[Cob] Cob financing??? and rant

[Leslie Moyer]

spiritpath n/a wrote:

 >> Farm Credit of The Virginia's was who financed the land for me.

Yes, the Farm Credit link I sent from Oklahoma also finances 
out-of-state....but not very often.

 > i had to get the land to pass this [perc] test and made that a 
contingency on my purchasing it.

Our contingency list was rather long--it protected us long enough to 
investigate the land more fully.  [By the way, we didn't use a lawyer or 
realtor at all during this purchase. We downloaded a program from NOLO 
to write the purchase contract.]  Our contingencies included:

- A contractor's inspection of the property at purchaser's expense 
resulting in a report satisfactory to purchaser.  (this could include a 
soil test for clay content, for example)
- An architect's inspection of the property at purchaser's expense (for 
us, this had to do with a particular building site and its passive solar 
capacity)
- An environmental inspection of the property at purchaser's expense 
resulting in findings satisfactory to purchaser (for us, this was a 
water quality test of the pond to make sure it wasn't contaminated with 
crude oil--we're in Oklahoma near a lot of oil fields)
- A review of public and private building use requirements affecting the 
property at purchaser's expense resulting in findings satisfactory to 
purchaser  (this could include the perc test, local building/zoning 
codes, etc. also, any easements)
- A stake survey or survey report at purchaser's expense resulting in 
findings satisfactory to purchaser
- Approval of the title insurance commitment by purchaser or purchaser's 
lawyer.

The NOLO program I bought was *well* worth the money (and not very 
expensive--$50?) http://www.nolo.com/  It assisted us in writing these 
contingencies as well as knowing what else we might want or need to be 
looking for.

 > there are "creative" ways to finance land.  sometimes (this is true 
in a lot of raw land cases in the mid-atlantic area of the east coast) 
owners will "finance" it by taking back a mortgage on land they already 
own.

I think you're describing what we did?  We took out an equity loan on 
the house we own and used that equity as our downpayment for the land.  
(This double-payment was something we could only do because we were 
fairly certain that we would be able to pay it off within the year, and 
we did.)

 > i decided to go with a small stick built cabin with composting toilet 
and greywater system (which will shelter me as i build the alternative) 
and once that is livable, i will build a "guest-house" (and call it a 
"farm animal" building, which doesnt require a building permit).

Great idea!

 > i always thought that "alternative" housing was easier to get 
approved west of the mississippi than here.....was i wrong?

Hmmm....I haven't really thought of it as an east/west thing....I think 
it might have something to do with the independent spirit of the people 
who were willing to settle parts of the west....and something to do with 
rural vs. urban (and/or population density).....and something to do with 
"making do" with what local materials were available at the time the 
west was settled.....and something of the nature/culture of the people 
who were present when laws were written.....and something to do with the 
nature/culture of the people there now.

--Leslie