strategic location question

They'll be fine, just make sure they've got a snug place to sleep that is dry and secure from drafts, with a perch big enough they can snuggle up together, and get the floofier breeds with smaller combs. Combs and wattles are subject to frostbite so the smaller the better.

 

THAT right there is the most true thing one can say about bugging out.

Most bug outers are simply going to be refugees if it comes to the point of actually bugging out (forget all the bs stories you read about bugging out). And most of the ones that do make it to their BOL are simply dooming themselves to starve/etc at some not too distant future date. It takes many years to set up a homestead capable of being even close to self sustaining, and many years to learn the skills of being self sustaining. You don't do that from an apartment in the city and a cabin out in Tim-Buk-Tu.

 

It’s hard enough even after living on a homestead all of your life. There’s always going to be something you are going to need. The best plan is learning to do without . Plan,Plan all you want to but there’s always going to be put something you need.

 

@fl4848 "Ideally I'd like to locate to Utah or Idaho..."

I would say you missed the boat on Idaho. I live in North Idaho and have now been here almost 6 years. The rate of refugees, mainly from California (about 95% of the refugee), has sky rocketed over the past year driving housing (prices through the roof, even raw land prices are ridiculous. I had a Realtor tell me that I could sell my house for 2X what I paid for it...and it's not just here locally, it's all of North Idaho. People are afraid and they are acting upon their instincts and leaving before things get worse there but it has caused a huge housing shortage and traffic has tripled which will cause us problems in the future. The good news is they are like-minded people with most being even more conservative then the locals...and for good reason.

Anyway, the housing/land market here sucks right now and I don't expect it to improve in the future.

 

If the SHTF really does happen in the next few years, I'm probably not making it to my alternative BOL where my extended family is. 5 mile long bridge with a 800 mile alternative is gonna be iffy. Getting over that bridge with others blocking the far side says .. i'm staying put.
After the kids are out of college and on their own, that's another story.
We'll packing up this compound and heading to the bush. I can work remotely.

 

Retired now so spending more time at my BOL. Still have to return to the city for Dr. and dentist appointments, and to say hello to my cats.

 

We are looking to buy land farther out than we are right now but still within commuting distance of work. Once the kids graduate we will move out there full time. We have seen some property we like now. 80 acres Farm land and forest combo with a 3 ac natural pond. Thinking about putting in an offer.

 

Move to TN.

 

Wherever you decide, do not jump into the sale without a thorough look at the entire area.

I had a chance to buy a bit over 60 acres with log cabin, machine shed, coal vein, gas well, water well, year-round stream...for around $30,000.

Then I did some background on the major industry in the area and discovered the coal mines were planning on strip mining...that area no longer exists in a recognizable fashion.

 

I too did what @Yard Dart mentioned above. I used Google satellite view to check out the neighborhood. Found that a piece of raw land that was nicely priced had multiple fracking wells and a pumping station within a quarter mile of the property. They weren't accessing the wells and station off the main road but on a dirt road that snaked through the easement.

Oh did i mention the dump across the street hidden by 125 feet of tree line. By dump I mean it was where some contractor put road tearout debris, dead machines and barrels scattered around their cleared out pad.

That was a bummer. Not a sign of activity at the road. The property was perfect in price and topology. Neighbors sucked with the sat. view.

 

Good point.
Here is what happened for me.
When we bought this place is was told "there is a well over there some where".
So I found said well, I checked it, it had water in it, it wasn't just a small well, its a 16 inch agricultural. Had the well company come check it out, that well can supply at least 100 gallon per minute. Paid them a few hundred dollars.
Got a letter from the well service a few weeks later, talked to some farmers around here and that well at least doubles the value of the land.

 

Also, make sure you aren’t buying in a flood plain or if it is and you still want it you will have to build your house accordingly. There are maps online that show flood plains. The federal flood insurance website can help too!
Also perc test for septic...

 

Youtube video on buying property anonymously:

 

Make sure you take a look at the property in say march as the snow melts. You may see that the property that looks awesome in the summer, is going to be a mudbog late fall through spring. Dead of winter the ground will be hard as a rock in most places in the northern tier.

 

With regards to Google Satellite, the images you see aren't necessarily up to date. Zooming down on my place now and this image is at least four years old, maybe older but I can't quite tell if that's my truck or his in the drive. Then if I switch to street view it's a different image, and that's definitely my truck now which puts this no newer than 2013. It does give you a good idea of the area, but a lot might have changed.

 

Same here. Mine shows a tractor in the driveway I sold in 2011.

 

If I look at where I lived in Virginia in 2010 my cars are still parked there.
My friend had a picture taken of his house when they had a 8 foot deep trench dug in the front yard to replace the sewer line. It looks like they are doing trench warfare and that was 2014.