Land.....Shelter....Water.....

Land

Deciding on where to go has been hard for us, and I am sure everyone else making this decision. There is the dream property and, then there is the logical and smarter land option. Our smarter land option is 5 acres that we already own. It is fenced, has water, and has road access all year round. One of our top priorities is to use what we have and to not go into debt if we can help it. We would like to use this year and get as much ready as we can using what we have, and while working a second job we have the money. Once we leave we will not have the second job anymore. So our land decision is going with the 5 acres we already have and make it into "Our" dream property.

Shelter

For us when deciding on shelter we have two options that we looked at that best work for us and our needs. The first is to build a cabin/home by ourselves from plans we can purchase on the internet. When looking at this options, we do have a year and it would take us that long for sure :) It could be cheaper as long as we don't make too many mistakes. Or we can go with our second option which is to purchase a cabin shell, and then finish the inside. So our shelter would be in place and we could in the spring and summer months go out to our land and stay in it and work on it. If we go with the first option, we have no where to stay while

building and we really do not want to buy a trailer to stay in while we build. Our second option would cost us around $11500.00. That is just the outside shell. This we will purchase with cash from selling a rental home we currently own. No financing!! Then we have the next year and the second job to finish the inside. We have decided that option two is what will work best for us.

Water- As much as I would love to collect water from a stream with a basket every day a few times a day ;) Our decision to go with the land we already own was made due to the land having water already. There is a well on the property line. I know many do not have this option and have to work out other methods for their water source. For us we did not want to have to haul water in. So giving up on the tree filled land for land that is paid for and has water was top on our smart list. We can plant trees :)