I Pulled The Trigger!!!

8.5 Acres!!!

Unrestricted...

Recently I made a post about how my wife and I have been looking to buy a piece of land that we could start a homestead on, well, a few days ago we signed the papers on a piece of land in Missouri! It took us a few months of looking for the right one, and we talked to a lot of people, but finally, we have it!

But What About The Deal?

I am sure a lot of you want to know how we came to be the owners of this land, and that is really the best part. We only had $1500 to put down on the property, and because of "Covid" both my wife and I had switched careers in the last two years, so a traditional mortgage was out of the question. Our only option was to find something that was owner financed with someone that was willing to work with what we were able to do. It took a while and a lot of talking to people, but finally, we found it...

Due Diligence...

I can already hear people saying, "But there are a lot of scams out there!" and this is true! That is where the research comes in. I called and spoke to the County Assessor, the Register of Deeds, and the title insurance company that the guy we are buying from used. They all not only confirmed that he did in fact own the property free and clear, but also several of them had went to school with, or knew him and vouched for him being a straight up guy to deal with!

Problems...

When you are buying property sight unseen from another state, you have to make use of every resource you have at your disposal. I looked at USGS maps, FEMA flood zone maps, and called well drillers locally. I feel that I have a good handle on what we are doing now, and this largest drawback is the lack of a well on the property. According the well drillers, it is going to cost me up to twelve thousand dollars to have a well drilled, but that is only if I have them do it. Because the property is completely unrestricted, and yes I verified that through the county as well, I can drill my own well significantly cheaper.

Timber!

The property we bought has timber that has not been harvested in roughly forty years. When we make our first trip down there in late April or May, we are going to meet with a local sawmill and have discussions about selectively cutting and selling some of the trees to finance the well drilling. My wife's father runs a landscaping company and has equipment we are hoping to use to clear a road into the middle of the property, and have also thought about parceling out a few acres to sell. There are a lot of options, really.

First Steps...

In April or May, we are going to make a trip out there and just walk the land and get an idea of what we have, get a feel for the land so to speak. We will take the dogs and do some camping and clear off some areas to start a homestead. Our plan is to build a chicken coop and goat pen from harvested logs and then start the building of a cabin. Needless to say, we are just super excited to be getting ready to make this move!

Spring of Next Year...

Our plan is to be able to make the move permanent in the spring of next year. We are going to make some minor improvements in the home we have now and sell it, that will give us a cushion to live on until we are able to get established out in Missouri. It will take a while, but God willing, we will get there! If this is something you have been thinking about as well, I am writing this to tell you to not give up!

Make it happen!