So, you are finally ready to start your homestead dream, and now you need to find the perfect block of land? Before you start looking, you should make a list of the things that are most important to you.
Some flexibility is required, but you need to establish what compromises you are happy to make and what factors are non-negotiable.
Your perfect block of land could soon become a nightmare if you don’t plan ahead! Think about your needs, both now and in the future, before signing that contract.
What Do You Want to Use Your Perfect Block of Land For?
The first thing you must consider is what you want to use your perfect block of land for.
Perhaps you want a mini-homestead. A weekend retreat with a small veggie patch and herb garden. Somewhere you can escape the rat race from time to time, but that doesn’t require too much work?
Or maybe you are looking to create your own fully self-sufficient homestead on your perfect block of land. You want it to be your permanent home. Somewhere you can raise livestock, possibly a family too, and grow all the food you need.
Whatever your motivation, it will be crucial to your decision-making process. Everyone has a different vision for their dream life and their perfect block of land, and only you know what yours is.
Are There Any Restrictions That Could Turn Your Perfect Block of Land into An Imperfect One?
It is essential to check if any restrictions affect what you can do with your land or planned home. If there are restrictions, it could turn your perfect block of land into an imperfect one.
Are you able to use the land for the purpose you intend to use it for? If you want farm animals, it could ruin your homestead dream if you buy land where the local council prohibits raising livestock.
What are the local council’s building and planning laws? Sometimes there may be covenants that restrict the design or colour of your home. Will it be expensive or burdensome to comply with these regulations?
We had to comply with strict rules to ensure that our home was suitable for our rainforest environment. However, we were happy to comply with these regulations to have our piece of paradise.
What Are the Physical Characteristics of the Land?
When purchasing your perfect block of land, it is also important to consider its physical characteristics.
What is the gradient of the land? If it is too steep, the views might be great, but it will cost more to build your home as you will be required to build retaining walls etc. It might also be difficult to farm animals or grow crops.
Flat land is more usable, but it could also be flood-prone. Therefore, you should check its proximity to local waterways. Our land is very flat and is also close to the Daintree River, so we built our house on stumps to avoid flooding.
If the property is too dry or has poor soil, will you be able to grow anything? Even worse, has the soil been contaminated by previous uses? If so, it could take many years to improve the soil quality so you can fulfil your homestead dreams.
What about the vegetation? Is the property covered with invasive weeds that will need to be removed before you can do anything? Can you remove any trees to build your home? These are just a few of the issues that could turn your perfect block of land into a nightmare.
What Resources Are Available?
Give some thought as to what natural resources are available on or near your property to help you achieve your homestead dreams.
It may seem like a good idea to buy a cheap block of dirt and build your homestead from scratch, but the reality is that it takes a long time for things to grow! However, this may not be a problem if you don’t plan to build your home for some years.
Does your perfect block of land come with established trees – for shade, as a fuel source, for food, or just for aesthetic reasons? Natural rocks and stones may also be useful for building or garden projects.
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What about water sources, such as a dam, a creek or even just high rainfall – for drinking water, hydroelectric power, and livestock? We don’t have any creeks or dams on our property, but we have high rainfall, and our water tanks are overflowing.
Is the soil in good condition for growing food or does it need some work? Are there natural food sources – for example existing orchards or native fruit trees, nuts or berries. What about wild game, fishing, and foraging opportunities?
Also, consider if you can use the weather to your advantage. Is your land in a sunny area, perfect for solar power, or a windy area, where you can set up wind turbines? Perhaps you live in a cool climate and can build a root cellar to preserve your food?
Does the Property Have Access to Mains Power or Will It Be Off-Grid?
When purchasing land in a rural area, you will need to establish if mains power is available. If not, you will have to consider alternative off-grid solutions.
If mains power is available, how do you get it connected and what is the cost of doing so? Sometimes it can be extremely expensive to set up the necessary infrastructure, particularly if you have a large property.
If you want to live off-grid, or you have no choice, what off-grid power sources will work best for your location? Our post on off-grid power sources provides further information on some of the options available.
Our property in Tropical North Queensland was ideal for solar power. However, the initial setup was not cheap. Don’t forget that with any off-grid power solution you will always need to plan a backup source of power too.
You may also be entitled to a government rebate but be wary as rebates can change with little notice. When we bought our property a 50% solar rebate was available, however, this had reduced significantly by the time we installed our system.
Are Other Services Available to Connect?
As well as power, you will need to find out if you have access to other services on your property. Services that are usually taken for granted, such as mains sewerage or mobile coverage may not be available.
Our property is completely off-grid. We harvest our water in rainwater tanks and process all of our wastewater in a bio-cycle system. If you don’t have access to mains sewerage, what will you use instead and how much will this cost to install?
What about the telephone, internet, and mobile coverage? Mobile reception is very sketchy at our place, and it is too expensive to connect a landline. However, we have recently improved our internet access by installing an antenna on the roof and using a 4G dongle.
Not having reliable telephone and internet coverage could be a deal-breaker if you need to work online or remotely. On the other hand, being unplugged from technology may sound like heaven to you!
Can You Afford to Buy This Block of Land?
A sure-fire way to end your homesteading dream is to overextend yourself financially. It is therefore imperative that you only buy a property that you can afford, now and into the future.
We would have loved to buy a 100-acre property. The reality was that we couldn’t afford that much land (not in an area that met our other needs anyway). Instead, we bought a 10-acre property, which is more than sufficient.
Consider if you want to purchase the land outright or get a mortgage. Money lending criteria are much tighter now. You may not be able to get finance for land in certain areas, or you may need a larger deposit.
This doesn’t mean you should abandon your homestead dreams. However, it may be better for you to save for a few more years and then buy a piece of land outright if you can afford to do so. Or you may need to consider buying land in a different location.
You also need to factor in rate rises and changes to the value of your land when buying your land. Can you still afford the property if rates go up a few times? What happens if markets crash?
We bought our land just before the global financial crisis when property values, particularly in rural areas, were decimated. Luckily, we were in it for the long haul and had not overstretched financially, so we were able to ride out the bad times.
Have You Thought About the Impacts of Mother Nature?
The idea of owning your own piece of land and living the homesteading dream can seem like heaven on earth. But mother nature will show you who is boss, and bring you crashing back to reality pretty quickly!
Does it get very hot, cold, wet or dry where you intend to buy land? Can you handle these weather extremes, particularly if you are going off-grid and won’t have the luxury of air-conditioning etc.?
What pests will you have to deal with? Mosquitos are the bane of our lives, but luckily, we don’t react badly to their bites, and therefore we tolerate them. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a rainforest without mosquitos!
What wildlife will you encounter, is this good or bad for you? We adore our resident Mr Cassowary and his chicks who frequently visit our block. However, we are not so ecstatic about the huge feral pigs that also visit from time to time.
Is your area prone to bushfires, cyclones, or severe storms? Have you considered how this will impact you and can you get insurance to cover the worst-case scenario? We live in a cyclone-prone area, and our house has a category five cyclone rating.
How Remote Can You Go?
The more remote your property is, the cheaper the land is likely to be and the more privacy you will enjoy.
While this might seem appealing, it can also be very inconvenient at times. Simple things like grocery shopping or purchasing fuel can be difficult if your property is too remote. You will need to be very organised to make sure you have everything you need.
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The more remote you are, the more you need to formulate a plan for times of emergency. Are you likely to get stranded in bad weather? What if you get bitten by a snake? You will need a contingency plan for such situations.
You might intend to be totally self-sufficient, to grow and stockpile your own food, medicine and fuel sources. If so, that is fantastic! However, you may be like us and want (or need) to be closer to civilisation so you can access local services.
How Do Your Personal Needs Affect the Location of Your Perfect Block of Land?
When purchasing your perfect block of land, you must consider what your needs are going to be, now and in the future. These requirements will directly impact where your land should be located.
Do you have children or do you intend to have children? If so, will they go to daycare or school, or are you going to homeschool them? Homeschooling is a possibility, but it does take commitment.
Maybe you or a member of your family has a medical condition that means you need to be near medical facilities, such as a hospital. Or perhaps you want to be a part of a community, with local events and a pub.
Another important factor is how you intend to earn an income. Do you need to commute or can your work be location independent? If you want to sell products is there a market close by? What about local employment such as fruit picking or hospitality work?
Your personal needs are a crucial consideration when determining the best location for your perfect block of land.
Conclusion
If you don’t take the time to identify your ‘non-negotiables’, you could end up making an expensive mistake. Sit down, make that list, and really think about what your homestead dream means to you. With a little forward planning, it will be much easier for you to avoid the pitfalls and find your perfect block of land!
