Having just gone through the process, here are some of my notes. Hopefully others find them useful.
For starters:
* Do you even need to own it, or can you lease, guerilla garden, or sharecrop?
*
https://www.farmleasepro.com/home
* Learn to find a good place with the stuff Curtis Stone has done
* His premier product is the
Homestead Accelerator (formerly, "Finding the Perfect Homestead Property")
* This is all solidly based around P.A. Yeoman's "scales of permanence"
* in addition to expanding upon the videos below
he also has come up with a grading system and shows you how to assess many properties across many climates
* NOTE: Permies currently
has a bundle where you can get 2 free lessons
* At least watch the high-level overview from his 14 part youtube series:
HIGHLY RECOMMEND WATCHING THESE!!!
1
Time to get out
2
Negotiables
3
Threats
4
Climate
5
Geography
6
Can't live without it
7
This is critical
8
Who's your neighbor
9
Vegetation and Wildlife
10
Microclimates
11
Buildings and infrastructure
12
Zones of Use
13
My failed property
14
Not every property is the same
* He is also making a
youtube playlist of all of the US states and Canadian provinces, assessing the best places to homestead
* Learn to spot physical/legal pitfalls
* Somehow get a hold of
Finding Your Place in the Country by Les and Carol Scher Even at full price it's worth it to not wind up in a bad situation.
RECOMMEND!
My favorite places to search for properties:
*
https://www.realtor.com
*
https://www.landsearch.com
*
https://www.land.com/
*
https://www.redfin.com/
*
https://findahomestead.com/
*
https://www.landwatch.com/
*
https://www.trulia.com/for_sale
*
https://www.landsearch.com
*
https://www.mossyoakproperties.com
*
https://realestate.oodle.com/
*
https://www.americanlisted.com/
*
https://crownrealtyar.com/listings/
Tips for great deals:
* The book
Scrapsteading has a great section on this
*
https://billyland.com can sometimes be good
* don't overlook local want-ads, classifieds, newspapers
* Find properties that are behind
* Bank auctions
* Visit the county courthouse and they have books of everyone in arrears in their taxes (call and make an offer)
* Remember: Know the situation before bidding. Good deals are one thing, being the guy who gets grandma kicked off the farm is another!
As usual, folks, feel free to add your own tips and resources in the thread below.
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