5 Things You MUST Know BEFORE Buying a Homestead Property

What about rain water catching?

You should look into wind turbines buy harmony that looks like the perfect place for them

Great tips! Thank you! We're looking into buying property to start our homestead in the next couple of years. We too are from Wyoming! What area are you guys in?

It seems like something is always broke on our homestead

Isaiah 65

13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat,
but you will go hungry;
my servants will drink,
but you will go thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
14 My servants will sing
out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out
from anguish of heart
and wail in brokenness of spirit.
15 You will leave your name
for my chosen ones to use in their curses;
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
but to his servants he will give another name.
16 Whoever invokes a blessing in the land
will do so by the one true God;
whoever takes an oath in the land
will swear by the one true God.
For the past troubles will be forgotten
and hidden from my eyes.
New Heavens and a New Earth

17 “See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.
20 “Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

One thing I would add is asking what the land has been used for. Recently found out from another channel that there is something in fertilizer for grain that never wears or washes away, and it will kill leafy green veggies. (He found out about it from buying straw for mulch, which also carries that same stuff right into garden if not buying from organic source.)
So it's a double problem of not being able to grow what you need. And then what does grow isn't fully organic either.

This looks like heaven...

Oregonian here 🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️ It is CRAZY to me to see your homestead so flat and no mountains or hills as far as the eye can see. Absolutely beautiful though

I haven't seen many of your videos I apologize in advance if you've answered this question in one of your other videos. My husband and I have been thinking about moving to Wyoming, buying some land near Cheyenne. I was wondering if you have tried gardening in a greenhouse in the winter? Is that even an option? I live in Arizona winter is the best time to garden here. I don't know anything about gardening in colder states. So I really apologize if my question comes across as a dumb question.

Without giving too much detail obviously could you tell us the part of Wyoming y’all live in. Hubby and I are looking to move their but want it get as much input as we can from the locals. Looking into the eastern /south eastern area I think.

We are buying raw land and I know we have a LONG way to go before we are self sustainable, but I love your channel and how helpful it is. Thank you :)

Such great tips Jill. We are looking for our perfect plot at the moment, some of these things we've thought of, but not all!

Great video. A lot of info. Im moving to Oklahoma next yr. Looking for homesteading sites so info is much needed

How many acres do you have?

I would add mineral rights. I wouldn’t buy property without it.

We just passed through Cheyenne would have loved to get to meet y’all.

Clone Water-gen technology, and have a pump to send water it collects to a tower when it gets about half full. < Its a dehumidifier that has been perfected to the best primitives can do. You can collect clean water from atmosphere all year round. Ever played with dry ice? That fog is water in the air. We're trying to get the government to position water-gen tower designs to end symptoms of droughts. But they are busy sending trillions to nations that legalized forcing on minors. < Because our government likes that too.. Prepare for war..

1. Water, and a state like missouri that gets rain. You also need to know you can get the water, wells are expensive.
2. A clear deed, with no easment's leans etc. Get a title search.
3. Building codes, no codes are great if you know how to build. No codes means the contractors can do what they want that's not good.
4. And finally alot of money, every homesteader, prepper, etc. On You Tube have money, a job don't think it's as easy as they say. It's work that takes knowledge, skill and commitment. Remember ever time you watch their videos they get payment, and you get excited.

We just purchased our farm 5 years ago in Northern Illinois. Without realizing it we found a place with everything you just listed.
I really love your garden. Would you think about doing a video on how you built your raised beds? Where you purchased the materials and are the panels custom cut?

GREAT VIDEO! Very helpful.

Size: Agree. It is only two of us so it makes sure to keep to the rules of our semi rural city. So instead of five chickens with rooster, we have six chickens cause roosters sucks. HOA will NEVER be on the list. Check local codes of your county/city. Weather is a BIG factor. Age of buildings/home. Another should look at. While the cute 100 plus year old house might be somewhat updated, are you? People get older; who wants to climb up twenty stairs to bed when its been a long day or have laundry, etc. My absolute, no budge was NO STAIRS. My knees won't handle it and after three years in an apt, I hate stairs with a passion. Also, older homes, like ours in high desert often have ancient HVAC units. Ours is only 8 yrs younger than myself. Make sure your basic needs are met! We are gamers so solid internet is where we give up the remote rural. I'm good anyway, as I do not like being so far away that no help comes in an emergency. We are not preppers just folks who like to grow our own.

we're buying in another state and it has ONE faucet!!! odd we think but moving to snow country

my issue is it ALWAYS takes longer on projects.

Such a great list! We bought 6 acres a few years back and have been slowing working on it until we retire. THANK GOD we put our well in last spring; they doubled in price this spring and then booked out so no one can get one till next season! We made sure we had zero HOAs or covenants; had water rights back to 1883 and have a fork to a large river on our land as well. We put in the orchard and found out we had old river bed for land so the digging is not humanly possible, equipment only. We also have high water so our septic will be above ground which is more expensive. Land has not flooded on any record but we are still considered a flood zone by the Feds so we have certain things we have to do regarding insurable buildings. We just redid the old crappy post and barb wire fencing that was literally older than anyone I know! But we put in solid lifetime fencing, one and done. The orchard is in and our trees survived their first winter (zone 6) so that was a blessing. I will say, we did alot of research and still there have been some surprises! Is it worth it? Absolutely! We save, do a project, then save for the next one. We figure if we do it this way, cash flow as much as we can, when we retire, we will only have the house left to build. I am thankful we bought the raw land before the pandemic and the mass exodus from the cities got crazy. Thank you Jill for all you share and teach. I appreciate your experience more than you will ever know...I recall your fence story and so I insisted on solid once! Expensive, but soooo worth it. Blessings to you all!

What about all the noise from that highway? I saw a lot of noisy tractor trailers roaring by not that far away. Must be awful at night!
You must have a septic tank. No sewers way out there.
I am surprised there would be an HOA way out there. They will deliberately make your life miserable and enjoy doing it. I know, we have one here. I can't even have a tomato plant. (It makes them jealous.).

I don't know who needs to hear this, you've got to stop saving money. Invest some part of it, if you really want financial freedom.

List I gave a family member,
1. Access to water on land and a good well.
2. Trees. Standing energy potential.
3. Open land to garden and have critters, so about 130 acres. Not flat but not mountain.
4. Existing home is fine but not a deal breaker.
5. Distance. I don’t want to see anyone.
I’ve got lists of needs for each building, what greenhouse style I want, types of animals and have even looked into what licensing I need for on farm harvesting. I’ve already acquired one licence to cull my own /future/ pigs.

Moving onto a homestead is not to be taken lightly and the only thing slowing me down now is being able to afford the land, it’s so pricy here in 🇨🇦 and I refuse to go into debt.

"The Homestead Act" (1862) permitted citizens to claim, and through certain 'improvements', ultimately result in personal ownership of that land. The granting of that personal ownership was through a process called "Patenting" --- which was granted by a specific act of congress. (Yes, a real Act by the US Congress).

That path to ownership ended in 1976 (1986 in Alaska).

While it is cute to call a farm or ranch a "Homestead", in reality, REAL patented Homesteads (from 1862 through 1986) are not what most current ranches or farms are actually today. Yes, real, old, patented homesteads are still out there today - but not all ranches (or as they are usually called farms East of the Mississippi) are, or ever will/could be considered "homesteads".
Do a web search for "The Homestead Act of 1862" to confirm. - Joe -

Why is the surrounding area so blank? O_o So little trees and the fields don't have hedgerows at all

This will sound obvious, but make sure you know how to get to your property. I work for my county, and sometimes we have disputes over land access because a buyer didn't realize that the approach to their property is on the opposite side from what they wanted, and they take shortcuts over their neighbor's property instead. You want your neighbors to be friends, not enemies.

Jill, your videos are terrific!

We love your channel and are learning lots, however we are staying in Texas. LOL We have two growing seasons. Thanks for all the videos!

If moving out West from back East be aware of the weather, it's different out here, be aware of distances to town & such, it's really different out here and know the water rights. You may have water on your property but it may not belong to you.

A great video with lots to consider :) thanks

An old silage wagon box was repurposed and made into a playhouse before we moved here. We didn't have kids then, so it became our chicken coop. The old chicken coop was essentially rotten.
Our toughest decisions involved figuring out how to use the other outbuildings. We had lots of disorder and obsolete equipment to wade through (still do). Insurance made us raze an old granary and horse shed that had seen better days. We added a 96' high tunnel greenhouse and trenched in water. Lots of projects waiting for cash. Homesteading is not for those with expensive or time-consuming hobbies. Unless homesteading is your hobby. There's always something to do!

Saskatchewan Canada. Our RM administrator thinks she is going to SDG our area and make it a HOA. Good luck lady, ain't gonna happen. She figures as her husband is a politician she can Karen us all into it. Nope.

Never ever ever (again) will I buy a property without a thorough investigation of the water situation! My current place has a low-flow well. I put in a basement storage tank when I bought it that provides plenty of water for the house and garden, but it's a headache to manage and could never support a really large garden or larger livestock. Plentiful high quality water is #1 (well, in the top 3) on my list as I look for a larger place!

I'd add that once you move onto your homestead, live there a year before making any serious decisions or building any permanent structures. Great video btw.

This is a great video Jill! I would like to have a homestead one day. Right now we have chickens and a garden, but live in a neighborhood.

Have watched you for awhile now and it is GOOD remember the time you got rolls done in the Barn or work shop it was a BIG STORM OF SNOW right now we have had one thing of rain and waiting for another got the Solar Lights going but not the generators as I have been getting ready for a few yrs now on no power!!!

I wish I knew I was going to turn into a homesteader 8 yrs ago. I love my .22 acres but would have paid more attention when buying a property. Thank you for these tips💚

This is GREAT info❗

We bought land bare and started from scratch... I'd say water is my only concern. A well is 15 grand, saving our pennies!

Love your vlogs but they’re too short! Lol

I'd love to have a large rural property, but I'm single and just can't afford it so I guess you can say I'll be "boxing myself in" with just under half-acre. However I'm 45 and really doubt at this stage I'd want to expand beyond a garden, fruit trees and a few chickens. I guess we'll see!

Awesome Jill thank you hope you had a great Fourth of July keep the videos coming

I remember that winter storm, your state would not be our choice but you have done well !

Spot on Jill. Thanks for the Video! Another consideration would be for how the land lays and slopes. At least a factor for those in the hills and mountains.

I really miss the wind after I moved from the plains to the southeast. I know that probably sounds crazy to people who live in the plains.

You give a lot of wisdom in this video. I would like to move out to the wider picture a bit and summarize for the purpose of making a point. If you don't have homesteading/farming experience, it's probably not wise to buy a raw, undeveloped piece of land and try to start from scratch. 100 years ago, lots of people tried it. Those people were much hardier than almost any today, and all but the sturdiest failed. I believe it would be much wiser to buy an existing farm, and if possible, get the old farmer to stay on the place and teach you his/her wisdom. Your vision for the place may not be exactly the same as his, but at least you would have some fences that could be repaired, and some old broke down equipment that could be repaired to get you by, and to get you a lot of experience. And the old farmer would probably be able to teach you how to live on less money.