The trek to a small homestead

[Canuck In Denver]

I've been looking at small acreage, under 20 acres, properties in the area the last few weeks. There are some good USDA Rural Development loans out there, North Dakota is better than Minnesota. While I'd love to jump into such a property my policy of not doing credit may bite me in the butt. Plus I may not save all that much per month when taxes and various insurance (homeowners, flood if needed, mortgage) is added in. Enter a 2488 sq foot house with basement in a small town, population about 600, about 30 miles north of me.

While I don't really want to live in town the house is dirt cheap as a $20k foreclosure. I looked at some smaller farms but I decided to go this route as it will lower my overall housing without raising my gas or other expenses. it will give me more money month to month and will allow me to build up preps. The mortgage on the house will be under $200/month, maybe as much as $300-400 with various insurance policies and taxes added in... which is a savings of $500-$600 per month and auto insurance should drop as well. I'm looking at a 30 yr USDA Rural Development Guarantee but intend to pay off the house in 5-6 years (less if possible).

So the current plan is to get the house in town, pay it off in 5-6 years (likely less), build up preps and then sell the property, rent it out or use it for collateral on a small farm (under 20 acres). The house has an assessed tax value of $54k and an estimated market value of $67k so it is up for considerably less than its value.

It doesn't have a garage, but I can fix that and raise the value of the house. The other bonus is that should the economy crash it is a lot easier to raise $200 a month than $900-$1000 for rent. And if I lose my job my girlfriend's child support is more than enough to cover the mortgage.

I may hang out the old Computer Geek shingle and do house calls on the side and after work. Any extra cash will be good and it may bring in enough to do it full time.

[Grog]

Canuck, in reference to the move and what not, I hope it all goes well. The packing, organization and what not. One Lesson that I learned from the moving back in, is that placement and organization are key to making things work. Right Now, I have access to the family short term supplies, but the things like hard copy library are still being located.

I also hope given everything in the "News" you find good and not so expensive fuel and alternate route with how the weather is performing. May your journey be swift, un eventful and  completed better than you have planned for.

[Canuck In Denver]

Someone bought the house we were looking at and has it for rent. We looked at it yesterday ... not good at all. The guy who bought it is a real estate agent and bought it unseen, very bad mistake on his part. Anyone who described it as livable is insane.

So the search for a small acreage continues...


I've done several moves that were a mess. It won't happen again that is for sure.