When creating your homestead property or prepper property checklist, you need to prioritize your list by putting ‘unchangeable’ things first. Invest heavily in the unchangeable things such as water access, weather, elevation, location. You can’t change any of those things no matter what. Be prepared to pay a pretty penny for those items. If it’s a choice of a perfect land situation with a dumpy house, buy it. Do not prioritize things you can change later (house, infrastructure, etc). Buy the dumpy house on the perfect property. Just do it.
Buy The Unchangeable
Water
The most critical component of a property being considered for a homestead or prepper property is water. Never – and I mean NEVER – buy a property without water access and more preferably one with water rights (mostly a Western US thing).
This is probably one of the biggest mistakes I see people make when property shopping is they go for cheap and remote, but never consider how they’re going to get water. Cheap property is usually cheap for a reason.
Water access and water rights will be one of the most expensive aspects of a property. If there is water on the property, the price goes up. If there is water on the property AND water rights to use that water – the price goes WAY up.
Worth. Every. Penny.
Just pay it.
Thank me later.
Weather
This is another big factor a lot of people don’t thoroughly consider – weather! All four seasons need to be considered, thought through, and even experienced beforehand if possible.
Pick your initial desirable areas and visit them often during each season and even during really bad weather. Consider if you would be willing to live through those seasons, year after year after year. What about your lifestyle will need to change in order to accommodate the weather?
You can’t change the weather.
Pick a location that has tolerable weather (to you) that you are willing to put up with for a lifetime.
Elevation
Closely tied to weather is Elevation consideration, especially in the Western US. Everything about life gets harder the higher you go. Determine your hardiness, your family’s hardiness, crop hardiness, etc.
With elevation also comes lack of oxygen. Most people don’t realize how much this affects your ability to breathe, do common every day tasks, and even animals (pets, livestock, etc). Even if you are the epitome of health and in shape, lack of oxygen will affect you.
If you are considering a high elevation property, anything above 5,000 feet, then I suggest you try before you buy. You can adapt, but it takes time, especially if you’re coming from a lower elevation.
Visit the area where you’re considering properties and get an AirBnB or hotel and stay there for a week or more. Make several trips, one in each season. See how it feels. Pay attention to your breathing, overall wellness, any sensitivities.
Also, drink lots of water – most people don’t realize how dehydrated you get at elevation due to the arid climate.
For those with existing health issues or sensitivities, consider if the lack of oxygen and arid climate will affect or exasperate any of those issues.
I personally moved from 0ft elevation to 7,500ft elevation and it took weeks to get through the dizziness, months to feel slightly normal, and about 3 years to fully adapt. But now that I live at elevation, I’m never coming down! I love it!
Location
Once you have determined your water criteria, weather criteria, and elevation criteria – next is location. Location is about day to day life and access to amenities, community, neighbors, schools, shopping, utilities, work and commuting, etc.
Think through your preferred life and lifestyle – what are your non-negotiables ?
Do you need to be close to schools or employment?
Do you reliable internet access?
How far is too far from a grocery store?
Do you like to eat out and proximity to restaurants?
Are there reliable electric, natural gas, etc?
How close do you need gas stations?
Do you travel a lot and need access to an airport?
Consider your day to day life and determine your absolute worst-case scenario for everything about your day to day life. Once you determine what is UNacceptable, then determine your non-negotiables for location factors.
As an example, I love being within 20 miles of a town for groceries, gas, and supplies. I don’t have kids so I don’t need to worry about schools. I work from home so commuting isn’t an issue but fast and reliable internet was. I also enjoy traveling so being within 2 hours of an international airport was important to me.
These factors will help you narrow down areas or regions that you’re willing to relocate to in order to have the perfect homestead property or prepper property, coupled with the other unchangeable factors mentioned above.
Government & Politics
This is a grey area between unchangeable and changeable. Yes, they can change but it’s very unlikely so I’m going to mention them under the unchangeable section for this reason.
Start with looking at county and city level government and how strict they are when it comes to zoning and control of what people can do with their own properties. Personally, I shop for properties in counties with no zoning and ones that protect that statute adamantly – which means it is unlikely to change any time soon. Plus, once you’re established in the community you can vote and fight to keep it that way if policy changes ever come up in the future.
The one thing I don’t really factor in is politics. I choose not to rule out areas that may be located in places that may be in opposition to personal politics. When it comes down to it, once a homestead or prepper property is set up then political factors will have less of an impact – that is the point of being self-sufficient.
With all of these decisions in place, you can now start to hone in on where you want to be located.
Let the research begin!
Build the Changeable
If you found a property or multiple properties that have all of these above Unchangeables, then you start ranking properties based on the Changeables.
House
If you are shopping for a property you can live on immediately, at a bare minimum you want to find a property with a pre-existing home that you can live in with some degree of comfort while you build out your homestead and property. Remember, you can always add on or build newer, bigger later.
Determine your bare minimum necessities
- Size Considerations
- Minimum number of bedrooms
- Minimum number of bathrooms
- Minimum square footage
- If home is in a harsh winter climate, will you be
- Utility Considerations
- Is house water plumbed, insulated, and accessible year-round (especially in winter)?
- Is water pressure enough for every day living?
- Is electricity already run to the home or is it off-grid?
- What is the primary home heating mechanism and fuel source?
- Is it working and reliable?
- Is septic installed, usable, and in good working order or are repairs needed?
- Habitability Considerations
- Is home livable in present condition or will it need work first?
- Seasonal Considerations
- Summer
- Is it in a drought prone area and will water be available year-round (well, creeks, ponds, etc)?
- Winter
- Is home easily accessible by car in winter?
- Who is responsible for maintaining the main road to property? (county, city, residents, you?)
- How often does the power go out in winter and for how long?
- Summer
Infrastructure
When I talk about infrastructure of a property, usually I am referring to all the other buildings, structures, fencing, utilities, etc, that exist on the property.
- Are there any infrastructure items you must have set up before moving onto the property?
- Do they already exist on the property or will you need to build?
- Can you start smaller and build bigger later just to get you going?
As an example, I have horses and needed fenced in pasture area on my property before I could move my horses onto it. Thankfully, the property I bought already had perimeter fencing in place, so this was a bonus.
Community
Work Your Way Up
Another way to approach purchasing a homestead property or a prepper property is to be willing to work your way up to the perfect property.
Start where you are.
Buy what you can.
Build what you can.
Be willing to sell it and start over if something better comes along and you’ve built enough value in your current property or have the means to upgrade to a better property later.
I started with a 2-acre property with a 2-bedroom 1-bathroom house that barely passed inspections due to ‘unlivable’ conditions. But I knew I had the knowledge and determination to turn it into something better. So I did. Then I sold it and used the profits to buy my perfect property several years later.
Be willing to work your way up, if needed.
Not all of us are able to get it right the first go-round and that’s ok.
