DamnYankee
Loyal to the end
I was talking to a contractor friend of mine about this. We were having a conversation about the burden of taxes, and I told him that it was not simply our right, but our duty to avoid paying taxes to a government that has usurped its authority. I know a lot of people think this way which is why we have a large underground economy that uses cash and barter only. He and I both barter our services whenever we can.
Then the conversation got into retirement and real estate taxes, and I told him the story of a guy I knew in Upstate NY who bought a big piece of land, harvested logs, cut them into lumber, dried them and then built his house. He stared with a field stone foundation and used whatever he could off the land. He applied for a permit to build it but since he used non-Code materials and methods the inspectors wouldn't give him a certificate of occupancy.
Normally this is a problem for a builder because you can't get insurance or refinancing, or even hook into public utilities on a house without a C of O. But in this case the owner never intended to get one, because that piece of paper also gets you on the tax roll. This was about 20 years ago and as far as I know the guy's been living in his house paying next to no taxes.
So my friend told me that's basically what he's planning to do for retirement. He's was planning to build a tiny little one bedroom, one bath house of the minimum dimensions and materials, get his C of O, say goodbye to the inspector then go to town with a renovation and addition. Make it all look like an old barn from the outside, then have some goats and cows roaming around.
For AC in the summer he'll use geothermal with creek water. Electrical will be by solar panels and a battery system. He's taken a course at APP State that describes just how to do this. A well for water and septic for waste. Compost all the garbage and recycle all the plastic, metal, glass, paper and cardboard. (Before I had kids I used to go to the dump twice a year so I know this is feasible.) A wood-fired water stove for heat and hot water. Internet for TV. Fuel oil back-up and distill bio diesel for the truck. He may need propane for the cook stove.
With this set-up he can be nearly off-grid. No water or sewer bill, no trash bill, no telephone land line, no Duke Power, no cable TV bill. The only bills will be minimal real estate tax and ISP, and an occasional fuel oil and propane drop.
Then the conversation got into retirement and real estate taxes, and I told him the story of a guy I knew in Upstate NY who bought a big piece of land, harvested logs, cut them into lumber, dried them and then built his house. He stared with a field stone foundation and used whatever he could off the land. He applied for a permit to build it but since he used non-Code materials and methods the inspectors wouldn't give him a certificate of occupancy.
Normally this is a problem for a builder because you can't get insurance or refinancing, or even hook into public utilities on a house without a C of O. But in this case the owner never intended to get one, because that piece of paper also gets you on the tax roll. This was about 20 years ago and as far as I know the guy's been living in his house paying next to no taxes.
So my friend told me that's basically what he's planning to do for retirement. He's was planning to build a tiny little one bedroom, one bath house of the minimum dimensions and materials, get his C of O, say goodbye to the inspector then go to town with a renovation and addition. Make it all look like an old barn from the outside, then have some goats and cows roaming around.
For AC in the summer he'll use geothermal with creek water. Electrical will be by solar panels and a battery system. He's taken a course at APP State that describes just how to do this. A well for water and septic for waste. Compost all the garbage and recycle all the plastic, metal, glass, paper and cardboard. (Before I had kids I used to go to the dump twice a year so I know this is feasible.) A wood-fired water stove for heat and hot water. Internet for TV. Fuel oil back-up and distill bio diesel for the truck. He may need propane for the cook stove.
With this set-up he can be nearly off-grid. No water or sewer bill, no trash bill, no telephone land line, no Duke Power, no cable TV bill. The only bills will be minimal real estate tax and ISP, and an occasional fuel oil and propane drop.
