Buying forest land, implementing solar

[swbluto]

There's a good source of models on ebay to use. Just scan it in, scale it up, smooth the exterior polygons, and make it (Making the master pattern, then the mold, then the casting. A larger metal casting would probably mean finding a local foundry, and those run the $$$). Here's one that looks kind of promising. I'd prefer a more grecian robe look, however. It looks like this girl stole the outfit from a swashbuckling pirate, lol.



I'm seeing this model everywhere, however, so I'm thinking it's a classical statue from antiquity. It's legit, lol.

 

[Dauntless]

Don't know what's ideal for your job, but one thing you can try is: http://www.sketchup.com/

 

[marty]

https://www.deltacad.com/
Easy to learn. I use version 7.0 and love it. Try it for free. If you like it? Pay $40

 

[swbluto]

Thanks, I'll try everything. I would love to get some accurate drawings, lol.

 

[Hillhater]

I have to admire your enthusiasm for this "Project" , even if some of it seems to be very "out there" and likely fruitless exercises.
But 2 things stand out to me..
1)..You have not actually seen this plot of land, so you dont know its geology or fauna
It could be badly sloped, full of rock, sand, bogs, or even just swamp land !
Does it have access to water...surface stream or well potential
Just because its got trees, means nothing, they will grow in swamp or solid rock !
2)..75'x200' is not a huge plot for what you have planned, especially if you intend to keep a screen of trees around the perimeter, and install wells, septic systems or other space sensitive facilities.

Go see and confirm what you have to work with before you get too engrossed into the details like statues !

Oh, and if you really are expecting the worst case society meltdown, then remember there may not be much sun either once all those bombs have been unleashed !
Maybe you should focus on keeping as much firewood as possible and learn how to make candles

 

[swbluto]

I have to admire your enthusiasm for this "Project" , even if some of it seems to be very "out there" and likely fruitless exercises.
But 2 things stand out to me..
1)..You have not actually seen this plot of land, so you dont know its geology or fauna
It could be badly sloped, full of rock, sand, bogs, or even just swamp land !
Does it have access to water...surface stream or well potential
Just because its got trees, means nothing, they will grow in swamp or solid rock!

You can check the Department of Natural Resource for its wetland's maps. They're surprisingly detailed and highly informative about things like "Swamps", "rivers", "Ponds", "emergent freshwater" zones(I.e., flood zones), etc.

There's also altitude maps I've checked which tells me it's completely flat.

And, finally, there's a number of residences in the area in random blocks. I can tell the undeveloped blocks are undeveloped largely because they're being held for investment purposes or "possible future use", AND, there's 'easier' blocks available with fewer trees, less brush cover, etc. Generally less of a headache to clear and develop on. They all have green lawns, telling me the soil is soft and fertile.

And, lastly, there's the realtor who's already seen it. He's already told me "It's overgrown!", trying to scare me off from the area as much as he could because he didn't want out-of-staters moving into his area, taking jobs from locals like him (Which, I'm sure, there's been plenty that have done so far with its 3% unemployment rate). That is, until I told him I was migrating my business to the area, then he suddenly changed his attitude.

2)..75'x200' is not a huge plot for what you have planned, especially if you intend to keep a screen of trees around the perimeter, and install wells, septic systems or other space sensitive facilities.

It could change, but the surrounding parcels on all sides are completely wooded and it doesn't look like that will change soon. By the time it does, I will have no problem installing tall fences to protect what privacy I'm seeking. An 8' tall brick fence with iron spires should do the trick.

Go see and confirm what you have to work with before you get too engrossed into the details like statues !

I already know there's going to be a /shit/ ton of work in removing the extremely thick bushes and vines, and I honestly don't have a solid gameplan for removing that with handtools...(I don't know how. Help? lol. I just figured the Woodsman's pal is called that for a good reason, and I'll quickly find out those reasons, lol.). It couldn't get much worse than that, IMO. I fully expect full implementation of the plan will take several months using manual methods. Getting the property to a "usable state" should take less than week (Construction of half the driveway should be good enough for kickstarting operations.)

The trees are the least of my concern with a count of 20-30 of them judging from satellite and the tiny trunks are 6" at their widest.

I largely plan on removing just the back half, a green pasture in the middle of the woods if you will.

Oh, and if you really are expecting the worst case society meltdown, then remember there may not be much sun either once all those bombs have been unleashed !
Maybe you should focus on keeping as much firewood as possible and learn how to make candles

In a worst-case meltdown scenario, I'm pretty sure the demand for my kind of products would plummet anyway, lol, so I would no longer need the solar energy as much as I did, and I would obviously have to change my inventory to match the changing landscape of demand. Emergency supplies, bullets, etc., lol.

But, here's a hint, I'm not really concerned about a worst-case scenario. What on earth gave you that idea? :lol:

 

[Dauntless]

Does it have access to water...surface stream or well potential
Just because its got trees, means nothing, they will grow in swamp or solid rock !

In fact, trees like cedar and eucalyptus are known as "Water Suckers." Cut one down, as much as 50 gallons of water will come out of the ground every day. You plant them if you need to clean up a swamp.

I'd say to be sure to build plenty of bedrooms. This economic meltdown you're getting ready for will bring them all coming to live with you. If you think they're going to let YOU make any decisions just because it's YOUR house, I could tell some stories. . . .

 

[swbluto]

I'd say to be sure to build plenty of bedrooms. This economic meltdown you're getting ready for will bring them all coming to live with you. If you think they're going to let YOU make any decisions just because it's YOUR house, I could tell some stories. . . .

In the case of meltdown where the beggers come to me expecting sympathy, expecting some kind of handout, then acting like they deserve it more than me and thanking me /not/ at all; I'll have my smith&wesson ready for those types. I can't count how many times I've experienced that dynamic, though I'm not entirely sure if they've been (mostly) in my (bad) dreams or real life. :lol:

What I more realistically expect is rural burglars. Not only during 'the bad times' but also 'the good times'! lol.

I feel like I'm going to have to figure out how to protect my assets while I'm gone. I want to create a secure brick building with a secure door that can only be entered by explosives; I'm just hoping no one uses that! If it gets /that/ bad, I doubt I'll be sticking around the area that long!

 

[swbluto]

That's right, you're from LA. Did that place meltdown?

I've seen news stories about people living in their cars/RV/vehicles suing the city recently (The 'homeless' traditionally don't use the court system to their advantage, so you know these people are formerly middle class!), so the police have stopped ticketing/harassing people living out of their cars on public streets. Of course, homeowners who don't want to share the ocean view they're paying half a million or more with these 'low lives' seem to be getting up in arms on Reddit, lol. I kind of get the sense that the Great Recession "meltdown" in LA was bad, or still is pretty bad.

Personally, if I chose the RV lifestyle (I thought about joining the snowbirds at Quartzsite, AZ, but the transiency of the lifestyle disgusted me.), LA doesn't seem like it'd be a bad choice with its temperate weather and nice beaches. And, for me, how a good handful of my suppliers come from the area (Seems LA is a big destination for Chinese goods, which is where almost all the brandnames get manufactured.).

 

[Dauntless]

I'm actually behind the Orange Curtain. If you saw the old TV show 'The OC,' yeah, THERE. I don't remember, something like 7-9 miles due north of Disneyland.

LA is in a perpetual state of meltdown, bits of it go every month. Those idiots raised the minimum wage for the city to $15/hour and now the fast food jobs are disappearing. But that dirtbag Garcetti is crowing because the people who DON'T lose their jobs are pushed into a higher tax bracket so the government makes more money. Meanwhile some 13,500 apartment buildings are of a style that cannot be fully retrofitted to survive an 8.5 earthquake as is the great paranoia of occurring out here. The cities are trying to let the owners raise rent "Slightly" but not enough to cover the cost of the less than full retrofit that'll survive something fairly big but not the full bogeyman.

As of June 2016, average apartment rent within the city of of Los Angeles, CA is $2585. One bedroom apartments in Los Angeles rent for $2282 a month on average and two bedroom apartment rents average $2979.

LA County is something around $1,500/month. Theoretically you should make $7,500 a month to rent an LA apartment and $4,500 a month to rent an LA County apartment. While $2,500/month would be about a 30 year mortgage monthly payment on a $500,000 house, you don't find many slumdog places like that in LA.

There's been beach bums for time immemorium. They used to call them beachcombers. And for about as long there's been local terrorists getting arrested for terrorizing the OTHER taxpayers who paid more to make those beaches happen than the locals did. One city recently tore down what they called 'The Fortress' where the locals operated out of to terrorize the area.

And then there's the alien base.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/19/malibu-underwater-alien-base_n_5493186.html

In the case of meltdown where the beggers come to me expecting for sympathy, expecting some kind of handout, then acting like they deserve it more than me and thanking me /not/ at all; I'll have my smith&wesson ready for those types. I can't count how many times I've experienced that dynamic, though I'm not entirely sure if they've been (mostly) in my (bad) dreams or real life. :lol:

I feel like some parts of my life have been a bad dream, lol.

Like, I'm not really sure if some things I remember (At least, I used to remember, lol.) actually happened in real life, because the details I recall just seem unbelievably awful for 'normal life'.

Darn, I meant to say "Rooms for RELATIVES." I got the S&W and the Sig, but I just don't go turning it on family, even if Ma and a sister got off warning shots at one I'd love to get first. (Hey, I could send HIM to you. . . .)

so I was starting my senior year secure in the knowledge I'd already become a graduate, working and saving money, out of the awful private school I'd started at. . . .When suddenly Dad told me he was terminally ill. Because he knew I'd be the one taking care of him. So much for getting out of that nut house in the next few months. The older brothers and sisters started escaping while this was going on, but started coming back once Dad was gone. . . .

. . . .But Ma left town shortly after. Four years later I'm somehow on track to get the degree on time, working, what would be a place of my own but I got two derelict brothers there trying to deal drugs and sell my stuff off. The one particular one got so bad he got the boot. What a relief. Except others decide this made it safe to move in. I come home from work and here's my sisters kids watching the TV, she's cooking dinner. Wanted to dump the most recent guy she was living with, didn't bother to ask before moving in. When the next sister wanted to move in, she asked---the other sister who was there. Then the fight started with the brother still there, the 2nd sister wanted his room and thought she could bitch her way into it. The drug problem had grown worse.

So another sister shows up and starts pushing the stuff out of the two little girls' room, saying her family was living there and she had a right to move it. As in, again, without asking. And without asking one of the other sisters had the lock changed (Not sure how she got the key anyway, the brother still there said he didn't get it for her.) Oh, she at least gave me a key to my house.

But she also started making demands about the work SHE wanted done to the house that, too bad, I couldn't afford. But she was trying to get people started doing it anyway, can you believe they'd try to argue that they got to hang around and get paid? I'd ask "Do you want me to get the police or do you want me to get the gun? Your call." I gave very short explanations about how when a mentally ill woman tries to get you to work on SOMEONE ELSE'S house, you tell her NO!

Oh, my life is actually WORSE than I remember, because I try not to think about it. But memories intrude. Pretty much everything about growing up was a bad dream, then it continued some. (NONE of it being my fault.) The one good thing that comes of it is I really, REALLY learned how to tell people no, to enforce no, how to realize that when they're yelling about what a bad guy I am it's because I'm the good guy, etc. Time proves me right, 100% of the time. When I was growing up the neighbors used to say things like how noone who didn't know our family would ever guess the washing machine could fly through the window any moment. Now they say they could never guess I grew up in a family where the washing machine could fly through the window any moment. Recently I met this woman, Angela. I was telling her a little about my family. She laughed and said I was "Exaggerating." She's so cute, I should marry her. But then she'd be in for a shock meeting the rest of my family. I could just see when I'm taking her up to Mom's, suddenly the washing machine comes through the window . . . .

. . . .Knew that was coming, eh? If you let things happen, you're life will seem like a bad dream. If you MAKE things happen, such as flushing the family drug dealers inventory down the toilet every day if necessary, you'll wake up to a better day. Maybe not instantly, but it'll happen. For all the sweating the lack of a full time job I'm doing okay overall and MUCH BETTER than I ever did around the rest of my family. So the Mother and Sister who said I was so horrible for booting the one brother would both just happen to end up trading shots with him. I'm sure they're both mad at me for not finishing him off before they had THEIR problems with him.

 

[swbluto]

Oh, moving in with relatives (Or other people). Yes, I know all about that, lol. (As does almost every other 20-something I know in this town that hasn't joined the military or married someone that moved to the 'big city', wherever that 'big city' is. Sometimes that city was in another country, often Asia.)

I'm finally moving out. The military gave me the startup capital to buy income producing assets to capitalize on the economy that's been picking up recently, and I have enough funds and income to sustain myself! At least for now. I'll be sure to stockpile rice just in case, lol. (And, I hope to get my vegetable and fruit crops going before long...)

There are political/legal/cultural reasons to moving to Texas. (Hint, practically the entire country has been sold out to Wall Street, except for Florida and Texas. Texas appears to distrust the federal government, wall street and the 'federal reserve' as much as I do, and it reflects in their laws, and supports and protects its cottage industries/businesses, like mine, so our economic understanding/beliefs of the USA are aligned. There's a reason why 'everything is bigger in Texas' (Which I've independently verified through periodic random google streetviews of my 1000s of customers all across the USA), because they haven't sold out the state's wealth to the cabal of thieves on Wall Street like everyone else has!)

I also like this area because it's prime land for growing bountiful crops. Warm and rainy, just what plants love. (Coincidentally, so do mosquitoes, but I realize I have no other choice if I can't afford a property with a drier summer climate(West coast/hawaii) with irrigation already implemented, so I'm going to have to suck it up.)

On second thought, it does seem interesting that the 'freedom states'(Fl, TX) with minimal regulations(Residential, business and otherwise) also offer the most built-in protections from Wall Street. I would almost begin to suspect this suggests Wall Street has been lobbying for regulations, state by state, for their benefit though I don't fully understand how that would've happened at the ground level. Perhaps it's just coincidence. It's not hard to see the connection, though; increased regulation means increased private costs, causing overall increased demand for (For what is ultimately) Wall Street's financial products for those who have little other financial choice.

And, Pennsylvania. It's where I picked up my car. Had the most interesting flight out of Washington, DC on a 1960's 16-20 seater Indiana-Jones dual prop plane to get there. That state exemplifies the worst of 'wall street' capitalism taken to its extreme. (And, by that, I mean buying the laws and legal systems, in effect.)

That place is unnatural. Unnatural crops (GE soybeans everywhere, etc.). Unnaturally sized and shaped townhouses and towns, looking miserable all over, scrunched together like sardines among miles of open fields and rolling hills. I swear the people are weird, too, just like that one guy in bootcamp from the area. Seems like the most ridiculous news items come out of that state (A guy putting wood filler in Craft parmesan cheese spread, etc.). It just had "The sadism of Wall street" written all over it.

 

[swbluto]

I am warming up to the idea of a making a driveway that goes some distance into the woods, turns to the side and has a big circle/oval area for vehicles and buildings.

Should be easier getting 20-30' of dense brush/forest that way for privacy and the "forest look" (Or however much is needed), while also leaving as much of the back for crops/sunlit areas as possible. That should leave around 130-150' of land in the back for crops/use. Considering the lot I'm currently living on is 110' long with a house in the middle (60' back, 30' front), a 150' 'back yard' sounds like A LOT to me! lol.

 

[marty]

Texas is hot. Trees make shade. I like trees. Gas powered chain saw is tool to cut down trees.

Inverter connected to a car/truck battery might be waste of fuel, but makes less noise then a generator. Your car or truck will idle a long time on a tank of gas. I have a big inverter that runs the coffee pot.

I would forget about the solar panels attached to trees. Usual order is foundation, frame, roof, electric with solar.

Your first stop should be the building inspector. Great source of information on the area where you are. Soil, weather, etc. Ask questions. Most building inspectors are really knowledgeable on how to build things. Most projects require a permit. Building inspectors like to look at drawings. I like using colors. Better to ask before doing, then do and get caught. If you get caught building something without a permit, the building inspector becomes like a cop and says "Stop Work". Ask me how I know that.

Follow all codes. I have heard that Texas likes the death penalty.

During one of my battles with a building inspector. I bought this book.
The Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling: The Only Guide to Choosing the Right Materials and Systems for Every Part of Your Home (Hardcover)
1 cent at Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0875968082/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1470085972&sr=8-2-fkmr1
How do book sellers sell books for 1¢ ? Hope they make some money on shipping?
Book has span tables for rough cut 2x4s. Yes a 2x4 is a rafter and has been a rafter for about 100 years. This book has a lot of good information starting with design.

Proper Planing Prevents Poor Performance. Don't forget about elevations. Water should run away from the house. Price of lasers has come way down.

How about a underground house? Dig a trench. Fill trench with concrete. Pour concrete slab over soil on top. Get your miners helmet and dig the soil out from underneath. Architect will help with design, rebar and stuff.

Home Depot is really good at everything but not the best at anything. I usually buy building materials from specialty places.

Don't call soil dirt. Dirt is what gets under your fingernails.

 

[swbluto]

Well, by design, I bought property in a "FREEDOM COUNTY". It's regulations page goes:

This County DOES NOT regulate the following:

zoning;
Building code (Nor issue Certificates of Occupancy):
Fire code (Nor issue Certificates of Compliance):
communication facility structures

I was searching for FREEDOM and Houston was a great place to start the search. "The Biggest City Without Zoning" seemed like a promising indicator of the area's regulatory culture, and I was right.

Granted, you can also find freedom in the more 'famed'(By internet standards) areas of Terlingua, TX and New Mexico, but there's no Fry's within like 500 miles. In fact, no cell signals either, lol. (Limited its practical business value)

I think it's only more famous because you can buy land there for $1500. The surrounding counties of dallas/houston/etc. aren't nearly as cheap.

I found, in my search, that the petrochemical facilities liked the water so by staying away from the beach, you usually adroitly avoid refineries and natural gas plants in that area. You can find areas that aren't /too/ close to those facilities (But they are almost always closer than 30 miles), but they are usually much more expensive or 'restricted'.

The idea of 'deed restrictions' lasting effectively forever seems kind of ridiculous in my opinion. The idea some guy who died 200 years ago can dictate how the property is going to be used today, seems awfully inappropriate for a dynamic country/economy. For example, there's subdivisions made 60-100 miles out that obviously predicted urban expansion, but with gas being as high as it is, few people actually wants to live that far from work anymore so the area is effectively barren, but it has all these urban deed restrictions on them, which seems awfully inappropriate for the times. However, it /could/ change.

Finding a "Freedom County" in this state I'm currently in, lol. I knew it was a futile effort having first hand experience with this state's governmental overreach, and a quick search on landwatch indicated I was right. In my humble opinion, I think the west coast is probably one of the worst places to start a search for freedom. I think it has something to do with the burgeoning underclasses in these ever popular "not too hot, not too cold" coastal climates and their socialistic influence on the government. Or maybe it's because there's too many people; the more people there are, the more complainers there are, the more complaints there are, the more laws there are. I like the large underclass theory, however, as Austin is notably younger (Making it liberal by default, as younger people are poorer) and more regulated/taxed then either the much larger and 'older'(As in, the citizens are older) cities of Houston and Dallas.

And, Mao Tse Tsung China and Joseph Stalin Russia were pretty much defined by their immense underclasses.

 

[Dauntless]

Which county is this again?

While Stalin and Mao were defined by the CULLING of those unwanted underclasses.

 

[marty]

Well, by design, I bought property in a "FREEDOM COUNTY". It's regulations page goes:

This County DOES NOT regulate the following:

zoning;
Building code (Nor issue Certificates of Occupancy):
Fire code (Nor issue Certificates of Compliance):
communication facility structures

x

Sorry don't believe that :? 75 x 200 lot. Can you build a factory? 10 story apartment building? No fire code? Can you build a building out of matches?

Where I live the county also does not do building inspector stuff. City and towns have building departments. Erie County Health Department tells me how to make a compost pile.

 

[marty]

I use google to search for FREEDOM COUNTY Texas. Not finding it? What is the zip code?

 

[swbluto]

It's pretty much all of the counties in the north west area (Lubbock, abilene, etc.), west(except for el paso), and all the counties 100-120+ miles away from the major cities with the exception of the very southern tip. Seems like McAllen and the surrounding counties love their regulations. Maybe it's that I couldn't find an appropriate property under $8000 in that area? (It's very possible that the kind of property I'm looking for are 5+ acres in those areas, which typically go for $30,000+)

Also, word to the wise, you don't usually get a reasonable amount of acreage for the $$$ until you bring around $15,000-$30,000 to the table, I've noticed. So, I'm not planning on buying an acre or more until I save up at least that much, and I might just prioritize the allocation of funds towards a house rather than large acreage. Because, location is somewhat more important than large acres to moi. Of course, if I accumulate enough wealth to do both, then why not? lol

 

[swbluto]

Erie County Health Department tells me how to make a compost pile.

I've not found a single county without active health department regulations. The closest it gets to 'no regulations' is if you buy 20+ acres in Terlingua,tx, then septic is no longer necessary when building a house. I'm not sure about that one area in New Mexico, but I don't think I care - it probably gets snow.

 

[Dauntless]

Well, he did say "A" Freedom County. But I search freedom Houston and get info on fireworks.

Yeah, always the dream to be left alone. But the only reason they get into the government is to cause trouble, so. . . .

Members of my family have built in counties west of you. They make it sound unpleasant. I might expect they'll at least do SOME inspections during the construction, for the quality of the concrete, etc. I suppose it couldn't help but be easier than in southern California. But if you don't put in a septic, are you planning on driving to the gas station whenever. . . ?

Let's see. .55 acres is about 24,000 square feet, compared to the 15,000 of yours. $595,000. http://www.landwatch.com/default.aspx?ct=D&pid=3411526 That's an above average neighborhood but hardly the upper class. A lot your size in some places would be $2.5 million, etc.

The idea of being able to buy a lot for $15-30,000 and putting up maybe a container house or maybe hempcrete or, oh, anything interesting is the height of fantasy around here.

Meanwhile, there's a line in the agreements around here about "Buyer will do all due diligence. Don't expect anyone else to find out for you if you really do get to do the things you want to do there. They just want to sell. Often because THEY don't get to do what they want to do there.

 

[swbluto]

Members of my family have built in counties west of you. They make it sound unpleasant. I might expect they'll at least do SOME inspections during the construction, for the quality of the concrete, etc. I suppose it couldn't help but be easier than in southern California. But if you don't put in a septic, are you planning on driving to the gas station whenever. . . ?

Pick a $500 RV from craigslist and buy a $120 portable holding tank off Amazon. Take it to a nearby dump station every 2 weeks, and you're done. There's a couple free ones in certain places, but I'm completely fine with the shorter drive and knowledge I'm probably paying a /lot less/ than a typical sewer bill. (And, definitely tons less than typical sewage tap fees; the tap fees in most towns seem to be something like $10,000 no matter where I've looked.)

You could also possibly try to break the rules, but beware the county inspector. In Texas, however, it's completely legal to deny the county inspector access to Private Property. Private Property Rights are a huge thing in Texas, unlike in most places. But, I have no intentions of that, nuh uh, I've heard the fecal-to-oral route is a real thing. I figure I'll start raising chickens if I want poop for fertilizer. (And, I'll just start selling live chicks or something with the excess chickens. I'm sure there's a market down there of sorts? It is the south, no doubt there is.)

I like the area I picked. It looks all sorts of quaint and bucolic. You start heading to houston and it starts looking like "The sketchy part of town" about 20 miles in, but that's not a big deal since I doubt I'll go that way very often; staying away from the refineries and the city's NoX emissions is towards the top of my priority list. At least it's not the mexican/black neighborhoods, those neighborhoods make inner detroit look like a southern californian gated community.

The big difference, in my opinion, between places like California and eastern texas is the summertime.

Hot, humid, rainy and buggy(Mosquitos & Ticks). Whereas, California is largely comfortably warm, dry and not buggy at all (Thanks to a lack of rain).

But, in my opinion, that's a steep price to pay for the mediterranean climate. And, since I'm dependent on the weather for watering my future crops, places like California is a non-starter to begin with.

There is a disadvantage to my property (Especially for moi), but it's possible to mitigate with enough money. (I'm a mile from the railroad tracks, and since the keystone pipeline was veto'd by Obama, north dakota oil is using the railroads to get all that oil to the Houston refineries, so I'm guessing it's going to be noisy all hours of the day.)

I plan on investing heavily in noise mitigation. I'm going to try to use the surrounding forest to its maximum advantage with that purpose.

 

[nutnspecial]

If you do it properly, even in most towns you don't necessarily need septic or grid ties. Most towns have enough added restricitions to make farming and animal husbandry a pita or non starter though.

There is so much rural land in US, and most seems pretty friendly to building. I know some people that built and lived in MO, and KS and CA. Their kids don't have ss#'s, they build their own houses free of codes, compost waste, grow food, raise animals, and do blue collar work for a little money (self employed). If you're not polluting or building skyscrapers etc, the UN agenda 21 trickle down in our fed gov isn't usually an issue, in many states and places- at least there's easy acceptable creative bypasses to most issues. It's a fun (and noble imo) challenge to live as RICHLY as possible, on the least amount of money.

I'd keep options open and spend some time looking at more states in person to get a feel for what each is like (climate, people, codes etc), and even consider other CR or south america too. My fav is still the ozarks for many of the reasons you like TX, but possibly the pacific NW would be my fav climate and land in the lower 48. (perhaps because I'm born and raised PA, but the 'commonwealth' does suck and isn't far behind the unwanted precedents NY and CA (etc) are setting. Any gov sucks really and must cater to the worst/ lowest common denominator of public. So less population is always generally better for what we're talking about. (Bad to hear you bash my state, but you are right. So many on here though even don't know what 'GMO' is or why it's dangerous)

I'm glad TX seems to stand up to the feds and corps, but feel since it's nothing beyond shallow superficialness I don't really owe them anything. Any 'red' state seems pretty much as good as the other in that respect, with the lowest population to area ratios being the most desirable to me- where you can get fairly unrestricted ground for ~1k/acre within 5 minutes outside of a town with stores and small pop. Gotta watch the 'red' ones with their war-mongering/ violent attitudes though. Nothing ever gets really solved that way, imo.

I would look into composting waste in leu of sewer, anywhere you go. And aquaponics can easilly produce fish and veggies in a closed system, in areas that see a cold season too. I think alex jones kinda gives TX a bad name with me, and the fact they seem to have weird laws making it easier to commit/ get away with murder. Good on TX though for standing up somewhat to the feds and their typical 'bribing' methods of 'control' into the states.

I got a cheapish RV last year and it's a great start to diy off grid. I'm working on it currently actually, and will post up eventually. You could 'practice' in, then drive a camper/rv to your land and live in while building a house off what you've learned. Strawbale, earthberm, cob, tire, dirt bag, etc etc etc. I am in the process of doing solar, composting toilet, rocket stove, and maybe a mini aquaponics setup in the rv, to later be scaled up after erecting a pole building then a 'house'. If not, you can live in one fairly efficiently. I prefer 'outdoors' over some clinical and hermetic fake atmosphere, and suspect there are some health benefits that fight typical problems some of us get, over generations.
Sorry to ramble! Hey how old are you swbluto? Sounds like you're mid to late 20's, though I originally assumed 40's.

 

[swbluto]

I /know/ there are definite health benefits to living in nature rather than indoors.

Sun exposure is a great thing. Vitamin D didn't hurt anyone. Conversely, a chronic lack of solar exposure leads to many cases of heart failure. [I suspect, along with a few of the scientists at Merck.]

Eat your fish and spinach(Or other dark greens) to help protect against cancer. The nitrous expands blood vessels, increasing oxygen levels (Cancer hates oxygenated environments; it thrives in deoxygenated environments)[research suggests there's other pathways to its protective capacability, like free radical scavenging and some such], and the DHA in fish has a proven genoprotective effect against excess fructose consumption (And, presumably, more than just fructose.)

Working out / staying active, is a helluva lot better for the body than sitting/standing still. Lethargy is one of Dante's deadly sins, and there's a reason for that; reduced circulation and chronically reduced glycemic use leads to elevated blood sugar levels thus diabetes, neuropathy and heart disease! And, by extension of diabetes and probably something to do with elevated blood sugar levels, a slight increase in the risk of cancer (~10-40%).

It is wiser to seek lower blood sugar levels through work, rather then reduced consumption (The 'diet' thing americans are obsessed about), because nutritional deficiencies carries its own mortal risks. And, bodies with worked out muscles benefit from minerals that otherwise go to waste in a lethargic body.

The natural air is many times better than stale indoor air. The decaying plants/trees/etc. release chemicals that naturally boost mood and relieve depressive symptoms. The greenery boosts longevity and health compared to ubiquitous grey urban landscapes (Views of water especially helps.). The NoX and sulfuric emissions of the city isn't doing anyone's health a favor. The pm 2.5 quantities are notably higher indoors than the oudoors.

I don't mean to say that the entirety of PA is that bad. Just the parts I was driving through from Altoona to the south (I actually landed in Dubois, PA). To be fair, the country homes near the private airport I landed at looked quite nice with their nice country homes, well-trimmed pastures and nicely painted stables. It seemed like a land of the have/have-nots, and it seemed like the 'haves' were writing the laws of the land, in a way, controlling the way the have-nots could/could-not do, could/could-not live. Because, in my humble experience across the USA, the have-not don't naturally form tiny, miserable townships like the ones I saw over there. There's "the poor part of town/cities" almost everywhere, yes, but their dwellings just don't look that unnatural and unpleasant. It looked like someone was /controlling/ them, not what I consider 'freedom'.

I could be wrong, though. It doesn't seem unreasonable to assume that someone converted there farmland into a bunch of 30x100 lots, and houses like that could've been the natural result. Probably some developer.

Late 20s. I mow the lawn with a reel lawnmower to keep my activity levels up, and I definitely know a lot can be accomplished manually with commitment and drive. I suspect that the castles/estates of old were more grandeur than modern 'mega-mansions', because people have become too reliant/dependent on the machines, letting their own innate capacities go to waste in modern times. Some people claim that ADHD is a "disorder", but I don't think "Abundant energy" is a disorder in an environment that requires a lot of physical labor! It's only 'a disorder' in an environment where physically inactive jobs are ubiquitous.

 

[nutnspecial]

They have a 'sharp shopper' near here. There's a few in PA and MD and I'm so spoiled. Lot's of cheap junkfood meat and cheese down to 1/3 price of other stores, but they have organic/ non gmo/ low sodium stuff very often for similar savings. Things like 10oz spinach for 1- 1.5$, big things of hummus 3$, 1lb of organic low sodium salsa 1$. You can fill up a cart easily for 100$. You have to watch for it but they get some decent dark pumpernickel and whole wheat breads free of soybean oil and high fructose corn syrup too, for 1.5$ a loaf.

Without growing my own yet, I'm totally spoiled for making a move because these surplus food places don't seem to exist often in other areas away from east coast. Possibly west coast? I'm so spoiled I can't pay full price for good food again, I'll make a step further in the right direction though and mostly grow/make from home.

Yeah, I never noticed that specifically about PA. I figured most of these old north eastern states would be fairly similar in the demography and design/layout of towns coming up thru the years. They have their huge cities like newer states, that aren't much different to my eye either.
Hmm, naturally the richer will have more involvement with gov, but when they make laws for themselves that's a problem. The poor should be that way by choice, not because they've been fed upon by their peers/ neighbors. Easier to combat it than thou when the entire system seems to be setup like that- the a pervasive corporate structure and it's involvement in culture and rule of law- like 'big' news, oil, pharma, banking, science, schooling . . . and the mega conglomerates. . . ?

Have you looked into property taxes? It surprised me to learn TX generally has the highest of the lower 48, while neighbor LA has the lowest. Besides the irs taxing earnings, property tax and sales taxes are some of the most damaging to the poor, and seems to go against what TX stands for. Maybe they need it to keep off the federal dole? The problem there is the fed reserve and that we the people pay interest on lent paper printed from thin air. Whatever you're looking at, consider what I liked about MO and KY. Sometimes around 7$ per $1k of property per year, or less. They won't bother many places if you make an 'improvement' (structure), but it will end up on your taxes too. Still, 100 acres of forest for $700-1000 /acre sounds awesome in tandem with 700-1000$ prop taxes w/ improvements.

How much $$ are you planning to work with to buy? Maybe it'd be better to strictly buy/spend for investment for now, and roll that equity into something else/better later?

 

[swbluto]

The property tax thing is highly county specific. You'll see a ratio of like 6-10:1 between the counties. My county, specifically, is like the second lowest with property taxes 10x lower than the beach property I was previously looking at that was half the size (Calhoun county, beach county 2 counties south of Houston). Subsequently, they don't devote much money to county roads and public services (So, we're talking about a 'slow' county), so you can 'feel' it in those departments, but I have a /high/ suspicion that any road I encounter in that area is magnitudes better than the roads I have in the snowy pacific northwest areas up here! The realtor was pointing out how "You need a 4x4 to drive on these roads!" and I saw literally one mild pothole on the 200 ft. stretch he had pictured. Holy crap, that'd pass for an 'excellent' road here!

Those houstonians, just like the charlestonians in SC, are spoiled with their perfect roads, yes. It's amazing what a lack of snow/ice/freezing-temperatures has on road quality/longevity.