Today, according to data from the National Association of Realtors, the median price for an existing home — and this is one that's already standing, not awaiting new construction — is $387,600 as of November 2025 ! Financing on that amount of money assuming you could get a loan for just 5.27%, that lasts for thirty years becomes a Monthly payment $1,826+ or $412.38+ dollars per week with a Total interest paid $327,490+ and a Total cost of loan $657,490+, with a Payoff date not until Jan 2056. SO, DOUBLE THE ORIGINAL HOUSE PRICE! Add taxes, insurance and upkeep and that doubles again.
That doesn't sound like a deal we want for ourselves. NO!
ARTICLE 1
We get so many phone calls weekly, from really nice people that have no money and have lost their family home due to foreclosure or property tax sale. While we could go into strategies to recover these private properties, in a private paid for consultation, we want our friends and clients to have a home tonight.
With that said let us provide a plan that we previously charged $125.00 for and provide this for free. Free advice is worth what you paid for it, so do your own due diligence and make adult decisions for yourself, while not allowing us to lead you, but just to tell you what has worked for other herein:
1) Build or go buy a little shed building that looks good to you from a local sales lot. Make sure this building has a all-metal roof! This is so you have the option of collecting clean water. Do Not Use Any Other Roofing Material Than Metal or A Masonry Product or Cement on the roof. Have gutters installed front and back to help you collect that water. Build on site yourself or have the building delivered to your land. Generally, that's $250 to $500 down and so much per month from one of those shed/building pirate companies, but they finance them. So, sign your name to protect yourself.
Example:
"Without Recourse,
JOHN DOE, Principal
John Doe, Agent"
2) Go buy a building permit to build a house and a permit for the storage shed. For the house construction just say it's going to be a square box design, one room open plan and has a bathroom. Draw that on a sheet of paper to provide it for your permit. The minimum square footage required, is the size you will buy a permit for. Sign your name to protect yourself - again.
3) Build or Buy a pre-assembled power pole with a meter base 100-200 Amp size and have someone put it and a lightning rod in the ground beside the pole near that building you bought . This will be your little buildings power. It will be called the construction site power to run saws.
4) DIY or have someone wire & plumb the building you bought and hook up the power to it.
5) DIY or have someone hook up the water from the public supply or install a rainwater cistern system (more on this from www.drinkingrain.com, and use free rainwater, hook up a 12- or 120-volt pump and this will supply your shower and toilet and kitchen sink with water. Triple filter and UV stabilize for any drinking water uses.
6) Insulate, sheetrock, panel or plaster with a stabilized earth (70% sand ,25% clay , 5% Portland Cement) mix (over a stable surface with wire or lath to hold the earthen plaster) the interior walls before Winter and live there quietly, as if it's in your name, and you have a building permit, this is your "construction shed", then no one can stop you.
7. NEXT: Build a Georgia Adobe Home (TM)(c) 2007-25 . This being all masonry, it will pass masonry building codes and can be built by most people that can lift a coffee can of weight at a time.
You then have a home today and are building a paid for house, legally for tomorrow.
ARTICLE 2
What happened to building affordably a home in America? Well, a couple of things happened:
#1 You don't own your land.
Oh, I realize you thought you bought that land (inherited it were given it or whatever), but you didn't get the ownership of it, and according to government, no matter what, you bought real estate and that's different than land. DO YOU GET BILLED YEARLY FOR THAT LAND AS A TAX AND DO THEY THREATEN YOU, TO TAKE YOUR PROPERTY AND SELL IT IF YOU DON'T PAY THE "GOVT" . Then you don't own it ! They do and you pay rent. We get noted perhaps as (married couples may see on their Deed): "Joint Tenants in Common", then you're a Tenant, not an owner !
#2 Permission Required.
So, since you don't have superior title to the land (That's Called A Land Patent), the state has superior title.
Don't think that's true, consider this then, you first have to ask for the government to grant their permission, for you to break the law and build a home on what you call "Your Property", that's to be used for "your safety and refuge and common shelter from danger and weather", which by the way is still a basic human right, but no, you have to 1st ask permission.
#3 Further Permission Required
When asking for that permission be sure and bring with you permission from the Health department for a perk test of the lands drainage and a septic tank permit, a water well permit, so you can have drinking water or perhaps if the govt. already has public water on (or near) the public road you desire to build upon, you will be forced to gain govt. permission, from the water and sewer authority to connect a new house (with some cost sometimes required) if it's approved by the building inspection & permitting and planning departments.
#4 Who You May Hire Required
Then if they say, it's okay to build on that "real estate", they will want a "stamp certified plan by a state licensed professional is normally required" for government to review before permitting "your construction" on "your land". Price for that: somewhere between $500-$1000 for their review cost.
#5 Changes To Your Plan
They will then review your plan, whenever they get around to it, and they will also red line all they don't like (claiming code restrictions (International Building Codes I.B.C. or their "Local Codes") and you must have those pages then redrawn, by the same "licensed professional" at your additional cost (and perhaps at some additional plan review cost too depending upon "their policies"). Around here that's about $1,200 average per page from a structural engineer.
#6 Don't forget the Economy !
Yep, The cost have risen daily and that may not change its path. How do you afford it all, you must change the way you're doing it. One definition of someone that's crazy is "someone that's doing the same thing over and over again, if it doesn't work". Changing the materials and process is sometimes a very good idea.
In this "plan review" process they will also detail what you may build with and size of each part, what the style of the home may be, the location upon the now titled "real estate" that you may build at, the buildings actual size in its heated square feet, so your taxes will be high enough to "keep up their collective govt. incomes at an acceptable level while providing for the public needs", and to also keep the lower level county or cities political subdivisions overlord's happy too. Then, if your if approved to build per those approved plans, an actual start date and a must finish by dates, are assigned, with a likely destruction of the building required, if it's not finished by that finish date and then you must start all over again.
Thus, from where your water supply is to be from, what your sewage disposal method must be and to the actual materials you must use to build the structure with, to the size approved, additional utilities approved providers applications made, and all from the plans & the materials and in the size and style the govt. approves , then a government approved general contractor and his licensed subcontractors can start the work, if you can find anyone, to do all that's required, per the plan.
So, Congrats Peasant , you now you can start your government approved home and be sure and pay your taxes on it or they will come take it from you !
Still think you own that "Land" (ah, make that now: "Real Estate")?
Nope, ya don't!
Did your name spelling change, to an ALL-CAPS NAME, when you got your deed back from the government and your lawyers? Is that you or is that ALL CAPS NAME, "a proprietorship", as you don't actually spell your name, in all block capitalized letters - do you? Well, not since the first grade. This capitalized spelling puts you under their jurisdiction by what is called the law of agency. The law of agency is a branch of commercial law, that deals with the fiduciary relationship, where one party, known as the principal, authorizes another party, called the agent, to act on their behalf. This relationship allows the agent to create legal relations with third parties, binding the principal to those agreements as long as the agent acts within the scope of their authority. This is why you are taxed on "private Property" that they now call Personal Property, as a "Person" in law can do business with the government, but not people. I know, you don't believe that is true, so go do your own research and learn about what's law what's just a statute or code (not law) and learn your constitutional rights of "Private Property", then give us your opinions.
There are other things that can hurt your legal position of ownership, and we can help you achieve a correction of them but, if you go the normal way [as above], then this all basically means that, you aren't getting something in your name, just due to the spelling and certainly not under those above conditions plus the costs paid then taxes on Private Property made into Personal Property, as you could be $10 grand deep just buying building permits and making improvements that satisfies the local government, and not you before you start building a home if you go about this process the wrong way. Oh, don't forget, that's before the actual construction starts or wait, even before the now called: "Real Estate" must be purchased (AND PAID FOR IF YOU ARE SMART BEFORE CONSTRUCTION BEGINS) , and as they say it was purchased even if you got it as a gift, they force your Lawyer (who swore an oath to the courts interest and not to their client's interest, when they became a "ABA (TM) association member"), to list at the least: "TEN DOLLARS AND OTHER VALUABLE CONSIDERATIONS" on the government records, no matter if it's free to you or no matter if it's called (quit claim deed, title, warranty, or security deed etc.), which is not anything but color of title, then you will have your actual "real estate's" development costs, ( grading etc. which All Must Be Permitted first Too ! ) . IN GOLD, BY HAND, FOR AN UNDISCLOSED SUM IS THE BETTER WORDS TO USE.
So Again, IT'S Not Really Yours, until it is!
What can be done?
Several steps and we detail this throughout this entire website and don't forget building the right home, is the major concern you started all this over. Off-grid must be designed to be Off-grid if its going to work !
And as you need this to last, the right stuff needs to be used - Properly and yes Affordably - Right ?
A.) Study this website, it's free and an opinion, not some lawyer's warranted contractual agreement, but a good qualified opinion, of some of those doing all this and having done it, for 54+ years . Pay attention to the joewoodalldotcom2023 archive page (notes at the top of that page on "Land Patents by our former friend: the late Ron Gibson").
B) Gain your superior title (Land Patent) before you build anything (at least get it in your name to start), as then no one, nor ANY creature of the state or "government", has any Jurisdiction over you and your homestead and land. There's a process for this and it's not easy - nor cheap sometimes, but it's well worth the cost and trouble!
C.) Also, Consider the location you choose to build at "carefully", before acquiring and spending any money on that spot to build upon. Some states cost less to live and build in. Which means, it might not be not be next to Mom's house, or even in the same neighborhood you thought you must live in, but Freedom too, comes at a cost.
D) Then, with the right location to start with, you can choose the materials you build with, such things as free materials (and yes, Adobe & Rammed Earth come to our mind first ) and at the least, you're not totally forced to donate to those big box store's cash registers, with their very high materials cost, for their manufactured & code approved materials as Rammed Earth and Adobe are almost Free.
UP NEXT
AND BUILDING WITH AS CLOSE TO FREE MATERIALS AS IS POSSIBLE.
Click the blue link, which opens in a new page !
Affordable Housing