How much acres of land is enough, and what to look out for when buying land.

[Dharma bump]

A half acre fruit and veg allocation per person using traditional veggie beds. A full time job taps out at caring for about 2 acres of hort crops with few tools.

 

[Darkholme's Dungeon]

This whole list is good, but under "#2 Neighbors & fencing" also need to include Homeowner's Association (HOA). Sometimes they have rules you won't know about until you read their bylaws, sometimes their fees are high enough to matter. Most property listings will have an HOA yes/no field, sometimes with the fees too. However they'll rarely mention specific HOA restrictions unless legally required to disclose them.

Don't forget covenants. I'm not sure how a perpetual covenant is lawful on a title but that's the big thing going around right now. It's like HOA but for rural areas.

 

[Corydoras]

These are questions which, admittedly, mostly pertain to Eastern US properties. Might apply elsewhere.

For properties with buildings:
-How close is the nearest fire department? Will they have access to a fire hydrant on your property (probably not)?
-How close is the nearest snow plow staging area to your access road?
-What does the wiring look like? Do you have a modernized electric panel? (knob-and-tube wiring is still a thing in some houses. Many homes have chimeric electrical set-ups.)
-What is your critter tolerance? (expect at least 1 palm-sized spider in your house each fall, snakes in the outbuildings etc.)
-(if you don't have county water) How is your septic handled? Per county ordinance, what changes to your house would force you to upgrade your septic? (adding another bathroom etc.)
-What is the quality of the well water? Is there coliform bacteria? How do you plan to mitigate contaminates like lead, silicon, or copper?
-How do you plan to deal with power outages (there will be outages)?
-What is your well depth? Can your pump be easily powered by a generator during outages?
-What does the structural integrity of your house look like? Are the beams in the crawlspace supported to modern standards? Is there termite damage?
-If you are planning to use wood burning stoves as a heat source, do you have easy access to hardwoods to burn indoors (do not burn pine 'n sheeeet in your woodstoves. Beware creosote.)
-Do hire a good home inspector that is familiar with the baseline of your area-they'll be able to walk you through all this and more.

If you want to add a livable structure to a property, I don't have much firsthand experience. I can tell you from secondhand experience that you'll want to spring for perc testing BEFORE purchasing a property, if you are planning on adding a house to a property without municipal water access.

Hope that helps!

 

[Cirrhosis_of_Liver]

The hardest part of building a house is satisfying weirdo loan requirements and, if applicable, local government horseshit.

A lot of people say to get a trailer house delivered. If you have the time and a basic level of knowledge, at least ten years ago you could buy the materials for a much nicer and sturdier house for about the price of an on-site-delivered trailer house. But in most situations I guess a trailer house does make more sense. RVs are surprisingly expensive and shockingly miserable, in my opinion. I'd rather take the resale value hit of a trailer.

Incidentally, you might consider buying a repo'd trailer. I wouldn't, because I wouldn't want to live in something the kind of people who get dey trailer house repo'd had lived in, but it is an idea.