Setting up the Ideal homestead or retreat small community for even tougher times

[Tirediron]

This is a spin off of an Idea that @montanabill mentioned in the Are you ready thread (my reply https://www.homesteadingforum.org/t...na-be-a-rough-couple-years.39129/post-1079923 ) , The first problem would be location and or climate

 

[Tirediron]

Climate and location would be a personal and need specific. thing. as well as what caused the need or want to build the place.
I would go with this scenario:
In the recovery period from the NWO woking the world, things just get less viable, perhaps the nice retirement income just fades out and the grid just keeps getting worse.

 

[sonya123]

I would be interested to know who on this forum could actually survive without society for any amount of time, even short time. People that need constant medical care would obviously be out, so would people living in cities with only a tiny yard or nothing. You need land to homestead. We know some people here that are trying to stuff an entire homestead with sheep, chickens , greenhouse, garden on a few acres and it;s not working out so well for them. I have had to go over there and deworm their sheep and we have transported a hay bale for them ( round) because they don't even have a truck. So you need starter capital or inherit land. Building house is super expensive, plus you have to go by all sorts of codes now, so it would be much easier and cheaper to buy land with some sort of house on it, even it it is crappy. ( that's what we did)

 

[Amish Heart]

Agree with you there about the land and crappy house. We have a crappy house. And land.
Climate is an issue, and a personal preference, and whether or not a middle of nowhere is preferred or landspace in a community, like an amish one.
Climate is going to dictate what you can grow and what animals you can raise. Also how hard it is to keep cool or warm.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Everyone's needs are different and every location is different. Originally I wanted a few thousand acres, but had to settle for only a few hundred acres. But at least it's surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of National Forest lands. In this area it takes roughly 20 acres to feed one cow for about 7 months. We have good soil, in places, for gardening. We also have a short growing season. Usually our last snow is in late June, but we manage to grow a lot of stuff.
Land prices are very high right now, and I don't see them coming down in our lifetime. Especially in states where the government "owns" well over half of the land. In many areas in the mid west, south and east land and house prices are much less than out west. For most people it will take many years of constant saving to be able to afford even a small homestead. My original strategy was to buy a house and sell it every 5 years, then buy a house for double. Then I started buying land (timber land, ranch land). It worked out pretty well. In a few years we'll probably sell this place, or give it to the grandkids and start scaling down.