Finding Land With Unrestricted Use

So many places, in particular the homesteading groups on FB, all state that the best place with the least restrictions is rural Missouri.  Good growing, 4 seasons, decent land, good prices.  I guess that is good enough for some folks.  The flip side of unregulated counties is that their services are usually crap, under-resourced fire departments, minimal police assistance for crime, awful roads, etc.

I would suggest places or states with a real enforceable right to farm law.  The entire state of Maryland has a great right to farm law.  Neighbors cannot do anything about the animal noise or smells, or what we do with the property as long as we follow the very easily found and very easily understood regulations.  Your house needs to comply with the IBC, but your farm and animal buildings do not.  You only need a zoning permit for ag buildings, to make sure your setbacks are correct, but no building permits are needed or issued.  and even a zoning permit is not needed until you hit 600sqft.  If you put power in, then you need an electrical permit, same with plumbing, but you can build it any way or how ever you want.  

They do want electrical permits if you install solar to your outbuildings and you need a permit for a composting toilet.  But all of that is not that harmful compared to the protections you get from jerk neighbors in how you farm or what you farm.  We had jerk neighbors on both sides who called animal control daily - who always told them that there is nothing to enforce regarding farm animals.  Luckily both jerk neighbors moved.

I hear folks recommending Maine or Vermont or Montana, while nice in practice, I am not sure a 5 month winter is a worthwhile tradeoff for some regulation.

Alec Buchanan wrote:So... how are other permies (legally) catching their rainwater? Or (legally) using off-grid solar? Or (legally) composting humanure? Any natural builders that have gone through the trouble of permitting and regulations? Are people really waiting until they find a place with "no restrictions" before they begin their permie lives?

It seems like it'd cost a fortune for me to do things by the book. I also wouldn't be allowed to have an off-grid solar setup. Building a permittable home, with all its requirements, would be completely impossible without joining the rat race.
Am I the only person here that thinks it is just as important for people to live responsibly (earth care, people care) as it is to follow the rules? I'm not advocating for recklessness or ignorance, but I do think that waiting for laws to catch up with the permaculture world is unrealistic. I doubt permies are going to change the world by following the rulebook, and since there is so much urgency to repair and nurture the planet, shouldn't we reprioritize? I'm not worried about getting a slap on the wrist from an official if it means I get to live the life I am supposed to live. Totally worth it.  

Just saying.... I don't think I would have ever become a permie if the motto was "follow the rules".
Also, just saying... you CAN get away with permaculture - just DO IT! There are lots of ways to make it happen, and you don't need a place with no restrictions.

This is planet Earth. Can I get an amen, or am I really that radical? Anyone?

I'll give you an "Amen", with a caveat or two.

Solar power is not regulated; there is no written requirement in any county I have searched for land in that one must use a local power company (connect back to the grid). That was never a concern of mine. Composting toilets in lieu of septic are legal in several states. Water in several states can be stored in tanks and pumped back into the house.

With that said, it seems the permaculture lifestyle is becoming increasingly harder for those who want to do it right. If you are legally paying taxes on a property, you WILL be assessed annually. This requires an assessor to visit your property, or even drive by. If you catch this assessor at the wrong time, maybe having a bad day, they could easily get code enforcement out to your property if they see something they don't like (or something that questions legality). Only city, county or state owned property can be assessed by guesstimating.

I want to spread my permacultural wings and get to it. I would be peeved, however, if I bought acreage in the wrong area or unknowingly tick off county commissioners trying to simply my life.

Hence the reason for wanting as close to unrestricted use property as humanly possible.

Mark Dominesey wrote:So many places, in particular the homesteading groups on FB, all state that the best place with the least restrictions is rural Missouri.  Good growing, 4 seasons, decent land, good prices.  I guess that is good enough for some folks.  The flip side of unregulated counties is that their services are usually crap, under-resourced fire departments, minimal police assistance for crime, awful roads, etc.

I would suggest places or states with a real enforceable right to farm law.  The entire state of Maryland has a great right to farm law.  Neighbors cannot do anything about the animal noise or smells, or what we do with the property as long as we follow the very easily found and very easily understood regulations.  Your house needs to comply with the IBC, but your farm and animal buildings do not.  You only need a zoning permit for ag buildings, to make sure your setbacks are correct, but no building permits are needed or issued.  and even a zoning permit is not needed until you hit 600sqft.  If you put power in, then you need an electrical permit, same with plumbing, but you can build it any way or how ever you want.  

They do want electrical permits if you install solar to your outbuildings and you need a permit for a composting toilet.  But all of that is not that harmful compared to the protections you get from jerk neighbors in how you farm or what you farm.  We had jerk neighbors on both sides who called animal control daily - who always told them that there is nothing to enforce regarding farm animals.  Luckily both jerk neighbors moved.

I hear folks recommending Maine or Vermont or Montana, while nice in practice, I am not sure a 5 month winter is a worthwhile tradeoff for some regulation.

I LOVE IBC Code.

You only need an 18 square foot bathroom and 150 square foot of living space to pass.

For us, a lot of consideration went into what we were willing to compromise on and what we were not. Our area is pretty low restriction wise but there are state septic rules and rules about how many homes and what defines a home vs. a camp and all that. Some stuff can be skirted a bit or a workaround found but some stuff not so much. However - culture, access to goods and services while still being somewhere quiet with stars at night, state politics, potential for making an income from the farm, etc.. All of that was pretty important too. So I guess it comes down more to which regulations/restrictions you can put up with and which you cannot. There are very few completely unrestricted places left and they are going to be far far away from any degree of civilization (which may be just fine for you). The flip side of a completely unrestricted area is that while you may be wanting  to be a steward your land and to care for it and improve it, your neighbor may not be so progressive. No restrictions means for everyone. Including the folks who think climate change is a Chinese hoax and think the best solution to any animal getting on their property, domestic or not, is to shoot it.

Go hang out in the off grid/homesteading fb groups and think about those folks with zero regulations. It could be disastrous. The other day there was a lady asking what to do with about 80 acres of wetlands on her property and most of the responses may as well have said, "pave it and soak it in roundup". And what about regulations for loggers or tar sands or anything else like that? I am all about my freedom but there are definitely some individuals and some companies that I would worry about were they to have unfettered access to exploiting nature however they see fit.

the Permies folks would create something incredible without regulation.

The QAnon folks probably not so much.  

Roger - my understanding is that property taxes are a state matter, and how they are assessed varies. Our property has multiple zones, and we have multiple choices on taxation. While we have only been in Oregon for 1 1/2 years, the assessor has not been out and we would know as our property is gated and not much is visible from the road. In our county at least, code violations are only investigated if private citizens complain, other agencies don't have the right.

In California, certain behaviors trigger a new assessment. It does not happen automatically.

Stacy Witscher wrote:Roger - my understanding is that property taxes are a state matter, and how they are assessed varies. Our property has multiple zones, and we have multiple choices on taxation. While we have only been in Oregon for 1 1/2 years, the assessor has not been out and we would know as our property is gated and not much is visible from the road. In our county at least, code violations are only investigated if private citizens complain, other agencies don't have the right.

In California, certain behaviors trigger a new assessment. It does not happen automatically.

Western states must have it made. In this town, the assessor will generally come through in March to do their "thing".

Suppose I need to look in Oregon?

Oregon is lovely, although our area is growing and therefore, prices are increasing. But my main point was things vary and you have to decide what you are willing to live with. Southern Oregon ticked a lot of our boxes, and our property in particular ticked a lot more.

Roger, what is

I LOVE IBC Code.

please?

John C Daley wrote:Roger, what is

I LOVE IBC Code.

please?

Counties states that go by IBC - International Building Code - have less stringent restrictions on dwelling size, for one. Minimum standards for a dwelling are 150 square feet (a tiny house), to name one perk off the top of my head.

Some counties are more restrictive and use the American building code, but in true ag areas, the IBC can be shown to all that is needed for a safe dwelling.

In my own state, here's what they state:

MBPS - The Maryland Building Performance Standards (Maryland applicable building codes and standards)
Maryland's law related to building codes is called the Maryland Building Performance Standards (MBPS). It requires each jurisdiction in Maryland to use the same edition of the same building codes that are the International Building Code (IBC), the International Residential Code (IRC), and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The State has modified the IBC and the IRC to coincide with other Maryland laws. The International Building Code (IBC), the International Residential Code (IRC), and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), with modifications by the State, constitute the Maryland Building Performance Standards (MBPS).

Wow, fun topic, so much to say here!  One thing that I think has been ignored in this discussion is the community/local culture factor.  Please, I beg of all young and ambitious homesteaders, do your research on the local community and culture before just buying land in some completely random location half way across the country!  I'm an incredibly lucky homesteader who just happened somewhat by chance to settle in an awesome community with little restrictions (and even less enforcement) here in northern Minnesota about a decade ago.  When I began staying in a wall tent on my friends property 12 years ago and they were legally living completely off-grid with no solar (no electicity at all), no well, no septic, no driveway, no immediate neighbors (no complaints), composting their poop and living in a 120 square foot hand tool built log cabin with their 4 year old kid, I began to think "Huh, this is my kinda place maybe I can settle here and eventually have a family and live a life the way humans ought to!"  Fast forward 12 years and I and my wife now have four kids and our own off-grid property where we are attempting to start a permie intentional community of autonomous homesteads just down the road from my friends property.  When I first came to my friends property, I could have cared less about the outside or larger “community” or “culture”, I was just following my crazy homesteader friends out to the edge of civilization to learn how to live off the land.  Honestly though, that outside “community/culture” is the main thing that has kept us here.  Anyhow, I just would like to state, that the “community/culture” factor is every bit as important as the codes/enforcement etc……. unless you happen to be one of those rare humans that really is more or less a hermit (or hermit-like family unit).

Anyhow, I can personally vouch for my little NE Minnesota community as having few restrictions and being generally very tolerant and used to different lifestyles (but yes we aren’t all that far from Canada eh?).  I won’t go into too much detail on the public forum, but feel free to PM if you want more info on our community.  

The flip side of a completely unrestricted area is that while you may be wanting  to be a steward your land and to care for it and improve it, your neighbor may not be so progressive. No restrictions means for everyone. Including the folks who think climate change is a Chinese hoax and think the best solution to any animal getting on their property, domestic or not, is to shoot it.

This is super important! You could end up with a junkyard next door, vehicles leaking toxic fluids into the groundwater. You could end up with an outdoor shooting range (and I love to shoot, but that happening 24/7 would get old quickly). Or a dog kennel. I love dogs. But not 50 of them fenced in and barking at all hours.
So think carefully about what unrestricted really could lead to.

One thing that I think has been ignored in this discussion is the community/local culture factor.  Please, I beg of all young and ambitious homesteaders, do your research on the local community and culture before just buying land in some completely random location half way across the country!

This is also a major concern to think about. I once had a nice property that I had ideas to develop into a small homestead. Price was good, soil was great, south facing slope, lots of potential. But the neighbors turned out to be very conservative republicans. A neighbor’s political ideas are irrelevant to me, and to each his own. But in casual conversations it became clear they were quite opposed to my ‘hippie progressive thinking’, and made it obvious they would work to oppose anything I did there that wasn’t ‘white picket fence’. Legally I was permitted to do the things I wanted, but I decided it just wasn’t worth it and sold the land.

It’s very difficult to find the perfect balance that will allow a simple off grid, composting toilet lifestyle, but still be in a good location with okay neighbors and tolerable weather. That 11 acres in Maine looked like a fairly decent option.

Community/local culture and cheap land can be an challenge.

I see many large subdivided lands with minimal restrictions and cheap entry have very big meth problems. Basically anyone with $3-$5k and buy in and you can get a lot of meth heads. Puna Hawaii is a great example. If you spend $5k you will most likely live next to a bunch of sketch tweakers. If you spend $300k-$500k you will probably be next to a finely cultured transplanted hobby farm owner. Real Estate – Location–Location

I judge a place a lot on the vibe I get. Many rural place just have a nice respectable vibe, they my not support liberal views but they in general are well mannered and have great respect for the community.
Other places people seem to have a low mean disrespectful vibe. No much good happens in a backwards places.

I have been looking for a winter spot in the South US. I am to the point where I need to visit places and see just what kind of people live there.

Zillow is a great resource.   I remember seeing some very reasonably priced old but liveable homes on small acreage in southeast Kansas on Zillow.  In all likelihood your 22k isn't a lifetime pension and an income source will be needed and this is a real consideration.  Alaska outside of incorporated towns and cities is a great place, though land is not always cheap and there may be borough or state level regulations.  As far as I can tell, if you are willing to work hard here there is always work to be had, but maybe that's true all over this great country, or maybe I'm just lucky??  Another one I personally looked into is Terlingua TX.  Very cheap land and few restrictions.  I'm not sure how easy it is to find work there, and its true desert, but  a beautiful place and great vibe.  I wish someone had told me about FIRE movement ideas (or maybe they did but I just didn't listen) 20 years ago...That is one way to be able to devote your life to permaculture.  Its also worth looking into other countries, like Georgia, Albania, Bulgaria, Central and South American countries.  Digital nomads including remote English teachers, can find countries with easy immigration policies and lower cost of living.  Best of luck to you, and success and freedom to all.

Your Neighbors place...

Our farm is in the unincorporated part of Mobile County, AL.  As long as we do not hook up to utilities, we have no zoning, codes, or restrictions.  As the neighbors all are on the grid, they are regulated and so far most of them are great.  Alabama has hot long summers, but short mild winters most years.  This past year was an exception and we spent a few months below freezing.  The tradeoff there was this year's fruit and mushroom harvest has already been amazing.  Seems they enjoy a little cold every now and then.  Alabama does have laws against composting toilets, but we are getting around that by using a regular toilet with gray water and a methane digester.  There are no laws against solar or rainwater catchment.  If you are interested in Alabama, you can purple mooseage me.

There are no laws against solar or rainwater catchment.

Is there anywhere that rainfall collection from a roof is prohibited?

John C Daley,

Evidently, not anymore.  Colorado and California used to be illegal back in 2008.  Glad to see they have changed.  Some states regulate it and it can not be used for drinking.  Sad.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/states-where-it-is-illegal-to-collect-rainwater

My signature below has some tips if you want to collect and drink it.
Thanks for the link.

Do what you want and don't telling anybody about you using a compost toilet. If you keep quiet they won't know they wont be able to tell composted humanure soil and regular dirt it just looks the same. Maybe a little richer in color. I Poop and pee outside all the time and not one of my neighbors know that I compost my own Poop. I believe  living off grid is legal in Washington State however along with Oregon the state has some very strict land use laws designed to protect the environment. Also compost toilets are legal too.

Mark Dominesey wrote:So many places, in particular the homesteading groups on FB, all state that the best place with the least restrictions is rural Missouri.  Good growing, 4 seasons, decent land, good prices.  I guess that is good enough for some folks.  The flip side of unregulated counties is that their services are usually crap, under-resourced fire departments, minimal police assistance for crime, awful roads, etc.

I would suggest places or states with a real enforceable right to farm law.  The entire state of Maryland has a great right to farm law.  Neighbors cannot do anything about the animal noise or smells, or what we do with the property as long as we follow the very easily found and very easily understood regulations.  Your house needs to comply with the IBC, but your farm and animal buildings do not.  You only need a zoning permit for ag buildings, to make sure your setbacks are correct, but no building permits are needed or issued.  and even a zoning permit is not needed until you hit 600sqft.  If you put power in, then you need an electrical permit, same with plumbing, but you can build it any way or how ever you want.  

They do want electrical permits if you install solar to your outbuildings and you need a permit for a composting toilet.  But all of that is not that harmful compared to the protections you get from jerk neighbors in how you farm or what you farm.  We had jerk neighbors on both sides who called animal control daily - who always told them that there is nothing to enforce regarding farm animals.  Luckily both jerk neighbors moved.

I hear folks recommending Maine or Vermont or Montana, while nice in practice, I am not sure a 5 month winter is a worthwhile tradeoff for some regulation.

It certainly isn’t. The winters are very long and cold. Been here five years. Looking for a warmer place.

Roger Klawinski wrote:Hello! New to this site, although I had (most) of the permaculture basics down pat prior to joining.

My question involves land.

I am finding cheap land everywhere; problem is, it appears it does not allow for unrestricted use. When I mean "unrestricted", I am talking about free to put a tiny house (190 to 340 square feet) and composting toilet system (to name a few) on the property without having an assessor or zoning board on my tail.

What I am seeing is that the land may be YOURS once purchased, but dwellings must be 600 square feet or greater, no camping longer than 7 days per month without a permit, RVs are restricted, mobile homes need a permit, yada yada. I think in Colorado you have to purchase rights to water prior to drilling for it.

Where can I find land with NO RESTRICTIONS on use?

Any leads or insight would be great.

Have you found what you were looking for yet if not check out www.classiccountryland.com and look at land for sale in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is very Homestead friendly and a lot of the lands do not have the restrictions for instance where I'm at we don't even have restrictions as to how we can live what we do with our land or what type of structures we build nor are we even required permits for construction.

So far, we have found that Navajo County, Apache County and Coconino County have been the least restrictive counties in Arizona.  We have lived and been off-grid in all three counties, and we have watched others move in and build.  As someone else mentioned, depending on how much you insist on "following the rules" will ultimately determine how "restrictive" your property is.  Also, by insisting on following the rules, that puts your neighbors in a position to be forced to follow the rules.  I have watched it over and over again.  New neighbor comes in, wants to build his 3000 sqft house, put in septic, yada yada.  On the way to the site, the county sees numerous neighbors who have installed their septic/built/etc without proper permits.  Guess who gets blamed for the "sudden" code enforcement? It doesn't make for happy neighbors, and these days, I'd much rather keep my neighbors happy than those that come from the government as code enforcers, if you know what I mean.  

We live in an area where many people have moved in order to have the REAL freedom to do what they want.  Not this percieved freedom that you feel that you have when you buy your 20-40-200 acres and are part of an HOA.  Ugh.    

Here's your requirements:
- Unrestricted use
- Well on site
- Over two acres
- Power pole CLOSE BY would be awesome; am prepared to go solar if not.

I just so happen to have 40 acres for sale in Navajo County, with it's own well (700+ feet) with a well report but does not have the pump installed ($10-$15,000.)  There is no power available that I am aware of. If there is, it may be a mile or so away.  This property is 9 miles off the pavement, with dirt roads that are passable with AWD/4WD.  There are people that are able to live here with 2WD but it is not recommended.  The closest town is Show Low, approximately 45-60 minutes away from all the big box stores - Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart and grocery stores.  Although we started off as mostly off-grid newbies on this property, I would recommend experienced off-griders. Starlink and Verizon would be best options for internet.  Having a job that you would be required to go to everyday, or take kids to school everyday would not be condusive with living here.  Most people go to town for supplies once a week at most, but more like once every 2-3 weeks.  This requires a LOT of planning.  

Elevation on the property is 6400-6800 feet.  Temperatures are mild in the summer, with very few days over 95*F.  Winter temps can dip into the teens at night with daytime temps 40-60*F.  I can't remember the amount of rainfall off hand, but we do experience monsoons that can cause issues with roads and impact your ability to drive out until it dries.  Snowfall is usually a few inches that doesn't last more than 2-3 days at most.  Usually it melts off within one day.  

The property is about 3/5 fenced with barbed wire.  One of our projects was to replace the existing barbed wire, but we never finished.  This is free range cattle area.  You'll have to look it up if you're not familiar.  It causes some issues when ranchers are allowed to let cows roam wherever they want, cattle helps themselves to your livestock food, gardens and water, and the expectation that ranchers are able to access (trespass) your property, including destroying your fence however they see fit.  With property fencing and security measures, these issues can be mitigated.  Again, not for a beginner by any means.  

I'm pretty sure this has been addressed in several forums, but a homesteader MUST be in good health.  I've seen so many people want to live the off-grid life, but then are disappointed to find out that their doctors, especially specialists are 3-4 hours away, which means a WHOLE DAY of being away from the homestead.  It's a huge problem here.  When we are gone from our homestead for a full day, who will feed and water our animals?  Who will tend to the long list of everything that must be done?  If homesteaders have chronic health conditions, especially that require life saving medications, please carefully decide where you decide to live.  Stay in tip-top shape by staying active and eating nutritious food.  By all means, start homesteading when you are YOUNG, and don't wait until you are older and the health problems start to present themselves!

How did my simple response turn into rambling about homesteading living?  hahahah, I don't know, but good luck.  I hope you find what you're looking for!

My beef with zoning is the rule about how many dwellings can be on one piece of property.  At least OR now allows an ADU on each property now in many areas, so that's a good start for my community goals.  I want an intentional community that isn't townhouses and that has a goodly number of dwellings, some houses, some tinyhouses, and honestly some mobile homes but I know that will be a problem because zoning here hates a mixture of different housing types on the same property.  So someday, when its time, my husband and I will hopefully buy some land in the suburbs and set it up to have things as much like we want as possible, then get our friends/people on the waitlist to buy the adjoining properties around it and build community "guerilla style" with us, and the parts that are behind fences?  Well we can build a yurt as commonspace, etc. if its in the interior of the property and can't be seen from the curb then who's gonna know?

Very good point about starting young.

I might add to consider the fact that you will age, and to buy accordingly, as in consider distance from civilization, harsh terrain, what you'll be able to handle effort and weather wise etc.

My plan was to buy or find property with a mobile home old enough to have no tax value, have it all paid off by retirement time, and I just barely made it in time.

How it ended up was buying an acre close enough to town to walk, bicycle etc. into town if needed and  buying a really nice older mobile home and moving it to my acre, which had a well but I had to put in septic.
I'm entirely legal now and all that ran about 50 - 60K to accomplish.

It's Levy county FL if anyone was wondering, and this county does have the usual heavy restrictions on what you an do zoning wise, but minimal enforcement unless there are complaints and it's known that as long as you let the tax assesor on your property you can refuse entry to the zoning inspector and they won't make an issue. That may change over time because...
Complaints will always be an issue due to enough people who enjoy messing with others for entertainment.
I've also lived in the general area for 40 - 50 years and have pretty deep knowledge of what's what.

I'm in my 70s and 2 acres would have been nicer but I can just about keep up with what I have garden and fruit tree wise. Catching COVID this year also pointed out that even the acre can get out of hand overgrown if you're down for  an extended time. Sort of a clue as to what's coming with even more advanced age.

Geriatric permaculture!  Working on ways to cut way down on the effort required...but still get enough exercise.

As mentioned before, know what you have for neighbors, although that can too change.

Perhaps rent what you're considering first if you can, because you never really know what's in the neighborhood until you live there a while.

I live in unincorporated Washington County, Arkansas.  I built there in 2011/2012.  At that time the only real government enforced restriction was the need for an installed septic system before being eligible for city water.  If I had installed a rooftop rainwater collection system I am pretty sure I could have gotten away without the septic system. The water authority that provides the water had an inspector examine the plumbing before giving a permit for a tap but, again, this would not apply if one were providing one's own water. The seller put a restriction on the deed that no mobile home was allowed, but one can get around this by removing the axles and putting the building up on blocks. I am not sure about any requirements that the electric co-op may have. Generally, they want to be sure that the land will be inhabited before investing in an access pole and wiring to the building site. No agency made any demands on what I could build. There were no inspections for that. I built a 1500' square foot metal building on a slab foundation.  580' square feet of this space was framed off for living space. So, the flat roof of this living space is protected by the pitched roof of the metal building. Quite unconventional but no inspections were ever made or requested.

While we're on the subject of mobile homes...things to consider:

You can't move one here unless it has a certain certified wind resistance and the sticker inside to prove it.
That sticker is usually in the master bedroom closet and often gets painted over, so there goes any hope of certifying to move it if that sticker is painted over.

Here in FL the ones that were certified and will pass muster were from somewhere early 1980s and up.
The difference seems to be minimum 2 x 4 walls and hurricane straps built in.
I think most states have similar requirements.

Ask around for the oldest and best mobile home transport and setup company.
I spent a bit more to get this and the setup job was superb.
I hear a number of setup nightmare stories with the companies refusing to set right what they did wrong and doing things like not using a good base material to set them up on.  
Mine was done on ground up concrete washout and that stuff sets up almost like concrete and the mobile home does not settle.
Not to mention learning a lot of odds and ends I didn't know from the setup crew, like that there are electrical ground rods that screw together and can be driven deep. Deep enough to get into the wet sand below the many feet of dry sand on the surface.

Try to get one with a metal exterior and roof. That will last almost forever. Copper wiring is a must have and if you can find one with plywood instead of chip board floors that's a big plus.
Always look under the windows and around anything that uses water for floor damage. The floor will be soft and spongy if damaged.

If the exterior of the windows isn't resealed every few years, or doesn't have awnings to direct the water away from the windows the floors will often be water damaged under the windows.

Bring a ladder and have a look at the roof.
If it's the older type with rolled seams every 3 - 4 feet you would be wise to plan on sealing  those seams...assuming there's not so much rust to reject buying it out of hand.
Mine had rusted enough at those seams by last year (it's a 1985) that there were some small leaks showing as spots on the ceiling wall board.
There's a roof sealer called Through the Roof that does a really god job on this.
It took $3 -400 dollars worth of it to do the seams and gutters/edges on my 14' by 52'  and no more leaks.

Roger Klawinski wrote:
I am finding cheap land everywhere; problem is, it appears it does not allow for unrestricted use. When I mean "unrestricted", I am talking about free to put a tiny house (190 to 340 square feet) and composting toilet system (to name a few) on the property without having an assessor or zoning board on my tail.

Where can I find land with NO RESTRICTIONS on use?

Any leads or insight would be great.

My wife and I were looking for a similar situation.  We discovered there were many places in Vermont where few restrictions existed. Things are slowly changing,  but it might still be worth looking into.

We found a magical place in upstate NY that had fallen through the cracks. It started life as a hunting cabin, on a piece of land that was never surveyed--it is a "leftover " acre that exists in the woods where 3 much larger plots come together. All those spots are surveyed,  but not ours.
Permits for hunting cabins are much looser around here, so it's not uncommon for them to be completely unpermitted and off-grid with an outhouse or composting toilet.  We're pretty sure no permits were ever pulled,  because of how janky the cabin is, so we're able to do whatever we want here. If any official entity ever questions it, we can say it was like that when we bought it, and it would be hard for them to prove otherwise. We're 100% off-grid solar, and putting in permie systems to our heart's content.
Even drone footage couldn't prove much because our acre is mostly wooded, and most of what we've planned will happen under the canopy, such as a reservoir for water catchment,  a large shed/small barn for livestock,  a flush composting toilet system,  a bioswale and pond for grey water, etc.

So, point being, maybe you can check Vermont,  or maybe you can build a "hunting cabin" in a place where restrictions for them are looser, and insulate it for year round living.)]

One other factor would be crooked politicians.

Years back I ran junkyards and I ran them clean....which was a good thing.

One of the county commissioners decided to set up his nephew in the junk biz and proceeded to do stealth zoning changes on all the junkyards. As soon as he managed to sneak that through he put building and zoning on everyone. They threatened me with jail time if I didn't comply.

Along with this the county sent the federal and state enviro folks after everyone and running clean saved my backside there.
Next up was an IRS audit...which I also cleared with flying colors.

So it was goodbye junkyard.

In the karma is real department the crooked commissioner's nephew was quite lazy. He didn't want to do junk anymore after he discovered it was hard work and not an instant fortune.
The crooked commissioner took a huge bribe in a federal corruption sting and he's still upstate making license plates. This all went down in the 1980s.

Fast forward to today, and our current corrupt county commission is trying to wipe out a local compost supplier who makes some of the best compost you ever saw.

Same tricks, stealth swapping his zoning, putting in laws to disadvantage him and telling him to get a lawyer if he doesn't like it. He tried the lawyer route with zero results.

One "law" was banning him from importing any more horse manure from nearby Ocala FL, which was his main feed stock. Ocala is one of the horse capitols of the world and the volume of manure they output is staggering.

The corruption angle is that a big hauling company wants exclusive rights to all the manure but they have no way to process it, so they're stealth dumping it in places like sand pits that are down to the water table, so too expensive to continue mining. Polluting the aquifer much???

The commissioners and property appraiser support all this and they're still trying to wipe out his small biz.
Can't prove it, but it sure looks like a large envelopes of under the table cash may have exchanged hands here.

My point to all this would be suggesting you do something like camp or live in an RV wherever you're considering and hunt down all the locals you can find to talk to as to crookedness of local government.

We also just had our county commission just vote in a sand mine against huge public resistance. the vote was so unpopular they had a fleet of cops there when they took the vote just in case.
Might ask the locals about things like that too.

You might also ask if any industry that might dump things like toxins or sewage/manure have or are operating in the area,. There's more of that than you might think and rural areas are a prime location for dumping nasty stuff.

You don't want to be seriously invested in a place and have something like what happened to me and my composting buddy happen to you.

Everything landwise is getting expensive, especially small acreages.  Land that used to sell here for $300 an acre is bringing $1000+.  Some of the problem is marketing towards very well off hunters.  I myself am a not so very well off hunter.  That's a whole different discussion.   The old saying has been around for a long time, you'd better get some because they're not making any more.  At the risk of offending folks I have to say, you've got to go red and really rural.  Colorado is a no-go. Unfortunately you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Regarding classiccountryland.com in Oklahoma, I can tell you that Hackberry Fields in Greer County is not what they describe.  If anyone is looking at that let me know and I can fill you in.  We have a lot of new folks in this part of Oklahoma and generally they're accepted, sort of.  Plan to be off-grid (the city of Granite is not likely to run electricity or water out that way).  A well might by iffy if you hit granite bedrock (which is likely) and I'm not sure if there's any place in town to haul from.  We stay in a constant drought unless it floods. Other than the county road access, maintaining the road will be on you. The sites aren't remote, but they are on the opposite site of the mountain (a big rock hill) from town.  Crime isn't bad compared to places further east, but it's worse than it used to be.  There are some drugs.  Trash will be on you,  I doubt the city will expand out there. On the plus side the school system is really small and fantastic.  It's a super conservative small town and the biggest employer is a medium security prison.  The land is way overpriced, but I understand that sometimes you've gotta do what you've gotta do.

I was going to suggest possibly waiting for the real estate bubble to pop and prices to back off a bit.

On second thought that may not be viable. I suspect we're in a situation like the years after the early 1970s Arab oil embargo, when inflation went to the sky and never returned.

I think the driving force today is investment companies running wild, using their huge Pension money pocketbook to essentially lock out the little people, and that's not going away until they put some teeth back in the rules governing these things.

If you're curious about learning more along these (financial malfeasance) lines I might suggest Corey Doctorow's website,

pluralistic.net

This article in particular:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/08/sucker-at-the-table/