Looking at building a homestead

[Tchetek]

My biggest ‘worry’ being septic, garbage, water and getting a backup genny set up in case of outages.

these things are pretty manageable. Just adds to cost. Just gotta go for it!

 

[Tchetek]

Hardest part of a True self build project is financing it.

The Banks cover their ass and make sure their equity is covered. They don’t release the final draws until the project is 100 % complete. So figuring out how to build 100% with only 50-80% of the funds is the difficult part.

If you hiring contractors they might give you payment terms but if you’re pounding every nail yourself you might need a 3rd party investor to finance your last draw short term.

That’s were your Vancouver builder connection may be handy. Use their accounts or finance your last draws, giving them 10% on cash borrowed would be a good deal.

 

[gdhillon]

Ive been doing Team Auctions online.

I find they have better prices than RB.

They have real estate auctions to.


could have bought residential lots in Fairview by GP last week for 5g.

Had a quick browse, might have to buy some random crap and fill said lot instead of building lol

 

[S.W.A.T.]

In the OP, you mentioned your going to be the general contractor on the build. Have you looked into the rules regarding the homebuilder program in BC and what it all entails?

I know from others it's not the easiest process.

One other thing you didn't mention was power. Not sure what it costs to hook to city service $2500???? But rural is going to cost you 10k per pole, depending on your set back it will be 1 pole minimum plus hook up. 8 years ago we did my neighbors, 4 poles with drilling and blasting was close to 100k plus hook up.

Just something to keep in mind

 

[gdhillon]

A proper septic field has to be installed by a qualified installer and will run anywhere from 25-40 k depending on the person, much involved to get everything done properly. I build fibreglass septic tanks and have come up with a solution for those who cannot afford a septic field, I call it my "Redneck system". If you put in a holding tank that a truck will come and suck out it is a very simple process and an easy permit, once it is accepted by your inspector, I then have a system that you drop down the manway of my tank, bolt it in and install a pump and whallaa you just pump your grey water into your trees or grass etc, its not a legal system but there is nothing wrong fertilizing some bush, the government has made it so expensive for people with all the tests and requirements, its overkill forsure.

I like the idea of a hillbilly/redneck system haha and I am drawn towards doing things against our governing bodies best wishes lol

 

[gdhillon]

In the OP, you mentioned your going to be the general contractor on the build. Have you looked into the rules regarding the homebuilder program in BC and what it all entails?

I know from others it's not the easiest process.

One other thing you didn't mention was power. Not sure what it costs to hook to city service $2500???? But rural is going to cost you 10k per pole, depending on your set back it will be 1 pole minimum plus hook up. 8 years ago we did my neighbors, 4 poles with drilling and blasting was close to 100k plus hook up.

Just something to keep in mind

Yes I have, I’ll be going through the home builders course etc. that part isn’t a big issue for me

As for power the particular lot I’m looking at has a can at the road that can be utilized. My day job is a distribution designer/im the dude that makes up estimates for pole line extensions. Sourcing power is right in my wheel house lol, but thank you for bringing it up. Def can be very expensive if overlooked

100k for 4 poles sounds pretty steep, did you bring 3phase in? And was it in Berta?

 

[Catman10]

Yes my redneck systems are awesome and work very well arguably maybe better than my legal systems ha ha, have sold a half dozen a year and when I do hear back from customers they love how simple it is and how much money I saved them, times are tough and every bit helps. Also just for interest if anybody cares a fiberglass tank does not float out of the ground unless there is a high water table or if you run a eavestrough into a fresh hole you dug and it fills up with water, anchors are used for water tables and it is very effective, for the record I have seen concrete tanks that have floated as well its not about weight but about surface area.

 

[S.W.A.T.]

Yes I have, I’ll be going through the home builders course etc. that part isn’t a big issue for me

As for power the particular lot I’m looking at has a can at the road that can be utilized. My day job is a distribution designer/im the dude that makes up estimates for pole line extensions. Sourcing power is right in my wheel house lol, but thank you for bringing it up. Def can be very expensive if overlooked

100k for 4 poles sounds pretty steep, did you bring 3phase in? And was it in Berta?

Drilling and blasting isn't cheap

 

[gdhillon]

Drilling and blasting isn't cheap

Yea that’s true man, I haven’t done any work with rock since my Sechelt days, but the gnarly estimates are coming back to me now like a bad dream lol

 

[Outdoors]

A proper septic field has to be installed by a qualified installer and will run anywhere from 25-40 k depending on the person, much involved to get everything done properly. I build fibreglass septic tanks and have come up with a solution for those who cannot afford a septic field, I call it my "Redneck system". If you put in a holding tank that a truck will come and suck out it is a very simple process and an easy permit, once it is accepted by your inspector, I then have a system that you drop down the manway of my tank, bolt it in and install a pump and whallaa you just pump your grey water into your trees or grass etc, its not a legal system but there is nothing wrong fertilizing some bush, the government has made it so expensive for people with all the tests and requirements, its overkill forsure.

Why pump it out? You just need a gravity drain tank with perforated pipe on outlet.

 

[ferniesnow]

Back in 2000, we did a build in Elkford on 2/3 of an acre that we had to log. We used town services and nobody was closer than a block away. It was sort of like a “homestead” and we were quite fortunate with the home owners crap and the financing.
One story that I can share with this post was getting some money to meet some payments. I went to the bank and talked with the loan officer. It was only $50G’s that I needed at that time and the loan officer used my truck for collateral. First of all, it wasn’t worth $50 thousand and secondly, it had wheels and could be relocated quite easily. About 2 months down the road the bank manger phoned me and said, “we have to talk”. "The truck collateral won’t cut it", she said. She realized she was in a bind and worked out a construction mortgage. When we moved in, we got a regular mortgage to make life more comfortable.

 

[S.W.A.T.]

Why pump it out? You just need a gravity drain tank with perforated pipe on outlet.

Depends on your area, not all regions allow for it and not all sub material allows for gravity drains.

 

[gdhillon]

Farm status

Guidelines for obtaining farm status in Alberta.

www.alberta.ca

For the municipality they will need to have the property in agricultural production for it to be taxed at the farm property tax rate. If the property is assessed in a different class, for example, country residential the annual tax bill will be higher. More information on property taxes can be obtained for your county or municipal district office.

For income tax purposes the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) you are a farmer if you claim income from farming activity. To be considered a full-time farmer however the farm income will be compared to any off-farm income - if the off-farm income is higher the individual will only be eligible to only claim part of any farming losses against their other income. In addition the farm business must show a potential for profitability.


Let me know if you need more information. We deal with this a lot.

Thanks man. Did some more research on this, if I am interpreting bc assessments language correctly under 1.98 acres I’d only need 2500$ farm profit annually, and this can be done with xmas trees live stock etc.

Not really sure how much Xmas trees or shrubs go for but a guy could also do a bunch of free range eggs I suppose lol

I meant more so just for property tax at farm rate, I wouldn’t be able to give up my current gig and live of farming lol

 

[pano-dude]

Thanks man. Did some more research on this, if I am interpreting bc assessments language correctly under 1.98 acres I’d only need 2500$ farm profit annually, and this can be done with xmas trees live stock etc.

Not really sure how much Xmas trees or shrubs go for but a guy could also do a bunch of free range eggs I suppose lol

I meant more so just for property tax at farm rate, I wouldn’t be able to give up my current gig and live of farming lol

$2500 profit is alot of eggs at $5/ dozen lol
My property taxes are less than $1000 a year so I don't bother with Farm tax.
Sell eggs, pork and lamb for cash and it covers my costs sometimes lol.

 

[gdhillon]

$2500 profit is alot of eggs at $5/ dozen lol
My property taxes are less than $1000 a year so I don't bother with Farm tax.
Sell eggs, pork and lamb for cash and it covers my costs sometimes lol.

Are you in BC?

That ain’t bad for tax, if I market eggs at golds/local gyms I can round up a solid amount of lifters to keep my future chickens busy hahah

 

[pano-dude]

Are you in BC?

That ain’t bad for tax, if I market eggs at golds/local gyms I can round up a solid amount of lifters to keep my future chickens busy hahah

Yep, Invermere.
That would be a good place to sell them, lots of demand for farm eggs. Once a person eats good farm eggs they don't want to eat the factory eggs.
We keep 20ish laying chickens and 12 Muscovy ducks( any extras go into the freezer). Duck eggs are really good.

 

[X-it]

Some parts of PG have no water, some areas the water requires some fancy filtration to be drinkable rotten egg water so to speak. If you don't have water or water can't be hauled cheap don't build. Then dealing with the sewage, at one time you could put in a septic with infultrator or a lagoon really cheap, those days are gone 20 years back. Then there is the bugs go walk your property at the end of June and see how you like it. What direction and distance is your property from pg, i have probably built a house near there at one time. But don't ask me to build anything, not sure why i choose that to make a living from.

 

[Bnorth]

Thanks man. Did some more research on this, if I am interpreting bc assessments language correctly under 1.98 acres I’d only need 2500$ farm profit annually, and this can be done with xmas trees live stock etc.

Not really sure how much Xmas trees or shrubs go for but a guy could also do a bunch of free range eggs I suppose lol

I meant more so just for property tax at farm rate, I wouldn’t be able to give up my current gig and live of farming lol

The farm revenue bit often ends up being a paper exercise I think.

 

[S.W.A.T.]

The farm revenue bit often ends up being a paper exercise I think.

Exactly, I know guys buying and selling cattle that doesn't even exist.

 

[gdhillon]

Some parts of PG have no water, some areas the water requires some fancy filtration to be drinkable rotten egg water so to speak. If you don't have water or water can't be hauled cheap don't build. Then dealing with the sewage, at one time you could put in a septic with infultrator or a lagoon really cheap, those days are gone 20 years back. Then there is the bugs go walk your property at the end of June and see how you like it. What direction and distance is your property from pg, i have probably built a house near there at one time. But don't ask me to build anything, not sure why i choose that to make a living from.

West off black water about 3 mins west of cycle north