Advice? Home security in rural areas + choosing place

Started by gbleuc, March 01, 2019, 02:34:52 AM

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gbleuc

So, I have been in the midst of planning my small house, and researching areas to purchase land. In the midst of this, I came across an article that rather scared me:

https://axleaddict.com/rvs/Can-I-Live-In-An-RV-On-My-Property

I had been looking into possibly putting a trailer on the land after I purchase it that I would live in while building, and happened to read the post above. Perhaps a slightly extreme example (curious to hear folks' thoughts) I think - the author clarifies the highly disturbing details in the comments section- but it definitely made me think long and hard about the security aspect in moving to a rural area. I grew up in places ranging from rural to semi-rural and finally suburban when I was older; But I hadn't really thought about this till now. I will be a single person living there and will be gone at times for work. I would love to find land close enough towards a city that I would be able to have a structure on it to rent out to someone trustworthy such as a friend, so as to have someone there when I'm gone, but I don't know if that'll be the case. I plan for it to be my full-time residence.

I'm really curious to hear everyone's thoughts on this, as well as input and advice, and experiences. I am trying to not be scared off by this! I am looking at land on the west coast, specifically central coast CA, northwest OR, and parts of WA.

1) What is everyone's thoughts?
2) Home security (eg, home control devices, etc) seems like it could help in that if you had internet and were able to alert authorities, they could possibly make it out in time depending on how far out, or maybe in time to alert a friend nearby. Maybe that's idealistic.
3) Researching the place seems paramount, and talking to locals- any advice on questions to ask, things to look for/be aware of, etc?
4) I've also been thinking in terms of design, such as placing windows high to create inconvenience. (Which is kind of a bummer because I love well-windowed spaces and would've loved to put them all around.) Does anyone have input here?
5) Security advice in general?


I'd be most concerned about the times when I'm away. I'd imagine that's something that's been discussed on here a bit. Any info/recommendations is very much appreciated! Thank you.




Dave Sparks

Many of us here have gone thru your situation. One way that you can approach this is to find land for sale by an owner who lives nearby. This can lower the risk of theft. My neighbor who lives 5 acres away sold me the land and did not build his house until I did.  :)
There is a better thread on this forum but I could not find it. The one below delves into things you can do. Good Luck

https://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=15003.0
"we go where the power lines don't"


gbleuc

Hi Dave, thank you so much for your reply!! I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner- I didn't receive the email notification for some reason so I figured no one responded:)

Your idea re finding land for sale by a nearby owner is BRILLIANT. The idea is that then there's someone you know who's close by and can keep an eye on things, yes?

It sounds like your neighbor/who you purchased from was pretty friendly which is encouraging all around. I'm also curious if you did owner financing or if you did something else? (I just started another thread as I'm in the process of sorting out how to get financing for an owner-builder project, which I didn't realize would be quite so challenging..! https://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=15141.msg196914#msg196914 )

Anyway, thanks so much for your post- It was a great idea and very helpful.

Best,

gbleuc

Dave Sparks

There is plenty more land near me for sale ;) Most just buy the land for cash. I am sure there might be a way to get a loan also to buy the land, but,

the real problem arises, especially for offgrid, in getting the cash to build. Not too many lenders and certainly no reasonable way to get a course of construction insurance policy. Even after it is built and has a certificate of occupancy, very few people are going to insure for reasonable money, so,

Most just have to build as they can afford and make something that can withstand a wildfire. That is what we did. I always tell my clients offgrid to not build something you can't walk away from. In other words, living in beautiful remote places is not where you would put all of your retirement eggs in one basket.

If you have time, over the decades you can build something that has some value. Just be balanced and diversified. I hope this helps,
"we go where the power lines don't"

gbleuc

Ah, got it. Thanks for your post. I'm building on grid just outside a small town and have a great agent I'm working with- so I'm hoping to get everything insured, but it's definitely a point well taken. I may end up paying cash for the land and doing a small personal loan to assist with construction costs. There's a lot still up in the air until I iron out what the financing options are/how feasible. I'm also keeping in close touch with the agent to keep tabs on resale value as well because you never know what the future will bring. But I am sure looking forward to getting this project going:)

One thing I am really interested in is in making incremental improvements to land enough so as to borrow against it for construction/make it easier to finance. I've seen it mentioned here a few times and it looks like a few people have done that. If you come across any info on it please let me know! Thanks again