When Your Prepping Plan Falls Apart – Picking Up the Pieces, by M.J.W.

I previously wrote about Leaving Suburbia.  I was so excited to be moving out of the city and into the country towards a more self-sufficient lifestyle, but I spoke too soon.  We were in contract on a piece of property, and at the last minute, the sellers backed out of the transaction.  We were left wondering where we were going to live.  We immediately began looking for another piece of property.  Meanwhile the home we had leased for almost four years, in preparation for this move, was sold out from under us and we had to move on short order.  Move where?  
We moved our belongings into temporary storage and moved in with friends who graciously offered us the upstairs of their home.  Yet, we felt like a couple of 2×4’s had hit us.  At the same time, a very close friend had two major heart attacks in quick succession and he was in cardiac intensive care on life support for a week.  He made it, but the emotional toll was heavy.  Additionally, my employer announced a global layoff of staggering proportions.  Another couple of whacks with a 2×4.  
Whack, whack, whack, whack… deep breath.  No place to live, in fear of being subject to a layoff, being the primary breadwinner, the prepper plan up in smoke…  What next?  Time to take a step back and re-evaluate our circumstances.  What are the facts that determine the direction we must take?
1.        I own a local business and it is not time to fold up and move out of State.
2.        I work full time from home for my employer – flexibility is good.
3.        If I lose my job, we will be in a world of hurt – risk acknowledged.
4.        There are no available properties that meet the prepper plan within reach geographically.
5.        We must live close enough to a major hospital due to health concerns.
6.        The real estate market is in a state of flux, but interest rates are low.
7.        The economy is about to go off a cliff or will continue at a slow, painful, bleed.
8.        Congress has no idea how to solve our problems and an election is pending.
9.        We are getting old – mid 50s – we need to build a realistic plan for our future.

Uncertainty prevails.
Anxiety is high.

I write to you because I think that there may be many of you who are encountering the same dilemmas.  Maybe walking through my decision-making process will help you with yours, or alternatively, help you avoid certain decisions based on flaws in my logic.  Net-net:  I chose to shelter in rather than move to the country.  I will tell you why.
The business – The advantages to the prepper of having a local business are many: active involvement in the community, a large number of friends who are like-minded (in relationship to your type of business), a large network of resources (we help one another).  The business has a good-sized warehouse perfect for storage and under extreme measures, an alternate “shelter in” facility.  There is low overhead associated with running the business.  Decision:  Keep the business and focus on reducing cost, increasing loyalty, and expanding low cost services.  

The job – I tend to freeze when I am under lots of stress, but my antennae are up.  I am now paying attention to exactly how my employer is working to solve its problems.  Will it go under or will it reinvent itself?  I am determined to meet my objectives and then some.  I have taken on more work, working longer hours, keeping my ear to the ground, ensuring that I add real value to the division, and endeavoring to be politically aware so another 2×4 does not hit me upside the head.  I am keeping an eye on the job market in my field to ensure my skills are sharp and in demand.  What else can I do?
What about property?  After much research, and emotional depression, I determined that now is a good time to buy, but choosing the property is critical.  Let me be clear.  Choosing the property to purchase is based more on future financial security now than my previous prepper plans.  I do not wish to be homeless in my old age with stockpiles of food and supplies and nowhere to put them.  Practicality and precaution will be my guides.  

Let me give you a little background on the property situation in Nevada.  We have an extremely contracted real estate market in Nevada with a significant number of homes in foreclosure resulting in very limited inventory – i.e., not much for sale.  It takes over 400 days for a home to make its way back onto the market after foreclosure in Nevada.  This is in addition to a one to two year foreclosure process.  The lack of inventory has caused a bit of a bidding war on available properties, which leads to false valuations, which we know will not hold.  Do not get caught in a bidding war unless you have done the long-term math.  I heard that the same thing is happening in California.

The fact that across the United States, “10 million properties with underwater mortgages, and a shadow inventory of 1.5 million” (6/26/12, Forbes ) makes one wonder if now is the time to buy at all.  It also makes one wonder what will happen if, and when, the banks start releasing properties, i.e., flood the market with properties for sale.  I believe that the banks will continue to dribble properties out into the market for sale at a controlled rate in order to avoid insolvency and to control the downward spiral in housing values.  

If I buy now, will I be able to sell out of necessity in the future?  This is the question on every potential homeowner’s mind.  Recent homeowners (within the last 2 years) are most likely underwater in Nevada already.  Have we hit bottom?  Probably not.  Is there a long-term advantage to buying property now?  Maybe.  Each individual must decide, according to his or her own financial situation, if it makes sense to buy property now or rent.  I am not a financial advisor, nor do I know anything about financial planning – it is not what I do for a living.  I am just a mid – 50s woman with a lot at stake and have done my own research.  I made the decision to buy because it makes financial sense for tax reasons.  After deducting the interest on the loan, property taxes, repairs, etc., my cost for shelter is about half of what it is to rent a comparable property.  It makes financial sense for me.  Will congress keep the tax deductions intact for years to come?  Probably.  My financial plan includes paying off a 30 yr mortgage in 15 with room to prep in the budget – and that’s a really aggressive goal that requires discipline.

The price of the property I am currently purchasing is low for the area and the home is a “fixer-upper”.  The area has historically held property values – relatively speaking – and doing much better than other areas.  It is an older, established neighborhood, with lots of mature trees and landscaping, custom homes on large lots, and a bit removed from the downtown areas.  Our friend calls it the “high rent district”, but I would call it a great deal in a great neighborhood with longtime residents who value their properties.  Nevadans are an interesting breed – primarily conservative, supporters of the right to bear arms, stubborn, opinionated, and with little tolerance for Bravo Sierra.  Most folks out here know how to shoot and own weapons.  If you can generalize about any group of people, I would say that I would rather be nestled in, sheltered in, with a group of longtime Nevadans than out in the wilderness on my own.  I believe this choice makes financial sense in the event that the balloon does not go up – practicality.

However, I have not given up entirely on my prepper plans.  The location of this non-HOA home allows for some views of what is going on below “in the city” because it is located in the foothills.  It is on over a third an acre and the soil is good – enough room to grow a sizeable, private garden.  It has a unique crawlspace under the home that could be a small bunker with slight modifications.  It is large, over 3,000 sq. ft., allowing room for the extended family to shelter in.  Behind the home is a “ditch”.  Ditches were built many years ago in order to provide irrigation for pastures, and they remain fully functional interwoven throughout residences in the foothills.  The runoff from the major streams and lakes run through these ditches.  It is not the perfect plan, but it is something.  One cannot count on the ditch being a stable water source, but with the right filtration system, one could move water from the ditch into containers if need be.  I consider the ditch to be on par with a well.  In parched Nevada, wells dry up, as do ditches and streams, but having one close is still a good back up to the backup plan.  The home has two wood burning fireplaces in perfect condition, providing an alternate heating source for our cold winters.  If I take my prepper blinders off for a moment, I can see how this property will work.

This decision did not come easily – to shelter in place rather than move into the country.  My plan was several years in the making and it went up in smoke.  My only other option was to uproot and move to Idaho and I am just not ready to do that.  I cannot express to you how difficult it has been emotionally to choose to stay local to the community.  However, it is practical and sometimes we just have to be practical.  I can turn this home into my prepper palace with the right effort and planning.

The disadvantage of purchasing a home not far from the city is the potential onslaught of city dwellers and the “Golden Horde” from California.  This home is nestled within a community of windy roads and not directly in the path of the major freeways or major traffic veins.  Is it vulnerable?  Yes, absolutely.  Will it be the first target?  No.  There will be some time to prepare for an onslaught once the full preparation plan is in place for holding ground if the SHTF.  Since the decision to buy has been made and the decision to shelter in is in play, how can the home be fortified in such a way as to not call attention to preparation efforts and not violate any neighborhood norms?  

Planned preps for the shelter in place strategy include fortifying the exterior.  Currently, Masonite siding is in place.  I am researching replacing it with a cement fiber siding.  I am thinking “bulletproof”.  There are a number of “view windows” and other windows that I would like to replace with a bulletproof glass or modify them per J.W.R.’s instructions.  I will replace the sliding glass doors completely by reducing the exposure area, building out the walls, and inserting oh so innocent looking French doors that are bulletproof.  I wanted to do solar, but I am thinking of strategizing around the fireplaces, which can be a source of heating, cooking, and light.  While the home is large, there is not enough storage spaces built in.  I am thinking about building in storage that doubles as built-in furniture with false doors and hidden spaces.  The crawl space can be fortified further, especially with a heavy locked door and will serve as a bunker retreat and good for storage.  Yes, there are lots to this and I have not scratched the surface.  No more planning around goats, chickens, rabbits, and acres.  Now it is all about being secure in an un-secure area.  Water storage is a prime concern, but isn’t that what hot tubs are for?  If I can make myself laugh, I can enjoy this process rather than panic about it.

Parting advice – if you can’t move to the country, “shelter in” with your eyes wide open.  Everything I do now is through the lens of prepping.  SurvivalBlog has been and will be my “go to“ place for advice and ideas of other preppers.