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Don’t Plan

I planned to live in the trailer for a couple years then build a small house. Then there was the problem with waste. It would be nice to go the bathroom and be done with it by putting in a septic system.  But the house plan they need. 

Ok, I could easily live in a WeatherKing delux lofted barn cabin. Already built, just drop it on my property.  Hey, there is a guy in town who has one already at a good deal. Cool, that’s the plan….not. Now I find out about someone moving with 3 for sale. All slightly different. Insulation, propane, electrical, solar, water tanks. Ok, new plan…  To be continued.

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A Downside

A newly found downside of living off the grid….getting out alive. I decided to make a run to the ranch. Get my boat, a 275 gallon water container, BBQ grill and some weatherizing supplies there. Still snow on the ground but looked like it might have got just a little more. Some had definitely melted. There were some slick muddy puddles on the dirt road. I worked my way around a few and stuck the truck in 4wheel drive to get to the top of the mesa.  Slipped and slide my way to the Ranch. I had some weight so it didn’t seem that bad.

I had left early in the morning and drove mostly before sun up. Went to Home Depot and talked to one of the associates for about 45 minutes. He told me rodents are a problem and I should make sure to prepare for them. He also told me they expected an inch of snow that day and the next. I wasn’t to concerned. When I was up there I unloaded the boat. Did I say I went alone? Yes, I did. I had bought a truck crane and had to modify it a little to get the grill off, but got it done. Put gas and oil in my brand new generator and 3 cranks it purred like a kitten. Hooked the power to the trailer and opened the slide-out. Plugged in the space heater and took the chill off. I think I would need to get 3 of those going to get it warm. Checked the lights and entertainment system. YES, I got a good radio station and had the trailer rocking. Come about 5pm I heard some noise and looked outside….snow. Damn, almost sunset, couldn’t get the furnace running. I needed to get out of there or be stuck. It took a little time to put the generator and things away. Hopped in the truck and took off.

As I started to go down the road in front of the Ranch, I could tell things weren’t the same. Less weight and a little more thawing and the road was a lot muddier. Snow blowing, sun going down and I just started my 12 mile trip of the mud road. Now its dark and my fingernails have made dents in my steering wheel. This is bad. If I get stuck it could be miles to get any help and it is below freezing out. I talked very nicely to my truck. I was definitely  worried, OK, scared. I knew for sure I wasn’t going to make it. It must have been all those things I promised my truck, but I made it to the highway. I kissed my truck. I was tired and I wasn’t about to make the 4 hour trip to Phoenix. I decided to hotel it in Showlow. Damn near didn’t make it there. At places it was snowing so hard I couldn’t see in front of me. 60 miles. I made it…a nice dinner and rest. Thank you God….and Brownie (My Truck)

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Land Ho

I searched the internet for land for sale in Arizona. There are websites that do just that. All over Arizona. The nicer the land the more expensive. You should decide how much land you want and what your budget was. These websites promote their land and make it look real nice. They do this by showing you pictures of the land for sale. Now this might be land they own for sale but maybe not your lot or acreage. I noticed from looking at different acreage bundles that I saw the same pictures here and there. So beware of that. Some of these sites will tell you this is lot whatever, 100 and when you look at their map of lots you don’t see lot 100 anywhere. You would think in this day and age they still don’t do shady deals do they? Well I would tell you tread lightly. They cover their …..um, themselves buy telling you to make sure you read the tons of paperwork and double check it for yourself. You better do it. They are more than happy to tell you how they are selling land here like hotcakes and you better jump at the chance now. Maps full of red push pins of sold property.

Now let me tell you about my deal. I bought 38 acres for about $25,000. I wanted to finance at first but because I hadn’t worked in about 4 months, I was unemployed. Well good luck getting a loan unless you have about $400,000 in the bank. So I paid cash and got a 7% discount. I’ll pay about that much for rushing to buy. The thing is you want to look at the land and it was a 4 hour drive, one way. So the amount of land was what I was looking for and the price was right, so I bought it. I gave the realtor $500 down. So before signing he gave me a bunch of paperwork to make sure I read before I sign…..It’s a 4 hour ride home….So I glanced through and most of it seemed pretty legit…Even that it had a HOA. Now I am 9 miles out of this small town on paved road and about another 12 miles out on dirt road to the top of a small mesa. The HOA is mainly to make sure the roads are graded and the street signs are up is what I was told. The amount was small so I thought no big deal. Then there were the mineral rights. I didn’t have them. So big deal, I wasn’t going to do any gold mining. It said that we have access to a community well. Great. I signed the papers

Great!!! I am a land owner.

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Welcome to my Off the Grid Follies Blog

Getting started should be easy. Buy some land and move onto it and build a place to live. Yes, one would think…not. I think you should have a plan. Ask some questions. Visit someones off the grid home.

Let me start out by saying Hi. My name is Mark. I recently jumped into this without looking down. I have this idea for about 5 years. I started in August of ’19. The last 10 years I was buying books and looking at desert property online in Arizona. I currently live in Phoenix. In the last 10 years I had spent my 401k just trying to survive. I did not own a home anymore. I had a little money and a all wheel drive vehicle. I was working in construction and making decent money. I would save and then take some time off. During the last mini vacation, the bad and good happened. My Mom passed away. My Dad had passed years and years ago and my Stepdad just a few years ago. Mom was the stay at home mom that since I knew her only to work at maybe cleaning a neighbors house. When my sisters and I had moved out, my Mom went to school and got an Art degree. She did pretty good but wasn’t interested in promoting and marketing. She did it because she liked it. When she passed, who would have known she was a millionaire. Not my sisters or I. So, now that all the trust paperwork and everything was done, we were blessed. I now had the means to live out my dream, my Master Plan.

I was excited with money burning a whole in my pocket. What a deadly combination. I knew I needed the basics and went out and bought a ’18 Ram 4×4. Crew Cab with a Hemi. Next I needed the place, the property, the Ranch.

See what happens next in my next blog…out real soon