Buy a piece of flat land or mountainous and build on it while you can. It’s the cheapest way to go.
I was a renter most of my life and then ten years ago, at 45 years old, finally bought some land. Had to move from FL to MO for something of decent size that we could afford. Got 8 acres in the Ozarks, South facing elevation with a decent sized flat area with good top soil. Power and phone running down the county maintained gravel road. Hard to find a small piece like that here. Took us two years to find it. I tore down a fire damaged house and used the materials to build a cabin and shop here. We’ve since picked up the adjoining 7 acres. Got about 12 acres of it fenced in a year and a half ago and have meat goats now. Small pasture pigs are next. Fruit trees, garden etc etc. Property taxes are $42/yr. Electric is cheap. No zoning or building codes so no permits to buy. Neighbor on each side are from St Louis and IL and come down on some weekends and are good people.
Wish I’d have done this 20 years ago. Our goal is to become as self sufficient as possible as the world goes down the tubes.