USDA 502 and a green living project. Disabled, need help.

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone. I am new here, but I really feel overwhelmed by the prospect of this program and need help figuring it all out.  I have some unusual wants for this project, and I need advice on what to pursue and what to be willing to fall back on. Right now I am "vagrant", with no stable place to live. I spent the majority of my 20s really falling apart emotionally and financially. I was an adult with autism, and no diagnosis. I could not figure a lot of my issues out. Recently though I finally found the right people to help me, and we've been sorting out my medical issues. They also helped arrange SSI for me, which has saved me from being out on the streets instead of renting out space from friends when and where I can like I do now. I have a lot of fatigue issues, but I am a hard worker. I just don't hold schedules to save my life, and I have my good days and bad days. I have a girlfriend of nearly 6 years though who is my rock, and I am sure she will help me get this dream accomplished, though she does have her own place(an old dying trailer home) and we haven't figured out what we would do about that.

Financially my situation is really bad. I dig in dumpsters and collect cans/bottles to supplement my SSI. Some months it costs me more to convince people to let me stay than other months, so I never know if i have enough. I scrap metal and computers, amongst other things, and make extra money where I can. Despite all that, I never can keep ahead of expenses. The car I use isn't even technically mine, but it breaks all the time and I have to fix it because the owner can't(and he has no license anyway). It guzzles gas, but it's my only hope to get around. I've done the math on it and a 502 loan on a modest property with my building ideas would easily be within what my SSI pays per month, and quite a bit cheaper than my current situation.

Despite my bad finances, and my limitations, I also have a lot of skills and informal education. I have worked in the food business, lawn care, construction/remodelling, masonry, metal fabrication, bladesmithing/armoring, truck driving, computer repair, manufacturing speakers, installing PA systems, repairing electronics, and I have worked independently for years as a scrap metal recycler. I do great work at the jobs I get, but I get mired in the social nightmare that is the neurotypical world and things break down for me. I really thrive when Iam working for myself, but until I got the help I needed, I was really having a lot of trouble getting my situation stable. When your situation is stable, it's hard to express any skills, talents, or achievements. I really need a situation where I can do the work I am good at, but right now I have no space. My girlfriend's trailer park won't let me do my scrapping there, and collecting cans from the trash is awful work that's also dangerous. I've done the math on what I have to do to pay for my bills in this plan even if the SSI goes away at some point, and I am confident it's achievable. I would eventually like to work my way off of the dole and become self-sufficient.

Here's where my plan gets more complicated though; I am looking for a rural tract that is not farmland(so 502 can cover it), but that is low-cost and of a certain size(ideally 20-50 acres). I live in Iowa and would like to stay within reasonable distance of the Waterloo area(closer is better). I want somewhere that is on county land, with county taxes, and not in danger of being annexed by any cities or townships. I am very okay with marginal land, land that floods, land with high winds, rocky land(good even for this plan), heavy timber, or other things that would drive down the price. I need at least one good part of the property that doesn't typically flood. I will also need road access and electric, but I will not be using natural gas of any kind for this plan. It's also important for me that I have access to rural broadband in this location, the more choices the better. On this land I want to build a container home, using ISO shipping containers(conex boxes), which I want to entrench for stormproofing, and I want to put a "green roof" on the top of it. Eventually I want to build wind, solar, and micro-hydro generators, all of which I can build myself with space, tools, an material. The handbook for 502 suggests that they have flexibility regarding many aspects of the funding. I am also hoping they can help connect me with other programs which may support some of my goals. I believe I can build a comfortably sized container home(1280 sq. ft.) for under 30,000 finished. If I can find marginal land at low rates(3000 or less per acre), I could keep this entire project under 100,000 dollars(not including generator systems, which can be built later). It's very unlikely I can locate "comparables" in this area, but I don't know how obessessed the USDA is about that. There's plenty of comparables globally, even nationally, but it's not big around here at this point. At around 23 dollars per square foot, maybe a bit more depending on what they require of me, the project is extremely cost efficient.

Also, the combination of composting septic, composting of food wastes, and recycling of plastics, metals, and other materials, will leave this project producing a 25% or less total waste stream, and I am certain my plans will exceed EPA guidelines by even more in regard to heavy metals and other toxic pollutants. My goal is a project with extremely low impact, and heavy effort to improve the area through soil revitalization, composting of manures acquired from other farms. I have studied organic soil biology and I believe assisted organic gardening is the future. I will plant trees if trees are missing, I will clean up waterways. This project is all about the land and the people living together in a more healthy union. I will probably need a well, but it I can collect enough rainwater, that won't be an issue.

I've put up an ad on Craigslist looking for farmers or others with rural land that might sell off a non-farm section of their land, but I can't shake the feeling that there's probably a better way to go about this. Is there a good place where farmers talk? Is there government land or something I should be looking for? I am worried about having a few land options ready for when/if I get my voucher. I want to be ready when the money is.

There's a lot more to my plans, but that's probably the basics. I don't know if I am forgetting anything. Is this even possible? It seems like it from what I have read, but I feel intimidated by this process. The nearest office is about a 30 minute drive from here, and it's the weekend right now, so hopefully I can call them and somehow clear a lot of this up tomorrow. Suggestions for questions to ask the USDA office would be really helpful. Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

[Familywantsahouse]

Well, I think you have to walk before you can run. Despite beingh "more flexible" the USDA direct lender will absolutely consider your history, FICO score, and finances. I might suggest contacting a local agency who could assist an adult with a disability in finding a permanent rental residence. I'd try to rent something for a couple of years, establish an acceptable Fico history, and go from there!

Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the response. I'm willing to really scale back my plans if that will help, but I'm very determined to do this. I have the skills and the passion, and my current situation is never going to be stable in a rental. They gave me SSI and scaled back my food stamps, but I am on a gluten-free diet and the food is incredibly expensive. Going to a food bank is not really an option because none of them around here cater to special diets at all. I'm on a treadmill here.

I have design schematics, financial projections, concept drawings, and a whole slew of ther data. I really am flexible about this, and can scale back portions of the plan, or even radically redesign some parts of needed. I've read they do a 38 year mortgage for those in the very low income category, which I am. I make about 8 thousand a year. My income is federally gauranteed though, and I'm not sure how that affects their assessment of it.

Should I send in a letter of explanation of credit as soon as I apply?

[thankfulheart]

To be honest, I don't see that you will be able to get any kind of standard financing. Sadly, skills and passion are not enough in today's mortgage industry.  Are you certain you are taking the full advantage of social services offered to you? Are there job training or rental subsidies available?

Because your project is quite interesting in the current social climate, have you considered writing to, say, producers from TLC to see if they might be interested in funding/following your journey? As someone who has researched tiny houses, I know I'd be interested in watching a show like that.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the responses. I figured my project might be a little too wild for the 502 program, but what I really want to know is what other options there are.  I can build a much more conventional dwelling. I'm very flexible on land, location, and dwelling styles. I've worked in construction since I was a little kid, so I could draft schematics for all sorts of building designs.

Or I am misunderstanding and you are trying to tell me that it's more or less impossible for me to get a home through this program?

[thankfulheart]

Any traditional form of financing will look at DTI ratios, with a max of about 50% including mortgage, taxes, insurance, and all monthly debts, so doing simple calculations, there is just no way with an annual income of $8K.

In addition, any lender will want licensed contractors doing the work with required periodic inspections (foundation, electrical, plumbing, drywall, etc) and the costs that go with them along the way. Then there would be a final appraisal that would also have to meet guidelines. Traditional financing is not for the DIY homebuilder.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. Do you know of any programs targetted at the disabled? The USDA page suggests that people on SSI can get 502 financing. Thing is, nobody on SSI makes more than about 9K a year without special exceptions. I figured this was what the 38 year loan was all about. On a 150,000 dollar project(just an easy example), that would make the payments about 4K a year, which I could do. I'm also allowed to earn a small amount of money. So loan payments aren't a problem in that scenario. I'm looking to do a much less expensive project though. Is there some other program besides 502 that might be more relevant to me? I'm guessing some of my environmental concepts might attract grants at some point, but I don't consider that something to count on.

Does anyone know where I can find a copy of the guidelines of acceptable properties and the requirements for contractors and other needed personel? I am probably able to get at least some of the certifications they would require. I have a lot of carpentry and metalworking experience both for others and myself. Do letters of recommendation help? Much of my education is informal, but given chances to prove what I know, I generally get people to understand I know what I am talking about. This is often the case with autistic adults, especially with late diagnosis. I read 8 hours or more a day, mostly non-fiction. If I had the money right now, I could accomplish every step of this process without any outside help(other than what's legally required). Proving that is almost impossible though, short of sitting down with experts and talking their language with them about it. That's really my most likely route to ever being taken seriously. Getting a foot in the door is hard though, especially when you're not smooth with people. I want to understand inside and out what they require and what they offer. I just can't seem to locate the guidelines yet.

[sharpie]

The best idea I can come up with for you is find someone who will sell you a trailer on land via a land contract.  Then you can start building your house.  Rather than a container I would look at cordwood / cob / strawbale / papercrete / earthship etc.   Reason being, getting the container there will cost $.  If you have a trailer sitting there it solves about 99% of your problems.   If permits / zoning etc. are an issue, I have read where you can just "add on" to the trailer.  Then eventually just slip the trailer out of the picture.  There are lots of natural building type email lists and conversations to be found.   You are already really resourceful, you just need to find the land contract. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Sharpie. Those are some great suggestions. Do you have any recommendations on where and how to look for people willing to provide a land contract? This is the part I always come up against. I'm just not sure where to really start looking and asking. What's the best bet for finding land that isn't listed through realtors? I know that a lot of land sales in the country are private no-realtor sales, but that also means no listings in conventional venues.