Don’t have the money to buy land? Consider ‘borrowing’ a patch of land before you lock into a mortgage that will have you working to pay it off for who knows how many years.
We met a gentleman last year who has been borrowing land for about forty-five years. Hasn’t owned land since he landed in the U.S., has never paid rent, and has never been without a home. Instead, he approaches a landowner and offers to build a home on their property in return for a five to ten year rent-free lease on the property. At the end of the term, he simply moves on to do it again with the landowner now in receipt of a home they can either live in themselves, rent out, or use for guests.
It sounds a little outlandish- but like I said, he has never been without a home and has managed to avoid all of the normal costs associated with rent or ownership. Obviously, you’ll want to put up something more than a shack though or you’ll be unlikely to garner favour with your benefactor and won’t have any examples to show to future prospects. But with earth-building, whether cob or earthbags, you can build a beautiful home that will last for next to no money.
Now that he’s in his seventies, our friend has landed at a beautiful little patch of forest with a cozy cob home in Oregon. His current ‘lease’ extends through his lifetime, so he’s not faced with moving and building again. During the time he’s been on the property, he and lots of helping hands have managed to build an entire village of small natural buildings and communal spaces that the property owners will inherit.
Quite the notion, isn’t it? Imagine spending your days working on your property, whether building spaces or gardens, rather than leaving your home to work for the cash to pay for it. No loans or solid credit rating required.
AWWWWW, that is one beautiful image. I would love to paint that.
Dawn! Where’ve you been? How are you? 🙂
Very Nice Post, Awesome Picture!! Thank you for Sharing.. Augie
Now that is a method I never thought of! Still trying to save the money for junk land. Apparently no junk land here in Indiana all high dollar.
China
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What a great idea! Wish I would have thought of that when I was young enough to do stuff like that. Thanks for sharing.
What a GREAT idea…. now that really has got my wheels turning….
What a great idea! A great plan for those with the skills necessary and definitely something to think about!
Hmmmmmmmm…How does he find these landowners?
Well, it does involve a certain amount of gumption for sure- approaching strangers about building on their land. At this point, Ianto has quite the reputation and network so it’s not at all difficult but in the beginning he would have been just a man with an interesting proposal. I think that having pictures of the type of structure you are proposing, as well as a good ‘sales pitch’ on what you bring to the table, would certainly help but beyond that I’m thinking pure gumption. 🙂
Who then decides what kind of home is built, so the owner of the property is left with something that looks good.
Presumably that would be a discussion for the builder and the property owner to have. I know of a family who recently opened their property up for someone to build on and they specified the size of the building but not much else. I think it would really vary dependent on the people involved.