camping on my own land fulltime

I always enjoy reading about communes and communities where a group of people join forces and create a place where everyone contributes to the general good of all. I have considered this type life on many occasions but have yet to really try it. I live in eastern north carolina which has both good and bad points, but its not far from the ocean ( 1 hour away ) and not too awful far from the mountains ( 4-6 hours ). Its a small town here, 25000 people, but larger cities are only a hour away. Anyhow, land is not really expensive here, and I am looking to buy some land. Im looking at a 10 acre spot for about 20grand which is about 100.00 a month payment if I put 10-15 % down and finance the rest. Im also looking at a 50 acre lot, wooded also, for 75000, which of course costs alot more per month, but not out of reach. Maybe 400>00 a month payment. Anyhow, I want to keep it as wooded as possible, but still have a road or drive way area cleared and maybe build some small buildings out of the trees that have to be cut down to create the roads. Im going to live in a RV or camper and any one else that lives there will also have removable homes. I guess Im wondering if anyone out there might like living in this area and wants to live in the woods sort of, but legally, on my property. You would earn your keep so to speak either by helping shape the properety or by helping with a few bucks toward the payment on it. I figure even the 10 acre lot would be plenty of room for 5 camping spots. Im just thinking as I type really, but its gonna happen, Im gonna get the land and live on it. There will be electricity and while it is rural, Its less than 20 mmiles to a city with all the comforts one might need. So share your thoughts with me and if at all interested, let me know. Anyone who comes would of course have to be good people, good neighbor type people. Your age and race would not matter. All would be welcome. Talk to me people

 

sea of green,
living in the mountains is so righteous. we live in sacramento, ca and can't wait to get out of the city and back to the mountains and freedom. room to grow, room to grow pot, room to move around, without any neighbors. i lived in a couple of hippie communes back in the 70's, mainly what i found out was you have to be with people that are egoless, if you get people on ego trips, it's really hard and some people want to take over. i lived with a bunch of people on the quincey, calif river, it was so wonderful, many of us were just kind of wanderers,not having real families, we blended well together, shared everything, never went hungry, grew our own food and gardens, it was truly wonderful, i think of it alot in the wee hours of the twilight.

hippiewise

 

I agree with you there. Some peeps find the self-govorning aspect associated with communes attractive, and think "Right - I'm good at making decisions... I want my say!".

In reality I think most people need to accept commune's are only as self-govorning as just a big extended family - some seem to get the idea they're running a whole nation and want to be a "great leader" when in reality everybody is (or should be) a humble brother or sister within the family.

A sweeping generalisation perhaps and I realise groups can have so many different social structures and heirachies, but I think ambition can be as bad as an ego if an individual is trying to place themselves "above" others if you see what I mean!

 

thanks for the thoughts and I must say that what I have in mind is more of a extended family like situation more than a self governing anything. and on my land, I would not want to be be seen as the leader, I would simply be the one who happens to have the space available to share with other cool people. Im not wanting to be involved in every aspect of my neighbors life, there will always be difference of opinion, and new ideas shared among friends and what I really want to have is a small, laid back, campground type atmosphere, but Im not going to be in for the profit possibilities. Im very non materialistic and while I do have some comforts, I really could live without any of them. I want my land and place to be a place where someone can go and live peacfully, maybe share a meal with thier neighbors or help make their neighbors place a little nicer, kinda like if I wanted to build a deck off my RV, i might ask my brother to help out or my sister to hold the ladder. My land ideally will be a place like a extended family, maybe see each other every day, maybe share a meal or a ride to town or whatever, but not like everyone would have to meet at 9 am to build something and work till 5 blah blah blah. Nothing like that at all. Its just gonna be a chill place in the woods and if no body ever moves onto the property except me, well, I will be okay with that too. I just love to camp and dont really need alot of space to be content as far as my homes space goes. I used to own a house, and spent a fortune heating it and cooling it and all that, but I learned that I dont need 2000 sq foot house, Id much rather have extra outdoor space than indoor space. And Im unsure if the post above was saying that my post indicated that I was trying to put myself above anyone, but that is totally untrue. Anyone who knew me would know that Im so not like that.

 

Financing for raw-land purchases is rough.

Not too many lenders do this due to the precieved risk of the collateral;
that is the land is not as marketable as a house; so on a possible forclosure, the lender will be stuck with it.
Lenders want to lend on houses.

What that means is you will have to shop mortgage companies. And you will pay.
The rate is high.
There will be points, title fees, surveyor, attorney, county clerk.

Expect to pay $3,500.00 and up for these fees.

Also the loan is difficult to qualify for requiring decent credit, perhaps full verification of income, or if available, verification of employment only with no income check. Strict guidelines will require validation of cash in-the-bank for downpayment and closing costs.

Loans with easy guidelines will have a higher rate. Shop from the prespective that you can verify everything in your profile, you will get the cheapest rate.


Try to get as long a term as possible houses go 30 yrs. Land, hopeully you can get a 15 year term. You will be offered both fixed rate and adjustables.

Loan size is important, the smaller the loan, then the less interest some lenders will take in you because the point-fee (1%) is how they are paid, so please expect beefed up fees for small loans.

The On-line lenders are not the best for getting this deal done. A local mortgage company may advertise for land loans. stay away from savings banks!

The transaction could take 60 days easy.

Try to pick your attorney early in the game, one who has done raw-land transactions. ask around. Expect to pay, perhaps $1,000, ( included above )
Title and Escrow Companies work with the attorney.

Please post abck and tell how it goes. Are you using a Realtor?

 

my credit rating luckily is no an issue nor is the cash I need. I do not anticipate any problems at allonce I choose the exact lot. All your points are well taken and no one ever knows what the banks will say, but if I have any major trouble with financing, I will just opt for the smaller 10 acre lot and just pay cash and be done with it. I would of course prefer to finance but will do what ever I need to do.

 

it sounds great, seaofgreen you should post to the communal living board on this site as well. I think lots of people would be interrested. the only thing I will say is don't let yourself be taken, by people using your land as a campground without any consequesces. make sure their are a few rules. I'm thinking of things like no littering, no growing illegals since it's your land your liable...

 

Owner financing is an option and it's done a lot, especially in smaller communities. That's how I bought my mountain property in Western NC.

 

owner financing is a great idea if i could find the right deal i would do that.I spent the weekend so far checking out several properties and none have been just right. Most of the lower priced land is wooded, no clearings and no roads just woods. I want to clear only what I need to clear and keep the feel of living in the forest.

And the point above about there being some rules, well I agree that some ground rules are needed but I hate the thought of having to be passing judgement on anyone. I will work it out though i sure

 

Owner financing might be the only way to really make that work. As Piney pointed out, financing undeveloped land through a financial institution is difficult. I think you mentioned you were looking in Eastern NC. I can't speak for the Eastern part necessarily, but I know many of the rural areas of that state, especially the Western part, have people who are still very trusting of their fellow man. Quite often you can make deals with people without a lot of hassle as long as you come across as an honest and trustworthy person. When I bought my land (about 30 acres), there was only the real estate agent involved and the owner. I never actually met the owner in person but the owner had asked the real estate agent if I seemed honest. He told him yes, so he agreed to a financing deal - no credit report or anything like that. I paid for a survey, I just wanted to be sure of where the property lines were, and then a lawyer drew up the deed and deed of trust. It's all paid off now, btw.

 

Trusting of ones fellow man, how I wish that it were like that in more dealings in our lives but here in the east, Im not sure I will be able to find such a person. I will ask about it with every chance but I do not think that I will be unable to get it done otherwise. This area is growing at a fast pace and all land parcels are a good investment. Had I followed my gut feeling several years ago and bought land in a specific rural area, well I would be rich today had I bought then. Actually though, getting rich is low on my priority list anyhow. so it does not matter about what might have been. I am just trying to find a little space where I can feel at home and Ive always liked the woods, so Im just building on that concept. I know it will take time and money and hard work, but the end result should make it worth while.

 

Are you totally sold on the eastern part of the state? Why don't you come to the mountains - that's God's country, man. All those counties surrounding Asheville are great, but you have to get out of Buncombe County, the county Asheville's in, if you want it affordable. Great people, great climate, beautiful lush woods all around.

 

Actually, I have given thought to the western part of the state and I do love the mountains, but I just gotta be near the ocean. I have always lived near the water and it such a part of my soul that I gotta be true to it. There is nothing like the crash of the waves and the screams of the seagulls. Where I am looking however is 45 miles from the ocean but thats pushing it. I did look at a few places in Lenoir a few months back and it was nice there, at least a nice view, but I just gotta be near the salt water.

 

That's interesting, though somewhat counterintuitive for me, I've been a little concerned about the prospect of a housing bubble, in which owning a house could itself be a liability. Depending on what the land has to offer in terms of natural resources (trees for wood, farming potential, etc.), it could be a major asset if you keep it undeveloped, yet cultivate it in a self-sustaining way so you could effectively be independent for good if you can somehow earn enough to pay off the mortgage and taxes. Furthermore, it seems to me like the weather's pretty forgiving down there, so you could camp out comfortably year round.

As for the commune thing, I agree that egos can be problematic, everyone must remain on equal footing for it to work (unless you're in some cult in which you're the leader, I won't go there, yikes). The main thing is you need to carefully and meticulously define your long term visions and goals, and be sure everyone agrees up front. It's also a good idea to put it in writing to be sure the interpretation doesn't change over time, people often "forget" what they've agreed to when their outlooks, wants, and needs change...

I've thought about communal living for years, it seems like a great idea to pool resources like that and live on very little, but it's kinda like a marriage, the people you live with are your partners, so you gotta be real careful and selective who you go in with, and it takes a lot of work to keep it going.

I've been thinkin' of doing something like that up North in Maine, get a piece of land near a National Forest or something, set up a camp on it, and retire, though it'll probably be just me and my family.

Good luck!

 

Mellow Yellow, you seem to grasp my vision the closest of anyone thus far. I have thought a long time about the fact that I would never be able to afford a nice house for 200-300 thousand dollars and I know some people have to have those kind dreams and Im not saying thats wrong, but for me, I dont need that to be happy. I actually prefer the smaller space of a RV and the trees all around. I have certain steps to take to reach my goal, but I have a plan and it wont all be easy and if it turns out that Im on the land by myself. that will not be a bad thing. I have family and friends in this area, which is one of the reasons for choosing it in the first place. Its good to know that others out there have the same thoughts and ideas.

 

Sounds like you have a great plan. As I get older I think of things like that more and more. Have you given any thought about maybe letting folks stop overnight or so? Maybe even a week or more and then moving on, maybe letting them pay so much a night? Something like a temporary campground without facilities? Might be a way to help your fellow man while they are on the road and maybe meet a few new friends and get a couple of bucks to help the mortgage?

Dave

 

There's an idea, make it a campground, only what you could do is make it a cooperative in which folks give you cash, community service, food, or other goods in exchange for living on your land. You could even extend the idea so folks who stay longer could actually buy into the land over time, maybe they'd even be joint owners like a partnership, but make it on a sliding scale so that you could feel them out, and be sure your visions are one before you become a partners, kinda like a trial period. That way you'd know you could trust 'em.

Then of course, there's the land itself to consider. I'd want a river on my land so I could fish, generate electricity, and irrigate crops. I'd also want a mountain or hill so I could harness wind power. Decent soil to grow crops. Acres of woods so I could selectively cut trees for firewood, but it would be self-sustaining. And the trees you'd need to cut for an access road could be used for lumber, you could build some lean-to's.

My friends and I have been talking about this for years, though lately we're talking about Canada, we'll see what happens politically in this country over the next five or ten years...

Our idea was that some of us are more marketable and command a higher salary, so those folks could go into town and earn enough to pay the mortgage. Some of us are more savvy at farming, those folks could hang out and take care of the place. It's all about division of labor, but the point is that it'd be much more within reach financially if a number of us went in on it together.

Hope it works for ya, keep us posted if you make it happen...

 

Agreed that Seller Financing is great.
Please get a title abstract search for yourself.

If an individual looses a lawsuit, owes the IRS or child support, these debts will become a judgment on title and will attach to and run with your property, even after your purchase.

The Title Abstract will identify if any of these attachments run with your land prior to purchase. They can be paid from the proceeds of the sale.
It will also show if real estate taxes are due, and any open prior mortgages.

Don't buy a property encumbered by liens on title.

 

Piney makes a good point, and unfortunately if you go in on joint ownership of land and one of your partners' credit goes South, so does yours...

 

Im still shopping for the right spot but nothing seems right yet. Its either too expensive or too swampy, or already cleared. I am not going to settle for something that Im not 100% sold on and I know it may take a little time, but I am persistent and patient. Alot of good ideas floating around in this thread and its given me alot of food for thought. I do not really think I will want to have joint ownership however, Id rather own it outright. Im going to keep looking over the available land parcels until I find the right one. I will keep the thread alive with any updates or purchases!@!!