I personally am most surprised that anyone would still want to move into california. I'm born and raised in CA and we're bailing as soon as we are able. 60 years is more than enough.
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I personally am most surprised that anyone would still want to move into california. I'm born and raised in CA and we're bailing as soon as we are able. 60 years is more than enough.
There are places in CA hotter than Tucson (Death Valley, Ridgecrest, etc, etc) and there are places in AZ cooler than Yosemite area (Flagstaff, etc.). I wish you well whever you go, but I say "explore AZ" before you give up on it. I think it has as much or more diverseness as CA and for a fraction of the cost. Just saying.
In Ca.'s perhaps only defense...We are heterogeneous, meaning we have as a state 'a little bit of everything' No matter where you live here, you are within a few hours of every possible climate and terrain you could hope for...BUT!!??!! AZ is nice, but it's got no ocean...I for one would miss such scenery...BUT!!!??? I am though in agreement with edkemper on most everything else that CA has to offer these days. Barely clinging to 'middle class' (whatever that means anymore) here is becoming a drag! Don't even get us started on the lawmakers here...I surely use that term lightly....BUT!!?? :D
Am I the only one who has noticed that the "State of Jefferson" part of California acts a lot like Southern Oregon except for it's connection with Sacramento.
Don't know what the State of Jefferson is?... Google it.
HA! Brilliant!
Yep, bound to be the BEST state in the USA in many an area.Quote:
Originally Posted by loghousenut
I worked with a guy in Iraq who was from Klamath Falls area. He LOVES it up there and doesn't consider himself in Oregon OR California...."has a t-shirt that most don't understand". The Only State -- Jefferson.
The only thing you can't find in Ca is a job. The easiest things to find are new taxes, courthouses and unemployment offices.
As for Oregon, if you're not a member of any minority group, you'll be okay.
Hi.
I am a disaster around tools and couldn't even use Lincoln Logs without much frustration!
I am trying to get my husband passionate about building a log house (he was weaned on Bonanza in Wales)--the seeds have been sown, but then he keeps asking me "What kind of logs are used?" "How do they insulate the houses?" and I have NO idea what to tell him, other than, join this forum, I am SURE they have the answers!
We currently live in Germany but have plans to move back to "Merica in 2013, only a year away! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee! Can't wait!
I am in the Navy Reserves, HM1, and my husband is in road construction on the autobahn and can do just about anything handy-man wise.
Nice to see everyone here!
Lisa
i took german in high school cause some joker told me it was easier than habla...what a load of crock! 3 different der die das
oh my gatos!
guten tag LisaSprechen sie deutsch?
Kleider machen Leute
Quote:
Originally Posted by SweetLisa
If he halfway likes the idea of building his own home with his own hands you should let him follow his fantasy with a little nudge from you. Schedule the time when you will both be in the States and then you should purchase the LHBA tickets (for both of you) and set up the travel and hotel arrangements and give it all to him as a birthday present. If he's half the man you think he is, you'll have the most romantic birthday evening you've ever shared with him.
Once he's taken the class he'll get tired of answering everyone else's questions about "What kind of logs are used?" and "How do they insulate the houses?". It'll all be so easy for him and it'll all make so much sense to him after he's been to class. He'll join in the forum on his own after class.
You're the Woman. That means you must guide him so he knows which way to direct your future.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...s9-2010442.jpg
When I was doing my land search, I considered all states in the union even AZ because I lived there for several years and I loved it. But when you are going to buy land and plan to stay there you have to very seriously think about what is very important to you. I disqualified AZ and other beautiful places in the west because of the lack of water. Do you want to truck in potable water and store it in a tank? Remote locations don't usually have city water services. Are you going to be able to drill a well in the area? If you are out in the country, what are you going to do there? Raise livestock? Can the land support livestock? Horses? You really have to distill down to what your life is going to be to know where you should go. Everywhere has taxes, some more than others. So I think tax rates are a poor excuse to disqualify a state or region. Do you want to be off grid? Do you have survivalist plans?Quote:
Originally Posted by yosemitegirl
For me, independence means being able to survive if the gas pumps are shut down and the grocery shelves go empty. To some, country life is just having a big lawn. Focusing your needs can take a little time. Don't be afraid to research areas you may not have considered. I never thought I would end up in upstate NY but here I am. A 50 state, 3 country search and I found a place that had everything I needed.
Frances
Spiralsands, great post.
My grandparents had a cabin in the Adirondacks we went to in the summer growing up. I didn't know how good we had it. Cabin on Lake Simon, (also called Simon Pond, attached to Tupper Lake). So as I look for land, I'm drawn to the Adirondacks. A couple sites out there are http://www.landsofnewyork.com/new_york/ and adkbyowner.com
For everybody out there looking, the "landsof" sites have many, maybe all the states, landsofwisconsin, etc. As expensive as you would think it would be in NY, I search all the time for 25+ acres at $50K or less, and I always get results. Obviously, you're not going to get 25 acres on a LAKE for $50K, but there are some waterfront lots with several acres for reasonable prices. Decent river lots. Another obvious point, many of the cheap acreages have just been logged.
I've made a couple other posts, but am mostly new here. Trying to figure out how to make the dream a reality. It's tough to build in NY, whey you live in San Antonio. : )
John W.,
I was living in Florida when I began my land search 6 years ago. I bought my 23.5 acres in Fulton County, southwestern edge of the Adirondacks, in 2006 and didn't actually move here until last December. I took a second mortgage on my FL house and bought the land outright. Have the deed in hand. So my FL house paid for the land because I broke even when I sold the house. I'd come up to camp on it and make plans and it was always frustrating to leave because I already thought of it as home. I took a huge risk last fall when I jumped with both feet out of Florida and up to NY but I pulled it off and I still can't believe it.
NY has snow and deep winters but that is not the majority of the weather. Spring summer and fall are beautiful and producive. Winter will also be welcome because it gives me a respite from all the WORK!! I am not building yet but I am preparing my land to live on. I live only 1 hour away now and can be there every weekend.
BTW, you may not get a lake front, but you may get a pond. I have a pond fed by a constantly running stream that meanders across the property. NY land is still hugely undervalued which is why so many Amish are buying it up.
Frances
Hello all, my name is Hutch and I am located in central Oklahoma. I live in Oklahoma City at the moment, but this spring purchased 80 acres to build my "last home" on. While starting the research into what sort of house I wanted to build I came across the site while looking for log home kits and became very stuck on the ideal of building a "real" log home as opposed to a kit home for all the reasons mentioned on this site.
There is a lot of work to be done (and money to be spent) just getting ready to build. It is going to cost $8000 just to get the electric line run to where I am going to build. I am planning on attending the class in January 12, hopefully I will have my electric in and well drilled by that time so I can start building in the spring.
The acreage has about 15 acres along the front that has been cleared with the remainder being trees although not the sort needed to build a cabin LOL I have built the 3/8 mile road to the building site and have cleared the ride-away for electric lines and the building site itself with a rented dozer.
Anyway, just wanted to say hello and hope to meet some of you at the class in the spring.
Hutch
Whoa Hutch.
you can start building the day you get back... but you'll pay retail for everything. If you can afford to wait, you'll get much better deals.
anyway, glad to see you are so gung ho, and look forward to seeing you on the member's side.
-Peter
My name is Danny. I see there is a new class in early Jan and I plan to attend that one. I live in Tn. Gonna be building around Dothan AL.
Hey Builderguy,
It's good to see that we finally hooked ya. You've been riding that fence for some time now and I was afraid we'd lost you. Can't wait to get you over to the members side of the forum. Get your check in the boss's hands so you can nail your name on a seat at class.
Hi Everyone,
My name is John. I live in Oregon and just bought some property in Alaska.
My plan is to go up for 3 months this summer to lay rock for the road and pad (fish), peel some logs (fish). Then I'll go back to Oregon for the winter, then back to stay and live in Alaska the summer of 2013.
One of my goals is to make it wheelchair accessible so I can bring some friends I have, and some wounded vets up there to fish and experience Alaska.
There is a boardwalk (needs some repair) already going from my property thru State forest to the beach where I can tag my boat out..
I plan on a single level main house with two guest cabins.
The main house will be heated with a outdoor furnace/ boiler. That will also heat the shop, greenhouse and my hot water. I am building my own solar panels from cells off of e-bay. Also building a wind generator. If you go to www.otherpower.com you can see how to do it too.
I plan on a huge fire place that goes right through the main windows, having a door on both sides so it can be used from the inside or the outside.
In the kitchen I want a gas stove plus a earth oven and a open fireplace/ pit.
There are a lot of special features to the place, but they will help me to create lifetime memories for the people who come to visit.
The one main thing is I want to create memories for the people who come to visit. I want them to feel safe and secure. A place of refuge from the world.
Thanks, John
John,
Sounds like you have what you want in mind. LHBA will help you determine how to make it a reality. I won't be able to make it up to give you a hand (I have work/my own project), but the handicapped accessibility is great, and I may be calling on you for a weekend, as I am staring down wheelchair boundedness.
Great to have you here and look forward to having you on the member's side.
John,
> One of my goals is to make it wheelchair accessible so I can bring some friends I have, and some wounded vets up there to fish and experience Alaska.
Now you're talking. Great to have you here. Anything you need help with on wheelchair access let me know. My build will also be accessible for the same reasons. Welcome aboard.
Hello, Name's Chris. Took the class last month. All set to buy land and start building.
WOO HOO! glad you took the class, Chris. email Steve or Ellsworth to get your access changed from 'regular user' to 'member'. See you on the members side:)
I'm Lana. I took the November 2011 class. For job reasons, I'm pretty much confined to the Southern California area. I'm hoping to build in the mountains (yes, there really are mountains here!) just north of the city. Judging from some of the other posts from fellow Californians, it sounds like I'm in for quite a ride when it comes to building a log home down here. I keep visiting the pictures of the log home in Big Bear to psyche myself up. My favorite parts of the forums are the pictures of the houses in progress!
Hi Everyone, My name is Shari, I'm from Western Washington (state), and I'm signing up for the January 2012 class today. My husband recently retired, and one of our dreams is to build a real log cabin vacation home. We fell in love with log cabins after touring some Forest Service cabins that were for sale. The problem with those is that you don't own the land and they cost $300,000 and up where we want to be - in the Cascades near skiing. We are looking at land either near Snoqualmie Pass or Crystal Mountain, for those of you familiar with the area. I am coming to the class alone to save money, as we are living very frugally now, and because I am the one really bitten by the log cabin bug. However my husband is totally supportive and excited about this too. I am really looking forward to the class, meeting similar people, and learning a lot!
Happy Quilt!
Welcome and sign your Husband up to and save yourself even more $ and time by both attending. Read/search the forum posts here on this subject. Most of those that have attended without, wish they would have done so otherwise. You will more than make up for it, by both taking the class. I'll "assume" you've been married for awhile, and anyone married knows how important it is to be on the "same page". Building a home, let alone a log home, is a huge endeavor. If the only reason to go alone is to save money, you won't.
Good Luck and again Welcome, we'll see you on the Members Forum soon!
Best of Wishes,
Tom
Ok, here I am. Ellen and I have signed up for the Jan class and have been actively looking for land. Would like to get started before we get too old. I travel a lot for a living and am hoping to make steady progress. Ellen may have to hold up the fort as I travel for business.
Quick background, I'm a retired Air Force Officer now working as a Field Engineer. Ellen is a Cardiac ICU Nurse. We're looking for land towards Pilot Mountain or Rural Hall in NC just above Winston Salem. My work is in Lexington although I call the airport home 80 percent of the time. Have really enjoyed the public portions of the site and am looking forward to the "secret society" LOL.
Have a lot to learn from those that have gone ahead of us. Just hope we haven't bit off more than we can chew.
Thanks for everything and looking forward to Vegas.
Rod and Ellen
Hi Tom, Thanks for the advice. We have been happily married 26 years, so I get what you are saying. We usually do well when one person researches something and reports back to educate the other about it. I'm curious why you feel we would "save money" by both attending. It is a huge expense to spend another $1000+ to have the 2nd person attend. I will read the forum posts to see what people say about this. I guess he can always attend later if we think it is necessary. I would love to hear more from you or anyone else on this subject. Thanks! Shari.
Shari,
Welcome to the forums!
I would have to agree 100% with Tom on this. Even though money is tight for everyone (especially now), I would highly recommend that both of you attend. My wife and I just attended in Nov and there was so much that she got out of attending that will more than recoup the expense. Just reading the notes she took filled in the gaps for me and the same for her from my notes. The only real added expense was the registration, her plane ticket and meals. It was also a nice getaway for us even though we aren't really Vegas fans. Even if your husband cannot attend in Jan, you might encourage him to attend a later class (when they become available) just so that you both have a good foundation (pun intended). Even though we are just starting the journey, the class has helped us to think about planning things a little differently than we were before the trip to Vegas.
Good luck to you and have a great day!
Jim