How to decide to move?

[Baymule]

Well, there's the answer to that one. Next!!

 

[greybeard]

All very good points, greybeard. These are all the nooks and crannies that don't come up right away when you first fall in love with a place/idea. Like after that first flush of love passes and you discover your beloved snores like a chainsaw It sounds like you might have personal experience with property loss - fire, maybe? This summer I'm realizing a personal goal of having lightning rods on EVERY structure in my stewardship. I'm terrified of losing property by fire, not because I'm underinsured or there's no source of water, but because if my barn burns down, there is NOWHERE I can get 12" square chestnut beams anymore. A boat builder, darling of sea captains, built my barn and they don't make 'em like that anymore.

No, I have not suffered a loss (yet--knock on wood) but have gone thru the same song and dance each time I have tried to find good home and farm insurance. Lots of hoops to jump thru if you live in a rural area.
For instance--most insurers look down on VFDs as opposed to a munincipal fire dept with fire hydrants nearby your home. If the volunteer fire dept is the closest "fire station" it's a negative.
If it's more than just a couple miles away, it's a negative. If there is not a source of pressurized 2' or bigger water main nearby, it's a negative, and a home water well is not accepted, as most home wells will be without power once a fire hits the dist panel in your house. Outbuildings, like shops, cattle sheds, barns etc, have their own policies unless they are permanantly connected with utilities to your home (in my case anyway.)

 

[hilarie]

No, I have not suffered a loss (yet--knock on wood) but have gone thru the same song and dance each time I have tried to find good home and farm insurance. Lots of hoops to jump thru if you live in a rural area.
For instance--most insurers look down on VFDs as opposed to a munincipal fire dept with fire hydrants nearby your home. If the volunteer fire dept is the closest "fire station" it's a negative.
If it's more than just a couple miles away, it's a negative. If there is not a source of pressurized 2' or bigger water main nearby, it's a negative, and a home water well is not accepted, as most home wells will be without power once a fire hits the dist panel in your house. Outbuildings, like shops, cattle sheds, barns etc, have their own policies unless they are permanantly connected with utilities to your home (in my case anyway.)

Wow...you have been through it. We not only treasure our "off the grid" status, my husband is rabid (not too strong a word) about self sufficiency. We do have city water, but our 170 year old house has a 30' stone lined hand dug well that always even in the dryest year has a minimum of 8-10' of water in it, In it is a pump that is connected to the main utilities - ah, but it doesn't end there! Some years ago he bought a Lister-Petter generator made in England, the kind that run water wells or oil wells in 3rd world countries 24 hours a day for years. We can use diesel in it, or waste veggie oil. It'll run everything I need to have running. There are advantages to being married to a Libertarian