Future house

We don't really know when we'll return to the USA, but it’s still fun to scheme about our future home there. As mentioned in the previous post, we still have a house in Houston that is currently rented out. We could always return to live in that house, but we are also considering purchasing another property as we’d like a more sustainable and relaxed lifestyle in the country when we return.

Ideally, we'd be able to find a property with some acreage, maybe 3-10 acres, that has lots of trees, wildlife (ideally edible species like wild pigs and deer), some topography, a water source, and definitely no HOA or other restrictions. Of course, it would still have to be close enough to commute to work, decent schools for the kids, and not be crazy expensive. Now, that is asking alot of the Houston area (assuming we return there), so I don't know we'll be able to find such a property.

In the event that we did, I'd like to build an earth sheltered concrete house. I found out about this building technique about a year ago from my Mom as there is a builder in her area that specializes in it. Their website is here: www.earthshelteredhome.com

The benefits of this home construction method are so obvious that I am surprised that more homes aren't built this way. It offers excellent energy efficiency, resistance to natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes, reduced pests and mold, and many others. The cost is a bit more, but you'd make it back over time with reduced energy costs. I think it could also be designed to offer more security in an end of the world scenario than a traditional wood frame and brick exterior house could.

It would be of modest size for our family of 5 (2000-2500 sqft), have a big porch (maybe even elevated), and a generous garage/workshop area. I would likely tie it to the grid initially, but I’d like to eventually have it be totally self-sufficient with: water well, septic system, rainwater collection, gas generator, solar panels, and maybe even wind turbines.

In the spirit of my previous post, I would first pay off the rental property (if possible) and then use the rental property to help pay down the second property.

Makes me want to go search har.com. :)