We've been looking for a secluded home and 2-3 acres, primarily in Northern Missouri. We currently live in a city 2-3 hours from that area, and need to stay reasonably close because of family. We are educated, and have been keeping tabs on U.S. changes - economic, political and geophysical. We know that it won't be safe in cities, in the near future. We have been 'looking' for over a year - and can't find anything that is in our price range - $35k +/- for a home with (preferably) 3 br, at least 1-1/2 baths, a basement, garage or building for car and workshop. Prefer ranch style or master BR on 1st flr; son with lung cancer would like to have his own private area - a 1 br "apartment" or area where he can crank-up his stereo! Want to have large garden - in-ground greenhouse - and hope to find fairly wooded land, with a clear area for garden, as well as some kind of 'water' (pond, stream, nearby lake, etc) as well as a good water well. Thinking of raising a few chickens, and experimenting with pond-raised fresh water shrimp. Must have groceries, at least some shopping, doctor, pharmacy and hospital within 15-20 min drive (or less). Looking for friendly people we can share our skills with - retired home builder, sewing, quilter, knitter - incl socks for cold days! - almost all crafts incl home decor, gardening, canning, preserving, dehydrating. PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN LAWS UNFRIENDLY TO RETIRED - HIGH TAXES, INHERITANCE TAXES, ETC. ALSO INTERESTED IF STATE AIDS PEOPLE WITH PURCHASE OF HEAT PUMP (IOWA PAYS FOR IT), GREENHOUSE CONSTRUCTION, FRESH WATER POND FOR SHRIMP, ETC. Want to pay cash for the property - and MUST MOVE BY MID-MARCH. Any info can give would be very appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Linda!


You've got a pretty tall order there: acreage, outbuildings, and water, all at $35k.

You said "Northern Missouri", but did you mean 2-3 hour from Omaha? From Des Moines? Or from St. Louis?
In other words, northwest Missouri, north central Missouri, or northeast Missouri?

I'm just going to take a swing at it and figure you're living around Des Moines right now, so you want north central Missouri.

Have you used Zillow.com? It's one of the biggest real estate websites, and the search function works pretty well.
Here's a big old house already split into apartments. (Let me come back to apartments in a minute.)
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/512-N-College-Ave-Princeton-MO-64673/114957407_zpid/?print=true
3ac, $29k (9 bed, 3.5 bath, wowza) Needs serious fixing, but hey, any house under $35k is going to need fixing. You ARE planning on remodeling the daylights out of whatever you find, right?

Other than that, I don't see much. That really seems to be because towns are few and far between. There aren't a whole lot of cheap houses down there because there aren't a whole lot of houses.

That's the main thing I signed in to offer- try Zillow if you're not already.

(Ok, and now back to apartments. I've been a landlord for a while, and it's mostly a drag. I don't recommend it. There's an exception, though, and that's when you live in the building with your tenants. I can't prove this, but my hypothesis is, anybody who is willing to move in next to the landlord, is automatically a hassle-free tenant. Anybody who's going to pay late, wreck the place, cause trouble with police... those people hate the idea of saying hello to you every morning and evening, and they just won't even move in. Anybody who's willing to live there is a self-selected good tenant. Worked for me, five tenants out of five. After I moved elsewhere and tried to landlord it from across town? Hassle, hassle, hassle.)

That is a really low price for what you want. Add a one to the front and it gets easier, but still hard.

As for laws, well Missouri is a mixed bag. Zoning is a local thing and varies wildly. Even small towns and counties can be restrictive but usually not.

But within 20 minutes of a HOSPITAL is going to be tough. There just aren't many hospitals. Clinics yes, but very few hospitals.

LINDA, checkout http://www.permies.com/t/43213/intentional-community/Missouri-Land-Trailer-Acres-Live
You mentioned a retired builder, this may be an option to give you more options.

The best website I have found for looking for real estate is www.landsofmissouri.com Lands of Missouri , the site includes every property listed through any major and the majority of minor realtors as well as many for sale by owner properties. You can refine your search in many ways, location, acreage, price per acre, utilities, housing, etc.. You do have a tall order as you are asking for a lot at that price. I searched on that site and found 45 properties in Northern Missouri that were atleast two acres and have a house. Many of those properties may be too far south for you depending on where you are looking.

Missouri will have more freedom than Iowa and lower taxes in just about every comparable way. Iowa isn't a bad state, but Missouri has more freedom. A great way to compare states is the site http://freedominthe50states.org/ 50 State Freedom. You can even run comparisons based on what laws are most likely to affect you. Overall Missouri is ranked #7 and Iowa is ranked #25. Iowa has one advantage to Missouri when it comes to laws in my opinion, Iowa doesn't have vehicle safety inspections which I consider a pain. There may be others, but overall Missouri is more free. Iowa is more liberal than Missouri, so you will get more money through state programs there than in Missouri. Some utilities in Missouri have rebates and such for energy efficient purchases, that will depend on what area you move to.

I'd look around Kirksville, MO. Just to the west is some great properties near state forests and conservation areas, and Kirksville would have all your hospital needs et cetera.

-WY

Linda- I've got a small off grid/solar cabin on 3 acres in the Ozarks for 40k. No where near the size house you are looking for but hey, that's what add-ons are for! Outbuildings, barn, cistern, and fruit trees galore. And no where near a big city!!!
I know it's not quite the area you are looking for but you're gonna be really hard pressed to find what you are looking for in that area for that price.
Email me at barnwellart@gmail.com for more info.

Oh, and my place has super low taxes. $18 a year.