How we FOUND and AFFORDED our OFF-GRID Homestead in Tennessee
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- Опубликовано: 2 дек 2023
- Today we take a break from the projects and talk through some of our most frequently asked questions (including one that we haven't yet answered to anyone!) How did we find our property? How much did we pay for it? And of course, how did we afford to do it? We're excited to share all of this information about our Off-Grid Homestead here in rural Tennessee!
#homestead #tennessee #offgrid #tinyhome
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As a 50 year old, I can say your story is impressive. Looking back, so many missed opportunities, time goes to fast. Glad to see how your priorities and determination has made you two who you are, keep it up!
Time does FLY! We always say wow it has already been 4.5 months here! HOW? haha but we work hard and at the end of the day we get to create something here for ourselves! Thanks for watching. See you on the next one!
Yes, Time does fly. We wanted to do the Homestead thing at about your age, but had to wait until our kids graduated from college as we both had good jobs and that college tuition was too much to leave our jobs and head to the woods. I just watched a few of your videos and liked and subscribed as you young folks are doing so good. Review and update your medical kit in case of injuries or illness. Dehydrate or do some canning. -we are just now talking about putting in a hand pump well in case we lose power. We have a large gas generator but I am thinking about a solar generator. A roof over your head, water and food is all you need to survive. Check out my other East Tenn You Tube friend - Appalachia’s Homestead with Patara. She’s between your age and mine and a good source for many things.
Also Off Grid With Doug and Stacey. (They are in Missouri).
It does go fast! I'm turning 42 this year and can't believe where the years have gone. I rent a homestead, which is very rare here in Utah, and I'm looking to relocate where I can find affordable land. I LOVE Utah, but it's becoming a nightmare. If I'm going to live the life I truly want, I better not let another day go by.
I'm 55 and still considering this. Age is just a number, don't let it be your state of mind.
Well I'm now over 63 years old and 4 years ago I have my house to my son and I hit the road full time RV life and I'm loving it . I've been to 37 states so far . I say to anyone ( go for it because life is short and only you are in charge of it )
I've lived off grid (solar, wood stove, rainwater catchment) for 3.5 yrs. It isn't easy. Lots of manual labor and sacrifice. CONGRATULATIONS.
then why do it, whats your reason
@@adairjanney7109 it was out of necessity
I moved on to a small piece of property. Sight unseen. I had been paying on it for almost 2 years before moving here. For 3 years I lived totally off grid in a shed. I had just enough solar to charge my phone and some batteries. Installed solar lights and set up a rain water catchment. I now have a camper with some electric but still use the rainwater catchment. I love what your doing.
As a Realtor for 29+ years I am Happy and Proud of what you accomplished by buying this land. It looks beautiful and yes you do have to have the vision of what raw land can be. But that is how you afford a better deal. You made a terrific buy and with a little work your property value will increase a lot. But you have a wonderful place to be and I look forward to watching your journey.
Think Tennessee
Think storm shelter
A simple diy works just fine
A hill of dirt with a door
Peace of mind
When cov hit I retired and gave my house to my youngest son and I traded up to a new 1500 Ram 4x4 off road package and got a 24 foot camper and I hit the Road alone ...37 states later I'm loving this life 😌 I camp 99% free and I do 1 RV park once a month to dump black and gray waters. Sometimes I just dump at a dump station if one it close by . I have saved thousands in taxes living this free life . I'm glad i saved 83k so I started debt free and I'm still debt free today . When I say debit free I mean zero credit but I have Truck insurance of 104 a month and 45 cell phone , it's a Walmart straight talk deal . I have 2 propane tanks and my truck gas ⛽ and food to buy and some states tax that when I buy so no one is 100% tax free I guess ... But not more house taxes or Truck taxes or camper taxes . I served 5 years military and 31 years coal mining so I paid 36 years taxes and I had enough of that . House taxes 31 years was enough for me too and the government controlled anything I did to the house I had to pay them for permits like a communist country does . They come up with new regulations every year to get more money . It's all BS. When my state started taxes , fruit trees I said if they tax one more thing I'm leaving , well the next year they did a rain water tax , Yelp if you had a house in city limits you got taxed 8 dollars a month for rain water run off they called . And they taxed city workers 4% of their pay checks if they worked in city limits .Americans it's pass time to wake up before they take every penny you have .
They are working on a one world government where they will take every penny you have. Charles Schwab, the founder of the world economic forum, made a statement you'll own nothing & be happy with it!
Congratulations
You two are awesome. I am a retired aircraft mechanic from Miami Florida.15 years ago I bought 40 acres deep in the woods of South Central Tennessee.i cleared 2 acres and bought an old 35 foot trailer. I loved it. My wife not so much. She's a CITY girl. I still have the 40 acres.as my playground. But had to settle on a house in Loretto. She is happy. I'm happy.
I'm dragging my gf out to the sticks in TN (up by Gatlinburg) to do the same, I'm pretty sure she's like your wife lol hopefully I can sell her on it!
Your story is very similar to our families, we sold at the peak of the market and paid off all debt. We are never going back to corporate and debt slavery again. Congratulations on figuring this out young.
I give you guys lots of credit for answering those questions. That info is really no ones business. But I am guessing that you were tired of the repeated inquires. The value question is really a moot point. You are happy - nuff said
We hope that people can find our information useful on their own journeys :) Thanks so much for hanging with us!
"You're never going to make a change unless YOU make that change." This statement really hits home for me. 44 years old and I'm getting ready for a huge career change that I've been putting off for years because of my own fears and anxiety. Changing chapters is something very scary but folks like you two give so much inspiration. Thank you both and keep doin what you're doin!
The sweetest fruit is out at the end of the branch. Gotta take a chance if you want the reward. The longest journey begins with the very first step.
You guys have a relationship that is rare you have the same dreams in life and that's what makes the dreams come true I wish my ex wife was like that you guys are blessed to have each other don't lose that
As an East Tennessean who has wanted to go fully off grid for some time this is very inspiring! I live in a town of 6k people yet land around here is very expensive, so congratulations to y’all for finding this needle in the hay stack! I hope everything goes well for y’all and I look forward to watching more of your videos!
I live off grid in a small 20 x 20 house and I love it. If you can love can life you can live off grid. My next step is growing food!
We have 20 acres in TN outside of Clarksville. We built a house on it and paid $3,500 an acre about 3 years ago, it is worth about $15-18,000 an acre now.
We had a similar issue. We sold our house in Georgia and moved back to Florida. We took Two Fay’s to look. The realtor we were working showed us homes that were way over our price range. She finally showed a home wet could afford and we put in an offer that day. It was accepted later the same day. I couldn’t be happier.
I love your off-grid living, holistic view on life, but what impressed me most about you two, is how supportive and genuinely in love with each other you are. Stay together through thick and thin, I've watched other channels where a few years down the road they split. Stay away from Splitsville.
A wood stove is your best friend when you’re living like us. Also you can make hot water from your wood stove to wrapping copper tubing and using a pump to circulate it through a hot water heater tank. You get an old hot water heater and just don’t plug it in just circulate your hot water you make through it so it helps to keep your water hot basically. Really easy. Solar panels are a great thing too really good for everything basically just buy a really nice power inverter tho get a huge one you can always add more panels later on.
Nice for you..I did a restart on life when we got tboned on my Harley. Bought a place in Hannibal Missouri. An old 1882 house. Now my dad was put in a home in Alabama. So i got custody of him and heading down tomorrow to get him..I'll be running through Tennessee tomorrow..
ChrisJEllis if you are bored
you are a great person getting your dad out of a home and taking him with you.....one of my biggest regrets
I'm wanting to buy some land someday. I'm retired now and will have my home paid for in another 4 years.
At 67 now so I'll just have to see how things play out.
I'm a research fanatic, it took me three years of research before I purchased my Victory Cross Country Tour motorcycle.
I don't like spending a lot of money only to be disappointed in making a poor decision.
Enjoy watching you guys work on your property.
Thanks for the video, hope you enjoy it.
Be careful to not get wrapped up in analysis paralysis. You are not getting any younger, and at your age 4-years is a LONG time. Hopefully, if you really want to make the change, you won't wait 4-years to do it. A paid off home is really great, but why not use what equity you already have and sell now. Four years from now, with the way things are going, you might end up with even less than if you sold now. You would be surprised what even just a few acres in a rural setting can do for your happiness. However, I would caution one thing... not sure if you have family or not, but make sure your immediate family is 100% on board with your decision. If not, you will have another struggle on your hands over and above that of developing a raw piece of land.
You have it figured out. Claim your dream, make it a goal, and live beneath your means to enable it. Find land you can afford and make it work for you. So many people want to groan about how 'impossible' it is to afford/create a homestead/farm. We paid a little over $4K an acre for 26 (15 open) acres 25 years ago but we also got a small 2 story home in very good condition, a 2 story barn with electric, a pond, a tractor shed, and gardens. Since then we've bought surrounding acreage (20 acres) to flesh out our farm. My folks are moving here (their home on our farm is almost done) so it's really becoming a family compound. At this point, we paid off our extra acreage a long time ago and only owe $50K on our home and the 11 acres it sits on. Keep up the great work making your dreams come true. Thank you for helping prove that people CAN do this if they start thinking outside the 21st century comfort box and set goals and diligently work toward them! You rock!
I just found your channel. I am moving to Tennessee as soon as I find land. Want to live away and quiet. And the Chattanooga area is a blessing from God. Outside the city is breathtaking
what i miss about rural tn is all the small local lumber mills. you can save a TON of money buy getting rough cut lumber from them versus lowes or home depot. fasteners are the rough part believe it or not
Could not agree more! There is sooo many local mills right around us. We love it! The lumber is usually better than lowes or home depot lol
We just closed on our Tennessee property on the Cumberland Plateau! Super excited to get started building our offgrid homestead!
Your tiny home camper must feel like a palace to you! It's so cozy too. Looking foward to seeing how you decorate the interior and the space around the exterior- deck, roof over the camper, landscaping around it?
I really like how the living room is positioned in this model of camper.
You two are such an inspiration, a really cool back story. Me & Julie are chugging along down here in southern Alabama, we only have 2.76 acres, but the property sits on a 800 acre spring feed private lake and we are also off-grid. We do have a well and septic system in place so that has helped....
I would say, you have mastered the art of frugal living, and it paid off BIG time! Congratulations on all of the awesome blessings! I hope you praise Father God for every good and perfect gift He has given you through Jesus! You've worked, saved, done without, and it is Father who has blessed you! Keep the videos comin'!
I agree. All your blessings come from God Allmighty.
Running water is free power and water. Research Rampump.... Pumping water uphill without power.
Congrats on using your common sense as part of your decision making during your process. I personally grew up poor in the Appalachian Mts of N.C. so when i became of age and moved away i got into the weaving industry and did well for myself. Unfortunately it took me until i was mid 40s before i realized i was living way above my means. I realized i was trying to fill a void in my life with material things to make me feel validation and fortunately i learned i no longer needed all the worldly possessions to be happy in life. I now have came back to the Appalachian Mts of N.C., 4 years now with my humble and grateful attitude. I can truly say for me it's came full circle and I'm content.
The prices are crazy right now. My brother bought 14 acres w a cabin, utilities last year North or Rockwood Tennessee for 300,000. Crazy. Arizona is really crazy since 2020. Good luck yes you got a deal. ❤
I realized a few years ago that Im really not interested in working my life away just to barely survive and be miserable. So, I bought a very small piece of land in Charleston Tn. I knew that I wanted something that I could just straight out buy, no financing, and it had to be close to my dad, so I wound up buying 1.66 acres for $23,000 .... It's perfect for a single older woman like me though, I don't think that I would be physically able to take care of much more than what I have. But, I didn't realize the requirements for getting a driveway 🤦♀️ i spent every penny that I had on the property, and they're telling me that it's $4,000 just to get started on my driveway 😢 so, I will be staying in my camper in my dad's yard for a very long time to save up for the driveway 🤷♀️ hopefully I will be able to have access to water soon, but as of right now I really don't. My dad and I are on different schedules, and we are rarely awake or home at the same time, and he has a great Pyrenees that won't let me in his house 🤦♀️
Interesting idea: land that is very steep that would not be suitable for conventional development might be great for off-grid, tiny or modest size homes. In general, what direction do your slopes face? It seems like for solar and gardening, south facing slopes would be better. Do your slopes go uphill from the road or downhill, or both?
I’d love to hear this too .
Love your channel and what you’re doing such an inspiration to all young people. I wish you both so many years of happiness and blessings.
I'm with Cass. Looks like a million dollar property to me! Thanks for sharing that with us. Love ya both!
That’s an awesome price for your vision!! With the waterfall alone some people would ask that for 1-2 acres!! Like they say, location location, location!! Have you named the 5’er yet?
Thanks for answering these questions. I am so proud of both of you. Most people your age wouldn't have made the smart decisions that you two have made, I been subscriber since the video on State says we can't live in tiny house. My heart broke for you. You both have wonderful attitudes. I have been so looking forward to following your journey.
I’m in middle Tennessee and was curious as to the area you are in. I would love to come help and learn during that process. Providing you’re not too far away.
Sacrifice to obtain a goal makes you appreciate the goal more.
Some of my best memories of my married life was when we worked together to obtain a goal.
Of course it all fell apart shortly after 😂😂😂
Just to let you know about your cabin. You can hire someone to come out and take the moisture content and if it’s good they can stamp it for you.
@terryclayton4101 I wonder if they saw your comment... You are talking about the Amish built cabin, right?
Awesome of you to share all the details. Thanks for the video!
Always Awesome! Wishing you well in all your endeavors! Merry Christmas!!!
Congrats on that purchase price - great deal and you are happy
I missed you guys last Sunday. Loved the video, very informative and transparent. Blessings from the Oregon coast.
I’m so glad you made such a great choice for making your channel and what a great attitude living simple 🙏🏽
Impressive goals. Enjoy the journey
Awesome I made the list!!! You guys are great
Good job guys. Your living a dream.
Awesome y’all
Be well be safe
We’ve enjoyed watching your journey! Can’t wait to see how everything turns out.
Appreciate you being here for the ride! It is a slow process but one step at a time this raw land is becoming a home
I am a new viewer. Thanks for sharing how you guys got started. Listening to you two makes me want to come along and see your progress. I have subscribed and am looking forward to more adventures with you.
I 'found' you by chance and I am so pleased I did. It's great to see you being honest about how hard it can be living your lifestyle (I don't think I could give up my central heating!)
Thanks for the info!
Now this is a video that has super value for those that are interested in living the homestead off grid living styles ...great video love yall we live in Tennessee and have land in another state and hopefully will be building in april Thanks again
That's awesome! Finding the right property to live off grid can be very daunting. Congratulations on finding such a beautiful place. Can't wait to see how you develop this into your dream
That's awesome and it helps that you are both on the same page and honest with each other.
When you do everything together, you have to be on the same page and have open communication as much as possible! It is super important but i truly believe it makes our relationship stronger :)
Great deal thanks for sharing this video take care.
Happy to hear you enjoyed it bud! See ya on the next one!
Matt + Cass your Awesome Happy Holidays thanks you the videos are great
We appreciate you so much Mike. Your support is out of this world. Have a beautiful holiday!
Great job guys . You made it Happen,
Your story and passion for freedom is so refreshing. I unfortunately grew up in the 70’s when owning a home, stuff and status was what we all were taught to believe was the American dream. While I had the opportunity to do that now that I’m in my early sixty’s I find your lifestyle so attractive. Keep up the great work and I love your video’s.
Love your channel, so glad you found your land and look forward to seeing all of your projects. We have a place upstate and have been doing projects since 2015. Rewarding to look back and see all of the accomplishments!
Love to hear that! It really is so rewarding taking your time and creating something special :)
That was not a good deal but an excellent one. Wow! Congratulations. I have been looking in TN as well but for the same price people are offering up to 5 acres. I don’t even need that many, just a couple I can use as a home base to park my rig when I take a break from traveling. I will find something at some point.
You truly don't need a lot of acreage to make something magical and special happen! We took a chance on this property and just ran with it haha:) Hope you find something special !
I will, thank you.
Thank you for the video
Amazing, very inspiring!
You both have such happy personalities. I’m an old lady and watching the two of you cheer me up. Thank you.
This makes our hearts so happy! Thanks for being here for the ride!
As long as you're happy with it. That is all that matters. You're in a great 4 season area, with mild winters. You should get great fall foliage. Good luck to you both moving forward.
Thanks so much! We truly feel like this is home which is so amazing after so many years of travel. It is a wild ride but it is becoming one that feels right :)
Love your story😍
Awesome video God Bless you and your family
Thank you for watching and being apart of our journey!
We moved fairly fast on our property too. Definitely makes a difference being focused on the goal.
When you know what you want sometimes you gotta just run towards it :)
Thanks for the info. The plat that was being sold, were there deed restrictions for all parcels? Running into probs with deed restrictions even on lots way out in nowhere land NC with developers putting standard deed restrictions of no campers for long period of time, basic road maintenance agreement (no biggee on that one), no manufactured homes, must be minimum 1200 square feet. Finding non restricted land is proving to be a challenge for 100K and less.
That's why we domt buy land in TN or NC ..all there permits and rules ..its not even your land like that .most of KY and WV you do what you want , no rules wht so ever , other than taxes , its yours !.not as pretty as NC or KY , but at least you can do what you want on your own land
Great stuffffffff
Great video!
My husband an I just love your channel. We love watching your journey
I subscribed to your channel.
i bought a foreclosure property in east tenn. in 2009 thu a realtor listed as 1.89 acres. day before settlement the agent called me and said there is a second lot next to the 1.89 that is included with the deal and it is another 6.36 acres. at settlement the deed description of the property boundaries described a much bigger property than we were expecting. after we moved into the property neighbors were telling me the property was like 24 acres. long story short about a year later i hired a survey company to survey the property and permanently mark the corners. the original realtor description was correct. i had the deed updated the 2 lots total a little over 8 acres and some neighbors still swear that i own more property than was surveyed.
I was watching about the ready removable building, if you run steel straps through rafters and anchor it to the ground it would be like a mobile home not ready removable.
I generally get notifications for posts of the channels I am subscribed to, yet I have not seen one of yours in several months. (I just noticed, didn't click the bell.) We will have to go back and catch up. The last I saw, you were still having problems with the state, and then one about a camper idea.
When we were your age, we took Mother Earth News magazine and even found a beautiful waterfront lot on the beautiful Greers Ferry Lake in AR. But we had to stay in Memphis due to no way to make a living there, no home computers, no internet, no solar, no Lithium iron batteries, no social media. Then kids came, eventually the land got sold, (for more than twice what we paid for it) and now in our 70s we live the life vicariously watching folks like you... No complaints though, we had a blessed life and great kids and grandkids.
I actually moved to Chattanooga to get away from the Nashville area. I was homeless for a year and now live in the the projects in Chattanooga. Yall are doing the same thing that Ive been dreaming of doing. This is the inspiration i need to get me back into the planning of buying land and building a log cabin. Just not sure if north Georgia might be cheaper land wise.
Over the years Ive started to share more and more financial information with friends, and such. I really think of it as just data for people to process how they are doing - good or bad. I've been able to find out so much about how others are doing, some guys are so lucky it's insane, some people can't seem to catch a break, and others make plans and work doggedly towards them. I like to think I've encouraged a lot of people to reevaluate their choices and see things from another perspective. I just had to let go of caring what someone might think of me financially, and I really enjoy being open to people and learning so much about what life is like for others. People generally reciprocate with finance info if you're open about your situation - and in many cases, I've been able to make people aware of things they didn't know about..
Like or videos I live in Texas full time in my Rv. Not as you do have all utilities but being old it works for us. Disabled and continue to live life.
New subscriber. I’m hooked. Waits to see what and how your acres turn out
70K is crazy! I was guessing 300K.
Thats awesome i bought 40 acers of raw land for 22,000 3 years ago
Pretty cool
good luck you deserve everything you acheive well done❤
Hi Guys, great video! I can relate to your property search. When I retired, I spent about a year searching in two states for property before finding a perfect one for me this past summer in the Catskill Mountains of NY state. My plan is to build a small off grid cabin and eventually move into. Not rushing, just enjoying the ride. I'm not going to say it's easy, but so far it's satisfying and rewarding.
You got the right idea. It is not easy but at the end of the day it feels good on the soul! Catskill mountains is where Matt grew up so it has a special place in our hearts and it is so beautiful up there:) We miss the bagels and pizza haha!
That's so awesome! Say the word and I'll send you some pizza and bagels. lol
Loving your channel and watching your journey, I bought my 5 acres in Tenn. this summer can't wait to make the move. Curious what county your property is located in?
Matt and Cass, we are in the same boat, and we have a saying in our Family, Land is the only thing they are not making more of.
I love your new tiny home and so happy for you guys , I just sub so I have a lot more to catch up, I had seen the video with the issues from the city/county about your tiny home , how did that ever pan out ? Will you ever be able to finish it out and live in it ? I’m looking to buying a tiny home on wheels but property is so expensive and costly to develop I’m not sure this dream will happen .. As I’m female widowed 64 hrs old and I don’t think at this point in my life I could go off grid, I’m to used to having my conveniences from city utilities 😂
Dammm! That was a steal..!
What a deal!!!!!❤😮
Good things happen for good people. God Bless!
A little dreaming goes along way :)
Hello from Oregon state we did the same traveled in our RV worked and found cheap land recently found our old hickory shed was to big without having an actual home on site so had to move and sell it all at Christmas me and my now x and son it was very stressful and heart braking i do still own my RV but am renting a cabin right now but own my land free n clear it had garbage all over it for 30 yrs a man told us it was raw land since then going on 6 yrs ago land is cleaned fenced gated and has tall pine trees its like a park i have future plans for it and will make sure i go by county codes and laws we had a well and septic put on it as well the counties in many states are making it so hard for people to even use there land in the old days you homesteaded built a structure to live in and called it home had out houses and creek water or home made wells'' i do understand some of there reasoning but it is total control and makes it so hard when housing prices so high people homeless living in tents or vehicles . the cities have so many unused buildings could convert to housing help get people off streets rehabilitate get jobs to pay low housing , there is so much more they could do but i just dont see it you guys are awesome know how hard living off grid is but rewards can be greater less expense
welcome to Tennessee
We are looking for 10 acres down there. Restriction free to put our Rv on
Hi from knoxville 👋😊
70 k great price😮I love lifting weights,personal trainer ,good for you,God bless!!
Congrats!!! Are any other lots still available? Would be great to have like minded neighbors 😊
A RUclipsr The Nomatic movement plumbed water from a spring 200 ft with a pressure system without power .Now they have solar power
Regarding your other situation of not being able to stay there in your cabin ... what if you were to host other tiny houses on your land. Could that help you out?
I am in Florida and I think i am in your shoes. Right now, I am looking to purchase a piece of land. I plan to build a small home. Thank you for your input.
Excellent your living the Dream 🎉🎊✨️🌟👍🏻
I'd be nice to have the personality like you two have to be able to do the RUclips thing.
I love this kind of stuff, it has replaced a lot of regular TV.
Keep it up and ill keep watching!