Off-grid living is becoming popular, with applications for rural mortgages rising

The idea of living off the grid—once the domain of hippies and doomsday preppers—has been steadily winning over a broader range of homebuyers, from remote-working young professionals to families pursuing a back-to-basics lifestyle.  

Enter the modern-day homesteader: someone who embraces self-sufficient living in a rural setting.

This kind of rustic living typically involves producing at least some of your own food; generating your own energy by harnessing solar, wind, or water power, instead of relying on the municipal electrical grid; reducing waste; and incorporating sustainability into everyday life.

The appeal of back-to-basics rural living has surged since the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled by the rise of remote work policies and the growing demand for more space, explains Theresa Lunn, broker and owner of United Country Real Estate-Western Montana Group.  

Lunn, who grew up on a ranch and lives on one now, has been selling homesteads, farmhouses, and commercial ranches in Western Montana for nearly 20 years. She tells Realtor.com® that in recent years, she has seen her clientele shift, with a growing number of digital nomads and young families seeking a return to the land.

“It just warms my heart,” says the broker. “There are many, many young people that have kind of seen the light. … They’re just very wise, and they have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. And they say, ‘We want to be more self-sufficient.’”

In the wake of the pandemic, a sizable share of people opted to leave urban areas for rural, off-the-beaten-path communities offering more affordable housing and a laid-back lifestyle.

Rural communities have appeal, data confirms

A November 2024 report from Fannie Mae showed that mortgage applications for housing in rural areas spiked 80% since the start of the pandemic. 

“Although only a small share of urban residents relocated to rural areas during the pandemic, their influx represented a disproportionate increase in demand for housing in those regions,” wrote Kevin Park, housing economist working at the time on Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research team.

Even as elevated mortgage interest rates cooled buyer demand in metros, application activity in rural parts of the U.S. remained above pre-pandemic averages, according to Fannie Mae research.

Interest in different types of remote areas has fluctuated: Resort-style communities saw an early surge that has since died down, while institution-rich hubs featuring schools, banks, hospitals, and libraries continue to attract house hunters.

According to the latest available data from Realtor.com, list prices in the typical rural county grew 64% from July 2019 to July 2025, compared with an increase of 42% in the median metro area county.

And since mortgage interest rates began climbing in 2022, the shift toward rural areas has intensified. Over the past three years, prices in the typical rural county have surged 13%, compared with 4% in its metro counterpart.

Simply put, asking prices have grown more than three times faster in the typical rural county compared with the typical metro area county.

Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel says the good news for aspiring homesteaders is that, despite prices growing more quickly in rural areas, they are still considerably more affordable than urban communities in absolute terms.

In July, the median list price in the median rural county was $299,950, compared with $348,200 in the median metropolitan area county, a 14% difference. For context, what Krimmel calls the “rural discount” was 25% in 2019 and 21% in 2022.

“In short, there’s evidence of prices slowly converging, as demand for rural counties has grown substantially,” explains the economist.

There are a couple of factors driving this rural boom: The proliferation of remote work and the surge in interest rates are making cheaper places more attractive to budget buyers facing affordability challenges.

Lunn, the Montana broker and real estate consultant, agrees, saying that she has seen rural properties grow in popularity whenever the economy gets tighter. She also says that the increasing availability of reliable high-speed internet allowing people to work from anywhere has been a “game changer.”

The many versions of rural living

But it’s important to note that rural living is not a one-size-fits-all experience.

There are many models of homesteading, Lunn explains. They range from a single-family home with all the modern conveniences in a rural setting that’s a short drive from a town with stores and coffee shops, to a fully off-grid log cabin miles away from the nearest hamlet.

She adds that some buyers initially approach her hoping to purchase property that will let them live a fully self-sufficient lifestyle—only to realize they are not ready for it. At least not right away.

“Sustainability and being self-sufficient, those are very relative terms,” notes Lunn. “So for some people, being self-sufficient is growing tomatoes out on their little lanai. And to some people, they want the spread with acres of garden.”

Even the concept of going off-grid—disconnecting from public utilities and switching to self-sufficient electrical and water systems—covers a wide spectrum and comes with a steep learning curve, especially for people moving from large metros.

“Yes, you can do it, but many times I’ll have people saying, ‘I want to go off-grid.’ For one thing, there are all kinds of off-grid setups.
Some of them are very good, and some of them are not,” says Lunn.

She has found that, in many cases, it is best to find a property that is on grid, and then gradually transition to an off-grid arrangement “at your comfort level.”

Embracing an off-grid lifestyle prematurely, without knowing what you’re capable of both physically and mentally, can come at a cost, warns Lunn.

“The people that want to go whole hog like that … they burn out many times because it is a lot of work,” says Lunn. “Everybody has their own tolerance.”

People with young children or a particularly demanding job might want to consider how much time they’ll have to devote to growing crops or setting up a hydropower system to generate electricity for their home.

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According to the broker, would-be homesteaders—especially those used to city living—also often underestimate an area’s remoteness in their quest for rural living.

“I’m thinking of one client in particular, and he came from a very large city, and he said, ‘I want the most remote place that you can find on the market,’” recalls Lunn.

The broker drove the city dweller more than an hour and a half over rough country roads to tour the out-of-the-way piece of property the client had in mind to purchase.

“Then we’d get back to the vehicle, and he goes, ‘So maybe not quite this [remote],’” says Lunn.

From Windy City to Big Sky Country

Homebuyers are drawn to far-flung communities for a wide variety of reasons—some seek more privacy, while others want to put their survival skills to the test. For many families, it’s a priority to give their children a well-rounded upbringing away from the constant pull of screens.

“They want them to be able to have that tactile and all-surrounding experience of being able to play outside, being able to grow something of your own, being able to have an animal, and realizing that all the latest whatever fill-in-the-blank TV, movies, are not worth it,” says Lunn.

Lunn recently helped a family of five from Chicago buy a 20-acre ranch-style spread in a remote community about an hour from Missoula, MT—a city of 78,000 inhabitants with an airport, hospitals, and art museums.

The agent says the husband and wife, who have three children under the age of 5, have been vacationing in Western Montana for years and “just fell in love” with the area. Last year, they came out looking for a homestead to buy, but could not find one in their budget.

This year, the family was more successful, snagging the sprawling estate for $850,000. The property comes with a very modest home, multiple outbuildings, a garden, grazing land, and even a flock of hens left behind by the previous owners.

“They are thrilled,” Lunn says of her clients. “There’s still a lot of things to do … but they just love it.”

Since moving in, the family have bought pigs and collected eggs from their hens. They are planning to buy cattle and horses.

Lunn points out that the buyers did not care that the main house was quite small, because the property offered other advantages, including access to a water source (which could eventually allow them to go off grid), proximity to good schools, and a reliable internet connection enabling remote work.

Buyers beware

But even with the best of intentions, embracing the simple life can be complicated.

Lunn says in Western Montana, it’s often the harsh, snowy climate that pushes newcomers to their limits—and sends some running for the hills.

“There is nothing more powerful than the truth, and you have got to be truthful with people and explain to them that this is going to be a long winter,” she says.

According to the veteran broker, many city dwellers fantasize about leaving their cubicles behind to live off the land in a place like Montana, without realizing the hardships that come with it.

For some, the ultimate reality check is “a good, strong winter,” says Lunn.

Others manage to find workarounds, such as becoming snowbirds and spending the cold winter months in warmer locales, before returning to Big Sky Country for the summer.