Getting Off Grid

Living off grid real estate is getting increasingly popular. From time to time people just take on vacant pieces of land, or live semi-permanent lives in trailers. A sustained off grid lifestyle, though, requires finding an off the grid piece of land.

Discovering off grid real estate in BC isn't too difficult. There are plenty of classified listings, on the web or in the papers, to complement what you can find on the Multiple Listing Service (which is also available online).

This raises the issue of what, precisely, qualifies as "off grid real estate"? Most pieces of land will have some kind of access, even if only by the roughest road, and so is, strictly speaking, at least a little bit on grid. It's also possible to, of course, look (or ask a realtor to send you an automated search)for land parcels that do not have electricity hook ups, water, sewer or telephone. These can be negatives for property vendors, and so you're likely aren't going to be facing too much competition from other other buyers.

Satisfying local codes and inspections can be something to get past, but its possible to find unserviced property in areas that do not don't require building inspectors. These can be properties that are often far from the nearest urban area. In reality you are still supposed to comply with the BC Building Code, but its improbable that anyone will turn up to enforce the building code.

Of course, complying with the building code is possible. The building code has allowed lots of styles of building systems, and is supposed to ensure that the housing is safe, not that its hooked up to the grid. There are fantastic off the grid buildings that satisfy the BC code and which have been inspected and passed by building inspectors.

You can find pieces of land in BC that you can't reach by road. Most of this is water or boat access, either by lake or, more generally, by sea. There are also properties that are accessible by walking, plane or horseback. This might seem more interesting remember that difficult access makes home construction difficult, and once you're done you'll still have the challenge of obtaining medical aid or supplies.

Going offgrid in BC means making it through Old Man Winter. Winters are demanding enough throughout the province that you'll need a dependable heat source, and in some parts it gets really cold. The best solution is to burn wood, but for that you need a a fireplace or stove, and cords and cords of cordwood. Perhaps the most attractive and most sustainable is geothermal, which can be built in many ways.

Solar and wind won't supply enough heat. They can, and do, give enough electricity electricty to run an off grid real estate, although your habits will probably have to change. Solar can be very expensive, as can wind, when you make the intial set up. You can build your own, though, and there are plenty of plans on the internet that work.

You can also go off grid bc with a generator, and as long as you have enough diesel or gas you'll lots of electricity. This is how remote set ups, whether farms, lodges or ranches, have been powered for years throughout the remote parts of the province, but a old style generatorlikely isn't too attractive to modern day off gridders.

The biggest thing to consider when considering off grid real estate is that it is not easy, it likely will be more difficult than you imagined, and there will be obstacles that you never anticipated. On the other hand, most offgridders are independent - its in their bones.