The only thing keeping me going is the thought that in 5 years I will do something just as completely insane and move my entire family to a secluded ranch somewhere in Utah.
Sound stupid? Yes. But don't ever doubt my stupid.
We've been talking for years now about buying a large piece of land in Utah and starting a homestead. This was an absolutely ridiculous idea until recently.
You see, my father-in-law is retiring in 5 years and wants out of California. He's been dreaming of spending his days farming, digging holes, and caring for bees. But he can't really do any of these things unless his children and grandchildren join him.
After many family gatherings and mass texts we've figured out what we need exactly to make this dream come true for all of us. Here are the obstacles we need to overcome:
This is probably the most important part as it affects everyone who plans on this adventure. Here are the traits we need the land to have in order for everyone to be happy. (This list will change as we progress and come to our senses.)
- Must be at least 1 hour from a medium/large town
- Must be at least 15 acres
- Must have pine trees and some sort of seclusion
- Must have access to water rights (We want to be self sustaining)
- Must be less than $200,000.
If the economy is on an upswing, we might just have to go a little earlier than planned. If it stinks, we'll have to wait till it comes back up. We've got a 5 year window to make things happen.
There are many options when it comes to homestead housing. We can go modular/double-wide which would cost around $30k - $80k or we can go with container housing which could look awesome in theory but most likely will look like post-apocalyptic zombie fallout shelter.
We will also have to factor in foundation, power, water, and septic which could possibly add another $10k - $20k.
We'll need to be able to make a stable income to make living in a homestead possible. It's not much money, but we need something. After doing the math I figured our expense come out to just about $25,000 a year after our house is paid for. That's not a whole ton. Here are a few of our ideas"
- Getting normal-ass jobs. Yikes.
- Starting a blog and selling stuff. (Shirts, Knives, Art, Websites, etc.)
- Selling at Farmers Markets
- Using our capital to purchase a Franchise in town
- Using our capital to purchase rental property
These are some of the basic challenges we'll have to face. I'm sure there's much more that's going to be reveled to us we venture forward but with enough money and desperation I know we can make it.
