In your search for land, you might find what appears to be the perfect homestead site only to find out later the groundwater is polluted or the area is slated for massive fracking. Therefore it’s prudent to do as much research as possible before buying your land and investing years of time, money and labor. Thankfully, there’s a vast amount of free information available on the Internet that can help. The maps below show just a few things to search for. There are many other considerations. This information is also available in print in Joel Skousen’s Strategic Relocation book.
buying land
Free Land and Cheap Land in the US
One of the biggest concerns for natural builders is finding affordable land for their homestead or sustainable home. Rural land is often the best solution not only because it’s less expensive than urban land, but also because there are usually fewer building codes. With few or no building codes, it’s possible to build at 1/10th the cost of building in cities if you use recycled materials like pallets and barn wood, and local natural materials such as earth, stone and wood poles.
Best Places to Live in Rural America
The cost of building a sustainable home is much higher in urban areas due to the stricter building codes, zoning and other housing regulations. Many readers dream of a simpler, healthier life in rural areas where there are few or no building codes and costs are far lower. But where’s the best place to live? Here are some lists to consider. You could compare the different lists and look for areas that are recommended most often. Everyone has different needs, however, and so you have to work out your priorities. Are you after the lowest cost land? Rural areas with jobs and growth potential? Rural areas with good weather? Minimal pollution? Lakefront land? Outdoor recreation? Good soil for gardening? Lowest taxes? Rural areas with like-minded people? The final choice will likely be based on some balance between these and other factors. Happy hunting.
Land and Farm.com
In your search for rural land with few or no building codes, you might want to try out Land and Farm.com. Their search page enables you to narrow the search by state, county, zip code, type of property (farm, undeveloped, orchard, ranch, etc.), property size, asking price, price per acre, irrigated or not irrigated and quite a few other criteria.