New Permaculture Community Forming on 175 Acres in South-Central Tennessee

I'm a Senior homesteader. Waited until retirement to start my first homestead on 30 acres in SW Virginia. After nearly six years of trying to start a liberty-minded community there and finding a lot of interested people but practically none with the capital, skills, or drive that could advance the development, I became frustrated and sold the farm last summer and spent several months driving from VA to NV looking at existing eco-communities in hopes of finding one that met my criteria. None did. Either they were too socialist, too small, too steep, too dry, not permaculture oriented, had too many restrictions, membership cost more than the value they offered, or had some other negative attribute.

So I went back to the drawing board to design a community that I can love. Libertarian, Voluntaryist, Agoran, Permacultural/Regenerative Ag, in a temperate climate (zone 6-7), and with as few rules and restrictions as possible. A place where members can be free to live as they choose so long as they respect the rights of other members to do the same. No bosses or dictators but each person voluntarily working with other members to develop the community's infrastructure and resources. On any given project, the most skilled person will supervise the team, e.g., if we are building a solar array, an electrician should be in charge, not an herbalist. Likewise, the herbalist might be the best team leader for a hoophouse or food forest project. Community manager and other leaders would be elected periodically from the best qualified members, not necessarily the largest investors.

I currently have a 175-acre property under contract in south-central TN and am looking for prospective members and/or investors. I'm in immediate need of at least one investor (could be more) with $45K available to cover half of the 20% down payment and closing costs. I have the other half plus sufficient funds for initial site work, and I have applied for financing on the 80% balance. Closing is set for end of June.  I'll be moving there 6/8/26 to start prep work on temporary housing, and I have a few prospects who will move later in the summer and fall to help with the initial labor. If any folks on this forum are interested in joining us, please send PM with your email address, your skills, goals and dreams, and I'll send full details.

Been observing your story for a while and looking forward to this next chapter for you.

Well, after driving a couple thousand miles to see the TN property we thought was going to be home for the next decade or two, it turned out not to be what the pictures had indicated.  The amount of excavation work needed to convert forest to ag land would have set us back years, so I cancelled the purchase contract and got my deposit back.

I'm currently visiting my brother at his place in KY and he's keeping me busy with a number of projects he has saved up for me to help him with.  I'm looking for land with some existing infrastructure in TN and KY and have four parcels to look at over the next week or so.  I'll keep you posted.

The upside to KY would be being near your brother and then he could help you with projects too until more community comes together for you.

Well, I've been in KY a couple of months now looking at a few dozen properties, large parcels for a community and small parcels on which I can go it alone, and most of them have been a waste of gas.  Sellers all think their few acres of dirt is worth millions, but the potential return on investment just isn't there.  Everything in my price range has been in need of major rehab (some are tear down and start over).  A lot of really abused houses or mobile homes with ramshackle barns and outbuildings, overgrown grass and brush, and poorly maintained woods.  Most I wouldn't even make a lowball offer on because I could see years of work before I could produce anything of value.  And I'm getting too old for that.

Then a couple of weeks ago I came across a brand new listing that is a gem.  Only 4+acres, but fairly flat with a small pond, clean woodlot, garden area, some silvopasture, small hayfield, well-maintained mobile or manufactured home (MH) with additions on two sides (more square footage than I need really), septic, county water, electric, and fiber optic Internet access, a large workshop and several other outbuildings.  Compared to other properties I'd checked out, it was underpriced and well within my range.  Not big enough to start a community on, but enough to keep me busy puttering in a garden and building stuff like chicken coop, goat shed, fencing, etc.   I immediately put a full-price offer on it before anybody could beat me to it.

Then I applied for financing with a lender who had already preapproved me for more than I needed.  In two days I was approved subject to an appraisal coming in at or more than the contract price.  I had no doubt that it would.  I was thrilled and started making plans for the many projects I envisioned.

Then the lender wanted a HUD certificate for the MH.  There wasn't one.  The sellers had inherited the property and knew nothing about it.  The decedent had bought it for cash many years ago and hadn't received or asked for a title or anything, just a deed for the land.  The county assessor's office had the buildings classified as real estate and assessed it for property taxes.  It wasn't registered with the DMV as a MH which would be personal property tax, not real estate tax.

Then the lender informed me that I had to have insurance on the property effective as of the closing date and a year and 3 months worth of premiums deposited into their escrow account.  There are only a few companies that insure MHs.  I contacted two of them and got quotes and applied with one.  The lender's estimate for cost of insurance was about $700 a year.  The policy I was issued was more than $1,600.  I requested they lower the coverage to just the value of the buildings since the land was not insurable and drop the optional coverages.  That got it down to $1,200 a year.  I submitted the policy to the lender.

So next the lender asked for an engineering report to certify that it was on a permanent foundation (which it appeared to be).  The engineer said he was unable to access the crawl space under the MH portion and didn't see any tie downs normally attaching a MH to the ground.  Well, NO, there wouldn't be if the manufactured home (not a mobile home) had been secured directly to the solid block foundation and bolted down like a stick-built house before the additions were added.  There were no wheels or axles or tongue, so I suspect the structure had been lifted with a crane and lowered onto the prepared foundation.  One of the additions has a partial basement / storm cellar.  The ridge line and eaves are straight and level, and the floors are all solid and level, so I'm sure it was constructed properly.  But the lender has federal rules to follow pertaining to MHs, and wouldn't budge unless I or the seller install tie downs.

Now the lender wants me to up the insurance coverage to full replacement value (of a new MH plus additions and other outbuildings) rather than just the purchase price.  I'm putting 50% down and only asking for a 50% loan, so if the building were destroyed by fire or tornado or whatever, the current policy would provide enough to pay off the loan balance and demolish the buildings to rebuild on the lot, and I could get a construction loan for that.  But the lender wants me to spend my money for more coverage than I need.  It's not only frustrating, but disconcerting.

Over the past two weeks I've gotten quite an education on financing MHs.  It is nothing like financing for regular homes, which I've been through many times over the past 50 years.  Higher rates, fewer lenders, lots of rules and regulations.  I checked with several other lenders and they all said it was next to impossible to get financing for a MH that had been modified.  I think everything possible has been done to keep people from buying "affordable" housing.

If I had the cash to close without a loan, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but I don't have enough.  So, I'm going to sit down with the seller and his agent to propose seller financing though he has already said he wouldn't, and I hope that his real estate agent doesn't have a backup offer from a cash buyer who won't have to deal with a conventional lender.

Nothing is ever easy.  But hopefully it will all work out.  Wish me luck.