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Hi Chris,

The first thing you should consider is the type of land you want. In the Romanian countryside, you find that most all the houses are in the village and have a small plot (generally about 1000-2000m2) of land around and behind the land where kitchen vegetables are grown and chickens kept and so on. Most of the smallholders will also own land outside the village where they grow other things; hay for animals, potatoes, and other cash crops. Individual range-style properties miles from neighbours aren't so common.

The practical upshot of this is that the land, from a building regulations point of view, is split into 'intravilan' and 'extravilan' land. The intravilan, as the name suggests, is land within the village, town, or city. Obtaining building permission for this kind of land is a lot easier, especially if the plot previously had a building on it.

You might look into doing something similar - buying an old village property, which would also give you a lot better support within the community and the ability to share knowledge and produce with neighbours, and then buy plots of land outside the village for larger scale cultivation. The house could then be restored and adapted to your desired eco standards.

A village house in a Transylvanian village might cost as little as 5'000 Euro up to around 40'000 Euro, depending on its location, size, and condition. Extravilan land can be as cheap as 2000 Euro/hectare, whereas intravilan land in a village may be 10-15 Euro/m2. It all depends on who is selling, what utilities are close at hand, the designation of the land, and, of course, it's location.

There are several groups in the Transylvanian countryside who focus on sustainable and low-impact living and it might be worthwhile looking into those areas so you have people close at hand to help you get started.

Best of luck.

Thanks for the reply and info Mykal!

Hi Cris,
First you must know in Romania the strangers cannot buy land.To buy land first you must make a company in here after the company can buy land.So its not so easy like you imagine.

@martabotea

Not true any more. Since 2012 citizens of the EU have been able to buy land although there are still some limits on buying agricultural land until next year. Check out Legea nr 312/2005.

However, I think the original poster in a US citizen, so in his case he would indeed need a company in whose name he could buy the land.