Monica Stuntz

Peter VanDerWal wrote:I actually live in Cochise County (Hereford, AZ)


If you plan on growing food, check out the nearby weather stations on https://www.wunderground.com/, different areas can end up with vastly different amounts of annual rainfall.  I'm right up close to the Huachuca mountains so I tend to get 8-10 inches more rain per year than places that are only 10 miles away.

Another thing to consider is the soil here.  If you are planning on pumping water out of the ground, in many areas the ground water is contaminated with heavy metals, lead, etc.

Thanks for the tip, it would be helpful if i can get as much rain as possible. I am planing on building quite a large water catchment system and filter the water coming into the house. I am aware that we will have to haul water out until we get a couple good rains after it's built, i can only image the gas bills for even a short drive 😵

Miles Flansburg wrote:Howdy Monica, Are you familiar with Cochise county? Aware of what it takes to live there? Are you looking at being out in the desert far from a town?

I keep an eye on the land listings from rural vacant land as they have some great deals in many parts of the country. I think they make it easy to by land but you still need to do your diligence before actually sending them any money so that you know what you are getting. I think they just flip property but if they were too shady I think it would have caught up to them by now.

Make sure you have deeded access. Seems like a lot of those properties were subdivided at some point but roads were not put in or were just bladed in and have washed out. Be sure you have a plan for water. Many folks down there use roof water catchment during the monsoons and have large storage tanks.

You might contact the folks at the assessors office and or the treasurers office to get more information on any land you will be looking at.  Cochise county

If you sign up/log in you should be able to get access to their "GIS" system most counties have these online GIS maps that show lot boundaries, ownership, and tax information that is really handy. I would also see if you can access the tax lean pages as sometimes folks buy land and after many years they just stop paying the taxes so the county repossesses the land and sells them. It looks like they have a bunch of those down there. Give them a call and ask lots of questions.

Either way you go, I would also have a Cochise County title company do a title search and give you title insurance for your land to be sure that you know about any hidden fees that might be attached to a piece of property.

I like what these guys have done, you might see if you can contact them for more in depth information.

Thanks for all the advice! I have watched a lot of Derek's videos especially the ones about water collecting and such. Before I even watched any of their videos my plan lined up big time with theirs. I won't be able to afford moving for a couple of years and in that time i am doing as much research as humanly possible. My plan is to buy an rv/camper and trade my sedan for a truck and build an earthbag house and water collection system while living out of the rv.  We'll possibly have to live at an rv park for some of this time but are aware that our land could be quite a drive from civilization.

Phil Grady wrote:Define cheap.

10,000 at most for 5+ acres

I see postings online for property that is 4 acres for about 2,000 but they all lead me back to ruralvacantland.com and I don't really trust that website, it seems kinda sketchy to me.

Hi guys, I'm currently living in the midwest but am looking to find some cheap land at least 4+ acres in Cochise county Arizona to build an earthbag home on. Does anyone have advice on finding/ buying cheap land?

Krista Marie Schaus wrote:If watch catchment is a big factor, I worry you will have trouble catching clean water. It gets very windy and dusty in Arizona. I know most systems have a runoff to get the first few gallons of dirty water but that may pose issues.  What if you built a super cheap water filtration system.

I do plan on using a good filtration system for any water i intend on drinking and cooking with. I have watched some water catchment videos from some youtubers out of Arizona and they say that the dust that gets in their systems from the roof usually settles on the bottom of their main water tank . So as long as they leave room for the dust to settle underneath the spout they have pretty clear water unless they shower during a rain storm. Then once a year they clean the settled dust out of the bottom of their tank after pumping the water into their overflow system.



Now I don't plan on having a system this big but it has given me some good ideas for my own.

Dakota Brown wrote: I believe that there are structural reasons for earthbag buildings being round, so you might want to check up on that.  

Google "Cement Latex Roof"  and "George Nez".  I am going to make another poultry shelter in the bird's yard this summer and use this for the roof.

And I may experiment with this rapid set cement and cloth idea for one outside wall.  Yeah, cement isn't very permie or environmentally cool, but I am really short on money and time and have a lot to get done this summer.  This might get the extra room I need to keep some of my birds from bullying.   Bob Campbell, the guy who made the video, says that it held up fine being outside over winter.

As far as the square/ rectangular building goes, I have definitely seen people build earthbag homes with this style before. Some of them have buttresses to support the walls and some don't. My building layout is definitely not set in stone.

I am also interested in other alternative roofing techniques. This may actually work really well with the acrylic concrete method instead of metal roofing. At first i thought it would be super heavy to have a concrete roof, to me it sounds like it would be heavier than plywood and tin. But after reading about it, It's lighter and supports itself. I dont mind using cement if it is cheaper. I know this is not super eco of me, but neither is timber and metal I guess.

Amit Enventres wrote: You could also look into glass bottle house construction too for square walls that are strong and cheap.

I have defiantly thought about using bottle walls for parts of my house and outdoor structures like an outdoor shower I plan on building eventually.

Amit Enventres wrote: What about pallets? Not many trees there either,  I'm guessing? I cheat on pricing by going to the fencing section of the lumber yard.  I find the cedar and treated lumber there much more affordable.

I have thought about getting a bunch of free pallets off of Craigslist, there are tons, and using them for the structure of interior walls for my bathroom and plastering over them.  I suppose I could use them and some other cheap cuts underneath my corrugated roofing as well. The support beams/ trusses might just be something I don't want to cheap out on. Plus if I use pallets on the roof I can probably plaster over them like my interior walls.

I am looking to build in an area with no building code. And making most of the house underground would work too since i could just put the dug out dirt in the bags. But I need a good clean surface to collect the water from. I may just try to find a discount store for some metal roofing. The problem I keep running into tho is just the beams or treated lumber to hold up the roof are expensive. Maybe i can find a discount on lumber too.

First of all, I love my little homestead. I have watched their videos of building and they have given me a lot of ideas. The house I am looking to build is about 400-500 square feet. An all in one room being my main living space and a smallish bedroom and bathroom. I think I am just going for squared building style as it will be a lot less complicated than the round rooms, even though they look so cool. I am trying to make building as simple as possible with only a few design elements.

I am also looking at doing natural materials for the building as possible and not using much cement. The cost of beams and treated lumber for the roof is expensive and I don't think I'll have much access to logs and timber in the desert. I have thought about domed roof but then water collection wouldn't be possible.