Renting Land or Boondocking?

bigdogger wrote:
Good luck screening daily and weekly renters. What are you planning on doing, running background checks on everyone who wants to rent a place for three days? Or are you going with the "cross your heart and hope to die" pledge that what they are telling you is true?
Good luck finding that subset of daily and weekly renters that want (and can actually properly maintain and use) rental properties that are off the grid. Your average renter will have no experience or appreciation for a composting toilet, a generator or solar for power and having limited water.
Good luck finding someone who just wants a place in the middle of a field. When most people think of boondocking, they think of great places that are otherwise inaccessible. Not the middle of a corn field. Great boondocking locations have more going for them than just isolation. Like another poster implied, total isolation for the sake of isolation mainly appeals to meth cookers, escaped convicts, pedophiles and the Unabomber, none of whom are a great demographic to target for a lodging business.

While Airbnb is not perfect, it does allow you to screen the individuals whom will be staying at your property (you rate them and they rate you). You may be right about your average renter not appreciating the "off the grid" amenities, however in the area surrounding San Francisco, I believe that people are fairly informed on these eco-responsible attributes.

Also, I wouldn't rent a piece of property that was just a "corn field", I would keep looking until I found the perfect patch of land, that was in a location which could access trails, swimming holes, etc. I'm not tied down to one location, so as long as I can figure out the zoning laws, then I can take my time looking for the right property.