Retreat Recommendations?

CitizenQ

CitizenQ

Joined
May 5, 2006
Messages
1,968
Hey guys...need your advice and wise counsel.

Some of you know I live on Long Island, NY, a 125 by 15 mile wide island on which 7,000,000 citizens live. It is served by three (3) bridges to the mainland. In an emergency, there will be no getting off this island. I have two (2) plans. Plan A is to anticipate The Event and get out early. Plan B is to sit in place, let things cool down, and then get off.

My immediate project is to aquire a place to retreat to. I was up in northern Maine last week and -- at prices as low as $400.00 an acre -- it is immensely affordable. However, at 560 miles itsa looooong trip...9.5 hours in the best of times...no telling how long in the worst of times. And then there are the Maine winters to consider.

While Maine is still a possibility I would like to learn more about affordable locations within 250-miles of my home on Long Island.

I'm thinking mid New York State fellas...or possibly Pennsylvania.

25-acres is the least I'd want and 100-acres is the most. Perhaps 50-acres is the sweet spot. At this point in time $100,000.00 is the most I could afford. If I was to go $100,000.00 I'd want some kind of shelter on the property...nothing fancy...just a good quality cabin or small home.

Please tell me what you think and when making your comments, please remember that 250-miles to 500-miles is the futherest distance I would prefer.

Thanks.
 
Sorry, I can't help you with any suggestions, maybe you should talk to some realtors in the areas your looking at.

I hope you are going to get a nice wooded area, with maybe a pond or creek on it? That way you can have a nice vacation/hunting/fishing gettaway for when there isn't an emergency, and when there is, you'll have food and water all around you, all you gotta do is catch it.

Do you do any hunting or fishing with any of your buddies? Maybe you could expand your budget by going in on it together.

I don't know, maybe you don't even hunt or fish, it's just a thought, something I've always wanted to do.
 
May I make another suggestion for getting off the island?

Avon/Zodiak raft.

Get a good rubber raft and motor, and you're good to go.
Get enough gas, and you might be able to make it a ways up the coast (depending on weather and type of emergency of course) to your retreat.
 
You might try looking around Binghamton - take a map and draw a 300 mile wide circle around where you live and that general area is probably going to be the cheapest. Anywhere else and prices are going to go up due to a nearby large city that offers employment within commuting distance.

One thing to consider is that if the SHTF in a big way, your property boundaries may not be especially relevant. One way to consider the problem is having one acre in the middle of a protected natural area like the Catskills or the Adirondacks is preferable to having 100 acres in the middle of farmland. Living on one acre you're surrounded by hundreds or thousands of acres of land that you can hunt, fish and forage. Living on a 100 acres of farmland you're surrounded by 100 acres of land that needs to be farmed (which requires seed, tools, and labor) and is easily accessible by roads (which means it can be raided). As Patton once said, "Fixed fortifications are monuments to the stupidity of man."

I don't know what your situation is but I thought I'd throw that out there as food for thought. With a 100k you should be able to get yourself a nice little retreat - just take your time looking and good luck! :thumbup:
 
Strobengh said:
May I make another suggestion for getting off the island...Get a good rubber raft and motor, and you're good to go.quote]

Getting off the Island isn't that much of a concern for me. Because so many people live on the other shore, it's what I find when I get to the other side that is of greater worry.

stingray4540 said:
...Do you do any hunting or fishing with any of your buddies? Maybe you could expand your budget by going in on it together..
Click to expand...

Yes, going in with multiple people (with multiple talents) has crossed my mind more than once.
Click to expand...
 
how about a piece of ground with a well and septic hook up, pick up a rv and you can have your home on wheels, when you get there hook up to your well and septic turn on elecricity and there you are. if you want to build a small pole barn to put your rv inside so the land looks untouched. you can keep your rv loaded or park it in jersey. unoccupied homes in the country are invitations to break ins, the less you have on site may be the less headache for you. also maybe you cant bug out to your property, you may need to go south north, west your plan is much more flexible.

alex
 
A bit of a thread hijack, but your mention of a retreat got me thinking of John Rourke in the Survivalist book series. The description of his granite cave retreat in the Georgia mountains was always something I'd dreamed of doing.
 
alco141 said:
how about a piece of ground with a well and septic hook up, pick up a rv and you can have your home on wheels, when you get there hook up to your well and septic turn on elecricity and there you are. if you want to build a small pole barn to put your rv inside so the land looks untouched. you can keep your rv loaded or park it in jersey. unoccupied homes in the country are invitations to break ins, the less you have on site may be the less headache for you. also maybe you cant bug out to your property, you may need to go south north, west your plan is much more flexible.

alex
Click to expand...

Alex, this is a VERY good idea...and ideas are what I'm looking for brother. The concept you have suggested has been consider in the past -- however -- the cost of the RV breaks the bank bro...that's why I'm been thinkin' "mobile home" or "cabin" lately. Thanks for bringing this idea up though! :thumbup:
 
syrinx said:
7,000,000 people in chaos,hmmm...ya live on an island...hmmm...BOAT!
Click to expand...

Forget about the boat. Thats's not the point of this topic. I live in a harbor town. There are 10,000 boats moored in the harbor. Getting to the other side isn't the issue I'm try to address.
 
Both the Catskills and Adirondacks meet your mileage criteria. Although I live in the SE Catskills I would recommend the Dacks. A bit further but a lot more room to disappear and be left alone in. Many areas of the Catskills are getting very built up. I would start with Hamilton or Fulton Counties.

Now, if I was in your situation, I too would have a floating retreat, not property 4-5 hours away. But that wasn't your question. Good Luck with whatever you decide.
 
Eyegor said:
...I would start with Hamilton or Fulton Counties...
Click to expand...

Thank you! :thumbup:

Eyegor said:
...if I was in your situation, I too would have a floating retreat, not property 4-5 hours away...
Click to expand...

Gosh...you guys are fixated on the 7 miles of water that sits between pain and more pain. Rest assured that getting across that water is not a problem. However, the issue will be where to go once we land on the other side. The current plan is to walk to a friend's house who lives northeast of Binghampton, NY, but he's not prepared...and he lives in a little house on a quarter acre. Nay, I need to procure a property where we can be safe and live off the land. Walking 550 to Maine in the winter sounds like a bad idea. Walking 250 miles seems a lot more realistic.
 
CitizenQ said:
Alex, this is a VERY good idea...and ideas are what I'm looking for brother. The concept you have suggested has been consider in the past -- however -- the cost of the RV breaks the bank bro...that's why I'm been thinkin' "mobile home" or "cabin" lately. Thanks for bringing this idea up though! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

What about a travel trailer Citizen Q? They are pretty cheap and they would painless (relatively) to buy one for about 800 bucks or so.

Internal wiring, septic, shower, kitchen, propane fridge....
 
fixer27 said:
What about a travel trailer Citizen Q? They are pretty cheap and they would painless (relatively) to buy one for about 800 bucks or so.

Internal wiring, septic, shower, kitchen, propane fridge....
Click to expand...

Previously this thought has crossed my mind. Looking on eBay now to get ideas on these. :thumbup:
 
I grew up in south Texas where a lot of retired folks from the northeast and midwest would come down to spend the winters and I've heard that RV manufacturers are "worse" than car companies in the sense that they produce new models with the latest gadgets and amenities constantly, making used RVs worth less -- and hence cheaper -- than used passenger cars, in relative terms.

A used RV might not be as expensive as you think, especially if you're willing to travel to a place in your region with a glut of them... Aren't there a lot of retirees in North Carolina? That area might produce a 'surplus' of used RVs...
 
Up in the north eastern part of my state there is alot of very cheap property that is great for camping, hunting etc. The down side is it never appreciates in value so it not investment property but valuable for other reasons. I would want to find a chunk that would work as both longterm investment and retreat prop. Nothing may ever happen but you can always justify it by it's value appreciation.

Just my 2 cents worth.
 
I was in Vermont awhile back and noticed large parcels of woodland abutting state forests that were dirt cheap. My wife and I are thinking of buying some land there for a primitive vacation retreat sometime when we have some expendable money. The same is true of the Finger Lakes region, another spot where we'd love to have a vacation spot that could serve in an emergency.
 
All I will add to this thread is this:

If you buy far away, it will be harder to get to.

For you, and every other person in and around New York.

If you buy one tankful of gas away from NYC, I don't think you will get away from enough of the problems you will want to avoid.


That's just my thoughts on the subject.


Well, that and $400 AN ACRE??????? BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I live in BC. There is no land within a thousand miles worth anything as low as ten times that much!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top