How to buy a wilderness cottage or cabin cheap
View from my bathroom window looking at the front porch :-)
Thanks as always to my subscribers and most especially my paid subscribers who make my writing here possible.
This is a break from my usual theorycel material. Let me know in the comments below if you enjoy this more practical material about wilderness living or not?
Before I begin a legal disclaimer, I am not a real estate expert or a financial advisor you are responsible for any purchasing decision you make, this essay reflects my personal experience finding a cottage home in the wilderness.
So where to begin, naturally at the beginning. That is know what you looking for before you even start browsing real estate websites. Some questions to ask yourself would be things like:
* How many bedrooms do you need?
* Do you want to go full off the grid, or do you want modern amenities like all the appliances, cable tv and broadband access, etc.
* Do you want close neighbors, or do you want to be back in isolated?
* Do you want enough land for a large garden, or is that not a consideration?
* Do you want to be close to a town or not?
* If you have kids look into the school district and home schooling options.
* Do you have a 4WD vehicle, or do you need a property you can access in your low ground clearance sedan?
* Do you want a turnkey property, or are you willing to invest time and money in a fixer upper?
* What sort of maintenance will the property require? Things like if you are a snowy region you will likely need a snowblower, a truck with a plow, to pay someone to plow, or someone strong and healthy to hand shovel, the longer the driveway, the bigger the problem. Rinse and repeat for a large grassy lawn.
This is just a starter list, if you think about it, there are a 100 other things you can add, take the time to brainstorm and add them first, and then print it out or keep it on your device to reference when you are looking so you have sharp questions to ask the seller or real estate agent.
Once you have all this sorted then fire up your real estate like Zillow and start looking in rural areas with cheap land prices. If you can find acottage or cabin near a resort area, but not necessarily right in the middle of the prime spots, you are more likely to have modern amenities like cell service, a well stocked grocery store, and internet relatively near by if you care about such things. The more amenities, the more you are going to pay and the more likely you are to be invaded by people fleeing cities. Think about what you really need and be creative. For example satellite and Starlink internet work almost anywhere.
Keep in mind these practical issues when looking at your cabin or cottage:
* Is it well insulated if you are going to be living in a cold area year round?
* Is it wood heat or propane? Wood is obviously better if you want to be fully off the grid, but it’s a LOT of work, it may sound romantic but know what you getting into. If you end up buying split and cured wood it can be as expensive as propane. Wood heat allows you to do some cool things like heat up water on a woodstove, and look at a fire, but it can be very uneven heat leading to cold back bedrooms. You may also have to get up in the middle of the night to tend the fire on cold nights. If this is your first time living in the woods I recommend propane at least for now, it’s way easier, I heat with propane after suffering through wood stoves for years. :-)
* Check out the well and plumbing and make sure you have adequate water pressure and the water isn’t full of minerals such that it is nasty to drink and ineffective for clothes washing. If you can can find a property with a submersible pump this is vastly superior to an old style pump in a well house that can need things like being primed. Do not underestimate this issue, if you talk to old time rural people you are going to hear a lot about wells and septic tanks. :-)
https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/plumbing/types-of-well-pumps/
* Now onto septic tanks, literally a dirty subject (I know dad humor groan). Anyway ask your seller or real estate agent when the septic tank was dug or installed, what it’s capacity is, and the last time it was pumped out. Septic tanks on average need to be pumped every 3 to 5 years or so and this costs a couple hundred dollars last time I checked. Everything you wanted to know about septic tanks.
https://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/homeowner_guide_long.pdf
* Is the cabin or cottage structurally sound? Run away if you see little piles of sawdust inside or outside as this is carpenter ants or termites attacking the structure of the house.
* Run away if you smell a musty smell or see black stains on the wall. This is mold, and black mold is a serious health hazard.
* Make sure the soil is well drained. Wet, mucky, or swampy areas are a big danger sign. Your house can literally sink and crack the foundation. If it seems swampy run away.
Once you have honed your selections of potential properties down to a few take the time to get a feel for the neighborhood and whether you will get along with the people there. Are you the kind of person who lets your lawn go to provide forage for birds and bees? If so you may have friction with your neighbors if they are the uptight leaf blower and lawn obsessed types. Don’t ask me how I know this. :-) Vice versa if you are a neat freak, will you feel uncomfortable living around less tidy people? How do you feel about guns? I am very pro 2nd Amendment for example but I was honestly surprised how irresponsible many of my neighbors are shooting around the neighborhood rather than finding a firing range. If possible introduce yourself to your neighbors if they are around and get a feel for things before you buy. Ask questions about things you may be concerned about like loud parties if you are a quiet person for example.
Consider a land contract or even an outright cash purchase if you can swing it. This allows you to buy a fixer upper if this is your kind of thing and also allows you to avoid expensive home insurance if you don’t mind flying by the seat of your pants. Buying outright means no mortgage and saving a ton on interest. More information on the advantages and disadvantages of land contracts here.
https://www.rocketmortgage.com/learn/land-contract
Steer away from overpriced “tiny houses” you will pay way more for way less compared to an old cottage or cabin of similar sq. footage.
Whew that was a lot. :-) Take it slow, read the first part and get used to using whatever app you are going to use to look at land, and get a feel for what’s out there and what you can afford. Then delve into the nuts and bolts of purchases is my advice.
Ask me questions below in the comments and I will do my best to answer them. Above all have fun, getting out of the city onto your own land is very liberating in my opinion.
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My family owns 80 undeveloped acres in a very rural area, we purchased in 1978 for $8000. I have a small trailer on it where I stay occasionally. I have thought about putting a cabin on it, but off-grid is illegal. A permanent structure requires a well, septic/drainage, and elec minimum. Talking to the county official I said, I need a $30,000 septic but a guy could put 100 cattle out here to shit wherever they like? He said, yes. Cattle don't use chemicals. Nor do I, I said, and those cattle are all on pharmaceuticals and I'm organic. I don't make the rules, he says. Nobody makes the rules, apparently, I said. Boom, down $50,000 with well and elec before I've even put in a foundation for the cabin. America, Yeah!.
A couple things we realized / experienced.
1. Proximity to medical care. (Apparently some teenagers think you can hit a baseball using your thumbnail.)
2. Quality of soil for gardens and pests. The soil here is good, but all sod / wild grasses right now. And this is a canola heavy area, which means there’s a billion cabbage moths and hungry grass hoppers, and infinite deer. It’ll take time to setup and adjust.
3. Internet access / utilities. There’s only a few providers, which impacts prices, but Starlink (despite being Elon) is actually really good.
4. Taxes vs insurance. One of the perks of this place was the low taxes, but we got blind-sided by the insurance, which is really high with bad coverage for some reason. Switching over the vehicles was expensive too, at least $2,000+ per vehicle.
5. It’s kind of annoying getting the right building materials here. There’s stores in town not far, but specific things we want are 2 hours away.
6. The culture is different here too. Everyone is nice and laid back, but have their own bias, and are terrible drivers.
7. In an emergency you’re on your own, basically. The fire service out here supposedly charges $25k for false calls, so you get pushed into fire insurance.
8. Lots of flies. I am now the lord of the flies.