Help finding land that meets my parameters

I'm sure this question has probably been asked before, but a search didn't find it, so Im asking.

Before I ask the question, it would be great if someone knew of a site where one could put in the "parameters" of what they are looking for, and the site would tell them where BEST to look for land that fell within that criteria.  

But I've yet to find such a site.  If you know of one, please post it!  

Or perhaps if there was a way THIS site could put together some sort of "survey" people could take, which would involve answering a LOT of various questions pertaining to what one's homestead or location is like.  Then that info could be utilized to build a "database" of the USA, (or world) that could then be used by others to find locations that match their desired parameters.

The survey would ask questions about things like:

Weather.
Climate.
Accessibility to water
Building permits required, or not, easy, or difficult?
Soil conditions
Land Cost
Remoteness
Cost of goods
Taxes


Etc, etc.

But since that survey and database doesn't exist, I'd like to ask this:

If someone were looking for land that fit into the following parameters, where in the US (or world) should they look?

The parameters:

Forested with decent sized trees suitable for harvesting to be used for building
Water readily available, preferably in a flowing stream or river
Good soil
Decent for growing their own food
Larger amount of acreage, (over 40 acres desired, preferably 100 or more.)
Priced at or under $2,000 an acre
Remote-ish, (small town is ok), but within a couple of hours drive to a city.  
Little to NO building permits.  
Not near a nuclear power plant or military installation.


So, anyone know of said utopia?  

there are some good books on this

the southeast and southwest regions seem like they have the most to offer, but that's just my take at a glance

there is a book called strategic relocation, check it out, could help

good luck!

I think most of your list is reasonably easy to sort out.  Please forgive my assumptions about various parts of the country.  My thoughts are based on limited trips to a lot of the country but I certainly may have missed huge pockets that the offended reader may live in.  For that I'm truly sorry.

Forested with decent sized trees suitable for harvesting to be used for building  -  Lots of areas in the West, upper Midwest, NE and SE have an abundance of trees
Water readily available, preferably in a flowing stream or river  -  Probably more widely available eastern half of the country
Good soil   -  Probably more available in the Midwest, North East and North West
Decent for growing their own food   -   Probably easiest where the good soil, rain and water are
Larger amount of acreage, (over 40 acres desired, preferably 100 or more.)  -  Easier in the remote areas or dry and less desireable areas.  Once you're out of commuter distance to town the lots get bigger.
Priced at or under $2,000 an acre   -   Need to poke around on realtor sites to see what's there.  Bigger lots are cheaper per acre.  That price is very doable around my part of the country.
Remote-ish, (small town is ok), but within a couple of hours drive to a city.   -  Pretty easy to find, pick a city you want to be near and zoom out on the map to see where the freeways and cities/towns aren't.  
Little to NO building permits.    -   This is the hard one to sort out.  Varies by municipality, county or state and enforcement is a wild card.
Not near a nuclear power plant or military installation.    -  Haven't looked at them in a while but there are websites that have this info readily available.  Don't forget about major polluters (factories/mines/etc).

Just to pique your curiosity, here's a place in northern WI.  40 acres with a mobile home and a stream for $64K.  Link

I've never come across a site that offers what you're looking for. Thus, finding the land that fits ones own parameters all rely upon oneself doing the homework to find it. If one is lucky enough to find good realtors, it makes the task easier. My own personal experience with realtors is that they don't have that sort of knowledge and answers.

But there are sites on the internet that can help with some of the questions. When we were looking for land, we found sites with weather records (daily rain, temperature, and sun records). Other sites had maps detailing lava safety zones, soil types, vegetation surveys, agricultural use. Other maps indicated chemical pollution zones. Population density maps also helped us. We also accessed county records online to get an idea of land assessment values and annual property taxes.

As others have said, I don't think there is a site that is organized the way you wish. It would be nice, but sadly the realestate folks just don't think like us.

That said, Eastern WA has a lot of what you are asking for you might want to check out  http://www.desertlakerealty.com/ Their advanced search does have some pretty decent functions that can fill in a lot of the categories your looking for. I would suggest looking in Okanogan and Ferry Counties. Or any of the Northern edge of Eastern WA. The soil in Eastern WA is exceptional. There is a lot of agriculture done in Eastern WA due to the amazing soil.

Eddie Conna wrote:Forested with decent sized trees suitable for harvesting to be used for building
Water readily available, preferably in a flowing stream or river
Good soil
Decent for growing their own food
Larger amount of acreage, (over 40 acres desired, preferably 100 or more.)
Priced at or under $2,000 an acre
Remote-ish, (small town is ok), but within a couple of hours drive to a city.  
Little to NO building permits.  
Not near a nuclear power plant or military installation.

Not all of Eastern WA is high desert. There is a lot of forested land there.
Lots of streams, rivers, ponds and lakes in Eastern WA.
Plenty of large sized properties.
Most of the land seems to be priced $2K an acre and less
Not much for large cities in Eastern WA so yep pretty rural
Pretty relaxed building codes for the most part
There is Hanford down in the southern part of Eastern Wa, But it is mostly decommissioned, and clean up and demolition is ongoing. The spent fuel has been removed, the core was removed, and massive amounts of work has been done to reduce any issues there.

Check Out Maine. Hit's the list. Affordable, remote, good water, plenty of room.  Even has ocean, lakes and rivers.

The southern Missouri/northern Arkansas Ozarks seem like they'd fulfill most of your requirements to some degree.  

Lots of forested area and streams/small rivers.  A lot of it has been logged in the past, but a lot has older trees too.  Larger tracts are readily available (and offer your best bet at running water, while keeping the price in the $2k/acre range).  Remote is no problem, with a number of big cities within a couple hours drive of most of the area, and plenty of smaller towns.  Building permits I know nothing about.  I'm not aware of any nuclear plants.

My wife and I bought twenty forested acres in southwestern Michigan for just under $2,000 per acre. The soil is good, no moving water on our property, but Michigan is laden with ponds and lakes - even overloaded, perhaps. We're only two hours outside of Chicago, 45 minutes or less from Grand Rapids. There are definitely zoning/construction regulations in our area. Probably more relaxed on the UP, but your growing season gets much shorter and winters harder up there.

Eddie Conna wrote:So, anyone know of said utopia?  

There aren't even any sites that let you easily search for large acreage with a home on it, so I don't think there is any site like that.  

My personal choice to meet your requirements is SE Oklahoma. They managed to keep the nuclear power plants out and the soil here is sandy loam. Some areas have more rolling hills and trees than others. Cost of living and land is expensive compared to most places.

You might look in rural areas of east Texas. Some choose Missouri because they can get all mineral rights there (which is nearly impossible in Oklahoma and highly unlikely in Texas).

On Reator.com you can filter your search for lot size and it allows you to select 20+ acres.  And you can select with or without a house.

Hey Eddie. Email me with more details, especially on what you are looking for socially as this is much more difficult and complicated (usually!) than finding great land. michael(at)thepoosh.org

when you say weather and climate what do you mean exactly? Jules