My husband and I are looking for land in the southeast .We are in Alabama and we are looking for an acre or 2 in North Alabama.There are non to be found that no one wants to sell separately.Any one knows?We don't require much but we want to live half off the grid.So can anyone tell me rules and regulations? Annie
Rules and regs vary from place to place. Living off grid is for me. ;D
So much of Alabama is owned by timber/paper companies it may be difficult to find land for sale.
Actually, as far as I can tell, the timber/paper companies, e.g. Champion International, are always buying and selling property, often in largish quantities, although I looked at some 16 acre pieces that were being sold by a timber company before I bought here--got a truly awful case of chigger bites, as I itched, I wasn't surprised that the agent wouldn't come out and show me the land.
Despite the fact that Wayne County Tennessee (over the border from the Shoals area, Lauderdale county) has lots of Timber/paper owned land just like the rural areas of Alabama, it's barely possible that you'd have better luck up here--this may be true all along the border.
But 3-8 acre lots are pretty widely available here, and biggish parcels of 150 or more acres. But Mr. In-Between is hard to mess with.
(it's a song)
United Country Real Estate is not big at all in Alabama. It's all over the place up here, two offices in the most sparcely populated county in Tennessee, for instance. Might not be the right people to buy from/through, but you would get an idea of what to expect.
Thanks,we were looking for something anything really .Alabama is my home state and I figured I wouldn't find anything here. Any time you like a place :P thats what happens.I love Tennessee it's really nice there.Ancestral home too.I don't think hubby would like it tho.I'm still gonna look and see if we can find anything (1 to 2 acres).I would even take something like a trailer that needs remodeling. Got to get out of this city.LOL I'd would like to get away with as little as possible.
Hey Glenn could you tell me what kinda setup you have for living off the grid.My husband is not too kosher on the idea cause he likes electric. We have a freezer and this computer that we like to be on (business) and I have NO idea where to look.The solar thing I have researched(cost Money)and the water is abundant here(how to store water is no problem). I want to spend as little as we can to save extra money.Got any suggestions????
We have a 1KW Bergey wind generator and 1320 watts of solar panels now. 4KW Trace sine wave inverter so can use normal appliances - 8 L16 storage batteries and a small diesel generator for backup.
I think a modest off grid setup would cost around $12000 to put together- I've been doing mine a piece at a time. It depends on how much you do yourself and how much you want to do with it. We do nearly all we want but watch wasting it especially in the winter. Now we have excess power we use to pump water rather than burn off to keep from overcharging the batteries.
We usually run 2 computers, printer, DSL and wireless router, print server, phones, refrigerator, freezer, coffee maker, lights as necessary, water pump, occasionally a small welder, table saw, compressor, skill saw, hot tub filter, electric jack hammer, etc. If we get short on power we can kick on the generator but usually doesn't happen in summer.
You do have to maintain it- you don't pay the electric company but you do become it. ;D
If you have water in good quantity with some good elevation, you could also go hydro-electric.
My guess is a guy who doesn't mind paying the electric company won't like making his own. I love it but then again, I'm crazy. :)
Glenn thanks for the reply
Hubby is not mechanically inclined and even with the research I have done has been a little at a time .We had on planning to do this a little at a time.My husband was worried and mainly concern with water and electric.We use now a kerosene heater during the winter which we have to cause we have no other heat in this house.We use every now and then oil lamps for saving some on electric.If you don't mind I would like to print out your comment and keep it in my files for later looking over.
I have a brother for helping on constuction of the cabin but we just have to find the right piece of land :-/ I have a list already started for the plans and I want to add to them.Any help from anyone will greatly be appreciated and get some of this stress off.
Please feel free to do so. Always willing to help. There is a lot of information on the internet regarding solar power. Much is written so people without experience can understand it, if they have the desire to learn. Glenn
Prices for land do go down, sometimes way down, per acre as you go up in size.
And privacy goes up.
Chances are pretty good that a wind generator will not be worth it in this part of the country. Unless you buy a place with a good solid mast already installed. (Actually I heard of a place like that for sale in Giles County, I think the wind system was not working, never had very well, and it was quite a while ago)
Mini-hydro takes its place as the fairly inexpensive way to generate. Not for me, but I've run into a couple of people around here who have them, one part time, one full time. (my springs and streams are down at the bottom of my property, although the ram pump king swears that I could use a ram pump--but he hasn't seen that spring during the summer droughts)
The area down near the Coon Hound Cemetery has wonderful gushing springs that would be perfect. (Near Red Bay Alabama, south of U.S. 72 not far from the Mississippi border.)
I hope so on the land prices but the southeast is building up with all the new car manufacturing places coming in. Before it was the north but prices in the south are cheaper for the car dealerships.Now the price of land has skyrocketed here. How is Tennessee on their taxes mainly state and federal?Here they tax you for everything and its getting worse.
I also am looking for some unrestricted land and no time limit to build and you can put what you want on it. Thanks for the replies. :)
Have to go with what the real estate agent says or take a look at the deed for what restrictions might or might not apply. Timber and mineral rights can be sold separately from the land. If you have a small lot in a town, they'll probably get upset if you don't keep it mowed.
My understanding is that most places have codes. Not every place enforces them. Including a lot of places in rural Tennessee.
Tennessee is not on the list of no-state-income tax people, but it taxes only out-of-state interest.--e.g., a savings account in an Alabama bank.
For most of us, our tax bill would be less if we did have a state income tax, for our sales tax is over 9%. Friends up in the northern part of the state try very hard to do most of their grocery shopping in Kentucky, which does not tax food. We tax that at maybe a percentage point less than the regular sales tax.
We have just about decided on New Mexico Tennessee is a little over the top. I have found some listing in N.M. with no restrictions and time limit to build. Here we have these already put together 14x30 buildings which is about the same size as a small trailer and you put what you want in it. They run about 4800.00.This is what we were looking at cause its just my husband and I and our 2 dogs.
As far as water and electric I checked in one county and found if you are using it as a hunting or camping type cabin you can use the woods but if you are going to live in it you have to have a water source for flushing and bathing. Some counties here (in poor populated areas) its just water.Or a septic system. And they have water but no electric.Blah blah blah with the codes LOL.
I am realizing there is no place yet I can find(Glenn?)that will allow you to live completely off the grid here in the south.Electric Yes Water No.So this is my delema on this subject. We are trying to find a warm state(not Florida either) that has more sun and less rain.So there it is anybody got an idea???Not southern california either.
I use my solar power to pump water- springs are another possible low cost source if they are kept clean and the water is potable.
A water pump is already on my list with a few other ideas.Mainly now its just the land to get started with. ;D
Come over here,
we have a warm state That's definitely not in Florida or, Southern California. About 300 days sunshine, hardly any rain, really good beer, the odd goanna for the barbie, and the pollies don't bother us much (to hot for those ratbags out here) What more could you want.
jonesy
;D
Thanks but you didnt tell me where you were duh me LOL
Jonesy's in Australia. If you use his advice be advised that you have to turn it all upside down for it to work up here. Had any other interesting critters on the barbie lately, Jonesy ???
While trying to figure out what a polly is I came across a ratcatcher and don't know what it is. I assume after another sleep you might tell me? ;D
Glenn think a polly is kangaroo
I am quite sure that most of them are not as smart as a kangaroo. ;D I think some of the pollies would go good on the barbie though.
Yep a ratbag is a roo ;D
Hi Anniesfire,
Sorry about forgetting to tell you where we are but I see my old mate Glenn has fixed that. It's only a short bike ride but you would probably want to pack a sandwich.
You got it Glenn,
Most of them aren't as smart as a kangaroo. Don't know if you would want to chuck one on the barbie though, to tough I would think. Having said all that, there must have been the odd bright one about. After all, they did manage to build themselves a nice underground house in Canberra.
jonesy ;)
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=pollies&btnG=Google+Search&meta=cr%3DcountryAU
the reason Jonsey doesn't have that much rain is cause I get it all here in Northern Ca...but, it's easier to go off grid here with the wind/solar/etc...it's the cost of the land I can't handle....if I could find something in the price range...I might stay...but...as for
alabama...have you looked near
robertsville/robertsdale...sorry...meds....close to florida...nice folks...land isn't outrageous....I have friends there who have only propane generators and love it....bad weather is the threat of hurricanes of which there have been too many lately.....but...
Thanks I haven't thought of south but we are from florida anyway.It might be nice to go south instead of north. I'll take a look at that and see what I can find Thanks!!!
Hey Glenn-well how does southern California grab ya?We couldn't find a cotton pickin thing here.I have a friend in Cali and she is hoppin to have me come out, I know we would have to watch out for wildfires LOL but.......Do you know of any thing with a low price???We are kinda like hippies!!!
Thanks Amanda
Prices in CA are high...we live in central CA...the area is considered to be AFFORDABLE by CA standards....right now....the least expensive home in my sub-division (320 homes) for sale is $390,000....the highest is $525,000...these are average homes on lots that range from 7300 - 8500 sq ft....decent land is getting hard to find....when you do get something that meets your needs....it's very expensive....
Southern CA is 2-3 times more expensive :(
Oh well I guess she can do without me a little longer.How ya say it back to square 1.
Hey Amanda Pope, as Chuckca says, CA is pretty high- there are some fairly reasonable places around here but it's all relative. I know of one - I think it was 189000 for 10 acres with a hippie shack, compost toilet or outhouse and a well that needs a pump installed. I'm not positive on the price but if it's in your range let me know and I can check into it further. No electricity there but is nearby or you could go solar.
QuoteWe have a 1KW Bergey wind generator and 1320 watts of solar panels now. 4KW Trace sine wave inverter so can use normal appliances - 8 L16 storage batteries and a small diesel generator for backup.
Glenn --
Do you know by chance how much of your total power generation is contributed by your wind generator? I'm seriously considering one for myself, augmented by small solar array, but am curious about how much power you can actually get out of the wind setup.
Appreciation,
Mike
It can vary greatly with size, wind and location. I am not in a real great area but better than a lot around here. I estimate that I get about 1/3 of my power from the wind generator. Ideally I'd add another one.
Bergey has wind maps on their site.
A hybrid system is great because the wind generator works at night and during storms when the solar doesn't do much if anything.
You know, N. Georgia is a great place!! Come to think of it, hubby and I have a few acres and a mobile home we are trying to sell so we can build this spring!!! Even has a stream as property line on one side!! Really though, N. Georgia is great, and fairly cheap to live if you find the right place. Where we are Banks County, (about 60-80 miles N. of Atlanta) is kinda out there. We have neighbors, but mostly here is farms. Land here is 7-12K /acre. Can be less if you buy more. We will be selling our mobile home on 1-2 acres for around 90K. Probably list it a little high. My Dad just bout 8 acres in I think Pickens County for 80K. Anyway, food for thought, you might want to consider GA, great mountain views too.
80 miles from Nashville would put you within long commuting distance of the office parks in the next county south. Probably true of Atlanta--maybe even more so, as it's a bigger city.
Farther from there, if there's nothing else (Chattanooga?) "nearby" I think prices would head down a bit.
The difference is still there but less dramatic with smaller cities. Distance to 4-lane limited access roads (e.g., interstate highways, but others as well) counts too.
It's funny that 7 - 12 k is cheap lol... :o I felt that 3 G an acre for 15 acres was alot....
Well, it was, even in the Nashville area, in the seventies.
Speaking of which, I haven't been hearing much about real estate bubbles lately.
I'm new here, so I hope this isn't out of line. With the talk about water why do so few people consider cisterns? I built a house in the Florida keys 20+ years ago and our only source of water was rainwater that we gathered off he roof and stored in a 14,000 gal concrete tank behind the house. It's a common enough solution in the Bahamas and other place that get less annual rainfall than many parts of the U.S.
If I'm not mistaken cisterns are common as well in Australia. Anybody have any input.
Welcome and good point, John C.
Some here use rainwater - I think Amanda does. I just bought solar panels from a neigbor on the next mountain - nice new big house with a tin roof - no well. He collected 10000 gallons last year - wants to expand soon. Uses a water tanker part of the year. A cistern can be built cheaply with ferrocrete - even into the ground then a ferrocrete cover made to keep the critters out. Like stucco with multiple layers of chicken wire. The Navy had sea going ships out of a strong form of it in WWII.
I think PEG was stationed on one. :)
I have a triple water system. In other words not exactly all the comforts of home.
a spring for drinking water sited so that one gets to tote jugs up the hill..
a tiny (120 gallon) tank catching roof water and a couple of smaller rain tubs for washing dishes occasionally me or my clothes/dog water/giving the tomatoes some water--not enough to call it irrigation. there's a second tank that needs to be hooked up--properly. :-[
but I'm still taking showers elsewhere.
Including most of the clothes washing and a few baths as well as showers, and some garden irrigation, I probably need fewer than the 4 or 5 2000 gallon tanks, in two if not three places. But since there is one barn, a small cottage would be nice, and then maybe a second barn, duplication seems like a decent idea.
and I gather that it's very nice to have a setup so that there is water still available when you clean out your tank (s).