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I just find the whole discussion of "off the grid" living on this forum and the other Rocky Mountain region forums pretty laughable, at least as most of the posters seem to think about it. They talk about having a place out in the middle of nowhere with solar collectors, rainwater collection, windmill-powered well, photovoltaic cells and a straw-bale, adobe, or rammed earth house with a garden trying to grow in a cold desert. That's supposed to be "off the grid." But you never hear them talk about having to jump into the 12 mpg pickup (gotta have that to go get that firewood, you know) to make a 60 mile roundtrip every day to town to work, or to make similar roundtrips to do shopping for what they can't raise or produce on their sagebrush parcel (and that's a wide variety of stuff, even for a rudimentary lifestyle), or the diesel-powered school bus ride their kids take to school every day if they're not home-schooled (and, frankly, I've seen relatively few people able to home-school their kids successfully), or that much of that new-age "off the grid" equipment they need is made out of plastic, silicon, and rare earths. And, of course, most of these people are from somewhere else and on some regular basis have to slurp down a big bunch of gasoline or Jet A to go see their friends or relatives back on the coasts. Truth is, most of them aren't really "off the grid" at all--they just like to think they are. As far as a low-impact lifestyle, the guy living in a modest well-insulated house in a town where he grew up and has his friends and family, and within walking distance to shopping and work is a whole lot closer to "off the grid" than the granola-crunching-off-the-grid-dreamers are.
Hi everyone! I hear that in new mexico, lots of people are into building quirky houses like earthships and straw bale houses. many "off-the-grid".
Have you read this thread yet? Off the Grid If not, you might find it informative.
Do they get permits? I guess some do, some don't.
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 06-20-2012 at 02:34 PM..
Reason: Orphan Info
The rural parts of NM can be lax with codes. I've visited places that clearly had non-code housing (that wasn't that old) and outhouses. Probably depends a lot on who is enforcing the codes in the local area. Whether your neighbors complain or not likely makes a big difference too... ie if you build something near other non-code houses, you are more likely to get away with it. I didn't inquire about how they got away with it, so I'm just guessing.
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 06-20-2012 at 02:33 PM..
Reason: Orphan Info
And I also know A person locally who is not able to sell his property because he built a home on it without permitting it.
I knew personally of several houses in Otero County that were built several years ago without permits. Many people have gotten by with it in the past, and many still do.
The houses in question were built by non-licensed contractors as spec homes on land owned by the people who built them. They intended to sell off small tracts the houses were on. But the STATE BUILDING INSPECTOR in Dona Ana county red tagged these houses before they could be sold - they were in a finished state. Not sure whatever happened to them since the area is off the beaten path. Not somewhere I would normally go to.
...are unwilling to underwrite a mortgage for a structure that wasn't permitted and that because the inspector stated that it would be next to impossible to bring the structure up to code he hasn't been able to find a buyer.
There's always a slim chance someone will come along with cash and waive the inspections. That way the property can change hands with minimum involvement of regulators. Of course there is also the potential for a property to be condemned by the local authority although I've never seen that done in this area, where there are a great many really old owner-built homes. Mine is such a place. Once the home is declared abandoned and a nuisance the village will move in as it has done recently on several properties.
It seems that due to disclosure laws that the banks are unwilling to underwrite a mortgage for a structure that wasn't permitted and that because the inspector stated that it would be next to impossible to bring the structure up to code he hasn't been able to find a buyer.
Yes... I'd only consider non-code building if it was going to be very cheap, and I didn't care if I'd ever be able to sell it.
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