.

Seedsprouter,
first off, welcome to the forum...it's never too late to "join the party"!

I can't tell you what is the best option for you, but I can tell you that option # 3 has worked well for me. I found a small property, about 1/3 acre, in a rural community. Although small and outside the village center, we do have neighbors close by. It had a 1 bedroom house that had not been lived in for about 6 years. I partitioned off the dining room to make a second bedroom for the babies, then added a 12 x 15 extention to make a bedroom for the teenage boys. We have a deep well for drinking water and also a shallow well for backup. Oh yeah, and a small lake right across the road.
Total costs...
House & land $25,000
Addition.......$10,000
Total for 3 bedroom rural home...$35,000 (paid cash, no mortgage)
If you save enough for a downpayment on a city home, you can probably find something like this and pay cash.
Now, 1/3 acre is not a lot of land, but we have enough room for the house, garden, small chicken flock, and a couple goats (if I can get my wife to agree on the goats).
We have since bought 2 more properties within walking distance from municipal auction that I will clear of trees to use for wood heating then use for growing more food like wheat, feed corn and a few market crops. Decorative squash and colorful corn come to mind as these are popular items in the fall.
Not being in the city anymore is a huge relief, as I truly believe that when something serious happens, there will be more trouble there than I want my family to face.
Good luck.

It's never too late and I welcome you to the forum.
My advice to you comes from my own personal preference and that is to try be as self reliant as possible.
My wife and I are looking for a place with 3 or more acres in a rural area with maybe a few folks around but definitely not in the middle of a town or city.
The place we are looking for should have a drilled well or someone will need to drill a well so that no matter what water will always be available.
A septic system would be preferable to living on a town's sewer system.
Put in as many solar panels as your energy needs will require (talk to the experts) and get the best deep cell batteries as you can afford. Do not cheap out on your solar power system as it will fill your energy needs if the grid goes down. Possibly even having a backup generator just in case would be a good idea. I have talked with a few folks that even have a windmill to go along with their solar power. You can never have too much power, especially in the winter.
With your land you should be able to grow whatever vegetables you will need and you may even be able to have a few chickens for eggs.
There are many more things to consider but to me these are the very basic needs when looking for a place.

I wish you nothing but success.

.

It's never too late and I welcome you to the forum.
My advice to you comes from my own personal preference and that is to try be as self reliant as possible.
My wife and I are looking for a place with 3 or more acres in a rural area with maybe a few folks around but definitely not in the middle of a town or city.
The place we are looking for should have a drilled well or someone will need to drill a well so that no matter what water will always be available.
A septic system would be preferable to living on a town's sewer system.
Put in as many solar panels as your energy needs will require (talk to the experts) and get the best deep cell batteries as you can afford. Do not cheap out on your solar power system as it will fill your energy needs if the grid goes down. Possibly even having a backup generator just in case would be a good idea. I have talked with a few folks that even have a windmill to go along with their solar power. You can never have too much power, especially in the winter.
With your land you should be able to grow whatever vegetables you will need and you may even be able to have a few chickens for eggs.
There are many more things to consider but to me these are the very basic needs when looking for a place.

I wish you nothing but success.

Great advice...
During and after a disaster, many resources will be unavailabe...ie utility power, gas stations, grocery stores, etc. I think the best way to avoid being affected by these missing conveniences is to rely on them as little as possible, meaning being as self sufficient as you can be. If you only need to stock up on some basics at the grocery store once a month, then a 2 or 3 week disaster situation wouldn't affect you at all!

Welcome from Eastern Ontario, Seedsprouter! It would only be too late to the party if the S##T had already hit the fan! I hear your safety concerns and my response to your question would be: #3 with acreage - the house would have to meet your specifications: size, well?, septic?, garden, trees, internet, etc. It would be nice to already have well and septic working right from the start so you can 'detail' the property to your liking. Then plant your fruit trees, berry bushes, etc right away since they'll take a few years to be productive. It's fairly inexpensive and not very labour intensive.
Having a roof over your head is protection on its own.
A hand made-from-scratch home is usually an unrealistic ideal. It's very stressful and time consuming. The end product is nice, but often home-builders have to hire certain jobs out anyway......
Look at Denob's example - he's made a jewel out of a lemon with alot of planning (saved $35,000 cash), sacrifice, committment, and hardwork by the whole family.
Honestly, sometimes our 'dream homes' are never complete: as we grow and mature, we learn and tweek our original plan and morph it into something very different......
Best of luck, Seedsprouter. You are in a unique position to be able to plan your future home. I look forward to reading your future posts....

.

35K for land and home? In Saskatchewan that would get you a 1/3 acre and a shanty in the middle of the Boreal forest. Good find if it doesnt need an equal amount of renos.

Actually it was $25,000...the other 10 grand was an addition and renos!
Yup, good find for sure.
Here ya go...this took me about 10 minutes to find.

http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=11191142&PidKey=2036446917

Hello Seedsprouter;
Welcome to the site.
This is a big decision, so I hope you find some good advice here.
Some of us are getting together Sunday east os Red deer and there is a meeting in Bieseker July 21.
There are also some great people in Edmonton who are open to being contacted.
Get some more posting done so you can PM us and then you will be able to get more details during conversation.
You are actually in a rare and positive position compared to most of us on this site because you are going to make a move.
Many of us here would love to, but it isn't easy right now.

35K for land and home? In Saskatchewan that would get you a 1/3 acre and a shanty in the middle of the Boreal forest. Good find if it doesnt need an equal amount of renos.

I was going to say the same thing... you can't find land in AB for 35k unless you're on the NWT border and have to fly in maybe??

Seedsprouter will be looking at much higher initial costs so I say if you have the time, build that dream home; whether it be off-grid or simply able to maintain a flock of chickens. Each has its merits.

Oh, gravlore I think it was in SK, with the dream set-up... we'd all like your address so that we can start storing sea-cans in your back yard when we need somewhere to run 😆 I already asked Taz in an older forum but for some reason he didn't give it to us

.

[quote="Dangphool I already asked Taz in an older forum but for some reason he didn't give it to us

One of these days, when you're in Edmonton, stop by the Wild West shooting center in the West Edmonton Mall and ask for the range supervisor. We'll go for coffee and if you buy, I'll tell you where my place is.
Deal? 🙂

Arent wells suspect to mechanical failure?

If you look online you can find the information for hand pumps that can be built for under $200:00. These are pumps that will do for a couple of hundred feet. You could set it up alongside your current pump or keep it in storage in the event your mechanical pump fails. :geek:

.