Rural Living, Prepping and Survival

The key in my personal paradigm is being in a heavily wooded unincorporated county with relaxed regulations and an even more relaxed enforcement protocol. Basically the type of area where someone comes to your gate or sends you a letter stating they want to "inspect" your property and you say, "Get a warrant," and they say something like, "Oh nevermind," shake your hand, and leave.

If (((they))) insist then you show them the "fake" front of your property with your livable RV set-up (with self contained on board septic), while avoiding your multiple, spread out, tiny home like structures that are either wholly or partially underground (which necessitates owning a 20K backhoe) and or camouflaged from aerial surveillance.

The true definition of off-grid for me requires no well (rain catchment and at least one year round flowing creek), no septic tank (composting toilets and grey water catchment/filtration), and no public utilities, especially electricity (solar, propane, hydroelectric). In addition there are plenty of very nice areas in America where you can still get 40 to 100 acre parcels of land for less than a thousand dollars an acre. This will not change in our lifetime.
If that video is where I think it was, the counties have zoning laws that put limitations on what can be certified as a residence. Typically a minimum of 600 sq ft, which this house met, but many tiny homes wouldn't. They require a well and septic system. This video mentioned having that requirement. He had previously lived with a composting toilet, which is a viable solution but that location required them to have septic.

Also, their location has an HOA. It's probably a ranch that was broken up into 35 acre plots. The HOA requirements will usually not allow people to live in a long term RV setup. There are some areas full of RV type homes and shacks, and they tend to be quite rough. These HOAs are designed to keep the riff raff out.

Does NC really have land with no zoning requirements like these, or is it a case where they exist, but are not enforced? If this is the case, there's always the risk they could start enforcing them a few years down the road.
 
Does NC really have land with no zoning requirements like these...
No. But there are areas that are large enough to lack enough human resources to do a deep dive on a hundred acres of woods. But this is not something I'd advise doing in NC because it is too densly populated with not enough open wilderness remaining.

.... their location has an HOA.
One of the worst decisions any human wishing to escape The Matrix could ever make. The only part of their set up I was really interested in was the 40K house build which is why I didn't highlight the rest of their set up. A lot of Gen Z'ers are complaining that housing is unaffordable and that they can't find a starter home for less than 300K... Was just trying to dispell that anti-American blackpilled myth.

... the counties have zoning laws that put limitations on what can be certified as a residence...
Unincorporated counties/areas do not have such strict limitations...
The key in my personal paradigm is being in a heavily wooded unincorporated county with relaxed regulations and an even more relaxed enforcement protocol.
There are still vast swaths of land in the US that are considered unincorporated that are void of any local government, much less a staff of enforcement officers.

But besides any of that, personally, I will be living as an outlaw on my own land (even if the land is incorporated). Depending on where I purchase land in the future I will most likely not be asking anyone for permission on how I can use that land. If I get a sense that my land and I aren't going to be bothered much by outside forces then I will be more brazen in my land development approach. I've found that by playing ball with the government you just open up a can of worms and start digging yourself a deeper and deeper hole by revealing your life, plans, and intentions to (((Them))). Best to stealthily strike out in your own direction, develop your plans in secret, live a 99% cash only existence, finance nothing, and get so far out ahead of the government on developing your land that it would take them years, maybe even decades to play catchup. In military terms I believe it's called being "entrenched" and "knowing the lay of the land" where you know your position like the back of your hand and the enemy has no idea where they are at, much less what they are walking into or seeing.

And to be clear, I am not hypothesizing here. I have real world experience in living like this successfully and have known old timers who have been doing things like this for forty plus years in such overregulated states as California. In many ways freedom is a state of mind, sometimes you've gotta' take risks and just say, "F*ck the government, let (((them))) try and stop me," and let the chips fall where they may. No guts, no glory. Is someone really gonna' drive 100 miles from their office with a warrant to enter my property, cut the chain on the gate, search through a 100 acres of woods to find my luxury tree house and underground fort, come back with a crew and bulldozer to tear it all down, arrest me, and seize my land? Maybe, but I doubt it.

Obviously this lifestyle is not for everyone. But I myself am just looking to live a simple, quiet life of hippie style luxury in the woods.
 
Best to stealthily strike out in your own direction, develop your plans in secret, live a 99% cash only existence, finance nothing, and get so far out ahead of the government on developing your land that it would take them years, maybe even decades to play catchup.
Not saying it can't work but posting your master plan to the internet may not be the best course of action...
 
Not saying it can't work but posting your master plan to the internet may not be the best course of action...
This isn't my "master plan," this tale is as old as Ruby Ridge and there are plenty of YouTube videos with millions of views showing more detailed life hacks than this.

Don't let paranoia rule the mind and control the land.
 
As long as you are living in a state that charges annual property tax, you’ll never truly freely be free from a takeover of your land. They will force most people into the 15 min cities not thru force but thru a longeconomic hardship of home/land ownership leaving Blackrock and individual elites to be able to own land/ single family homes and property. Home repair costs, electric bills, farm/lawn equipment pricing will price out most all people eventually from true off grid self sufficient living. I’ve started to really see this occurring in last 5 plus years at an accelerated rate. Even when I bought my home over 20 years ago, they were already making it very difficult for a non-wealthy person to buy land and build on it thru county impact fees ($15k flat fee at the time). Subdivision builders were exempt, only individuals. A guy I know found a loophole by buying a delapidated house on 1 acre of rurual woodland. Lived in a camper for 2 years until he had the house diminished and built a log cabin in its place. Got around the impact fee that way because of the existing property (albeit it was unlivable shack).
 
When you look at history, there was never a time or place where the parasitic class just left you to live alone somewhere without trying to chain you down through dozens of laws and regulations.
Only after war or societal collapse was there a brief period of relative freedom from bureaucracy, but as the dust settled, the cycle began again.
(it's the American story itself)

Sadly, being constantly ruled by some mortal man instead of God is a preferred way of life for all normies, and they are the overwhelming majority everywhere.
If you want to leave the rat race, the time is always now.

In the meantime, you can escape at least mentally by reading, for example, The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel, which I enjoyed thoroughly.
 
A lot of Gen Z'ers are complaining that housing is unaffordable and that they can't find a starter home for less than 300K... Was just trying to dispell that anti-American blackpilled myth.
Most people get their income from a job where they have to be physically present and are therefore not able to live in the middle of nowhere. Any place that has decent job opportunities in the USA and low crime generally has houses at $300,000+ so I don't think the common criticism is unreasonable.
 
For the prices discussed you can buy existing and legal log cabin off grid "camp" in places like Maine
I wouldn't bet on things not being enforced. They don't need to go in they can fly a cheap drone or use satellite image. Then they can slap 1000/day fine, a lien later and forclose. They dont need a warrant or doser.
Hiding things on a big wooded property without access road to dwelling, getting things there will get real old fast, anyway there is no point as things can be seen from the air.
Also, old timers might be grandfathered in and left alone, doesn't mean newcomers will get left alone.
The one most likely to get enforced is septic, which is a statewide rule, normally, and only few places still allow outhouses.
Other than septic rules that are heavily enforced all over, one can get left alone living in whatever in many rural counties, just not in places like California. You sure can find "old timers" in CA who will tell how you can live like you want, only they had been there for decades, but a new person will have a hammer come down quick, happens all the time. Then you get tearful youtube video.
Also, a lot of people pretend to temporarily camp while they actually live out there, because rules only allow temp stays.without building a full on house. Not my cup of tea, I want all to be legal.
RV is really a red flag triggering the wrath usually, neighbors will turn in fast, you want to drop an old mobile home if you want some sort of legal front.
There is no location in lower 48 anymore that allows to live in RV without in ground septic system hookup. Only few allow RV living in general.
Got to look for land without deed restrictions, very important.
On top of that, there is zoning and building code.
All states got statewide building codes now, but some rural counties and townships chose not to enforce it, optionally, mostly when the person is off grid.
There is expansion of code enforcement lately, for example places in rural CO where it was possible to live in whatever, statewide building code is going to be enforced now, energy efficiency code being the core of it and what used to be up to the county, the state will step in.
For on grid, power company will often enforce building code on their own, before hooking up, and will ask for county inspection green light.
I live off grid and remote for years now and moving overseas, just sharing what I know.
 
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Main thing not to istall dyi septic and bury it without paperwork, because they can ask to excavate it all later if the enfocement comes up. In many places it's easy to have simple septic signed off as soon as there is a spot where perk test is good. That's why perk test is best done before closing on the land not after. In wet places like Northeast got to check how much land might be officially wetland before buying, you can not touch anything mapped as wetland even if it looks dry.
 
Also have the land evaluated for drilling a well, and test the water to see if it's clean. Sometimes the water table can be very far down making a well unfeasible, other times it's close to the surface making it very cheap and easy. Also sometimes the water is contaminated. I talked to someone who bought 38 acres for on the cheap because the water was contaminated with arsenic from all of the old mines in the area.

I think a good plan is finding a viable chunk of undeveloped land, digging your own septic system by the book, getting the papers, drilling a well, again by the book, and then simply slapping a cheap prefab down, to get around the incessant nickle and diming that will happen from inspectors via the conventional construction process.
 
Also have the land evaluated for drilling a well, and test the water to see if it's clean. Sometimes the water table can be very far down making a well unfeasible, other times it's close to the surface making it very cheap and easy. Also sometimes the water is contaminated. I talked to someone who bought 38 acres for on the cheap because the water was contaminated with arsenic from all of the old mines in the area.

I think a good plan is finding a viable chunk of undeveloped land, digging your own septic system by the book, getting the papers, drilling a well, again by the book, and then simply slapping a cheap prefab down, to get around the incessant nickle and diming that will happen from inspectors via the conventional construction process.
I've considered doing this on cheap land, but it appears to me that I could hardly get away with less than $200K for driveway, power to the homesite, well and septic, concrete foundation, and a modest manufactured house. In fact, it's hard to do all this for less than $250K, and that's with a small house with builders grade interior and appliances. That's all on top of the cost for the land.
 
One can buy an ok log cabin camp on a few acres in Maine or in Northern Michigan for under 150k. Also places with bigger regular stick built homes on them and fully developed infrastructure, on may be 10 acres, can be had for under 150-200k in places like Arkansas, New Mexico, West Virginia, etc. Of course these are in more remote areas not near any kind of cities.
Local well driling company usually can tell right away how deep the water table is going to be. Much of well water is pretty bad in many if not most places, I personally don't worry about contamination, I just never drink well water unless it may be went through reverse osmosis, and buy good spring water in gallons for drinking. You can always setup reverse osmosis.
 
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They don't need to go in they can fly a cheap drone or use satellite image.
This isn't a "linear" lifestyle, and for me at least, it involves owning a very nice 5th Wheel RV so if the heat starts being felt on your rural off grid compound you simply shut it down, get in your truck, hook up the 5th wheel, and go out on the road touring the country for two months. On my current 40 acre off-grid property I'm only there 90 days out of the year. When I get my 100 acre+ parcel I will be there anywhere between 180 to 250 days out of the year but all in non-linear patterns. In addition, you build so-called "illegal" structures (yurts, small out buildings, underground forts, tree houses, etc.) so that they are well camouflaged with drone surveillance in mind. Satellite imaging? High resolution satellite imagery of a specific property is very expensive (not to mention time consuming). Maybe if you're The Unibomber or running a meth lab or acting all weird and aggressive with inspectors they might do this, but highly unlikely unless you bring a lot of attention to yourself. Sure, if you're in Colorado where all hippies go to die then there is probably very little "safe space." But if you are clean cut, smart, and kind, and in an unincorporated area of America you are going to be able to talk your way out of most invasive, in-depth property inspections and any sort of Gestapo type grilling. Paying your property taxes on time is 80% of the off-grid battle, and for every doom and gloom scenario of failure where some off-grider gets their property confiscated, there are dozens more success stories.

Getting the bureaucrats to sign off on it might be another thing altogether though.
I own 3 acres in California in what has to be one of the most tightly regulated counties in the country. All it has on it is a Yurt, two composting toilets, an outdoor solar shower, and a 300 gallon gray water catchment system (when full I pump it out and take it to an RV disposal site). The material from the composting toilets "finishes off" on an above ground plywood platform "box" that is coated with marine resin and covered with a tarp. When the human excrement is fully composted it is mixed with wood mulch and gypsum and turned into potting soil for the container garden. No well, no septic tank, no public electricity. When I used to live there part time I hauled water in a 300 gallon water trailer that the local fire department filled up for me for free (yes, during a drought). When I explained my off grid fantasies to the ladies in the permit office they said to me, "We don't care how you deal with your sewage and gray water as long as it doesn't go in the ground and pollute it, all you have to do is show us how you're dealing with it and if it's acceptable we'll OK it." So I drew up a comprehensive plan and went into the permit office and gave them a presentation with pictures and specs on the toilets, etc. and they loved it. They said it was fine as long as it wasn't my permanent residence, but I stayed there anyways almost every night for a year without incident.

My point is. Make sh*t happen. Talk to people. Be nice. Cross enough T's and dot enough I's to seem legit and then go rogue. Be adventurous but don't be foolish. No guts, no glory.
 
Taxes is exactly why they are trying to force people into large minimal square footage stick built homes with high valuations and high property tax. Plus the aspect of jacking up local property values for resale.

A few people own multiple parcels and circulate between them, only temporary "camping" stays being allowed without a septic and a house (I decided that's not I wanted to do, at the end). Neighbors do the same thing and people don't get turned in but once in a while there are neigbors who will turn in or entire county goes to war. These temporary setups are very popular in Arizona and parts of NM. If one puts a septic in they can even get year round RV dwelling permit in some counties in AZ, but it has to be renewed once a year and of course they might not renew one day.

The easiest way to pacify the enforcers is to put a septic in and put either a cheap old mobile home for a front or put a prefab small thing, in places without draconian minimum square footages, which can be a garden shed and finish it inside. In less strict states in rural areas even with problematic perc test the soil issue can sometimes be solved inexpensively by simply piling up more gravel and sand. The same guy who does septic inspections often owns a septic business.

Regarding satellite, I can easily spot every single RV in the woods on google satellite view which was camping at that time and satellite maps constantly get updated, the county does not even need to pay for images. They were flying drones for enforcement in rural WA as long as 10 years ago already and I know of someone who had been hit after drone fly by. I personally have no desire to play cat and mouse with them, I also do not want to feel their wrath from psychological standpoint and the background of stress it causes

In California, things used to be much more lenient in many rural counties. Big wildfires had really really increasing attention to things, I think. Even 15 years ago I remember stuff being much more free in CA and know some crazy stories, building inspectirs used to go around well armed for a reason, but things had changed.
 
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For the prices discussed you can buy existing and legal log cabin off grid "camp" in places like Maine
I wouldn't bet on things not being enforced. They don't need to go in they can fly a cheap drone or use satellite image. Then they can slap 1000/day fine, a lien later and forclose. They dont need a warrant or doser.
Hiding things on a big wooded property without access road to dwelling, getting things there will get real old fast, anyway there is no point as things can be seen from the air.
Also, old timers might be grandfathered in and left alone, doesn't mean newcomers will get left alone.
The one most likely to get enforced is septic, which is a statewide rule, normally, and only few places still allow outhouses.
Other than septic rules that are heavily enforced all over, one can get left alone living in whatever in many rural counties, just not in places like California. You sure can find "old timers" in CA who will tell how you can live like you want, only they had been there for decades, but a new person will have a hammer come down quick, happens all the time. Then you get tearful youtube video.
Also, a lot of people pretend to temporarily camp while they actually live out there, because rules only allow temp stays.without building a full on house. Not my cup of tea, I want all to be legal.
RV is really a red flag triggering the wrath usually, neighbors will turn in fast, you want to drop an old mobile home if you want some sort of legal front.
There is no location in lower 48 anymore that allows to live in RV without in ground septic system hookup. Only few allow RV living in general.
Got to look for land without deed restrictions, very important.
On top of that, there is zoning and building code.
All states got statewide building codes now, but some rural counties and townships chose not to enforce it, optionally, mostly when the person is off grid.
There is expansion of code enforcement lately, for example places in rural CO where it was possible to live in whatever, statewide building code is going to be enforced now, energy efficiency code being the core of it and what used to be up to the county, the state will step in.
For on grid, power company will often enforce building code on their own, before hooking up, and will ask for county inspection green light.
I live off grid and remote for years now and moving overseas, just sharing what I know.
Tell the authorities that you’re “indigenous”.
They’ll not only leave you alone, you probably get support.
 
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