California Dreamin'

Started by investfdc, May 16, 2018, 02:47:03 PM

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investfdc

I am dreamin' of getting out of California and am about three months to go on a four year relocation plan. House is sold, profits and savings consolidated and my current lease ends in August. Part of my preparation was to build a shed to practice with framing and such, I simplified and reduced and our destination target is narrowing. https://www.freedominthe50states.org/ has been my go to resource for finding a suitable place to raise a family and California is near the bottom of every category. Looking for small acreage in a nice area to have a 4H hobby farm for the wife and kids and commute to an honorable job. I am done with L.A. corporate!!

Dave Sparks

I understand your wanting to get out of the big city. There are many really nice places to do what you want.
My slant is if you do this offgrid, you can really save money as offgrid land is often cheaper and very rural. I like that and a 4H hobby farm is great.
The best places for this are in the southwest as the sun is abundant.

You need a source of water and a source for heating which can be propane, pellets or firewood offgrid. The sun as a power source has never been easier!

There certainly are other ways and places to do what you want. I hope you get alot of comments to your post.

You going to laugh or cry but I had this discussion recently with a client. The foothills of the Sierra can be at least a consideration. The land is inexpensive, about 40K for 5 acres, there is abundant oak firewood, 30+ inches of rain, and sky blue sunshine. Many communities are farm/ranch based.

Because these communities are some of the poorest in the state, the sales prices and construction costs put homes and their taxes very low. A great place to take gains from the big city and cash out. There is land all around here,  take a drive up to Mariposa and see Yosemite one last time.
My contact info is in my links. Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas are wonderful places to go off the grid also. I have close to 200 people I have done this with.

Good Luck!



"we go where the power lines don't"


NathanS

I was going to say something similar to Dave. There is a bigger difference between rural to city than rural state to rural state. The regulations and taxes in rural California and NYS will not be so different than New Hampshire or Oklahoma. If you want to live in the south west for lifestyle reasons, you should not choose New Hampshire because of the regulations.

It is definitely a good idea to start with building a storage structure for learning. I thought the Larry Haun framing videos were amazing.

ChugiakTinkerer

I left the old country (Sacramento) at seventeen when my dad did pretty much the same thing as you are planning, and hauled us all to Alaska.  If you aren't interested in solar then Alaska may interest you.  But there's a lot of things about the state that may disinterest you.

The advice most folks get when they say they want to relocate to Alaska is to try it out for a while first and see if it fits.  Rent rather than buy, until you're sure that it's where you want to re-plant your roots.  This advice seems apt for any place that's on your short list.  Pick the place, but don't fully commit until you've tried it for a year.

That page you linked to is interesting, but I'd suggest disregarding the overall rankings and focus on ones that will have a direct and immediate impact on your new life.  One thing that caught my eye was the Cable category.  My state has great broadband service where 90% of the people live, but if you get far outside the metropolitan areas then things fall off a cliff.  I suspect much of the rural lower 48 have the same dichotomy, just perhaps not as pronounced.  For me, I think I'd still want access to a decently fat data pipe, so this category would rank high for me.
My cabin build thread: Alaskan remote 16x28 1.5 story

investfdc

Thank you all for your input, some very good advice!! The ease of getting water is one of the more senior criteria in addition to land use freedom and taxes. I looked at the St. John through Flagg Staff region and I am not confident that aquifer is going to last, let alone successfully drill down to it. I have a brother near Atlanta, GA and other family in Texas and am looking at Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama for cost of living and regulatory freedom.


investfdc

Quote from: NathanS on May 17, 2018, 07:37:02 AM
I was going to say something similar to Dave. There is a bigger difference between rural to city than rural state to rural state. The regulations and taxes in rural California and NYS will not be so different than New Hampshire or Oklahoma. If you want to live in the south west for lifestyle reasons, you should not choose New Hampshire because of the regulations.

It is definitely a good idea to start with building a storage structure for learning. I thought the Larry Haun framing videos were amazing.

Thanks for the Larry Haun tip, will research that. I am trying to get out of the desert if I can, I would feel better about having access to ground water but love the solar panel benefit.

investfdc

Quote from: ChugiakTinkerer on May 17, 2018, 03:52:47 PM
I left the old country (Sacramento) at seventeen when my dad did pretty much the same thing as you are planning, and hauled us all to Alaska.  If you aren't interested in solar then Alaska may interest you.  But there's a lot of things about the state that may disinterest you.

The advice most folks get when they say they want to relocate to Alaska is to try it out for a while first and see if it fits.  Rent rather than buy, until you're sure that it's where you want to re-plant your roots.  This advice seems apt for any place that's on your short list.  Pick the place, but don't fully commit until you've tried it for a year.

That page you linked to is interesting, but I'd suggest disregarding the overall rankings and focus on ones that will have a direct and immediate impact on your new life.  One thing that caught my eye was the Cable category.  My state has great broadband service where 90% of the people live, but if you get far outside the metropolitan areas then things fall off a cliff.  I suspect much of the rural lower 48 have the same dichotomy, just perhaps not as pronounced.  For me, I think I'd still want access to a decently fat data pipe, so this category would rank high for me.

The grow season is a deal breaker for Alaska, I wouldn't know where to start with regard to food security...

MushCreek

I'm in upstate SC. Fairly even 4 season climate (but humid). Regulations are pretty lax outside of the city limits. Not really an off-grid type of area, though. We needed to be near a city (Greenville) for work opportunities, but at 15 miles out of town, we are quiet and private. There's lots of cheap rural land in the southeast. We got out of the hot, crowded Florida rat-race, and couldn't be happier! I agree though that you should try an area out before committing to buy, if at all possible. No place is perfect, and what's no big deal for me might drive you crazy, and vice versa.

In the southeast, altitude makes all of the difference in climate. Charleston SC is nearly like FL, we are decidedly 4 season, by the time you get up to Boone, NC, it's pretty snowy. Just driving from our place at 1100' to 4000' in the mountains, it's a 3-4 week difference in the spring.
Jay

I'm not poor- I'm financially underpowered.

zion-diy

don't forget to check North Central Arkansas. Lot's of land around, low taxes, no restrictions (at least in our area). Heck, wife and I built our own home back in 2005.    :D

Just a 50-ish chic an a gimp,building thier own house,no plans,just--work,work,work,what a pair :}


sandman

Quote from: Dave Sparks on May 16, 2018, 06:29:39 PM




You going to laugh or cry but I had this discussion recently with a client. The foothills of the Sierra can be at least a consideration.

My contact info is in my links. Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas are wonderful places to go off the grid also. I have close to 200 people I have done this with.

Good Luck!

I'm guessing that the OP is bailing out of CA for other reasons than just costs. The political climate is frightening, and likely to get worse....
Your other 5 choices would be vastly superior if this is the case.......

Dave Sparks

Quote from: sandman on June 27, 2018, 09:53:16 AM
I'm guessing that the OP is bailing out of CA for other reasons than just costs. The political climate is frightening, and likely to get worse....
Your other 5 choices would be vastly superior if this is the case.......

So you have the crystal ball I was looking for?  Still the 7th largest economy in the world.  No matter if many are going to Texas to escape the taxes.

As "Jimmy" said "the weather is here, wish you were beautiful"
"we go where the power lines don't"

JRR

Mushcreek, we just did a one-nighter in Greenville.  What a super laid-back place!  I could easily live there, spending much time watching the river beat away at the Falls.

Don_P

Sounds like you were at that cool pedestrian bridge and riverside park. I've visited Greenville a few times and really liked it.

JRR

Yes.  Did the Reedy River Falls, did the Zoo, did Paris Mountain State Park, did many (but not all) pubs .... then someone pointed out that I missed the Chihuly glass sculpture at the lower falls.   So now I "gotta" go back!