won't be able to start before the cold ass winter commences but I'll be fine. Though I do hope I will be able to get the digging done before the ground freezes.

So my plan is once I get the land I'll quit my job and float on my savings for a bit. I'll intermittently sleep in the car or at my parents house < 1 hour from the property until I finish building a shelter. So I'm a bit mixed on what kind of structure to start with.

I could either hand dig a fruit cellar and live in that on the short term, build a shanty shack out of mostly reused pallets and tin / other reclaimed materials or a tarp house. Then once I'm done with that I could build something more difficult and long term such as a underground home, cobb house, (least likely) shipping container house or just a nicer cabin.

For power on a regular basis I'll use a small solar panel and a smallish battery as I don't use much electricity. Though I'll have a gas generator for when I want to operate power tools, fans, more powerful computer or when I need to charge the battery faster rather than making a bigger solar panel setup as the startup costs are a lot less and I won't need an extensive battery setup.

Once things settle down and I get some comforts I can get started on doing some of my far more effective anarchist money making which should be nice. Though its no really hurry.

I can't wait until I actually am able to own the property then I can quit my job and get started. Because atm I have to be in a perpetual state of not knowing if I will be able to build or not so I can't buy too much stuff ahead of time, don't know if I still need to keep a steady job in case I end up having to rent and lots of unknows its very annoying and destabilizing. But I can't wait for the joy of freezing my ass off digging all day or hammering my fingers. (not sarcastic btw, that stuff is so much more interesting when you choose to do it and it helps free you from the boot of work and society lol)

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lettuceLeafer OP wrote

You'll know that I'm living at the property when I start making a bunch of white trash glamping posts.

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__0 wrote

My advice is keep a source of income for a bit longer so you can afford materials that will make your new place more livable in the long run.

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NeoliberalismKills wrote

They make tents that can be used with a wood burning stove. May be worth looking into for a short term housing situation. Some states are pretty lax with outhouses. That'll get you started. I'm super envious of you. This is totally what I'd do if I didn't have a family.

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lettuceLeafer OP wrote

They make tents that can be used with a wood burning stove. May be worth looking into for a short term housing situation

I do think that is a good idea tho I don't have quite enough acres to use wood as the main source of heat sustainably. So I think I'll do something like kerosene for at least the time being. The tent idea is good. I ended up reconsidering it and deciding that a tent is a good idea so I got one of the big canvas ones.

I'll stick with composting toilets over an outhouse for a multitude if reasons. Tho I'm sure some cases outhouse is good.

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yetanotherusername wrote

pretty cool. what will you be using for heating in the winter next year ?

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lettuceLeafer OP wrote

Prob mostly a kerosene heater with some campfire heat to supplement.

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edmund_the_destroyer wrote

That's awesome! Congratulations and good luck.

Have you figured out the taxes on the property, and how you're going to cover them?

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lettuceLeafer OP wrote

Thanks for the positive encouragement. If def helps with my anxiety causing me to second guess myself even though I've very sure this is what I want.

The taxes are pretty reasonable it's less than 250 a year. So I have more than enough money to cover that. Due to me being one of the greediest people on raddle I should be able to float for a couple years not making money though I intend to make money far B4 then. Surprisingly enough I project owning a vehicle to be the largest yearly expense. So I have all the finances covered for a while so I don't really need to worry too much about it until I get kinda set up.

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moonlune wrote

That sounds awesome. I hope it goes well for you :)

have you thought of buying a shitty old caravan for the first year or so, while you build your log house? you might be able to get a small one from the 70s for 200-600$, and maybe even loot stuff from it when you've built yourself a better home.

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lettuceLeafer OP wrote

I ended up buying one if those canvas glamping tents instead. Plus I have a van (it was going to get scrapped so it was my cheapest option for a vehicle + it can move building supplies around. ) So I have a heated windproof vehicle I can sleep in.

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aaaaarg wrote

This sounds like a good idea, also benders or geodesic domes are cool. This book has plans in the back for domes.

Exciting, good luck!

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AnarchoDoom wrote (edited )

An old camper trailer can be a good resort for anyone with a car, as some of those are also well set-up with good insulation. They got very little footprint, too.

But there's way more room for creativity with a hut or wooden shack, that can be built for zero cost. Yet it's more sedentary... Same issue with buying land.

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capitan wrote

Not sure if i shared this before, but it may come in handy: toilets.

For the more long term build out, maybe you'll want an Earthship. I mean you can start looking for tires and soil/dirt with which to pack them now.

What temperature range are you looking at during winter?

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lettuceLeafer OP wrote

Thanks tho I have my plans for a composting toilet pretty well planned out.

I doubt I'll make an earthship as it seems like a ton of work for one person. Though I'm glad you reminded me of it bc it could be real useful in showing me new materials to reuse to make buildings. Thx

Temps are pretty unpredictable so you have to be prepared for the worst. So my plan for this winter is bunker down at my parents house or in the car on the worst days. Highs and lows for the coldest Winters are like 70 to -15 averaging in the 30s and 40s. That's in Freedom units not communist Celsius.

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kore wrote

any building code considerations youve been making?

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lettuceLeafer OP wrote

I'm under mostly no building codes except for a few lax state and possibly federal rules. But there really is no one assigned to enforce it in my area so it's not really of my concern.

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AnarchoDoom wrote

Ok so all I'll add is whatever you build in the forest, please just avoid using plastic tarps, okay? They deteriorate somewhat quickly and all they leave behind are plastic pollution.

There's plenty of ways to make yourself an eco-friendly rain cover.

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AnarchoDoom wrote

This got cringe pretty quick... a few words after the title.

I'll let people guess which one(s).

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[deleted] wrote

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AnarchoDoom wrote (edited )

Well at least I didn't impose my 'pinions and let ppl have their say for once. :0)

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