im gonna put up a poll for this one....



ok, for those who dont know, i bought 15 acres approx 2 miles from my current rental house... this is very convienent, as it allows me to drive my tractor straight to the property to work a comfortable amount of hours, then come back home at will. no muss no fuss... i can haul tools, etc, and dont have to leave anything unattended at the property.

this summer i REALLY want to get moved onto this property.... ( so i can save the rent money, and dump that into property improvements, and savings).... at the moment, the property has a driveway... but zero utilities.   i have picked the building site, and its approx 500' from water, gas, and power lines... ( power line will HAVE to be buried.)

here is my deal..... by mid summer i will have probably $10,000 in cash to go towards some plan of attack..... here are the most likely options... ( I WANT TO DO AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE IN CASH.. WITH AS LITTLE FINANCING AS POSSIBLE)

the land is being bought on contract, and i still owe 2 years on it.... so, i CANT get a construction loan, until its paid off..

OPTION 1...   i save my cash until i have approx $15k..... then i have a pole barn garage built.... 15K will build a standard garage ( with 1/3 being a small efficiency apartment) ..... then i borrow approx $15k more secured loan, using all my stuff as collateral. , install septic, run power, water, and gas lines..... move into partially finished apartment, and put all my house hold goods into the other 2/3rds.   my heating / cooling will be simple.. a 220volt window ac unit that also heats.... a ventless gas wall heater, and a wood stove. .............................a few years from now we would build a house next to the garage, and the apartment could be for guests, etc.

OPTION 2... ( probably easiest )....   buy a camper, either cash or finance a inexpensive one.. ( $5-$10k)  BOOM,  instant living quarters, we are on site, and a 20' conex for house hold goods, which can later be used for a building / shop, etc) .    then we get utilities installed....... ... about 6 months later we build a pole barn garage, ( gives us a lot more space, and we could put a wood stove inside the pole barn to make winter living easier ) and move camper into the garage, and stay there until we build the house...... then sell the camper...  

these are really the best options.... the ONLY other one would be to stay in my rental for 2-3 more years, and save money, then once land is paid off, i build a house... unfortunately.. 2 years of rent would be easily..$19.000.00... and three years would be...$28,000. so you see, thats a shit load of cash, and it would pay for a decent pole barn garage / apartment..... vs waste it on rent.

its just the gf and myself... noone else. shes a tough country girl, used to hard work, and is 100% on board with buying a camper.( shes actually offered to buy the camper for us to live in) .. or building a small apartment, also has offered to cosign on any loan i need to build a apartment.. .. she has tons of family within 2 miles and she could do laundry, shower, etc, or anything like that if we had any issues.....  i can do a lot of the work myself.. like drywall, light carpentry, light electrical, light concrete, etc... and have some friends who are plumbers, and have heavy equipment for septic work, which should save money...

it should be noted, that this county is very lax on what your able to build / get away with... i will be building everything to code, for safety..... im just saying, there will be no issues with a pole barn garage, wood stoves, campers, etc, from a permit point of view.... its in the woods, in the county, no hoa, no neighborhoods, etc...  the power company said they will give me up to 1000' of power cable for free... " TO A RESIDENCE".. it must be to my physical address..... a camper site is a no go.....generally... but i believe if its my physical address, mailbox etc, they will do it, especially if i have a pole barn consructed... pole barn houses are common here..... so, biggest utility issue will be buying water / gas / electric, meters, buying a septic system, ( approx $5000.00-$7000.00... i did one about 5 years ago) .

in short, we dont mind living in a 1/2 finished apartment, heated with a wood stove.... or a camper.... i am also planning to marry this girl in the next year... so we are planning our future together.

i have been doing small things already... like locating building sites, clearing some land as possible.... figuring how to run utilities, etc, etc.

i think iv mentioned everything thats relevent....

for the record, i would RATHER, build the pole barn and move into a apartment as it offers a lot more room......... the upside to the camper is i can instantly move onto the property, right this second... ( although, i estimate the earliest id probably move would be spring, ( march / april) to avoid cold / hot weather for as long as possible while building things. this property is elevated, so few mud / water problems expected.

whats the prognosis?

Cash is the way to go.



I would really recommend staying away from any co-signing of loans by your current gf. I am not saying anything bad is going to happen, and I wish you all the best.

buy a container for 5K, live in that while you build, then it becomes the workshop

i agree.... i fully plan to marry her soon.... im very uncomfortable with the cosigning of large purchases in a bf/gf type of relationship....   she is still stuck dealing with her ex husband as he has lots of problems remembering to pay his house payment, which she is still a cosigner on..... shes cosign shy because of it... we dont make these types of plans lightly.  if she bought the camper.... id be paying the payments on it.. $200.... vs rental $800 a month..... and if anything happened, she could take it with her... but it would be paid off quickly in any event.

living in a container has all negatives.....  its a empty, uninsulated steel box....it would need a full outfit for living, ( toilet, shower, sing, plumbing, electric, doors, windows, etc.

i can buy a camper for the same $5k, fully outfitted to live in.....and move right in..... then recoup some money by reselling the camper later.  

Pole barn with efficiency apartment.

Don't discount the option of purchasing a storage container also.

I'm jealous, I'd love to have some land around here...

I think your barn appartment idea is great but even getting deals and doing a lot your self if the apartment has any size to it with utilities you will be lucky to accomplish your get it livable goal for under$60000

Run electricity and water to site first, you will need both on the first day.

Buy a 16x32ish portable building and have it delivered.

Wire it , plumb it , install inexpensive wood stove , insulate the fuck out of it, and then sheath the interior with untreated plywood. A window type A/C unit will take care of cooling needs.

Move in. There will still be much to do, but you will be warm, dry ,and have enough room that you won't want to kill each other at the end of the first week (travel trailer). Can be sold or relocated after the fact or can be left as a permanent structure.

Conex boxes require way too much work to make them livable but are great storage.

As stated above.  I own 5 acres in the woods I am going to build on and would not waste building living quarters in a pole barn that I cannot sell later when not needed anymore.  Buy a camper for $5k or less.  Does it even get cold in Kentucky?

I like the Pole Barn route but I'd recommend checking with your county gubment and see what, if any, regs they may have the would impact your decision. HOA/LOA would be next, if applicable.

Your post doesn't really get into much detail; suffice it to say there are a number of important decisions to make before you get to the camper/pole building/cardboard box discussion.

Ultimately, I'd suggest a site plan/sketch, showing the planned development phases of your property. This is for your benefit...and it may help you locate your first and secondary choices for a septic system/perc test...and on down the road solar panel positioning and/or a pond and/or whatever. In many places, septic location is NOT "a given" and can be somewhat difficult. Fifteen acres is a nice parcel and you probably have multiple good building sites and lots of options. Just remember, "Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance'.  That doesn't work 100% of the time...but I think it helps.  Good luck.

I voted pole barn only because I plan to do the same hopefully next summer

Llve in camper, think things through. Save money.

Than start construction, sell camper in future.

Last December I bought 23 acres. Two months later I bought a used camper off of Craigslist and parked it on my property. The plan is to build on the site in a year or so.



I don't live there. I rent a room in a house owned by a few friends. I could probably live in the camper from spring to fall, but I'd rather not. The camper is there for when I take a few days to work on the site or just to get away. If I were to live on site full time, I'd build a pole barn and build a small livable space in the back 8'-10'.




 

ETA: Several previous posters recommended buying a camper, with the idea that you can sell it when you are done. There is a difference between a new $18,000 camper, and a used $1,000 Craigslist find. Good luck selling the latter. I plan on gutting my camper once a larger stricture is built and using what I can inside of the new build.

I'm still building my BOL on my ranch, 20 years after I started. I have a RV there now, which has helped, but
my #1 wish is that I'd started with a small cabin (akin to your pole barn) first, made that livable (which is easy with
a small building) and then done the main house.

Staying in a camper/RV for extended periods of time is a challenge, laundry, tanks, and stuff breaks because it's
designed to be lightweight and meant for light-duty use, not full-time.

But as you've guess, cash is the way to go. I financed the land and paid it off ASAP. Had I financed the whole thing
would have been a disaster, since construction loans aren't 30-year mortgages and I had a couple contractor mess-ups
that would have sunk me if I'd been relying on loans, instead it just delayed the building completion.

Friend bought 50 acres that he was going to build a house on.  He couldn't afford rent, land payment, and a house payment.  So he bought a shed from Home depot.  It was a really nice shed, had a loft.  He installed a wood burning stove, insulated it well, plumbing, was going to go with a propane generator, but went with solar instead and supplemented with a gas generator.  He did the whole thing for $18-19k not including the foundation.  I think that was close to another 10k.

He was going to live in that while his house was built, but liked it so much he said screw the house and bought the neighboring 70 acres.

Cheap trailer house.I work construction, and I bought one for less then $1000, and ended up living in it for 5 years till my acreage was paid for.No regrets.

Build a pole barn apartment on the cheap. Build the pole barn so that when you get more money saved up you can extend it easily, and reuse most of the gable end materials.

Rent a porta potty for a while and put in a shallow well for showers and such. Put a gate up, so to avoid "the man" snooping around until everything is up to code.

Profit.

I'd have to vote for the pole barn, too.

I had a 36 X 40 ft. pole barn built a couple years ago for about $27,000.  The concrete floors poured a month or so later was another $7,000.  

I know yours won't be that big but I'm saying the building looks good and is sturdy as hell.   It's been through a couple hurricanes now (high winds numerous other times).

You can use your "apartment" as a nice insulated work shop after you'd finished and moved into the new house.  The rest of the pole barn becomes storage/garage space.

I've been planning on building a 14X16 ft. shop in the middle back of my garage.  Insulated, sheet rocked, air conditioned and heated for reloading, working on guns, rebuilding chevy small blocks, etc.  Planning on getting started on it this winter (now that I'm retired).

Storage space is something that most folks never seem to have enough of.  Your pole barn, if you go that route, will be a great start on storage space for the rest of your life.

Good luck living your dream.  I used to "think" I'd sell this place and move out in the country when I retired but I've got too much money in this one and two sons that live fairly close and a wife that doesn't want to be too far from the kids.

Better, buy a mobile home for half that to live in while you save for building.
Then sell it when you move into your paid off house!

I voted camper first, pole barn second.

Get the camper, utilities in and then move onto your land.  As soon as you move, you'll be saving rent money and the wear and tear on your new tractor driving it 4 miles each time you want to use it (which is not insignificant, especially on the tires), plus travel time.


Build the pole barn, move the camper underneath it along with the tractor.  Now you're out of most of the worst that the weather can throw at you and you have time to plan, save and the execute the plan without worrying about where to live, how to protect your stuff and most of your money will go towards your goals and not crap you don't need nor want.

I second the comments about not signing any loans with the GF before she's a wife.

Good luck!!!

The best way I can think of, to accomplish a goal of moving onto land, requiring a lot of financial resources, is to limit spending for non-essential ---albeit of imagined necessity--- 'fun' things


Establish sensible priorities...

Establish a war chest for successful implementation of those priorities...

Stop talking about doing...

And get it done.


Otherwise, one's life will be one frustration after another. Forever.




Whether it be a pole barn, container, pre-engineered shed, etc., doesn't really matter

Getting started is most important.


[As well as NOT 'rushing' into another marriage --with, according to GD, uncertain outcomes]  

This man knows his shit.

Barndominium

+1

 

I'll add to not forget to put cement board around your wood stove, inexpensive stoves even more so need heat deflection and fireproof lining around it.


If you have any kind of winter, campers are out. They are also not meant to be lived in, and unless you spend decent coin on one with a slide out, they are small no matter what you do.



I voted Pole building and apartment. Mainly due to you will want a pole building to store your tools to work your property, and a 4 season shelter that is separate from your main house (when built) if there were fire, issue, or some other reason you need to evac the house, even temporarily. Also can easily be made into a heated mancave/workshop/office/reloading room, etc. when you don't need it as an apartment.

What size "pole barn/garage" are you thinking, and have you gotten any actual quotes? What about the utilities? Have there been any actual written quotes?

Cost overruns are common, and the temporary living space might have to work longer than expected. Are you sure that will be acceptable for you and the GF (not a fiancé yet?) who you will be sharing that space with? 1/3 of a garage  is how many square feet? A camper is going to be tight, and as mentioned, wear and tear can be a bitch. A mobile home type hook up might be better if you decide to go that route but may be tougher to unload later.

How much flex do you have in your income?  If you're in a situation where you can just knock out a few weekends of OT to pay for a grand or two of cost overrun, you have more flexibility. If you are in a situation where you need to stick to a fixed budget, make damn sure you can finish what you started.

Working on doing this for our BOL

Look for a used or repo 12x20 or 16x32 shed/outbuilding. Here in west TN you can get a 12x20 with 2x4 walls, roll up door and man door for ~$2-2500. As other have said wire/plum building or use outhouse/porta john. Then the shed/outbuilding can be used as future shop/guest quarters/storage/hunting cabin. Here the buildings are on 6x6 or 8x8 skids. You could get a few loads of 33C/slag rock or river rock to put it on. Get a temporary electrical pole, or build one, it is easy. Power company will have to have a pole that is code to run power to.

Good luck.

This.
We had a large metal building built and live in it But in hindsight small and fast and portable is a much smarter choice.

buck.....from reading your posts (which I enjoy) you don't seem to be someone who does anything with less than 100% enthusiasm.  So, good on you but.............................

You need to be careful here.  If you aren't, you could end screwing yourself.  Here on the forum, we are always happy to spend your money for you.  The problem is, you (and me) only have so much of it.  Unless you are independently wealthy (and you and I both aren't), when you build a house, you will NOT end up with everything you want.  I am in the process of building a house on my property and we had to sacrifice some things that we originally planned for because once we started getting quotes for our house, if we had not pared down our wants list, we would had ended up with a house that we really couldn't afford.  Dream big but be brutally realistic.

My thoughts....maybe worth what you paid for them..............


Don't buy the camper.  Campers are made to be light and portable.  They make shitty long term living conditions.  They also depreciate and deteriorate VERY quickly ESPECIALLY if you live in one full time.  If you just HAVE to get moved out there, I would look into single wide mobile homes before I would consider living in a camper full time.

Building the shop building with living quarters isn't a bad way to go.  It could be done pretty cheaply.  BUT......what if you can't get a loan to install the septic and utilities?  Maybe not an issue but I would recommend having a backup plan.  

You mentioned water.  Do you have rural water?  A lot of rural water companies that I am aware of have crappy service.  So, I'd make sure that the water is good and can also be run the 500+ feet.  What size line will run from the water main?  1 inch line might not be big enough to keep the pressure up.  Will they run the line at their expense?  If not, how much will that cost you?  What's a well cost in your area?  I had a well drilled a couple years ago and it cost me $4800 to go 425 feet.  Then, I have to add the pressure tank and the pump....that'll be another $3500.  

What about gas?  Do you have to pay to run 500 feet of natural gas lines?  That's probably going to be some money.  I'd get a price on it just to see but would plan for propane.

I did something similar to what you want to do over the past 5 years.  We bought the land first (9 acres).  Then, built a 30x40 shop building.  Then drilled a well.  All paid for with cash as we could afford it.  Then, we sold our last house and moved into a duplex that we rent.  We put our extra household items into the shop.  Then, we started looking for a builder.  9 months later we have a structure that I hope will be dried in this week.  The only real difference is that we owned our house while we were putting money into the land and improvements.  

Personally, I would either find a cheaper place to rent (not sure if that's possible or not) or just suck up the rent payments for another couple years and keep saving and improving.  Then, build what you want....within reason.  

Another thought....if you go with the shop with living quarters, I would not bother to install a wood stove.  The chimney cost would make it pointless IMO.  I also wouldn't install a ventfree heater.  I would either heat with all electric or would find a used gas/propane furnace and install that.  Or, I would install a VENTED propane wall heater.  You can get an 18k BTU one for about $650.  Window AC would be fine.

I voted #3.

Pole barn can be used for anything in the future.

Jus' Sayin'.
As long as you follow code, you should be alright in MOST places - being that you've been in this group for a while, I know you did your research and wouldn't buy property in a dumbshit location with commie laws.

Forgive my critique, but what keeps that thing from blowing around like a kite in the wind? It doesn't look secured to the ground at all. Its not a standard pole building, but a pole building inspired loafing shed type thing that is supposed to be portable?

 

We bought a nice used 29' camper for $6K and lived in it for 11 months including a harsh NH winter.  It was a bitch to heat, but it was doable without too much drama.  We rented a 40' container for our stuff and as a small workshop.  Sold the camper for $5k when the house was done enough to move in.  All in, that setup cost us $2100 to live and store our stuff for 11 months.  Not too bad.  We already had septic complete before we moved to the site, so keep that in mind.  You'll need a place to dump sewage, but you can surface drain your gray water.  You'll also want the well in and working.  ETA:  Obviously you'll need power brought to the site.  Probably a meter with a small load center on a pedestal somewhere.





The pole barn option would work well too, but it would be much better if you built it yourself to save money.  Spend the money on septic and site work that you can't realistically do yourself.
 

Not really a pole barn. More of an oversized carport roof. It is rated for 120mph winds - if we see those winds in my AO, it's a tornado and you are screwed anyways
It's anchored every 5 feet with a 4' anchor that's driven into the ground. It's actually more stable than it looks. We had a pretty nasty storm blow through here about a week after it was put up and it weathered it well. We won't be living in it, but will be closing up the sides and such with framing and T111. It's 26'x51' and the legs are 10'. Cost a grand total of $5500 through some wheelin' and dealin'.

I wouldn't recommend living in a camper for too long.  Try it for a while and you'll understand.  If it's permanent you'll need water, sewer, and electric hook ups.   Pole barn apartment sounds like wasting a lot of capital you could put to use on your final house.  Unless it's your desired end state, I'd save your cash.  


What you really need to do is realistically cost out all of your options.  Anything "temporary" is probably going to delay your desired end state.  I'd also look at revenue opportunities -- overtime, second job, side jobs, log your property, etc.


While I don't recommend a camper, if you want one cheap shoot me a PM.  Mine is just sitting in the driveway, life has changed too much for us to use it for the foreseeable future.

I would go with the pole barn/apt.  Although my pole barn-slash-workshop was here when we bought the place, I still spend about as much time out there as I do in the house.  Living quarters inside won't go to waste, either... bathroom is handy in the shop, and it can serve as the occasional guest quarters in the future.

Insulate the whole thing, though... not just the living space.  Much easier to do before the building gets piled high with crap (trust me).

What kind of trees are on the property?  Depending on that, one thing you might consider is investing in a portable band saw mill.  If you can produce your own poles, beams, and lumber it will pay for itself long before you're finished building the real house, and possibly bring in some income afterwards doing custom sawing. Lumber is a constant and continuing need on a homestead.

Option 4, put in good sized stick built garage with utilities and put an apartment over the top for now.  


You're welcome.

ETA- you're jumping the gun on all of it though.  You simply lack the money and you can't get the money via loans until you own the land.  Get a second job and pay off the land first.  Own the land before you put in a well and septic.  Otherwise you could lose your investment.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner !!  

correct.... i am not in a position to go to a bank, and get a construction loan , and utility loan approved... no house loan for approx 3 years....from today... nor do i have the savings to pay to have this done either..... in the spring though, that will be different..or at least a bit better...

what needs to be considered is this... im spending a ton of money on rent... ( $9600 a year).... to me this has become unacceptable.... as this money could be going towards land improvements / a camper/ savings/ etc.  moving to a cheaper rental is not much help as rentals are very hard to find here, and still would be expensive... also currently im only 2 miles from my land, which is extremely helpful getting to and from it doing work.


i have a couple of main problems that is preventing me from just building a house at this point.

#1. i dont have the land in my name, or thru a bank... its a contract sale with 2 years left on the loan... so i really doubt anyone would give me a construction loan.....
#2. my credit is not to where i want it to be, to be attempting any large loans ( house).. although, to my credit i have made MASSIVE improvements to my credit and financial situation over the last year. im debt free, ( except for a tractor loan.. which was to help me get established at the local bank, and help build my credit, as much as it was about getting a newer, larger tractor.)  and i have already been using the new tractor to get lots of work done the smaller one would / could not do.

my gf and myself have been dating for 3 years.... and living together for almost one year now. we both get along great, and shes all for the camper lifestyle for 1-2 years... she has few personal belongings, and its pretty minimalist... i myself, i use little space, as long as i have a bed, a laptop, and a shower im happy. iv lived in some tiny houses in the military and it didnt bother me at all.

all of our kids are adults and gone... most we might have is a grand kid spending the night every now and then.

we have been shopping for a camper.... i want something decent, but not expansive, so im thinking around $5000-$8000 bucks. ( remember im paying  $9600.00 a year in rent)  so even if i spend $10,000,00 on a nice camper.... its basically free, as the money would have just went into rent... with zero to show for it... consider that. id be moving 3 years early from renting.. thus saving approx $30.000.   (camper $5-$10k.... and utilities $20k)  so i ended up with free utilities and a free trailer, vs paying that same 30k in rent.  .. moving into a camper, will actually SAVE me a ton of money, which can go into savings, and land improvements.... we will just have a smaller house, and some challenges to deal with.

heres our basic plan.... ( at the moment)    remember we have zero utilities, everything will need to be ran 500'....... ( before i changed the house location it was going to be 1500'... so theres that.

im 90% sure we will be married before spring gets here.... so by the time i move, it will be with a wife, not a gf...

1... she has perfect credit..... but low income....... while i have a lot more income, and so/so credit.  so our plan is, she buys the camper, ( hopefully in both of our names, or best option i get it and she cosigns)  .. so we have a home... approx $200 a month payment.. ( ill pay it off in less than a year.

2. since she did the camper ( maybe)... then ill do utilities.... power company requires that to be my residential address to get the wire for free.... which it will be. so we locate the camper, and i get the estimates for utilities.. ... i use all my prepper junk and tools as collateral ( if i need it), to get the loan for the utilities. ( not calling it a utility loan, just a personal loan, etc.... .. so we install the utilities to the camper.... ( camper and utilities located in a manner that will allow the house to use the utilities and same septic etc, when its built later).

i have some small landscaping to do before i can easily place a camper, and run utilities.... ( basically a day of backhoe work.... remove some stumps, and work on driveway...   add gravel etc).

we ARE looking at campers now.... because i feel we can buy one cheaper in the winter.... than we can in the summer..... so thats savings.

1. buy camper soon..( like within the next month of so).... store it at her dads till spring.
2. landscape / work on building area during the winter, and spring.... make it camper ready..
3. get utility prices, etc.  
4. spring.... use savings for utilities..... get a loan for the rest savings wont cover.
5. buy a conex and have it delivered... ( part of the reason i need landscaping and gravel... to allow a big truck access)
6. move house hold stuff to conex, and move in in the spring time.
7. live in camper, until land is paid off.. ( 2 years left)..... then move towards building a house of some kind....
8. reuse conex as a building of some sort... iv got several ideas.

i agree it sucks ill be investing money into land that is not in my name.... but understand, im not going to be losing this land, no matter what. escaping the rental, will give me the money to easily pay a camper payment... and help me save faster......  ill be living on the land,  not much change id lose it.... ( unless i missed 3 months payments), and thats not going to happen.

also.. no, its not the perfect living conditions..... but we both do well with small spaces, and we dont see this as a issue.... we also dont have people over much, so we REALLY dont need a lot of space..... of course we want a house, and room to store things etc.... but this will really help jump start everything.

my main goal here is escaping renting... and using that rental money to put it towards something long term..

the money i save in rent, over the remainings time left on the land payment.... will pay for a nice camper, and all utilities.... and most of the improvements.

( gf wants a camper anyway, to use for short trips, to state parks, etc.... so its not useless...... we can also always sell it later to get money back .. but planning to buy something decent, for future use, trips, etc)

which puts me in a great place to be when its house building time.

1. living on site. to supervise any construction, or to do stuff myself, and be able to secure tools etc, and the work site.
2. utilities already installed...
3. landscaping, tree removal, road work, levelings, etc, all already done by me.  ( backhoe rental.... and my tractor doing the work)
4. my credit will be in a great place.... should have been married for a year or two by then..... we both want the same kinds of house...  decent chunk of savings to build a house... ESPECIALLY, after paying off land....  saving will go very quickly after paying off land... ( twice as fast)

but no.. im not ready to buy / build a house at the moment.. or even pay the estimated $10-$20 k to get the utilities installed... ( in spring yes... this minute, no)

septic will be approx $5-7.000  ( i just had one installed about 6 years ago.. )
dig trenches 500' for, water..... power..... probably gas..... plus water, electric, and gas meters.

im guessing $15.000.... but might hit $20k... im prepared for it if it does.

another reason / benefit of moving there around march / april .. is,  i will avoid having to deal with winter for another year, and give me time to prepare for it.

Tiny House!

I live in an RV full time at the job site and at the BOL for 5 years now.  It is doable.  In my experience septic is the most troublesome improvement and the one you absolutely cannot do without.  

Does the county where you live require septic permits??  Many places in Texas do NOT if your acreage is above 5 acres. A septic tank is just gravity and simple math.  A 1000 gallon fiberglass tank is easily transported and placed by two people.  Hopefully, your tractor has a back hoe.   I have gotten pretty good at septic installs with practice.  The last one was about $1400 in material and 4 hrs tractor work start to finish.  Run the inlet to where your future house is going to be and cap it.  Put a clean out in where you park the RV.   We have run 2 RVS and 3 people on systems as small as 300 gals for a year with no problems though I would not recommend it.

Water and electricity first.  Then pole barn.

let the gf buy the camper.

I'm in the minority here, I see the money on the pole barn (especially with the extra money to make it livable) or the camper as money that could be put toward the down payment of the house you plan to build. I'm in a similar situation, and have looked at the barn/apartment idea. It came out to be a lot more money into it than I thought initially. Around here, a construction loan requires 20% down. If you own your land free and clear, you can use the value of the land against that 20% down, but that could still come up with you needing to pay a good bit down. If paying the land off is what is slowing you down, and you have money to do the pole barn, why not use that money to pay the land off sooner.

Like I said, I know I am in the minority, but just throwing that out there as an opposing view point.

i stopped and looked at two campers today. one was being sold by a private person, ( who coincidentally, lived in a 800sq' pole barn house... )  a pole barn house is my second choice in housing... as they are the cheapest thing per sq' thats built decently. id prefer a concrete in ground house, but thats probably going to be much more expensive... just have not priced a concrete in ground yet.

i loved the camper they had, but its basically brand new... it was a smaller one with no slide outs... i liked it a lot, due to light weight, and ease of towing..... but she wanted $17,000 ( its a 2015).. too expensive for my tastes and budget.  gf does not want to spend / finance that much either.... i think our max budget for something used in EXCELLENT condition would be maybe $15k.

i asked about her pole barn house... they have a mini / hobby farm. square red pole barn house.. 800sq'.. she said they had a total of $45,000 invested in the house, and heating and cooling were dirt cheap due to lots of insulation.... this really peaked my interest, as iv been interested in pole barn houses, but had not heard any hard numbers on costs.... she said they did a lot of their own work, and $45k was the finished cost..... i loved it.....  id have to have 1000-1200sq' probably..... and a pole barn garage for storage, and projects, but loved the house.


second camper was a repo at the bank with a slide out, 2008 model. they wanted $14.500... ( trailer sold for $25k in 2008). it was a joke, parts missing, stuff broken, plumbing / septic drain plumbing area had obviously frozen and cracked and was patched with caulk. yeah, fuck that.

iv been looking at my finances, and iv decided i can most likely finance te camper on my own, and probably pay 50% in cash this spring.  i think ill budget for a MAX of $10k... for a like new used one...... however, probably be between 5, and 8k for a decent used one. im honestly not planning on moving it around for trips if i buy it, as ill get something temporary, until the house gets built.

if the gf wants one to haul around to camp grounds, then we need something nicer, and in excellent shape / newer.... so she would have to finance that, as it would be $10-$15k for something like that IMHO.


something else i just considered. my next door neighbor ( at my land ) has a camper located on a concrete pad, hooked to utilities. it looks older and in ok shape. i might consider asking if its for sale. that could be a possibility. it would litterally only need to be moved 200 yards to its new resting place. hmmm..

Lot's of debt...

Buck, you seem to want to dig your [and your GF's] debt hole deeper and deeper with little to show for it w/ regard to getting a sensible living space built...

While not doing particularly meaningful work toward the same.


I'm not referring to fire rings, shooting ranges, deer feeders, dragging a few trees around, other bullshit, etc...


How many years has it been you've consistently missed your goals?

By now you could have some sort of crude -or better- living accommodations, with little debt accrued, and no rent.

I hate to say it, but that's the pattern I see too.  Great ideas and enthusiasm (which I could borrow both of) but the lack of capacity and misdirected energy.  I recognize it because I do it myself

Frankly I wouldn't put money into land I didn't own yet.  At least with the camper option you can tow it out of there if something doesn't happen.  All that work on the range and improvements is cool but you would be better off picking up more hours or second job and paying off the land.  yeah it's not exciting and I'm a party pooper but that's the smart move.

Another option is buying a used house trailer not a camp trailer.  Sometimes you can just about steal an older one that needs to go off a site because the seller is building or just built their house on the site.  Still moveable but you would need your utilities which would mean you're still paying to improve land you haven't closed on yet.

Buck, here's some thought's based on some things I've done to work within the system, some years ago.


If the goal is to establish someplace to live.... With limited resources...

And if I understood -that- to meet certain legal requirements -that- I FIRST needed a 'Residence'  ---WITH A PHYSICAL ADDRESS!!!!!


The fastest cheapest way to work thru the permitting system and build something that can serve as a roof over your head   ---is often to build an agricultural building, even in a VERY STRICT state and county.

Did it in probably the WORST in the US, or close to it.  



If I had issues with the 'residence' part and had friends/relatives near where the ag building was to be built...

A possible plan would be to establish 'Residence' at my Father's, or a friends house or family's house, pay them something for the favor, and rarely darken their doorstep or otherwise disrupt THEIR lives by being a pain in the ass.

Once a 'residence' is established, I'd get a PO Box for all my mail. If I got big packages, possibly get an account at a UPS Store or one of the equivalent services.


Then, and only then, since I had a legal addy etc etc... ----For driver's license, to buy gunz, insurance, taxes, banking, loans, credit cards, etc---



I'd throw some sort of 'Piano Box' living space on my land, a junk camper someone paid me to haul away, a beat-up shipping container, tent, etc.

Whatever it took to provide a place to bathe, eat, sleep, screw...

That a cheap AC could cool and a kero heater could keep warm.


Anything I could fix up to live in while I let my saved rent money build up.

Temporarily...

Hell -sleep in my car, at first.


I WOULD NOT ---WASTE my $$$ on unnecessary SHIT... That seems to be the rule for some folks sometimes.  


I would get some FIREPROOF pocket protectors to put it in...

So it didn't burn a hole in my pocket


As far as toilet waste, I'd look at a porta potty or porta john, a genny for electricity, 2 deep golf cart batteries to charge w/ it and to provide juice between genny runs, [NO SOLAR, completely unnecessary, until finances and priorities dictate differently...


It won't be comfortable, but this is how you BOOTSTRAP most anything you want to accomplish in life, to reach goals---

To independence, SUCCESS, wealth!


Once my cash flow is getting fat, and you have mentioned many times re being on dishability...

You have the most PRECIOUS commodity at your finger tips, that most DON'T ---TIME!


I'd pour a slab, for maintaining my vehicle and equipment, and big enough to build a 10 x 10 foot room -or larger, to put a better temporary shelter on to live in.


A cheap wood or kerosene heater, I prolly wouldn't screw around with wood, too much of a waste of time unless you're broke and really pinching pennies, or need large qty's of heat at intermittent times.


There's a ton more to do in following steps but I ain't wasting my time to write it if no one cares to read it.

I agree with Expy on this one.  

How much money and time did you put into your larger acreage that you didn't get back when you sold it in an untimely fashion?  You're working hard but going nowhere. Time to slow down, STOP BUYING STUFF, and concentrate on paying off your land so you can actually do something with it.  I really don't know anything about buying land on contract but if you don't own it, IMO you shouldn't be putting lots of money into it.

Also, didn't you just buy a bigger tractor?  Did you REALLY need it or did you just WANT it?  As I said before, we are happy to spend your money for you but when you have a limited income, you can't have everything you want nor can you have everything WE want you to buy!