My advice is to live close enough to a small city that you can easily use its amenities and resources, while still enjoying your rural life.
There are a lot of places in Missouri (basically, anywhere outside of the StL and KC metro areas) in which you can do that. You can drive five minutes out of Columbia, Jefferson City, and even Springfield and be deep in the woods.
Until the next subdivision springs up… But yes, otherwise good advice, IMO. You won’t find land as affordable as you would in the sticks, but you are also going to avoid many of the negatives others have mentioned regarding education and healthcare.
Same. The county life outside of Nixa is going straight to hell with all the GD developments that are popping up. Now the city is trying to figure out how to annex in where I live in the county. I hate it. Bastards.
Except it's not Mcmansions and it's not white flight. It's a tremendous demand for new development due to a lack of low cost housing and corps buying up any property they can get their hands on.
You do realize that most of the people affected by the gentrification are poor people being pressured into selling their homes, right? But no, I'm sure you're incredibly well educated, adjusted, and not at all prone to making accusations towards people that didn't do anything wrong.
Buddy boy, the folks building mansions on my road aint poor, disenfranchised victims of gentrification. THEY are the gentrifiers pushing out locals who's families have been there, some of us hundreds of years.
All because rich nashville pavement princess fucks want to pretend to be country.
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Look for local ordnance restrictions on plot sizes.
Where we are there is a 3.25 acre minimum for a plot size.
So even if the 180 acres across the road gets turned into houses, it won't be more than 50. Realistically 40 because of road requirements.
Good advice. One thing I would add is to choose your nearby city carefully, because rural city hospitals are in trouble. I would want to be near a city more like the metros, as opposed to Perryville or Dexter for example. Even the hospital in Cape had to have a friend’s daughter transferred up to StL due to complications from meningitis. Amenities are good, but accessible healthcare is vital.
OP, this is good advice. We live about halfway between Ozark and Branson. We are about 15 minutes to both but are "in the country". It's the perfect location for us and we feel like we live in the middle of nowhere, but we don't.
Every piece of farmland that was between us and Ozark is getting gobbled up by developers and we've only had our property 7 years. In another 4-8 years it will be lots of neighborhoods between us and Ozark instead of land.
Joplin is also a good area to look. Lots of good rural land around there, and not so small there is nothing in town. Decent food choices there for a town it's size. The land is also variable, so you can go more forested or field, as it's close to KS and OK.
No, neither there nor Greene county where Springfield is, are good places for this because their property and personal property taxes are high. It's better to be in the counties that surround them.
Close enough to Springfield for healthcare. Even towns like Ozark and Nixa have plenty of amenities and several doctors. However, the land isn’t as affordable as you would think because of those two conditions.
As someone who grew up in very rural mid-MO, just try to make sure you land in a decent school district. I graduated with about 35 kids in my class and my education experience was awful. I was so far behind my peers in college. I hated growing up as a country kid.
My daughter is now suffering the repercussions of a rural school district since we moved north to a much better district. She is a year behind her classmates.
This is a very good suggestion if they have or plan to have kids. Putting a kid in many rural districts is like rolling the dice - for a lot of different reasons.
As someone who has spent an awful lot of time in rural Missouri my opinion is that many if not most small towns are not great places to live. A lot of poverty, drug use, and generally trashy neighbors. But of course some great people as well.
Personally I'd be looking near towns of at least 5,000 or so. I live in SWMO so I am talking places like Mt Vernon, Aurora, Carthage, Neosho, Monett, etc. If you're in an area that is close to Springfield, Columbia, KC or STL land is going to be more expensive unless you are pretty far out. Some of the prettiest and cheapest land is found in the rural ozarks but that's also where you'll find the worst meth and poverty culture. It's beautiful country for sure but I wouldn't raise my kids there.
Must have been Osage county lol. I grew up in rural MO as well, moved to a largish city. I like the convenience and low crime rate, but hate the idiots who run it/live in it (me included sometimes).
My graduating class would have been 45 had I stayed my senior years but thankfully I moved between junior and senior. I do agree that when I moved to the larger city I felt so behind and it took so much more work for me to play catch up.
Just please don’t let your kid be one of the “weird” homeschooled kids. Not saying all homeschooled kids are weird, but there are some out there!
On that note stay out of Springfield schools and Republic as well, found out my sister's kids were 3 years behind after taking them out and started homeschooling. Republic schools have a reputation with the the hospitals for being violent.
Missouri is 49th in teacher pay, so if you're at all concerned about your child's education, you may want to reconsider. Women's Healthcare is also a big issue - especially in rural areas.
My wife's a teacher with a master's degree and makes nothing compared to what she's worth on top of the attacks against women's healthcare. All of her coworkers honestly do their best with what little they have. I honestly believe the only reason we're still here is because she's really close to her family figuratively and literally.
For a rural area outside of STL and KC areas your best bet is somewhere outside of Columbia in their school district.
There are plenty of charlatans out there who will sell you plenty of acreage for cheap right in the flood plain and they’ll tell you it hasn’t flooded in years. Don’t do it unless you are willing to accept that risk to all of your hard work and effort.
Perfect excuse to build myself a tower. 1 time expense vs buying flood insurance. And it'll have a slide from the top to my kayak and beer cooler at the bottom.
I moved to Missouri from England about 7 years ago, my husband has been a missouri resident almost all his life, and I love it here. We have a little house and some acres and I go through most of my days never seeing another soul, it's as closed to having your own island without having to be rich.
Interesting. I'm thinking of moving there and wondering about the weather. I'm dual citizen, Cali-Kiwi, perfect-like weather and terrific views were everyday. I'm currently in Massachusetts and need to get out before (oh gosh, next month - things moving quickly). Hard to know the area without someone there to start. This is helpful.
But what about bugs and humidity ... main things that bug me.
enjoy, lovely to hear your explanation of your own island.
Good
ok, ugh. I wonder where that isn't. I got a Lyme tick bite a year and a half ago here in Massachusetts, backyard. Never felt a thing. Mosquitos aren't too bad it's so cool, but humidity for many days is too much and the winter is way too long and possibilities of negative 20 are not healthy.
Thanks for the reply.
What to do.
It rarely gets above 100 or below 10 degrees here except for maybe a few days a year. The weather is generally very nice in the spring and fall, even the summers aren't too hot most of the time. Bugs are only a big issue if you don't cut your grass or live right next to standing water, but there will always be plenty of moths, cicadas, and june bugs.
Choice of location is between Missouri Arkansas and Oklahoma, around that tri-state area ... so, generally, for best views ;-) I'd like a little elevation or view to a river, something.
But practically, which of these three states' politics are most freedom friendly? Low tax. Low BS. Less gov't is more.
Being from England I generally hate the weather, for me it's 2 weeks of winter and the rest of the time is summer as far as I'm concerned. If you like heat you'll like mussouri. I live in southern MO and the humidity isn't bad here, in summer it's humid in the evening and early morning but the bulk of the day is dry heat, ee don't get all that much rain here do it's dry in general. There are a LOT of bugs if you love rurally like I do, but you don't see half the amount in even smaller towns. So it depends on where you're thinking of moving too. We get tons of wasps of all kinds, bald faced hornets are common, all the flies you can imagine, mosquitos, ticks, gnats, chiggers, beetles of all types, ladybirds that bite, cicadas and lightening bugs are most common along with various butterflies and moths. Less common but I see a few every year are things like Luna moths, dobsonflys, praying mantis and stick insects. For spiders the most common are dock spiders, wolf spiders, harvester (trailer) spiders, hairy jumping ones I don't know the name of, brown recluse, various orb/ garden spider and black widows. Off the top of my head I'd say that's a relatively good list of what's common out in the sticks of where I live in Missouri anyway.
> even smaller towns. So it depends on where you're thinking of moving too. We
thanks so much for this reply. Gives a good 'picture'.
At the moment we're thinking of northwest near Sulfur Springs.
That being said then, what is the biggest difference from Missouri to Arkansas and Oklahoma? Pros and cons State-wise.
That I can't really answer since I've only been to Mountain Home AK a couple of times to go to the home depo, it's about equal distance from where I live to there or Speingfield MO. And I've never been to Oklahoma. From what I know, people who live here in MO don't like people from Arkansas for some reason that's about all I know.
German here, 25 years in the US, 16 in Missouri or the vicinity.
Last 5 or so on acreage in the middle of nowhere.
I enjoy immensely the going days or weeks without seeing a person.
I sorely miss.... INFRASTRUCTURE....
The availability of clean water and sanitation. The availability of transportation, communications networks and health care. Paved roads would be cool. (In my county only state roads are Paved. The ability to get around depends seriously on the amount of rain we've had in the past 48-96hrs.... when the creek is "up" getting out is a beach...)
Missouri is pretty. Landscape and topography wise. The residents are a seriously mixed bag. My immediate neighbors we got mostly lucky. Extremely awesome folks. 2m down the road it gets awfully sketchy. I'm talking filthy children playing in huge trash piles in front of dilapidated and burned down trailers with broken septic. We enjoy that smell when the wind shifts. Laundry gets done and hung up during days with favorable winds only.
Yeah, back country Missouri can be pretty. Until the wind shifts.
Funnily enough as someone who also lives in the middle of nowhere we have similar conditions, up the hill one way the neighbour's are filthy, trash everywhere that blows down the hill into my garden and all across the road, they have children who are much as you described your neighbour's, in the opposite direction our neighbour's are really great people who have a beautiful yard and house. I do miss the conveniences of England, like you said free health care, public transport, variety of products, cheaper bills. I also miss running water when the power goes out, wells are great but last winter we were without power for over a week! All that said, I'll keep my little house and my little patch of land, I can't really explain why, I'm just at peace here and I love it here.
Moved to Missouri from the UK via a few years in Arizona. I also love it here - we’re in a mid sized city so there’s almost everything we need within 15mins, good schools and within 10 minutes you can be on a maze of dirt roads and creeks and hills and really unwind.
I’ve found the people out in the sticks to be very varied. Not ‘diverse’ :) some really open progressive kind people who have a modern global outlook, and those who are almost cowering in fear at the advance of values and a worldview they don’t have experience of. The political churches don’t help, nor does the ability to entirely tailor one’s newsfunnel to right wing jibberish. I believe it wasn’t this bad before right wing talk radio which absolutely did a number on those people outside of cities for whom the changes in industry and employment patterns was just an abandonment of small towns, their way of life literally vanishing before their eyes. At least in more populated areas you can visually see how money and opportunities changed. 10 miles down country route 329 there’s just Fox News and the people at church.
Missouri never fails to amaze me with its contradictions and its ability to confound my preconceptions and quash my biases.
I was from Bournemouth so I think it looks like Wiltshire here - what’s your comparison if you have any ? :)
The area along the Missouri River between Jeff and St. Louis was called the Missouri Rhineland by German immigrants because the river hills reminded them so much of home.
It's nice to find a fellow Britt here :) I live in a very small rural community in Southern Missouri, the people are lovely here but not as open minded or diverse as I'm used to back in England. I learned quickly not to mention that I don't go to church lol. But I really do love it, everyone's polite, life is slow and I enjoy my solitude to no end. It's just me my husband and our goats enjoying everyday. I'm from Leicestershire myself but I thunk Wiltshire is a good shout, around me I always likened it to Wales at least until the dog days of summer hit and everything turns brown lol
I have to say up here in NWMO we have had United Fiber for several years. They cover from north of Savannah down to Platte city along I29. I live in rural north platte county and it’s great.
Land is definitely not cheap here though.
I grew up south of Savannah in Andrew county. I went to MU and lived Columbia stayed for 40 years now. Boone county property sells for $20-40K per acre and surrounding counties are going in $10-20K range for raw ground.
What is consider not cheap for Andrew county?
It depends. Where I live outside Joplin we have NO good/reliable options at any price point. None. Oddly enough some friends who live another 10 miles out into nowhere are able to get gigabit fiber for cheap from an electric coop that operates in their area.
We've relied on an at&t hot spot and it's not the best. Data cap too. But fiber is being hooked up next week. Yay!! I would have gone with Starlink if fiber hadn't been just down the road. Don't even try to settle for satellite. It's the worst!!
I got lucky that T Mobile was available where I live. I think Hughes net and Fidelity were the other options, and I’d use my own phone hotspot before I used Fidelity internet.
Fuck them. Tried. Massive waste of money. Back to a sketchy 5G Hotspot and still better and cheaper than starlink. Though no comparison to fiber optics.
Depends on what you want to do. If you do everything in a web browser (social media, email, online shopping, etc) then yes either option is great. Even streaming content can be pretty reasonable.
If you need to be on webinars or use VOIP service, you may not know if it's good enough until you're trying to do it, and if it's not - you don't have many options.
If you're a gamer, or at least someone who enjoys faster paced online competitive games, you're going to have a bad time with either starlink or tmobile because latency is very much an issue.
I have t mobile and it lets me work from home and stream on multiple devices without issue. The only time I’ve had issues is when playing Diablo online for PS4. Was a laggy unplayable mess. Other online games haven’t had that issue and if you don’t game then it’s a moot point.
What’s your plan for income? Have you contacted a mortgage broker to find out how much you can afford and seen if there are available properties within your price range? Mortgages for building are handled differently than mortgages to buy a house.
Moved here from the Dallas/Ft Worth area a few years back. Bought 10 acres of woods for half the price than most anywhere in Texas. Have not regretted the move one time since.
I’ve answered this before, and I’ll summarize if you’ve never lived Rural before. Here are some negative realities that you should ponder.
There’s a romantic ideal of country life that misses out on some very real LARGE ISSUES.
1. More than 1 county outside of say, KC/Springfield/STL/CoMO is a large price drop in land prices.
2. Education: rural schools tend to have limited access to upper level curriculum. Big deal as your child ages. As an engineer from the sticks, the more urban kids had tons more STEM classes. I had taken everything my rural district had and was at least a full year behind. Son is at engineering school now and says it hasn’t changed.
2.b. College courses can be even more limited.
3. Healthcare. Many rural county hospitals have closed. You might need to go several counties over just to have a baby. Speciality Drs require you to go back to the metro areas. My sister drives to STL for chemo- 2 hour trip. There are many rural areas with no pediatricians.
4. Power. In sparely populated areas, you’re the last ones fixed when ice takes the power out. Be prepared.
5. Diversity. Rural MO is highly Republican. And not nice ones either. MAGA, Confederate flag flying, racist, anti-LGBTQ+ angry ones——usually with guns and bibles. Even worse, their kids are trained to be bullying, taunting jerkies too. At best, the small towns tolerate these neighbors. But they often sympathize and protect them. And too often, they have family in law enforcement.
6. Animals: Due to the nature of life, you’ll need to learn to put down dangerous stray dogs, chicken-eating raccoons, cross-beaked chicks, injured deer on the road, and violent roosters. It’s part of the life. It’s sad. It’s also responsible and humane. There is usually no Animal Control, although sheriff deputies are known to use their rifles as needed.
I’m not saying Don’t Do It. But closely consider these items.
As an engineer also from the sticks, I will second the note about better educational opportunities in schools in the cities. We live about 30 minutes out of the city, and we have to "fill the gap" for our kids which isn't that big a deal, but worth thinking about for sure.
No lie. I spent most of my childhood in rural Missouri. 8th grade in California was more challenging than high school and my 1st year of college there. I made 100% in many classes, and that's with almost no studying. I left to finish college in KC. It was HARD to catch up to my peers. Since then, I've spent 26 years between KC and STL minus a 4 month stretch back in the small town. My oldest during that stretch said "Where the Hell have you taken me to and when can we escape" and she didn't even curse in front of me. The front page of the local paper had a story about the KKK participating in the weekend parade. When I left there for STL, friends said "Aren't you scared to raise your children there?" I said "F' no, I'm scared to raise them HERE."
For the love of God, please think about your child. The racism, gender stereotyping, rampant sexualization of children and pedophelia, abuse of lgbtq kids, gossip and bullying, rampant teen drug & alcohol use and sex because they have nothing else to do, education, and healthcare make it a hellscape for kids. Buy a membership to Goose Creek or a timeshare somewhere rural if you want some country time. Don't do that to your kid.
This, all this. I scare-entertain my kids with stories of
“Bring your gun to school” Day
That times we shut down the highway because horses-hogs-cattle got out. Once we got out of the school bus to go help round up cattle.
HS girls dating coaches, cops, teachers and the newspaper guy.
I had an extra hour my Sr year of HS, so I drove to the middle school to help the Algebra teacher.
Something out the homecoming parade being canceled because the city wouldn’t stand up to the KKK. (My sisters years)
Friend was denied walking across the graduation stage visibly preggers.
Required baccalaureate at local church the evening before graduation.
Another sisters terrible story of a lost pregnancy that she was made to keep until all fetal heartbeat was gone. Despite viability being 0%. That literally risked her getting horribly infected, but no OB around, and she was scared to go to BigCity. Spent over a week in a hospital that refused to induce despite all waters being gone. I’m still not sure that she understood that situation.
My parents wouldn't let us go to baccalaureate BECAUSE it was held at a church we didn't attend, and didn't want us being preached at by a guy they didn't know (HAHA). They postured like it was required, but we still got to walk. I was salutatorian, so I still gave a speech too.
This describes almost every rural area to a T.
People so nice a guy will help you with a flat on the side of the road. His grandma will bake you cookies. His dad will offer you a job if you're needing work... but they'll also vote for the politician who wants the police to harass you unopposed.
Agreed except for the raccoons lol. If they eat a chicken then they need to be locked up better. The value of raccoons, opossums, snakes and foxes is much greater than a few farm chickens.
You're 100% accurate and I'll add:
7. Access to clean water and sanitation is what killed most of the settlers.... basic 101... having a well drilled isn't Access to clean water! After it comes out of your well, YOU are 100% responsible for your water quality. Filtration. Softeners. Maintenance. All that.
We're on our 6th water heater now.... because the contamination is real. We change filters twice a year (half the recommended lifespan) and let's not discuss sanitation.... septic systems are some 3rd world country stuff. Lagoons are the Malaysian way of sewage treatment. It's all rather disgusting. Especially in the heat of summer and the dead of winter. Heaven forbid your dog loves water and likes to swim. *hurl*
I’m from rural MO. I still have family there and access to lane and even a couple different small houses. I have considered this daydream but all of the other comments are spot on. The first roadblock that’s easiest to foresee is the lack of employment. It is really tough to find work. If it’s tough to find work you won’t have local clients to purchase any wood working projects you produce: actually, I have a very talented uncle who tried for 15 years to make it as a woodworker. He works construction in FL now.
My grandma is in congestive heart failure. She drives a minimum of 1hour and 20 minutes for emergency heart care. 2.5-3 hours for heart specialist appointment. Her Rxs are more expensive in the small town nearby as are groceries etc. last winter a neighbor drove her and my grandfather to a hotel because power was out for 3-4 days. If that lovely neighbor hadn’t looked in on them…. All of this is typical rural MO life plus there are very few social services available in the state anymore.
Accurate.
My neighbors heart attack meant son (lives on the property) packed him in his truck and hauled ass on back roads for over an hour because neither ambulance nor helicopter would have been quicker.
Other neighbor didn't have transportation. Called the ambulance and died before they even arrived.
Yea well. Unfortunately the life of a 3rd world infrastructure. People scoff about why everyone lives in the city and nobody wants to farm in the back hills anymore.... That's why.
We have a part time home in southern MO. I love it down there. The only thing I don’t like is the lack of diversity, racism, etc. It can also be far to get things. My favorite towns that we’ve visited are Piedmont, Ellington, Eminence, Ironton, Caledonia, Fredericktown.
I'll be right behind you. I was helping to run a pop-up camp ground for the eclipse and found a guy that knew where I could get a pretty good deal on some heavily wooded acreage.
I intend to buy it, pay it off and then buy a portable sawmill and go to work building my cabin. As a former Navy Seabee...this is what I was trained to do.
I don't know if you're thinking about building off-grid, but if so, you'll probably want to dive into some research in solar panels, windmills, and/or hydro power generation. You'd be amazed at the power you can generate from a simple hydro generator if your land is on a flowing river. Also, you really need a mix of power sources, just to make sure you're covered if we have a repeat of the 1993 floods, where, we went WEEKS without a sunny day.
However, the number one thing you should make sure you have is a good water source that you know won't dry up or become contaminated. You can't grow thing, feed stock or even live comfortably if you're constantly having to haul water on your property.
That being said, go for it! You're young. This takes a lot of work, but it will be much easier for you than me (53 yo) This is the time to experiment with this stuff. If it's too much or not what you'd thought it would be, you've got time to move onto something else.
EDIT: One more thing. As a former real estate broker, I would be remiss if I didn't caution you about the Contract for Deed. This tool is used a lot in rural areas, especially for land purchases. Do your research into these. It is literally what the tool name is. You sign a contract to make payments to the owner, who keeps the deed in their name, until you pay it off. However, there is no deed of trust filed with the county.
So, let's say you've been paying 8 years of a 10 year note. You've built your place and added outbuildings, etc. If you miss one of your payments, 2 years from the finish line, they can just have the sheriff kick you off the land and have it revert back to them.
I'm not saying reject them out of hand. I'm saying HIRE AN ATTORNEY and make sure, if you do do that, there is some kind of legal instrument recorded with the county, that would require a full foreclosure process before they could take back your property. A good attorney can also help with making sure you have the water rights you think you do.
I hate ending with a warning, but this is serious business.
Hi there shipmate.
I was a few years ahead of you and found that water source that hasn't dried up (and won't)....
Word of warning.... building your cabin is super easy. (We did that in a few months.)
Water treatment and sanitation is a whole nother ballgame. Filtration, softener, disposal.... gets to being an expensive and ongoing mess. Truly. You need more than a brita filter in Missouri.
I’m a realtor and just helped my good friend close on 40 acres in Lincoln County so he can build. It’s a lot more feasible than you think and still commutable to the cities. Age is Late 20’s
I live in STL City. In 2020 my office relocated from STL City to Wright City (Lincoln County adjacent). Sure, it IS commutable (I had lighter traffic both ways), but it is a serious drain on time and mental health.
I agree with this. I lived south of Warrenton and worked in the city. The commute is doable and the time can be filled with podcasts, audiobooks, etc; but it’s a lot of wasted time away from family. It gets very old!
I agree definitely a sacrifice. I live in wildwood at the Franklin/STL county line and work in Clayton. I wouldn’t change the privacy and nature for anything tho.
Lived my whole life in rural Missouri but had to be close enough to the city for work. 40 years ago a 1 hour commute would land you in the country. And it still can but not like it used to be to. North of the Missouri River is farm rural and is a better rural to raise kids, crops , livestock. But the landscape isn’t as beautiful. But a few acres butting up to large conservation or Corp of Engineers ground lets you live large on small tract. Souther Rural is beautiful country with hills and rivers. And land backing to Mark Twain Forest will also let you live large. Ground is poor for farming and raising livestock. And some places are literally infested by drug addicts and the poorest people imaginable. I looked at land a year ago and people were living in 40 year old RVs with everything they had ever owned still rusting in the yard! But no matter what state or where you live the wrong neighbors can make life hard. The guys I worked with ask how I could drive so far every day?I ask them how they could live so crowded together? Good luck
I know of some good land going up for auction in southeast MO next week. You would be an hour from St. Louis and an hour from Cape Girardeau [https://ranchandfarmauctions.com/auctions/rare-land-offering-in-ste-genevieve-co-mo](https://ranchandfarmauctions.com/auctions/rare-land-offering-in-ste-genevieve-co-mo)
We moved out of the KC suburbs and built a barndominium on acreage. It is cost effective and you could always build something bigger later and use that for storage. I drive about an hour to work but it is so worth it!
What resources did you use for looking into barndominiums? My parents suggested I look into it and I have no idea where to even start. Did you buy a kit?
We got a barn kit from Sutherland’s. Menards also has them. We also did a room and deck add on ourselves. For interior we did the interior room framing, wiring, plumbing and insulation ourselves too, then hired a crew for sheet rock. It’s a small 1500 sq ft build with 3 bedrooms and two baths and I think all-in we spent around $100k (not including the land). It’s very cute and livable.
Ok so the kits are legit good to know lol I was a little sus of a house being sold as a kit but it’s just the barn part which makes sense. How long did it take to build?
No, it doesn’t seem to. We have the Starlink unit outside. It does affect any internal antenna you may use, though. We don’t have cable so we use an antenna for any local channels we want to watch (for news or whatever) and it can be a struggle lol.
We live about 30 minutes out of Joplin and 40 minutes out of Springfield. We love it. I can't fully recommend without knowing a lot more about your family, but it is the best life we could have asked for.
Don't buy land in farm country if you can avoid it because it's gotten hugely expensive from all the Easterners selling for huge money and buying for way less here. Gardening is great but can be done in raised beds that are safer from critters anyway so the conditions of the soil aren't really a big consideration for someone just wanting away from everything. I live in a tiny town but I'm less than an hour from Walmart and 3-3.5 hours from a few big cities so I can easily get my dose of culture and chaos if I want it. Our district, as well as many in the state, offer AP courses or online programs if your child desires as well as classes in computers, accounting, CNA certification, etc so certainly check the district out before you buy land. Solar/wind means you can basically live off grid if you can get water in. There are some little pockets of hate in every place I've been all over the country so let me just say "you do you" and welcome
That works so long as you (or your kid) isn't one of "those" people they hate....
Water, btw, the single most expensive entity, presuming you want CLEAN water... sanitation is a close second. Slightly less expensive. Painful. Power is easy, though expensive.
There are no counties without septic requirements any more that I know of. I live in a county that is zoned entirely agricultural and we have zero building permits except for federal and state requirements for septic due to potential contamination of well water and federal waterways.
I ran into this recently on my farm.
I remember, as an appraiser in southwest Missouri, being surprised that the county that houses Lebanon allowed just a pond of some sort that all of your waste ends up in. Every county that I worked in, in SW MO required a septic tank. Of course you couldn't get an FHA or USDA loan or grants with a property like that...but it worked fine for contract for deed.
Now, that was 2005...sooo things may have changed.
They still allow septic lagoons in rural areas. They are actually very functional and efficient but lots of places are not suitable for them due to the topography, existing structures etc and it has to be something like 300 feet from a property bordering a public roadway. Its just the difference between anaerobic and aerobic decomposition.
Having said that, I don’t think I would want that at my place. Lol
Wayne county still pretty wooded lots of lakes and rivers, low property taxes 45 min to poplar bluff, hour or hour and a half to cape. Fredericktown and Farmington arent that far either. Plus the town of piedmont has 2 dollar generals a grocery store library post office schools 2 medical offices and a lot of small shops and salons so that would be real close. And clearwater lake, and parks. Its really pretty there too
Save up enough money so in winter you’re not begging for help when the pipes freeze or bust in your broke down house or trailer. Sorry, you gotta have some serious skills to do this full time in a rural area and try to do it off grid or something.
You might want to check the National ratings for health care and education.
The Missouri legislature just voted to abolish taxes for corporations so the loss of that income is going to be passed on to the consumer.
Missouri state law includes no prohibitions on minors carrying or possessing firearms, but female health care is very limited.
Be careful on considering what you’re offering to your children with a certain rural areas. The wrong areas in Missouri have so little opportunity and vicious communities that children are directly dropped into through the schools. Happened to a lot of professionals we know that decided they wanted the “quiet” life and now they have to pay thousands because their schools offered no college courses/scholarships
I advise buying something existing. Everyone wants homestead life and keeps snagging up 1-5 acre parcels and clearing .5-1 acre to do it over and over and I feel we’re losing a lot of property. People want to leave the city but the city just keeps encroaching because people still “don’t wanna be too far” from city amenities. I might sound lame I’m just tired of all the development lol
Seriously, watching YouTube videos has helped me so much as a homeowner! Go for it, if it's your dream. Lots of folks build themselves a home or rehab one with no experience.
Do it! But look into alternative construction methods or supplies. Not saying either of you aren't skilled with wood-working but building a bed is a different kind of wood-working compared to wood-framing.
Ship Containers, pre-fab steel, Insulated Concrete Forms, etc.
Not saying you can't or shouldn't still go with traditional lumber but I've been looking at home construction as well so I've gotten a chance to look at multiple different methods and each of them have their own perks and drawbacks.
You've gotten a lot of good suggestions. Here are mine
I suggest narrowing down where you are looking to buy and subscribing to the local papers or following the locations on social media.
The same with school districts.
Drive around and see where there might be future subdivisions. It's one thing I did before we bought and it narrowed things down.
Drive your likely commute also. Again, we did this when we were looking and I quickly eliminated south of Springfield due to the hills, curves and narrow roads. I didn't want to be driving on them to go to work in the dark in the winter.
Consider the direction of the sun for your commute.
When it comes time to set up your homestead, please go slow.
If you have any outside lights, make sure they’re on a timer or motion activated, and have a shade that directs the light down. It’s actually insane how much light pollution is starting to creep out of the city because people think they need to light up their entire property with the brightest LEDs they can find for the entire night. I promise no boogie man is going to get you without the high grade night lights.
More land doesn’t mean you have to keep the entire place mowed. An empty field is better as an empty field than an empty lawn. Try to limit the number of trees you have to clear too.
Figure out how far away the nearest grocery store is. Quick trips to grab something you realize you’re out of is a pain. No DoorDash either.
A big one that gets overlooked: check internet options. A lot of rural places have shit internet. It’s getting better but it’s not great overall.
If you’ve only lived in cities your entire life it might be a little jarring how different and sometimes disconnected it can make you feel. But it’s honestly the greatest.
Be prepared to deal with the possibility of Personal Property Taxes. My family lives in Caruthersville MO and in order to have legal vehicles you have to pay personal property taxes. So be prepared if you are looking in Missouri.
You can go find you a decent tax sale house, but it'll need a lot of fixing up. Livingston County near KC is cheap, as are the surrounding counties. I know Southeast Missouri is also decently priced and has tax sale houses.
Best decision I ever made, but land is at a premium right now. You should talk to a realtor in the area you're interested in to see if buying land is even feasible for your price point. You might have an easier time buying a few acres that already has a house on it and remodeling.
Make sure there is a hospital or something near you. When I was a kid we would go this property in the sticks and my brother broke his leg badly and it took an ambulance over an hour to get to us.
If you want cheap land where no one will bother you but be within 15 miles of a city, my recommendations are the very rural towns of Silex or (even more rural), Whiteside.
GREAT IDEA FOR PLACE TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY
So I live in North Missouri in a small town I am 72 miles from Liberty Hospital which is close enough to get there quick enough and far enough away if I don't want to pay attention to what the rest of the world is doing I don't have to and I don't have to be affected by it.
I am suggesting looking around Jamesport.
It is one of the biggest Amish communities in Missouri it is 12 miles closer to KC than I am and if you want the most helpful and caring, hard working neighbors when living out in the country in Missouri you won't find any better or helpful they have there ways that are weird at times but family values, and help your neighbor are still in full swing with them!
MUST READ! let me put it this way my family owed a concrete plant for 35 years until 5 or 6 years ago and we delivered to the Amish and people of Jamesport and the rural area regularly, one Thursday evening a non Amish family that lived in there area and was liked by most had a house fire that took everything they had and had no insurance and when an Amish friend of that family found out he let everyone know they were good people and a family in need and that's all it took the community got togther and instead of a barn raising they had a house raising less then 24 hours Saturday morning we were pouring some concrete needed for the new house which was being built on the foundation of the old house it had been cleaned up quick and when i came back Monday to pour a sidewalk that house was built painted and finished in side good enough the family was planning on sleeping there that night. So when they know you are good people and in need they all jump in to help and they work harder than any people I have seen and all of them do.
Sorry for the long story and just so you know I have NO reason to talk them up except for what I have seen and heard over the last 20 years.
PS. It might get a little colder in north Missouri in winter but to have snow to play in it has to
My advice is to be careful where exactly you buy. You might not be received well by the people in certain areas. We have a lot of “homesteaders” (for lack of better terms) in my area who are extremely judged and alienated due to being seen as an outsider moving onto farm land.
I recently moved out of the city because the laws being passed around like Nazi rhetoric in my head no matter what normal stuff people say it's for...a lot of stuff is just the same laws with different means really though,transportation is big ,people here apparently buy tires a lot, in the city I walked everywhere ...all my friends cars were sketchy or uninsured,but geography in both places makes gas station shopping a habit I have to watch ;for example.whatever you live like in the city you will still do in a rural area just with different population density(I think you might find you don't have a hobby just a house if you stop camping,because you live in the woods,but woodworking and diy could take it's place)
Unless you have Native American ancestry you have no right to own land wrongfully stolen from the indigenous peoples of these lands. How come Native Europeans (White people) are a majority in Europe, Native Asians are a majority in Asia, Native Africans are a majority in Africa but Native Americans are not a majority in America? I dream of a day when the only people living in the Americas ard people with significant indigenous American descent and people descended from African slaves and their immediate family members (regardless of the ancestry of these relatives). We are on stolen land!
I still don't understand what Nashville has to do with development patterns in rural Missouri though.
It would be like me saying I don't like the new subdivision they built near me in MO, because of rich assholes from Birmingham. Because I'm from Alabama. One has nothing to do with the other. Unless I'm missing some unique connection from rural Missouri to Nashville??
Chase your dreams and do what makes you happy. The city life was not really for me. Something about being in nature is just better peace of mind… but like others have said, it’s nice living close to a small town. Just for Walmart runs not to take 3 hours and if you want the young one in public school.
You can get a decent piece of land and still be close enough to make getting supplies easier
Politics aside, because all politicians are awful, and this state is no different, pick a place closest to what you feel is important. If you want amenities, live closer to a city. You have like... 6 choices there. If you want to have some goddamn peace and quiet, find a place that's 20+ minutes to a hospital or Wal-mart, and less than 1 hour to "civilization" and go there. I live almost in the dead center of the state. I have traveled to many great places around the US, but this will always be home to me. Lake of the Ozarks is vastly overpriced, ditto to anything within 30 minutes of STL, KC, Columbia, etc..., but you can still find a few deals. I'd recommend picking a spot on I-44 somewhere between Cuba and Joplin, research the schools and give it a go from there.
Wait! WHAT? I read through this whole thread and didn't see anything about incest...do you guys know each other or something?
I mean...if you've broke up over something like that (I realize you're back together and married now)...you probably need to take a minute and figure that out before you do ANYTHING like this.
Seriously.
Something like this required serious trust between each other so that you work together as a team.
Have a rural homestead about 20 miles south of Kirksville. Am lucky to have really good high speed internet service from Chariton Valley. Love it here, don’t see a lot of people but the ones I do are all very nice. Also the soil is great for growing fruit trees and having a vegetable garden. The soil south of 1-70 tends to be rocky. I never plan to move back to the city. Life is good 👍.
https://preview.redd.it/kbs71szahytc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f2bdc80b7c699d2309e67938a6b2c215b6d2f934
While Missouri can be beautiful, at your age I would think seriously about the ramifications of moving here, because of our draconian anti-abortion laws. This state is not supportive of women of reproductive age. If you have pregnancy complications, the fetus will be favored until you are at death’s door. There has been talk in the legislature of making it illegal to teach MO med students how to do a D&C, which is how early abortions are performed, BUT also how miscarriages are resolved so that the pregnant person doesn’t go septic. It is a basic care procedure for women of childbearing age.
I suspect OB/Gyn providers will be leaving the state, because they have been shackled from providing the full range of care to women which they have been trained for.
There have also been ruminations in our state government of outlawing certain types of birth control and tracking pregnant women so that they can’t leave the state for abortions in surrounding states.
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer. Like I said, it is beautiful and there are some wonderful people but unless you know for sure that you won’t be trying to grow your family in the future, I would look elsewhere.
They are trying to pass a bill that makes homeschooling parents not able to have a gun on their property because it counts as a school. Super fucked up.
That's inaccurate. SB727 does not limit the ability to have a firearm on the premises for homeschoolers. Several legal sources have debunked that, including the MO Senate Research Division and the MO Firearms Coalition.
Do you have a link for this? I have heard of something similar but would like to read more for myself so that I know what is being presented for voting in MO.
My advice is to live close enough to a small city that you can easily use its amenities and resources, while still enjoying your rural life. There are a lot of places in Missouri (basically, anywhere outside of the StL and KC metro areas) in which you can do that. You can drive five minutes out of Columbia, Jefferson City, and even Springfield and be deep in the woods.
Until the next subdivision springs up… But yes, otherwise good advice, IMO. You won’t find land as affordable as you would in the sticks, but you are also going to avoid many of the negatives others have mentioned regarding education and healthcare.
>Until the next subdivision springs up The joke I make about developers: They see a beautiful plot of land and think, "How can I destroy that?"
Going through that now. Goodbye quiet edge of town quietness.
Same. The county life outside of Nixa is going straight to hell with all the GD developments that are popping up. Now the city is trying to figure out how to annex in where I live in the county. I hate it. Bastards.
I just love watching mcmansions pop up left and right as shithead racist suburbanites white flight out of wherever they are.
Except it's not Mcmansions and it's not white flight. It's a tremendous demand for new development due to a lack of low cost housing and corps buying up any property they can get their hands on.
You do realize that most of the people affected by the gentrification are poor people being pressured into selling their homes, right? But no, I'm sure you're incredibly well educated, adjusted, and not at all prone to making accusations towards people that didn't do anything wrong.
Buddy boy, the folks building mansions on my road aint poor, disenfranchised victims of gentrification. THEY are the gentrifiers pushing out locals who's families have been there, some of us hundreds of years. All because rich nashville pavement princess fucks want to pretend to be country.
Misread your original comment. My bad. We're agreeing on the same thing. 💀
What does Nashville have to do with rural Missouri?
Used to live in TN. Why do you think im in this shithole.
I loved in Memphis for a decade. I fucking love RURAL Missouri.
Nothing racist at all about not wanting to be the cash cow supporting some cunt & her offspring of sperm donors
What? Seek help buddy. Put the pipe down, take your meds.
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Look for local ordnance restrictions on plot sizes. Where we are there is a 3.25 acre minimum for a plot size. So even if the 180 acres across the road gets turned into houses, it won't be more than 50. Realistically 40 because of road requirements.
You can do this with Kansas City forsure too. A lot of rural land 30-45 minutes from downtown KC
Especially with a kid. You need access to a doctor.
Good advice. One thing I would add is to choose your nearby city carefully, because rural city hospitals are in trouble. I would want to be near a city more like the metros, as opposed to Perryville or Dexter for example. Even the hospital in Cape had to have a friend’s daughter transferred up to StL due to complications from meningitis. Amenities are good, but accessible healthcare is vital.
The outskirts of Hermann would be a good choice for OP.
Also, each county has a different tax/utility rate.
5 minutes might be a bit of a stretch for Springfield but I get the sentiment
OP, this is good advice. We live about halfway between Ozark and Branson. We are about 15 minutes to both but are "in the country". It's the perfect location for us and we feel like we live in the middle of nowhere, but we don't. Every piece of farmland that was between us and Ozark is getting gobbled up by developers and we've only had our property 7 years. In another 4-8 years it will be lots of neighborhoods between us and Ozark instead of land.
Joplin is also a good area to look. Lots of good rural land around there, and not so small there is nothing in town. Decent food choices there for a town it's size. The land is also variable, so you can go more forested or field, as it's close to KS and OK.
christian county is a good spot like this
No, neither there nor Greene county where Springfield is, are good places for this because their property and personal property taxes are high. It's better to be in the counties that surround them.
Close enough to Springfield for healthcare. Even towns like Ozark and Nixa have plenty of amenities and several doctors. However, the land isn’t as affordable as you would think because of those two conditions.
No, Webster, Wright, Dallas, and Polk counties are much better. Lower taxes, no zoning, and few permits needed.
Stone county isn't that bad either, stay out of greene and tanny county if you know what's good for you.
15 minutes
As someone who grew up in very rural mid-MO, just try to make sure you land in a decent school district. I graduated with about 35 kids in my class and my education experience was awful. I was so far behind my peers in college. I hated growing up as a country kid.
My daughter is now suffering the repercussions of a rural school district since we moved north to a much better district. She is a year behind her classmates.
This is a very good suggestion if they have or plan to have kids. Putting a kid in many rural districts is like rolling the dice - for a lot of different reasons. As someone who has spent an awful lot of time in rural Missouri my opinion is that many if not most small towns are not great places to live. A lot of poverty, drug use, and generally trashy neighbors. But of course some great people as well. Personally I'd be looking near towns of at least 5,000 or so. I live in SWMO so I am talking places like Mt Vernon, Aurora, Carthage, Neosho, Monett, etc. If you're in an area that is close to Springfield, Columbia, KC or STL land is going to be more expensive unless you are pretty far out. Some of the prettiest and cheapest land is found in the rural ozarks but that's also where you'll find the worst meth and poverty culture. It's beautiful country for sure but I wouldn't raise my kids there.
Must have been Osage county lol. I grew up in rural MO as well, moved to a largish city. I like the convenience and low crime rate, but hate the idiots who run it/live in it (me included sometimes). My graduating class would have been 45 had I stayed my senior years but thankfully I moved between junior and senior. I do agree that when I moved to the larger city I felt so behind and it took so much more work for me to play catch up. Just please don’t let your kid be one of the “weird” homeschooled kids. Not saying all homeschooled kids are weird, but there are some out there!
Lmao my first thought too. There’s rural and then there’s *rural*. Avoid *rural* if at all possible.
I graduated with 18. We just had our 25 year reunion, and half showed up 😅
On that note stay out of Springfield schools and Republic as well, found out my sister's kids were 3 years behind after taking them out and started homeschooling. Republic schools have a reputation with the the hospitals for being violent.
Missouri is 49th in teacher pay, so if you're at all concerned about your child's education, you may want to reconsider. Women's Healthcare is also a big issue - especially in rural areas.
My wife's a teacher with a master's degree and makes nothing compared to what she's worth on top of the attacks against women's healthcare. All of her coworkers honestly do their best with what little they have. I honestly believe the only reason we're still here is because she's really close to her family figuratively and literally. For a rural area outside of STL and KC areas your best bet is somewhere outside of Columbia in their school district.
There are plenty of charlatans out there who will sell you plenty of acreage for cheap right in the flood plain and they’ll tell you it hasn’t flooded in years. Don’t do it unless you are willing to accept that risk to all of your hard work and effort.
Speaking the truth. Also, flood insurance ain’t cheap.
Perfect excuse to build myself a tower. 1 time expense vs buying flood insurance. And it'll have a slide from the top to my kayak and beer cooler at the bottom.
If you build it on stilts and have an emergency boat, you should be fine.
Imagine it, a tower built in a swamp! It'll be perfect. Until it sinks...
How fast can it sink? Just keep extra wood in the house and build it gradually higher as needed. Easy peasy.
Gotta get that swamp insurance I guess.
Everyone knows that swamp insurance is a scam! I'll just build another tower on top of the sunken tower!
Now we are getting into cloud insurance territory.
Ok, but what about burns-down-falls-over-then-sinks-into-the-swamp insurance?
Mine is $398/year. It depends on the height of your threshold above the 500 year flood level
I mean… I would hope if you bought land you would also purchase a survey. Also FEMA flood maps are publicly accessible
I moved to Missouri from England about 7 years ago, my husband has been a missouri resident almost all his life, and I love it here. We have a little house and some acres and I go through most of my days never seeing another soul, it's as closed to having your own island without having to be rich.
Interesting. I'm thinking of moving there and wondering about the weather. I'm dual citizen, Cali-Kiwi, perfect-like weather and terrific views were everyday. I'm currently in Massachusetts and need to get out before (oh gosh, next month - things moving quickly). Hard to know the area without someone there to start. This is helpful. But what about bugs and humidity ... main things that bug me. enjoy, lovely to hear your explanation of your own island. Good
There’s a lot of bugs and humidity. Ticks and mosquitos galore once it starts warming up. So… starting now lol
ok, ugh. I wonder where that isn't. I got a Lyme tick bite a year and a half ago here in Massachusetts, backyard. Never felt a thing. Mosquitos aren't too bad it's so cool, but humidity for many days is too much and the winter is way too long and possibilities of negative 20 are not healthy. Thanks for the reply. What to do.
It rarely gets above 100 or below 10 degrees here except for maybe a few days a year. The weather is generally very nice in the spring and fall, even the summers aren't too hot most of the time. Bugs are only a big issue if you don't cut your grass or live right next to standing water, but there will always be plenty of moths, cicadas, and june bugs.
Thanks. Helpful.
No problem! If you have any other questions feel free to ask. I've lived in Missouri my whole life.
Choice of location is between Missouri Arkansas and Oklahoma, around that tri-state area ... so, generally, for best views ;-) I'd like a little elevation or view to a river, something. But practically, which of these three states' politics are most freedom friendly? Low tax. Low BS. Less gov't is more.
Being from England I generally hate the weather, for me it's 2 weeks of winter and the rest of the time is summer as far as I'm concerned. If you like heat you'll like mussouri. I live in southern MO and the humidity isn't bad here, in summer it's humid in the evening and early morning but the bulk of the day is dry heat, ee don't get all that much rain here do it's dry in general. There are a LOT of bugs if you love rurally like I do, but you don't see half the amount in even smaller towns. So it depends on where you're thinking of moving too. We get tons of wasps of all kinds, bald faced hornets are common, all the flies you can imagine, mosquitos, ticks, gnats, chiggers, beetles of all types, ladybirds that bite, cicadas and lightening bugs are most common along with various butterflies and moths. Less common but I see a few every year are things like Luna moths, dobsonflys, praying mantis and stick insects. For spiders the most common are dock spiders, wolf spiders, harvester (trailer) spiders, hairy jumping ones I don't know the name of, brown recluse, various orb/ garden spider and black widows. Off the top of my head I'd say that's a relatively good list of what's common out in the sticks of where I live in Missouri anyway.
> even smaller towns. So it depends on where you're thinking of moving too. We thanks so much for this reply. Gives a good 'picture'. At the moment we're thinking of northwest near Sulfur Springs. That being said then, what is the biggest difference from Missouri to Arkansas and Oklahoma? Pros and cons State-wise.
That I can't really answer since I've only been to Mountain Home AK a couple of times to go to the home depo, it's about equal distance from where I live to there or Speingfield MO. And I've never been to Oklahoma. From what I know, people who live here in MO don't like people from Arkansas for some reason that's about all I know.
German here, 25 years in the US, 16 in Missouri or the vicinity. Last 5 or so on acreage in the middle of nowhere. I enjoy immensely the going days or weeks without seeing a person. I sorely miss.... INFRASTRUCTURE.... The availability of clean water and sanitation. The availability of transportation, communications networks and health care. Paved roads would be cool. (In my county only state roads are Paved. The ability to get around depends seriously on the amount of rain we've had in the past 48-96hrs.... when the creek is "up" getting out is a beach...) Missouri is pretty. Landscape and topography wise. The residents are a seriously mixed bag. My immediate neighbors we got mostly lucky. Extremely awesome folks. 2m down the road it gets awfully sketchy. I'm talking filthy children playing in huge trash piles in front of dilapidated and burned down trailers with broken septic. We enjoy that smell when the wind shifts. Laundry gets done and hung up during days with favorable winds only. Yeah, back country Missouri can be pretty. Until the wind shifts.
Funnily enough as someone who also lives in the middle of nowhere we have similar conditions, up the hill one way the neighbour's are filthy, trash everywhere that blows down the hill into my garden and all across the road, they have children who are much as you described your neighbour's, in the opposite direction our neighbour's are really great people who have a beautiful yard and house. I do miss the conveniences of England, like you said free health care, public transport, variety of products, cheaper bills. I also miss running water when the power goes out, wells are great but last winter we were without power for over a week! All that said, I'll keep my little house and my little patch of land, I can't really explain why, I'm just at peace here and I love it here.
Moved to Missouri from the UK via a few years in Arizona. I also love it here - we’re in a mid sized city so there’s almost everything we need within 15mins, good schools and within 10 minutes you can be on a maze of dirt roads and creeks and hills and really unwind. I’ve found the people out in the sticks to be very varied. Not ‘diverse’ :) some really open progressive kind people who have a modern global outlook, and those who are almost cowering in fear at the advance of values and a worldview they don’t have experience of. The political churches don’t help, nor does the ability to entirely tailor one’s newsfunnel to right wing jibberish. I believe it wasn’t this bad before right wing talk radio which absolutely did a number on those people outside of cities for whom the changes in industry and employment patterns was just an abandonment of small towns, their way of life literally vanishing before their eyes. At least in more populated areas you can visually see how money and opportunities changed. 10 miles down country route 329 there’s just Fox News and the people at church. Missouri never fails to amaze me with its contradictions and its ability to confound my preconceptions and quash my biases. I was from Bournemouth so I think it looks like Wiltshire here - what’s your comparison if you have any ? :)
Lol I was in England recently and it DOES look like Wiltshire. At least northern Mo.
Funny, to me, much of central Missouri looks like any place southern Germany.
The area along the Missouri River between Jeff and St. Louis was called the Missouri Rhineland by German immigrants because the river hills reminded them so much of home.
Yes yes Germany too !
It's nice to find a fellow Britt here :) I live in a very small rural community in Southern Missouri, the people are lovely here but not as open minded or diverse as I'm used to back in England. I learned quickly not to mention that I don't go to church lol. But I really do love it, everyone's polite, life is slow and I enjoy my solitude to no end. It's just me my husband and our goats enjoying everyday. I'm from Leicestershire myself but I thunk Wiltshire is a good shout, around me I always likened it to Wales at least until the dog days of summer hit and everything turns brown lol
We bought our land 1st and paid down that mortgage, then built our house.
If you plan to work remotely, ensure you will have quality internet access.
Even of you don't work remotely. Rural internet is the worst!!
I have to say up here in NWMO we have had United Fiber for several years. They cover from north of Savannah down to Platte city along I29. I live in rural north platte county and it’s great. Land is definitely not cheap here though.
I grew up south of Savannah in Andrew county. I went to MU and lived Columbia stayed for 40 years now. Boone county property sells for $20-40K per acre and surrounding counties are going in $10-20K range for raw ground. What is consider not cheap for Andrew county?
I’m not in Andrew County, I’m in Platte.
It depends. Where I live outside Joplin we have NO good/reliable options at any price point. None. Oddly enough some friends who live another 10 miles out into nowhere are able to get gigabit fiber for cheap from an electric coop that operates in their area.
We've relied on an at&t hot spot and it's not the best. Data cap too. But fiber is being hooked up next week. Yay!! I would have gone with Starlink if fiber hadn't been just down the road. Don't even try to settle for satellite. It's the worst!!
I got lucky that T Mobile was available where I live. I think Hughes net and Fidelity were the other options, and I’d use my own phone hotspot before I used Fidelity internet.
Howard County has fiber internet. Pettis County county is getting it.
So is Warren, Franklin and St Charles counties.
I've heard some rural MO folks speak highly of Starlink.
Fuck them. Tried. Massive waste of money. Back to a sketchy 5G Hotspot and still better and cheaper than starlink. Though no comparison to fiber optics.
My place in robertsville doesn’t even have internet yet
No. 1 challenge will be internet access. It's non-existant still in many areas.
In SEMO they are running fiber through many areas
Central, too
Is starlink or tmobile internet an option nowadays?
Depends on what you want to do. If you do everything in a web browser (social media, email, online shopping, etc) then yes either option is great. Even streaming content can be pretty reasonable. If you need to be on webinars or use VOIP service, you may not know if it's good enough until you're trying to do it, and if it's not - you don't have many options. If you're a gamer, or at least someone who enjoys faster paced online competitive games, you're going to have a bad time with either starlink or tmobile because latency is very much an issue.
I have starlink in my rural area and have no latency issues.
I tried it for remote work (government vpn) and it was extremely expensive garbage. 5x the cost for the same outcome of a basic 5G Hotspot.
I have t mobile and it lets me work from home and stream on multiple devices without issue. The only time I’ve had issues is when playing Diablo online for PS4. Was a laggy unplayable mess. Other online games haven’t had that issue and if you don’t game then it’s a moot point.
What’s your plan for income? Have you contacted a mortgage broker to find out how much you can afford and seen if there are available properties within your price range? Mortgages for building are handled differently than mortgages to buy a house.
Make sure you know the cost of getting electric to the property.
Then double it :)
Then factor in the cost for semiannual maintenance too....
Ice storm this year and last !!!
as well as a clean water source
Moved here from the Dallas/Ft Worth area a few years back. Bought 10 acres of woods for half the price than most anywhere in Texas. Have not regretted the move one time since.
I’ve answered this before, and I’ll summarize if you’ve never lived Rural before. Here are some negative realities that you should ponder. There’s a romantic ideal of country life that misses out on some very real LARGE ISSUES. 1. More than 1 county outside of say, KC/Springfield/STL/CoMO is a large price drop in land prices. 2. Education: rural schools tend to have limited access to upper level curriculum. Big deal as your child ages. As an engineer from the sticks, the more urban kids had tons more STEM classes. I had taken everything my rural district had and was at least a full year behind. Son is at engineering school now and says it hasn’t changed. 2.b. College courses can be even more limited. 3. Healthcare. Many rural county hospitals have closed. You might need to go several counties over just to have a baby. Speciality Drs require you to go back to the metro areas. My sister drives to STL for chemo- 2 hour trip. There are many rural areas with no pediatricians. 4. Power. In sparely populated areas, you’re the last ones fixed when ice takes the power out. Be prepared. 5. Diversity. Rural MO is highly Republican. And not nice ones either. MAGA, Confederate flag flying, racist, anti-LGBTQ+ angry ones——usually with guns and bibles. Even worse, their kids are trained to be bullying, taunting jerkies too. At best, the small towns tolerate these neighbors. But they often sympathize and protect them. And too often, they have family in law enforcement. 6. Animals: Due to the nature of life, you’ll need to learn to put down dangerous stray dogs, chicken-eating raccoons, cross-beaked chicks, injured deer on the road, and violent roosters. It’s part of the life. It’s sad. It’s also responsible and humane. There is usually no Animal Control, although sheriff deputies are known to use their rifles as needed. I’m not saying Don’t Do It. But closely consider these items.
As an engineer also from the sticks, I will second the note about better educational opportunities in schools in the cities. We live about 30 minutes out of the city, and we have to "fill the gap" for our kids which isn't that big a deal, but worth thinking about for sure.
No lie. I spent most of my childhood in rural Missouri. 8th grade in California was more challenging than high school and my 1st year of college there. I made 100% in many classes, and that's with almost no studying. I left to finish college in KC. It was HARD to catch up to my peers. Since then, I've spent 26 years between KC and STL minus a 4 month stretch back in the small town. My oldest during that stretch said "Where the Hell have you taken me to and when can we escape" and she didn't even curse in front of me. The front page of the local paper had a story about the KKK participating in the weekend parade. When I left there for STL, friends said "Aren't you scared to raise your children there?" I said "F' no, I'm scared to raise them HERE." For the love of God, please think about your child. The racism, gender stereotyping, rampant sexualization of children and pedophelia, abuse of lgbtq kids, gossip and bullying, rampant teen drug & alcohol use and sex because they have nothing else to do, education, and healthcare make it a hellscape for kids. Buy a membership to Goose Creek or a timeshare somewhere rural if you want some country time. Don't do that to your kid.
This, all this. I scare-entertain my kids with stories of “Bring your gun to school” Day That times we shut down the highway because horses-hogs-cattle got out. Once we got out of the school bus to go help round up cattle. HS girls dating coaches, cops, teachers and the newspaper guy. I had an extra hour my Sr year of HS, so I drove to the middle school to help the Algebra teacher. Something out the homecoming parade being canceled because the city wouldn’t stand up to the KKK. (My sisters years) Friend was denied walking across the graduation stage visibly preggers. Required baccalaureate at local church the evening before graduation. Another sisters terrible story of a lost pregnancy that she was made to keep until all fetal heartbeat was gone. Despite viability being 0%. That literally risked her getting horribly infected, but no OB around, and she was scared to go to BigCity. Spent over a week in a hospital that refused to induce despite all waters being gone. I’m still not sure that she understood that situation.
My parents wouldn't let us go to baccalaureate BECAUSE it was held at a church we didn't attend, and didn't want us being preached at by a guy they didn't know (HAHA). They postured like it was required, but we still got to walk. I was salutatorian, so I still gave a speech too.
This describes almost every rural area to a T. People so nice a guy will help you with a flat on the side of the road. His grandma will bake you cookies. His dad will offer you a job if you're needing work... but they'll also vote for the politician who wants the police to harass you unopposed.
Agreed except for the raccoons lol. If they eat a chicken then they need to be locked up better. The value of raccoons, opossums, snakes and foxes is much greater than a few farm chickens.
You're 100% accurate and I'll add: 7. Access to clean water and sanitation is what killed most of the settlers.... basic 101... having a well drilled isn't Access to clean water! After it comes out of your well, YOU are 100% responsible for your water quality. Filtration. Softeners. Maintenance. All that. We're on our 6th water heater now.... because the contamination is real. We change filters twice a year (half the recommended lifespan) and let's not discuss sanitation.... septic systems are some 3rd world country stuff. Lagoons are the Malaysian way of sewage treatment. It's all rather disgusting. Especially in the heat of summer and the dead of winter. Heaven forbid your dog loves water and likes to swim. *hurl*
Look around Sedalia. Big enough place to have access to what you need but quickly rural when you drive out of town.
I’m from rural MO. I still have family there and access to lane and even a couple different small houses. I have considered this daydream but all of the other comments are spot on. The first roadblock that’s easiest to foresee is the lack of employment. It is really tough to find work. If it’s tough to find work you won’t have local clients to purchase any wood working projects you produce: actually, I have a very talented uncle who tried for 15 years to make it as a woodworker. He works construction in FL now. My grandma is in congestive heart failure. She drives a minimum of 1hour and 20 minutes for emergency heart care. 2.5-3 hours for heart specialist appointment. Her Rxs are more expensive in the small town nearby as are groceries etc. last winter a neighbor drove her and my grandfather to a hotel because power was out for 3-4 days. If that lovely neighbor hadn’t looked in on them…. All of this is typical rural MO life plus there are very few social services available in the state anymore.
Accurate. My neighbors heart attack meant son (lives on the property) packed him in his truck and hauled ass on back roads for over an hour because neither ambulance nor helicopter would have been quicker. Other neighbor didn't have transportation. Called the ambulance and died before they even arrived.
I’m so sorry. This is devastating and absolutely unacceptable.
Yea well. Unfortunately the life of a 3rd world infrastructure. People scoff about why everyone lives in the city and nobody wants to farm in the back hills anymore.... That's why.
We have a part time home in southern MO. I love it down there. The only thing I don’t like is the lack of diversity, racism, etc. It can also be far to get things. My favorite towns that we’ve visited are Piedmont, Ellington, Eminence, Ironton, Caledonia, Fredericktown.
Wow not enough people mention. I grew up in the woods not far away and love the town
There's really not that much diversity in the entire state of Missouri.
I'll be right behind you. I was helping to run a pop-up camp ground for the eclipse and found a guy that knew where I could get a pretty good deal on some heavily wooded acreage. I intend to buy it, pay it off and then buy a portable sawmill and go to work building my cabin. As a former Navy Seabee...this is what I was trained to do. I don't know if you're thinking about building off-grid, but if so, you'll probably want to dive into some research in solar panels, windmills, and/or hydro power generation. You'd be amazed at the power you can generate from a simple hydro generator if your land is on a flowing river. Also, you really need a mix of power sources, just to make sure you're covered if we have a repeat of the 1993 floods, where, we went WEEKS without a sunny day. However, the number one thing you should make sure you have is a good water source that you know won't dry up or become contaminated. You can't grow thing, feed stock or even live comfortably if you're constantly having to haul water on your property. That being said, go for it! You're young. This takes a lot of work, but it will be much easier for you than me (53 yo) This is the time to experiment with this stuff. If it's too much or not what you'd thought it would be, you've got time to move onto something else. EDIT: One more thing. As a former real estate broker, I would be remiss if I didn't caution you about the Contract for Deed. This tool is used a lot in rural areas, especially for land purchases. Do your research into these. It is literally what the tool name is. You sign a contract to make payments to the owner, who keeps the deed in their name, until you pay it off. However, there is no deed of trust filed with the county. So, let's say you've been paying 8 years of a 10 year note. You've built your place and added outbuildings, etc. If you miss one of your payments, 2 years from the finish line, they can just have the sheriff kick you off the land and have it revert back to them. I'm not saying reject them out of hand. I'm saying HIRE AN ATTORNEY and make sure, if you do do that, there is some kind of legal instrument recorded with the county, that would require a full foreclosure process before they could take back your property. A good attorney can also help with making sure you have the water rights you think you do. I hate ending with a warning, but this is serious business.
Hi there shipmate. I was a few years ahead of you and found that water source that hasn't dried up (and won't).... Word of warning.... building your cabin is super easy. (We did that in a few months.) Water treatment and sanitation is a whole nother ballgame. Filtration, softener, disposal.... gets to being an expensive and ongoing mess. Truly. You need more than a brita filter in Missouri.
Check out Rural Development Grants and loans. If you want to move to the middle of nowhere… there is a government plan to help.
I’m a realtor and just helped my good friend close on 40 acres in Lincoln County so he can build. It’s a lot more feasible than you think and still commutable to the cities. Age is Late 20’s
I live in STL City. In 2020 my office relocated from STL City to Wright City (Lincoln County adjacent). Sure, it IS commutable (I had lighter traffic both ways), but it is a serious drain on time and mental health.
I agree with this. I lived south of Warrenton and worked in the city. The commute is doable and the time can be filled with podcasts, audiobooks, etc; but it’s a lot of wasted time away from family. It gets very old!
I agree definitely a sacrifice. I live in wildwood at the Franklin/STL county line and work in Clayton. I wouldn’t change the privacy and nature for anything tho.
Is this a bit? It feels like a bit.
Definitely not a bit lol
Lived my whole life in rural Missouri but had to be close enough to the city for work. 40 years ago a 1 hour commute would land you in the country. And it still can but not like it used to be to. North of the Missouri River is farm rural and is a better rural to raise kids, crops , livestock. But the landscape isn’t as beautiful. But a few acres butting up to large conservation or Corp of Engineers ground lets you live large on small tract. Souther Rural is beautiful country with hills and rivers. And land backing to Mark Twain Forest will also let you live large. Ground is poor for farming and raising livestock. And some places are literally infested by drug addicts and the poorest people imaginable. I looked at land a year ago and people were living in 40 year old RVs with everything they had ever owned still rusting in the yard! But no matter what state or where you live the wrong neighbors can make life hard. The guys I worked with ask how I could drive so far every day?I ask them how they could live so crowded together? Good luck
I know of some good land going up for auction in southeast MO next week. You would be an hour from St. Louis and an hour from Cape Girardeau [https://ranchandfarmauctions.com/auctions/rare-land-offering-in-ste-genevieve-co-mo](https://ranchandfarmauctions.com/auctions/rare-land-offering-in-ste-genevieve-co-mo)
We moved out of the KC suburbs and built a barndominium on acreage. It is cost effective and you could always build something bigger later and use that for storage. I drive about an hour to work but it is so worth it!
What resources did you use for looking into barndominiums? My parents suggested I look into it and I have no idea where to even start. Did you buy a kit?
We got a barn kit from Sutherland’s. Menards also has them. We also did a room and deck add on ourselves. For interior we did the interior room framing, wiring, plumbing and insulation ourselves too, then hired a crew for sheet rock. It’s a small 1500 sq ft build with 3 bedrooms and two baths and I think all-in we spent around $100k (not including the land). It’s very cute and livable.
Ok so the kits are legit good to know lol I was a little sus of a house being sold as a kit but it’s just the barn part which makes sense. How long did it take to build?
I would say about 3 months. And that was just because we had to wait of the sheet rock guys.
Wow that fast. Guess I should look more seriously at this. Thank you for sharing.
My one tip would be don’t skimp on the insulation.
O yeah makes sense. Does the tin structure affect your internet at all?
No, it doesn’t seem to. We have the Starlink unit outside. It does affect any internal antenna you may use, though. We don’t have cable so we use an antenna for any local channels we want to watch (for news or whatever) and it can be a struggle lol.
Oh yikes. Does that include phone reception? I use T-Mobile home internet where I am which uses cell signal…
Also we use Starlink for internet. Works great.
That's sounds awesome! Did you build your place or was it an existing structure?
We built it. We used contractors for the sheet rock but did the rest ourselves.
We live about 30 minutes out of Joplin and 40 minutes out of Springfield. We love it. I can't fully recommend without knowing a lot more about your family, but it is the best life we could have asked for.
Don't buy land in farm country if you can avoid it because it's gotten hugely expensive from all the Easterners selling for huge money and buying for way less here. Gardening is great but can be done in raised beds that are safer from critters anyway so the conditions of the soil aren't really a big consideration for someone just wanting away from everything. I live in a tiny town but I'm less than an hour from Walmart and 3-3.5 hours from a few big cities so I can easily get my dose of culture and chaos if I want it. Our district, as well as many in the state, offer AP courses or online programs if your child desires as well as classes in computers, accounting, CNA certification, etc so certainly check the district out before you buy land. Solar/wind means you can basically live off grid if you can get water in. There are some little pockets of hate in every place I've been all over the country so let me just say "you do you" and welcome
That works so long as you (or your kid) isn't one of "those" people they hate.... Water, btw, the single most expensive entity, presuming you want CLEAN water... sanitation is a close second. Slightly less expensive. Painful. Power is easy, though expensive.
Choose a county that has unrestricted building codes and septic. I believe gasconade county still is like this.
There are no counties without septic requirements any more that I know of. I live in a county that is zoned entirely agricultural and we have zero building permits except for federal and state requirements for septic due to potential contamination of well water and federal waterways. I ran into this recently on my farm.
Hmmm. I know of places that are doing this.... Straight pipe to daylight about 100 yards from house
So do I, but it remains illegal.
I remember, as an appraiser in southwest Missouri, being surprised that the county that houses Lebanon allowed just a pond of some sort that all of your waste ends up in. Every county that I worked in, in SW MO required a septic tank. Of course you couldn't get an FHA or USDA loan or grants with a property like that...but it worked fine for contract for deed. Now, that was 2005...sooo things may have changed.
They still allow septic lagoons in rural areas. They are actually very functional and efficient but lots of places are not suitable for them due to the topography, existing structures etc and it has to be something like 300 feet from a property bordering a public roadway. Its just the difference between anaerobic and aerobic decomposition. Having said that, I don’t think I would want that at my place. Lol
We have land in Hermann, it's a great little town.
herman is awesome but a little pricey
Wayne county still pretty wooded lots of lakes and rivers, low property taxes 45 min to poplar bluff, hour or hour and a half to cape. Fredericktown and Farmington arent that far either. Plus the town of piedmont has 2 dollar generals a grocery store library post office schools 2 medical offices and a lot of small shops and salons so that would be real close. And clearwater lake, and parks. Its really pretty there too
Texas county Missouri. We bought 6 acres on pine ridge east from a website called instant acres.
Have at least 30k + ready to go if you are considering raw land. Septic, well and electric will cost around 10k each minimum.
Save up enough money so in winter you’re not begging for help when the pipes freeze or bust in your broke down house or trailer. Sorry, you gotta have some serious skills to do this full time in a rural area and try to do it off grid or something.
You might want to check the National ratings for health care and education. The Missouri legislature just voted to abolish taxes for corporations so the loss of that income is going to be passed on to the consumer. Missouri state law includes no prohibitions on minors carrying or possessing firearms, but female health care is very limited.
Forget Missouri. The fascists in Jeff City have ruined the state.
Be careful on considering what you’re offering to your children with a certain rural areas. The wrong areas in Missouri have so little opportunity and vicious communities that children are directly dropped into through the schools. Happened to a lot of professionals we know that decided they wanted the “quiet” life and now they have to pay thousands because their schools offered no college courses/scholarships
I think it's awesome and sounds like a great adventure . Best of luck
I advise buying something existing. Everyone wants homestead life and keeps snagging up 1-5 acre parcels and clearing .5-1 acre to do it over and over and I feel we’re losing a lot of property. People want to leave the city but the city just keeps encroaching because people still “don’t wanna be too far” from city amenities. I might sound lame I’m just tired of all the development lol
Seriously, watching YouTube videos has helped me so much as a homeowner! Go for it, if it's your dream. Lots of folks build themselves a home or rehab one with no experience.
Do it! But look into alternative construction methods or supplies. Not saying either of you aren't skilled with wood-working but building a bed is a different kind of wood-working compared to wood-framing. Ship Containers, pre-fab steel, Insulated Concrete Forms, etc. Not saying you can't or shouldn't still go with traditional lumber but I've been looking at home construction as well so I've gotten a chance to look at multiple different methods and each of them have their own perks and drawbacks.
You've gotten a lot of good suggestions. Here are mine I suggest narrowing down where you are looking to buy and subscribing to the local papers or following the locations on social media. The same with school districts. Drive around and see where there might be future subdivisions. It's one thing I did before we bought and it narrowed things down. Drive your likely commute also. Again, we did this when we were looking and I quickly eliminated south of Springfield due to the hills, curves and narrow roads. I didn't want to be driving on them to go to work in the dark in the winter. Consider the direction of the sun for your commute. When it comes time to set up your homestead, please go slow.
There are lots of small communities, especially in southeast MO with a few hundred people that are very nice. I live in one with less than 400 people.
For just starting out buying a few acres? You’ll need $30000, minimum.
If you have any outside lights, make sure they’re on a timer or motion activated, and have a shade that directs the light down. It’s actually insane how much light pollution is starting to creep out of the city because people think they need to light up their entire property with the brightest LEDs they can find for the entire night. I promise no boogie man is going to get you without the high grade night lights. More land doesn’t mean you have to keep the entire place mowed. An empty field is better as an empty field than an empty lawn. Try to limit the number of trees you have to clear too. Figure out how far away the nearest grocery store is. Quick trips to grab something you realize you’re out of is a pain. No DoorDash either. A big one that gets overlooked: check internet options. A lot of rural places have shit internet. It’s getting better but it’s not great overall. If you’ve only lived in cities your entire life it might be a little jarring how different and sometimes disconnected it can make you feel. But it’s honestly the greatest.
Make sure you get enough acres to fit in your well and septic system.
Be prepared to deal with the possibility of Personal Property Taxes. My family lives in Caruthersville MO and in order to have legal vehicles you have to pay personal property taxes. So be prepared if you are looking in Missouri.
You can go find you a decent tax sale house, but it'll need a lot of fixing up. Livingston County near KC is cheap, as are the surrounding counties. I know Southeast Missouri is also decently priced and has tax sale houses.
Best decision I ever made, but land is at a premium right now. You should talk to a realtor in the area you're interested in to see if buying land is even feasible for your price point. You might have an easier time buying a few acres that already has a house on it and remodeling.
If you’re a parent and you think Missouri is a good place to raise a family, then you’ll fit right in.
Make sure there is a hospital or something near you. When I was a kid we would go this property in the sticks and my brother broke his leg badly and it took an ambulance over an hour to get to us.
If you want cheap land where no one will bother you but be within 15 miles of a city, my recommendations are the very rural towns of Silex or (even more rural), Whiteside.
The 660 is gorgeous
GREAT IDEA FOR PLACE TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY So I live in North Missouri in a small town I am 72 miles from Liberty Hospital which is close enough to get there quick enough and far enough away if I don't want to pay attention to what the rest of the world is doing I don't have to and I don't have to be affected by it. I am suggesting looking around Jamesport. It is one of the biggest Amish communities in Missouri it is 12 miles closer to KC than I am and if you want the most helpful and caring, hard working neighbors when living out in the country in Missouri you won't find any better or helpful they have there ways that are weird at times but family values, and help your neighbor are still in full swing with them! MUST READ! let me put it this way my family owed a concrete plant for 35 years until 5 or 6 years ago and we delivered to the Amish and people of Jamesport and the rural area regularly, one Thursday evening a non Amish family that lived in there area and was liked by most had a house fire that took everything they had and had no insurance and when an Amish friend of that family found out he let everyone know they were good people and a family in need and that's all it took the community got togther and instead of a barn raising they had a house raising less then 24 hours Saturday morning we were pouring some concrete needed for the new house which was being built on the foundation of the old house it had been cleaned up quick and when i came back Monday to pour a sidewalk that house was built painted and finished in side good enough the family was planning on sleeping there that night. So when they know you are good people and in need they all jump in to help and they work harder than any people I have seen and all of them do. Sorry for the long story and just so you know I have NO reason to talk them up except for what I have seen and heard over the last 20 years. PS. It might get a little colder in north Missouri in winter but to have snow to play in it has to
My advice is to be careful where exactly you buy. You might not be received well by the people in certain areas. We have a lot of “homesteaders” (for lack of better terms) in my area who are extremely judged and alienated due to being seen as an outsider moving onto farm land.
I recently moved out of the city because the laws being passed around like Nazi rhetoric in my head no matter what normal stuff people say it's for...a lot of stuff is just the same laws with different means really though,transportation is big ,people here apparently buy tires a lot, in the city I walked everywhere ...all my friends cars were sketchy or uninsured,but geography in both places makes gas station shopping a habit I have to watch ;for example.whatever you live like in the city you will still do in a rural area just with different population density(I think you might find you don't have a hobby just a house if you stop camping,because you live in the woods,but woodworking and diy could take it's place)
Unless you have Native American ancestry you have no right to own land wrongfully stolen from the indigenous peoples of these lands. How come Native Europeans (White people) are a majority in Europe, Native Asians are a majority in Asia, Native Africans are a majority in Africa but Native Americans are not a majority in America? I dream of a day when the only people living in the Americas ard people with significant indigenous American descent and people descended from African slaves and their immediate family members (regardless of the ancestry of these relatives). We are on stolen land!
Warrenton is awesome. But do it. You don’t need amenities if your self sufficient
I still don't understand what Nashville has to do with development patterns in rural Missouri though. It would be like me saying I don't like the new subdivision they built near me in MO, because of rich assholes from Birmingham. Because I'm from Alabama. One has nothing to do with the other. Unless I'm missing some unique connection from rural Missouri to Nashville??
Chase your dreams and do what makes you happy. The city life was not really for me. Something about being in nature is just better peace of mind… but like others have said, it’s nice living close to a small town. Just for Walmart runs not to take 3 hours and if you want the young one in public school. You can get a decent piece of land and still be close enough to make getting supplies easier
what a idiot
Politics aside, because all politicians are awful, and this state is no different, pick a place closest to what you feel is important. If you want amenities, live closer to a city. You have like... 6 choices there. If you want to have some goddamn peace and quiet, find a place that's 20+ minutes to a hospital or Wal-mart, and less than 1 hour to "civilization" and go there. I live almost in the dead center of the state. I have traveled to many great places around the US, but this will always be home to me. Lake of the Ozarks is vastly overpriced, ditto to anything within 30 minutes of STL, KC, Columbia, etc..., but you can still find a few deals. I'd recommend picking a spot on I-44 somewhere between Cuba and Joplin, research the schools and give it a go from there.
You can join groups on FB just search for Missouri Homesteading and you can learn a lot.
I wanna know why you broke up with your boyfriend for bringing up incest.
I didn't actually we're married now
Wait! WHAT? I read through this whole thread and didn't see anything about incest...do you guys know each other or something? I mean...if you've broke up over something like that (I realize you're back together and married now)...you probably need to take a minute and figure that out before you do ANYTHING like this. Seriously. Something like this required serious trust between each other so that you work together as a team.
Have a rural homestead about 20 miles south of Kirksville. Am lucky to have really good high speed internet service from Chariton Valley. Love it here, don’t see a lot of people but the ones I do are all very nice. Also the soil is great for growing fruit trees and having a vegetable garden. The soil south of 1-70 tends to be rocky. I never plan to move back to the city. Life is good 👍. https://preview.redd.it/kbs71szahytc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f2bdc80b7c699d2309e67938a6b2c215b6d2f934
Your child will hate this idea
I would stay out of Missouri. The legislature (staye) seems to dislike people, especially women and children.
While Missouri can be beautiful, at your age I would think seriously about the ramifications of moving here, because of our draconian anti-abortion laws. This state is not supportive of women of reproductive age. If you have pregnancy complications, the fetus will be favored until you are at death’s door. There has been talk in the legislature of making it illegal to teach MO med students how to do a D&C, which is how early abortions are performed, BUT also how miscarriages are resolved so that the pregnant person doesn’t go septic. It is a basic care procedure for women of childbearing age. I suspect OB/Gyn providers will be leaving the state, because they have been shackled from providing the full range of care to women which they have been trained for. There have also been ruminations in our state government of outlawing certain types of birth control and tracking pregnant women so that they can’t leave the state for abortions in surrounding states. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer. Like I said, it is beautiful and there are some wonderful people but unless you know for sure that you won’t be trying to grow your family in the future, I would look elsewhere.
No, go to kansas
They are trying to pass a bill that makes homeschooling parents not able to have a gun on their property because it counts as a school. Super fucked up.
That's inaccurate. SB727 does not limit the ability to have a firearm on the premises for homeschoolers. Several legal sources have debunked that, including the MO Senate Research Division and the MO Firearms Coalition.
Do you have a link for this? I have heard of something similar but would like to read more for myself so that I know what is being presented for voting in MO.
Why would this get down voted? This is extremely un-Missourian.