I also live in a very rural place. Basically you have to end up doing a ton of stuff yourself just because of the time to drive to town and back is very high,

I also live in a very rural place. Basically you have to end up doing a ton of stuff yourself just because of the time to drive to town and back is very high, or the cost to get a repairman out is prohibitive. One other issue is that there is usually a ton of regulations around building, and a county or state may not allow a developer to do at scale what it will allow an individual to do for themselves. DIY is very much a necessary part of living off grid. It actually can be quite fun!