Off Grid Home: Finding Land For Sale

Now, finding your off grid home has become a goal of many families, and for good reason. Finding land for sale off the grid used to be much simpler. Living off the grid was considered by many to be an alternative lifestyle choice that didn't warrant their approval. But, times have changed...

You can find cheaper land, a larger parcel than you could have before, and have space enough to do all of those things you have always dreamed of...

Whether it's that dream log home, with the little stream meandering through the garden, or a simple home set back from the road for privacy and peace, it is all possible when you embrace off grid living.

Off Grid Real Estate

For anyone who has approached a real estate agent with the notion of finding land for sale off the grid, it can be a rather daunting task.

You really have to know why you should in the first place, before pitching in and looking. The most obvious reason is that land is much cheaper when you shop for this kind of property.

Also, the parcels tend to be much larger in size for this smaller price tag, (sounds good so far...). The only price of admission is the fact that you are going to have to provide your own power source.

The good news is that you can do that with the difference between the purchase price of a grid tie piece of land and the cost of off the grid land for sale. Investing the difference leads to one very large benefit, you will only have to do this once.

No more ongoing costs associated with your electric bill, no more monthly bill at all. Just a one time cost of installation (or even build a wind generator and build solar panels too).

In essence you have got rid of a major monthly expense and replaced it with an investment. That is positive family financial planning, and will contribute greatly to your family living debt free as well.

And those are just the initial reasons why... imagine the independence you will feel watching that free power pumped into your home.

With a larger piece of land you can also incorporate a big garden to lower your food costs, cut your own firewood to heat your home in the winter, and even cut the very logs that will build that dream log home of yours.

It's possible with an off grid house.

As mentioned earlier it is getting a bit more difficult to find land for sale off the grid though. More and more families are realizing that they can do just that and embracing the idea.

To have better control of the family finances and well being is a powerful motivator. It used to drive Jane and I crazy to always have to pay for everything, we were very resourceful people and wanted to provide for ourselves at home.

The basic needs of a family should not always come with a price tag other than working for them. Of course, in this age of specialization, this view does not hold economic sense,... but the first time you build something for yourself, the first time you put a log in the wood stove and realize you did it yourself, the first time you look at the monthly bills and realize... hey, no electric bill, then you will know why.

It all makes sense and in a balanced life the physical must balance the mental, emotional, social, financial and other aspects of our life.

We have all become rather unbalanced in a sense, with the mental and social aspects taking over.

There is a real curative power in swinging an axe, or pounding nails, and of course gardening... this is the real reason why, because you will feel alive again.
Property that is far from the crowds and streetlights is also great for wildlife viewing.

While birds and small animals frequent the suburbs we have had frequent visitors of beavers (they live on our property), deer, moose and even the odd black bear wanders through.

Such exotic birds as pine grosbeaks, several warblers, whip-poor-wills, Great grey owls and the eastern bittern are all frequent visitors.

You just don't see these more elusive birds in town, they only venture from the forest when they feel safe. Our favorite bird has to be the rose-breasted grosbeak, not for his flashy red necktie that accentuates his dapper black and white feathered suit, but for his magnificent song.

Like a robin that has had years of opera lessons both male and females belt out a morning greeting and evening farewell that is long remembered. Everything, every other bird, every animal, and ourselves stops to listen...

This is the real reason Jane and I are so into living off the grid, we love our animal and bird friends who so easily coexist in the environment that we are part of here.

It may be a bit more difficult than when we first began but finding land off the grid is certainly worth it.

From a more practical standpoint, how exactly do you go about doing this, finding your off grid home?

Decide on exactly how much your budget includes. call a family meeting to discuss the needs (and wants) of each family member.

Talk about living off the grid and what it means to each person before you start.Finding the real estate agent is actually the easy part.

Simply take the list of requirements that you came up with in your family meeting and then take a drive to the area in which you want to live. Grab the local newspaper and hunt up the real estate agents who work in the area.

You can bet they will be advertising as this is the only way that you will find them. Most often their offices will be in a small central town in the area.

For ourselves, there are 2 offices and 3 other agents who work in the area. A talk with each one brought up a good number of possibilities for us.

Granted we do live in a tourist area, Land O Lakes, but land is still plentiful and relatively inexpensive, just glancing through the listings we found 10 acres for $12,000, 3 acres on a lake for $23,000, and an old farm of 143 acres for $48,000. That is only slightly more expensive than when we first went shopping here in 1993.