Living "off grid"....

Raul B

Raul B

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Launch Member

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Kyle, Hays County, Texas, United States
First Name
Raul
Last Name
Banuelos
Member #

2957

I'm curious to see if anyone on here lives on a large piece of property and mostly off the grid.....

I'm going to go look at a 80 acre parcel in the next couple of weeks that is about a 4 hours drive up north for me. pretty inexpensive at 120k and it already has a well and a building site. The plan is to buy the land and slowly start fixing it up to potentially move up there full time in the next couple of years if not sooner.

I wouldn't be completely "off the grid" but I would def be farther away from stuff like the grocery store or a 7-11 than I'm used too.....

From the research I have done I can get satalite Internet (25 gigs a month for 125 dollars) so def not enough to stream but enough to do "internet" stuff...

Septic system would run around 10k and a propane tank would be anywhere from a 1-5k depending if I want to lease the tank or own it.

I would def be adding solar and some power banks.

As far as Income is related... I plan to still do my E commerce store and I could create some unique camp sites that I could rent out on hipcamp....

I also wont be moving alone... My parents and brothers family would be interested in moving up there with us so doing things like farming, bee keeping, hunting ect will be easier with more people..... We also already homeschool the young kids so school wouldn't necessarily be an issue....

I'm interested to see what everyone thinks.....

-Raul
 
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My dream setup.... This is something I really want to do and I'm tired of always "talking" about it.... at least if I had the land I could get started on it....
armymgdude said:
We bought 15 acres in March in Colorado. We put in a well with hand pump, septic, a shed, and how are building an offgrid tiny house. We use solar and have a generator for backup. We love it.

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It is not easy. We have managed to buy it all with cash so we have no bills. Well, except for the new atv, which is a necessity if you want to get any work done on a large piece of property.

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We are not off the grid, but our property is setup to go full off the grid for at least a year without any outside support. No internet access on my property, and only Verizon works, but only on certain spots on the property, so we are a little ways away from any city.

I have 4 generators, the largest of which is 12k. I bought a 1000 gallon propane tank this year, and two generators will run on propane, and I rotate 60 gallons of gas. I'm also building a gasifier to run the'47 jeep, so wood will be my fuel.

I have a deep well, septic, and we have enough food to last a year. I don't have solar, as I won't be staying on the property if society goes sideways, so setup to go mobile. Being in one place will get you killed is a worst case scenario...IMHO. So, I am setup to last one year on my property with all my kids and grandkids without any outside support. Longer than 1 year, and I'm mobile...
 
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Be sure and talk to folks in the area and get their experiences. Do some research on the county and how it treats folks. That is best done without actually going to the county first which will tip them off as to what you are planning. Every county is different and what they will tolerate is different. I wish you good fortune.
 
I live on 80 acres also and our well is 480' deep, not a lot of 12 volt pumps will pump that far down. Is there electric to the well already and how deep is it, good flow rate, just some things to think about. I keep a military MEP 003 10k diesel generator, which is very loud for back up, but it would give away any stealth we have. Solar is good and maybe a wind generator would work for you.

Good luck with your purchase!
 
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I have assessed several of these types of properties. In CA the well is critical, and every aspect of it. Water quality, recharge rate, ownership, water rights to it. That is the number one most important thing you need info on, and to know what to ask and look for. Get it tested before any transaction. Know all the rights, know who the well manger is. It is not simple.
 
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Not living there yet, but I have 30 acres with a hunting cabin off grid. My tiny (drying up right now) pond has a solar aeration system and I will have a drive point solar well/pump to keep the pond healthy soon.

The cabin has too many trees around it for solar, but kerosene lamps and an antique wood cook stove.

I may live there full time someday, but I'm getting old faster than I thought I would.............................................
 
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Make sure the ground "perks" where you plan to install septic. I wonder how you will find the time to do everything the old/hard way and still maintain a business. How much free time do you have now?
 
Gary Stevens said:
I have assessed several of these types of properties. In CA the well is critical, and every aspect of it. Water quality, recharge rate, ownership, water rights to it. That is the number one most important thing you need info on, and to know what to ask and look for. Get it tested before any transaction. Know all the rights, know who the well manger is. It is not simple.
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Good advice. Test purity and a 4 hour drawdown test. My well only drops 100 feet after 4 hours, and still produces 20 gallons per minute. 4 hour drawdown test will help determine how well your well will perform in a drought as well.
 
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squishware said:
Make sure the ground "perks" where you plan to install septic. I wonder how you will find the time to do everything the old/hard way and still maintain a business. How much free time do you have now?
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I have 5 kids so extra time is not abundant... that being said.... I'm probably not going to get the land "ready" on my own... my brother and parents also want to move (even if its not full time) so between all of us it will go quicker.... Even though I'm a licensed contractor I don't plan on doing the big work myself... Ill sub it out to someone else in the area.
 
GreenJeepScout said:
Would you like to share photo's ?
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Good tank lockation. I am guessing 7,500 to 10,000 gallons. Hard to tell witho0ut being there. Now where is the well? Nothing is more important than that.
 
Man, nice spot. Nobody is sneaking up on you. Tell me about that water tank, would it be drained in the winter or doesn't it freeze up? Wind generator for sure up there.
 
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Following this thread. I'm also in the process of looking at land out of the area although a smaller piece and more for vacation/retirement.
This discussion is prompting questions I hadn't even considered.
 
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