Category: Tips and Tricks

Prepper Real Estate? What exactly do I mean by a homestead? Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. The goal is to support yourself using mostly, or only, what you can do on your own.

According to Wikipedia: Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of food, and may also involve the small-scale production of textiles, clothing, and craftwork for household use or sale.

Preparing Your Homestead for Survival: Prepper Real Estate

We are talking about creating a homestead for the purposes of surviving should the SHTF. Some preppers have ONLY a homestead that they currently reside on and some have one as a back up -that they move to when the time is needed.

We will be looking at both of these options over the next few months as I work on this series – and tips/tricks for both kinds.

The Price is Right

Cost is a factor for many people. You are trying to survive the here and now, yet plan ahead for a possible problematic future. Maybe you are one of those longing for a homestead for the fact that it is a smaller carbon footprint compared to what the average American does.

While the Homestead Act of 1862 was repealed in the mid-1970s, it was used to give out more than 270 million acres of land to potential homeowners. There still are a few states/areas that offer FREE land, mostly in the Midwest. They are more likely neighborhood lot-sized instead of 3-5 acres that you would normally prefer for a real homestead.

Free is usually a good thing, but you can work on other options. We have a list of a few things that you are going to want to consider before plopping down some serious cash for your new land.

Depending on how much work you want to put into it – you can usually get a lot more land and home for less money if you look at foreclosed on properties or even ones that are “fixer-uppers”.

This might mean hauling out a lot of junk. Repairing fences. Scraping and painting. Fixing sheds. You get the idea… you are trading money for your elbow grease.

As someone who has done everything from resealing a driveway to putting in a bathroom subfloor – to repairing and staining a deck, I tell you, it can ALL be done, with a little homework and patience.

Prepper Real Estate: Don’t go too small

A tiny plot of land isn’t too helpful if you are looking at making a real go of it.

The FREE land I mentioned comes in sizes like: 86’ x 133’, 155 feet wide by 93 feet deep, or 80 x 120 feet.

That isn’t enough land to have a house and livestock, along with a decent sized garden.

Also, it’s preferable to have a larger plot that you can fence off and get some distance between neighboring properties. Being in the middle of a subdivision isn’t going to cut it.

If you are getting land where you need to build a hone on it first, then make sure you plan accordingly for your home, outbuildings, animals, and garden.

Try to avoid rough terrain

When planning out and planting your gardens, you don’t want to have to remove a ton of rocks or trees.

When digging out for the foundation of your home, you don’t want to break your backhoe or bobcat on a boulder. (we did it landscaping at our old home).

You don’t want to have to get all funky and creative with house plans to accommodate strange elevation levels.

When looking at slightly larger farm animals like goats or cows, you don’t want them to go lame by faulty footing on uneven ground.

You also want to be able to navigate your homestead property on foot or in a smaller vehicle like an ATV or snowmobile, so don’t get something too difficult to move through.

Your land can’t be “parched”

This is huge when looking at Preparing Your Homestead for Survival. Every living thing needs water. You need more than city water on your property. What kind of water source do you need?

You can certainly take advantage of a rain barrel or two, and use that for everything from watering plants to doing laundry. But what else can you look for?

Is there a creek or stream on your property that a neighbor can’t block off? Nothing is worse than thinking you have water and then the neighbor upstream takes it away from you when they divert it to take care of their own crops or livestock.

Do you have a spring? That helps build your own water supply and feed your own well. YOU will own that water source and that is worth more than it’s weight in gold in the long run.

There are fights over water right now, all over the county. The desert areas of Arizona, etc wanted water from the Great Lakes… but there are problems all over the world. He who has water, is King (or Queen).

Get a plot with some wildlife

Yes, you can plan ahead to have chickens, a pig or two, maybe goats, and even a cow, but it pays to have a little wooded area where you have enough natural livestock for hunting.

You don’t want too many large predators, like bears or wolves, but having some wildlife on your property can be great for hunting in a survival situation.

Think deer, rabbits, even squirrels in a pinch. On deer a year, when butchered correctly, can give you almost a year of meat to supplement your eggs, and smaller game animals.

Prepper Real Estate: Be in the Zone

While we are talking bout animals, is your property zoned for livestock. Currently, I live in a city where you can’t even have backyard chickens!

While zoning might not matter when the SHTF, it does now – while you are Preparing Your Homestead for Survival. We have to play within the current rules and regulations while we prepare for a time where there really aren’t any.

Do you have power?

If you are out in the country, are you on any public power grid? If that power goes out, do you have a backup plan? Can you do solar panels or a windmill? Is there a running water source to do an old-fashioned water power source?

While you can certainly get away without electricity and survive, it is nice to actually have it. It means that you are Preparing Your Homestead for Survival past the temporary use of generators.

Homesteading Electricity Options

Just because you’re technically off the grid – it doesn’t mean you have to go without power completely. We all know batteries are too expensive to store – unless you have rechargeable batteries with solar-powered chargers.

One thing you can do is invest in any gadgets that don’t require electricity at all, like and-crank radios, etc. But there are other options you can consider – such as solar, wind, and water generated power.

Let it shine with solar power

Solar power is the most common option that people think of when they consider moving from a dependency on an electric company. Solar panels can be pricey, but they quickly pay you back for your investment.

You can cook with solar ovens, charge your electronics with solar-powdered gadgets, and do just about anything that you would normally use with paid electricity. You can either buy solar panels or make them yourself.

Be careful about some of the crude do-it-yourself tutorials. You want things to work on a budget, but you don’t want to put your family at risk with a setup that endangers anyone.

Let it flow with hydropower

One option, depending on the property and its water resources are to create a hydropower system. You have to have a stream or river flowing nearby that has a nice drop in elevation for it to work properly.

Let it blow with wind power

Wind power is another option. You can install wind turbines that will generate electricity, but you need to live in an area that consistently delivers wind speeds around 9-10 miles per hour for it to work.

With all of these options, you have choices that range between crude, low-power producing products and extravagant products that leave you carefree and fully secure with a working system.

One thing that each homesteading family needs to do is determine how much power they really need. You’ll want to cut down on your electric usage – unplug appliances when not in use, turn off lights, etc.

Then you can better choose among the viable options you have to deliver enough power to provide for your family. If possible, make sure you have several choices on your property so that if there’s not a lot of rain, or the water flow gets stifled, or the wind dies down, you won’t be stranded without electricity.

Prepper Real Estate: Customize your list

When looking at Picking out the Right Land for your homestead, take our list, and add a few things of your own to it. What matters to you? What are you looking for? What size group are you trying to accommodate?

Make sure that you have a full list ready and then, you can decide what you may or may not compromise on to find the perfect land for your homestead.

Other articles you may find helpful:

• Best Survival Horror Movies to Watch
• Free Survival Books: Your Ultimate Guide to Wilderness Skills and Preparedness
• Off-Grid Greywater Systems: Sustainable Water Recycling Solutions
• DIY Survival Food: Tips and Recipes for Emergency Situations
• Coalcracker Bushcraft: Essential Skills for Surviving in the Wild

Build your house with security in mind? If you are lucky enough to be able to build your home from scratch, there are a ton of things you can do to build your house with security in mind.

Ideally, if money were no object, just think of all the things you could do! As long as you focus on the big three things, you will be fine. Make sure it is easily protectable, has a good shelter, and that you build it with strong materials.

Preparing Your Homestead for Survival: Build Your House with Security in Mind

We have already talked about finding the perfect land, from location to what you need to look for, as well as making sure it isn’t too far from civilization, but yet far enough out to be safe.

When looking at actually building that home – or if you are looking at land that has one already, you need to think about defense.

Easily protectable

Home invasions are a very scary and very real thing. However, you can take steps to avoid having your home invaded in the first place, even if you’re bluffing. The first thing you want to do is try to ward off any would-be criminals – especially desperate ones during a SHTF situation.

This can be achieved by having plenty of warning signs out in your front yard such as “beware of dog” and “Protected by [security company].” There’s nothing a burglar hates more than a loud dog that draws attention to them, and can even attack them.

Even if you don’t have a dog, put that sign up. Similarly, even if you don’t have a security system installed, you can still put up a sign and they won’t want to try to call your bluff.

You can put up cameras to really make sure they get the message – even if they’re not real. You can buy fake cameras that have real recording lights and everything on Amazon for $8.

You just have to screw it on somewhere and put two AA batteries in it and it will ward off most criminals. You can get multiple ones by all of your windows in order to ward off attackers from any angle.

Of course, it’s always best to get the real deal when it comes to a protective dog or a security system. But for those on a tight budget, it’s better to invest in fake security than having nothing at all.

You should also make yourself a less assuming target. If you leave out tons of expensive potted plants, they might get the hint that you have extra money to spare, making you a target.

Some people mistakenly think that a welcome mat or funny sign warning, “This house is protected by the second amendment” will ward off criminals. In fact, criminals will only see this as a house with some expensive and easily pawned assets.

So, is that house going to be easily defensible? Should the SHTF and you need to be on your guard, there are a few things to consider:

Are there places to hide?

Sometimes, it is best to make yourself invisible when trouble comes. When things go bad, there will likely be more people who mean to do you harm than there will be people who are prepared. Having a panic room or shelter, that is fully stocked for short term, is something to think about.

Tons of preppers talk about hiding supplies – from food to guns. They bury them, build false walls, have huge safes, etc – but they forget to hide one thing; themselves.

Sadly, this is extremely important for females. Rape is no joke and it is usually a crime of both opportunity and control. Depending on the situation – women could become a commodity and the last thing you might want is your teen daughter being taken off to become someone’s wife or plaything with force.

Whether you go for the underground shipping container concept, or have a panic room, just make sure you are able to hide ALL the things (people included) that are important to you.

Is there plenty of cover?

Nothing screams target like a person walking in an totally flat and open area. We mentioned how you want to have land that isn’t too crazy or uneven, but a few trees, well placed ditches, even a few fences or stone walls can make all the difference if people are trying to take a shot at you.

Can you defend both inside and outside of your home?

In our talk about defending your property, we touched on snares, log traps, spike pit traps and more. These are things you can put in place for the outside of your home, around your property. Just make sure all of your group is aware of each and every location so they can travel your land in the dark safely.

If you want to Build Your House with Security in Mind, make sure you plan your landscape accordingly.

As far as the inside, if you are looking to Build Your House with Security in Mind, we need to focus on simple things like smaller windows, no sliding glass doors, a 360-degree view of the property, easy roof access, and more than one escape route.

That all allows you to eliminate easy ways for people to breech your doorstep, make sure you have a straight shot at any threat, and are able to bug out if it becomes absolutely necessary.

How to Fortify Your House

We have a FREE printable worksheet for you to add to your Homestead Binder – 5 ways to fortify your house!

A shelter always comes in handy

Not every prepper has an actual house on their property. Some use a cave, some create an in-ground shelter, some use the shipping container method.

Realistically, you need to consider your climate and the weather you are going to experience, and then create a large enough place to hide out bad storms or other serious events.

If you do have a house, you might want to create a shelter where you could ride out bad storms or other serious events that could harm your house – like a tornado shelter if you live in Kansas.

Build Your House with Security in Mind: Build it with strong materials

Whether you plan to Build Your House with Security in Mind or even a temporary or emergency shelter, you need to build with with durable materials.

You need to think of things that help increase the security of your house and can do several simple things to accomplish that.

We have talked before about how a majority of people will be deterred by signs that you have made an effort – you need to kick it up to the next level for those that aren’t so easily deterred.

Use steel door frames over wood. Wood is easy to break down, even if it takes a little effort, but steel is a lot more challenging to breach.

You can take inexpensive measures to ensure that your home is safe. For example, a Master Lock security bar can make sliding doors and hinged doors practically impossible to break into without causing a huge racket. They only cost around $20, and are a wonderful investment. You should always lock your windows, and you may even consider using one of the previously mentioned security bars to make sure they can’t open your windows without shattering them

Keep doors and windows locked, add security cameras, and consider solid police locks to bar doors and windows from the inside.

Not only can this help increase the security of your house, it is great at preventing common criminals from breaking in.

Don’t forget the garage! The majority of garages have a hollow-core door that leads right into the home. This might be one of the first things you want to check in to doing.

Being proactive is so much easier than being reactive in a bad situation so taking the time to plan ahead can make a world of difference for your safety.

Other articles you may find helpful:

• Best Survival Horror Movies to Watch
• Free Survival Books: Your Ultimate Guide to Wilderness Skills and Preparedness
• Off-Grid Greywater Systems: Sustainable Water Recycling Solutions
• DIY Survival Food: Tips and Recipes for Emergency Situations
• Coalcracker Bushcraft: Essential Skills for Surviving in the Wild

In a SHTF situation, there are two mindsets about what to do. Some people believe that you should automatically bug out, while others believe that you should bug in. Personally, I believe you should plan to stay away from the city, and preparing your homestead for survival should reflect that.

Cities will be the worst places during an emergency – as services are shut off and the supply trains are disrupted, many problems will arise. Before you know it, high populations will start to move out and you will find more and more people on your property.

Preparing Your Homestead for Survival: Stay Away from the City

There are pros and cons to both decisions. One pro for bugging in (which means staying home) is that you can have more supplies at home. But a con could be that your neighborhood is no longer stable enough for you or your family’s safety.

Too close is dangerous

If that’s the case, then you’d have to make the choice to go. Keeping in mind that people who live in the suburbs who need to get out could be heading your way.

Not knowing where to go and not having any idea how you’re going to take care of the rest of the supplies you need is a problem a lot of people will be facing. They need to wait until they can put together what they need before they can head out. If they are forced to leave, then they’ll struggle to survive or get desperate enough to become a threat.

Having a place to go, and being ready for an emergency means you won’t be competing with hundreds or thousands of others who are going through the same thing. Plus, if your city is under attack, it would be a con to stay regardless of how well – or not – you prepared.

You are planning for YOUR family, not a lot of others so making sure you have a place outside of the city is good for the possibility that a short-term event you’re dealing with may turn into a long-term situation.

Keep to yourself

Have you ever noticed that people out in large plots of land tend to keep to themselves? Compare this to people from the cities will try to group together. When you are in a SHTF situation and are looking at either bugging out or getting to your homestead, you need to stay isolated from them.

Check Your Bug Out Bag for Sounds

If you’ve ever noticed, most stories about thieves tell a tale of people who are sneaking around, trying to be quiet and unnoticed while they get what they want and make a clean getaway.

That’s because the thief knows that making sounds attract attention. While you’re not a thief, you do want to keep in mind how one operates. You want to be able to bug out quickly with an emphasis on doing it quietly.

Not only is bugging out not the time to be singing out loud, clapping your hands to get attention, or talking loudly on a communication device, it’s also not the time to have any item on your body or in your bug-out bag that’s making noise.

This is one area that so many people fail to check ahead of time. Then disaster strikes, they grab their bug-out bag and take off. But they’re leaving behind a sound trail that can alert others to their location.

Sounds attract the attention of anyone nearby and they can also echo. Depending on what’s making the noise, the sound can reverberate and lead a predator or an unsavory human right to your location.

Before the bug-out situation ever happens, once your bag is packed, you need to check it to see if you’re able to move it without it making any noise. Don’t just pick it up and put it down.

You need to check it the way that you plan on wearing it. Strap it on and walk around with it. Take a short hike with it while listening for any sounds. If something is making noise, stop and find out what it is.

Rearrange your bag if you have to so that it’s silent. What some preppers do is pack their bug-out bag, making sure it’s quiet, then set it aside somewhere, not thinking about it again until the day of crisis happens.

Then they grab it and go. The problem with that is that things can shift due to heat expansion, cold weather, and someone or something bumping the bag – especially if the bag isn’t tightly packed.

So when something is now making noise. During the moment when you have to bug out, that’s not when you want to be trying to fix a sound that could draw attention to yourself.

Make sure that nothing is rattling, shifting, crinkling, or clanging together. You also want to make sure your bag doesn’t give any creaking or scratching sounds when you’re on the move.

I know this sounds crazy, but if you are working your way to your homestead, and are in the midst of others leaving for greener pastures, you want to attract as little attention to yourself as possible.

Initial traffic will be bad

People escaping from the city will result in crowded roads. It doesn’t matter if they are driving, riding bikes, or on foot – it’ll take a lot longer to reach your own location when you are in the midst of others. Forget about having to stop at a gas station – there will be incredibly long lines!

Picking the Best Location for You to Bug Out

When you have to bug out, you need to make sure that you’re heading to the right destination. It’s always best to have a plan well before the SHTF situation actually happens. Keep this in mind when looking for where to set up your homestead. It is important to Stay Away from the City, but be close enough that it is accessible for you.

You don’t want to leave anything to chance. If you haven’t chosen a site yet, you’ll want to avoid the mass mentality. Camping and getting to the woods like touristy forest areas will be on everyone’s mind – so don’t go there.

Remember that during a time of chaos, being in a crowd of people isn’t what’s best. That old rule that there’s safety in numbers doesn’t apply when a SHTF situation occurs.

It’s every man for himself. You want to make sure that your location – if you have to head out on foot – is somewhere that’s not as populated. Get away from the people. Head out deep into the woods in a pre-scouted location if possible.

You’ll want a location where you can see others coming so that you’re not easily ambushed. For homestead scouting, there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind for when everything around you turns into chaos.

Having a good place to homestead can ensure your safety as well as your long-term survival. Ahead of time, know the population count of the area. Figure out whether or not the area will become overrun from an influx of people trying to escape the chaos.

Look for any possible obstacles that might stand in the way that would keep you from reaching the location during a SHTF time. The key to homestead scouting is to make sure that the area you pick will not be touched by the upheaval that you left behind and it is the reason to stay away from the city.

The area needs to have a way that you can create a sustainable, renewable source of food. So that means you need to know the growing potential of the land. Not all soil is good for growing things.

You’ll want to know what the weather is going to be like – because if you’re going to be using a rain barrel system, you’ll need to figure what the potential supply could be. You’ll need to make sure that the homestead area isn’t easily accessed by any major roads.

You don’t want those fleeing the chaotic situation you left behind showing up. Your homestead area should have shelter structures on it that you either planned for in advance or you can turn into a long-term shelter if necessary.

The area should also be one that isn’t in a flood zone. You’ll need room to house animals like cows and chickens to help sustain life. Prepare all of this before you need it if you can. If not, scout the location that you believe you can set up a new normal again.

Planning ahead is important

That is what this series is all about – being prepared BEFORE a problem happens. When Preparing Your Homestead for Survival, location is more important than you could know.

Other articles you may find helpful:

• Best Survival Horror Movies to Watch
• Free Survival Books: Your Ultimate Guide to Wilderness Skills and Preparedness
• Off-Grid Greywater Systems: Sustainable Water Recycling Solutions
• DIY Survival Food: Tips and Recipes for Emergency Situations
• Coalcracker Bushcraft: Essential Skills for Surviving in the Wild

Homestead Maintenance is Important? There are so many different things to consider when taking on the concept of building a homestead. Location, protection, workability, and the concept of being able to almost hide in plain sight.

Homestead Maintenance is necessary whether you live on-site or off – to make sure everything is ready and working for when you actually need to be there. When the SHTF the last thing you want to do is worry about a leaky roof, or how to navigate your own property.

Preparing Your Homestead for Survival: Homestead Maintenance is Important

I feel that it boils down to three basic things when looking at homestead maintenance: the property, avoiding squatters, and the buildings themselves.

If you break it down into those three categories, and prepare for each, you should be all set with this topic.

Keep up with the property

It doesn’t matter if you have half an acre or five full acres, you need to be able to access it ALL. This means you have to clean up the shrubs, trees, and even the grass.

For smaller jobs, I like the Scuddles Garden Tools Set. Some basic gardening tools can help you get a small farming operation started, possibly growing a few vegetable plants, but also larger items will be needed to trim the shrubs.

As for the grass? Will you have any livestock? Keep your chickens, rabbits, goats, or cows rotating around different areas of your land to keep the grass ans weeds in check.

The trick here is to keep the land from looking abandoned or even triggering the local municipality to issue you ticket/fine for noxious weeds, etc.

Keeping it from looking abandoned can take us to the next item: squatters.

Proper upkeep keeps squatters away

if your property doesn’t look abandoned or left alone, then people will be less likely to take up shelter in your property while you’re away.

This is totally a thing – there is an actual science to how some of these people pick a property to set up on, and depending on where it is? They are almost impossible to get rid of.

The trick is to keep them from even thinking about encroaching on your land right off the bat. Let me start by saying that squatting is not legal. In many cases, squatters can be considered trespassers—individuals living in or on the property without the owner’s permission and/or knowledge.

If you are in a true SHTF scenario and come across a squatter – that isn’t going to make one bit of difference. If they have found your supplies, defenses, and have truly dug themselves in? You could be screwed.

How long does it take to become a squatter?

Each state has its own laws surrounding adverse possession. In some states, squatters need seven years of continuous possession to lay claim on privately-owned property. There may also be other requirements to fulfill the claim.

What states have squatter laws?

“Squatters” rights are actually there to protect tenants from being abused by their landlords. If you’re kicked out with no notice, chances are, you won’t have somewhere else to go and will end up homeless. Oddly enough, squatter rights are a legal loophole that protect people who break into vacation houses and squat there.

The states with the worst (for you) problem would be

• Delaware
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Louisiana (30 years)
• Maine
• Maryland

Once you have a squatter issue, it can be difficult to remedy it! The police won’t be help without getting the court system involved. The police can remove trespassers immediately. However, they can’t remove squatters. It is that pesky squatter’s rights thing again…

Can I kill a squatter?

Um, no. If you are in your residence and are in fear for your life from the presence of an intruder, you can use deadly force to protect yourself. However, if someone (a squatter) moves into a house you own, you cannot use self-help (including shooting them) to remove them.

Of course, all rules go out the window in a SHTF scenario.

By keeping things from looking abandoned, but not letting them seem too attractive, you should be able to prevent this from being a problem for you.

Monthly Home Maintenance Worksheet

Get our FREE Printable worksheet here that you can add to your homesteading binder – it sets out a plan to keep your homestead maintained over the course of a month with simple daily tasks.

Don’t let the house deteriorate

If you have ever taken a drive in the country, you can see old farms slowly falling apart. Barns with the roof caved in, sheds leaning at a strange angle, even houses with windows broken out and paint peeling off the siding.

Nature can quickly reclaim its own and it is up to you to keep that from happening. You need to keep an eye on foundations, sidewalks and driveways, gutters, roofs, windows, and so much more that it might seem overwhelming.

Make a list of everything you can possibly think of and then break it down into twelve different lists so you can focus on one each month. Winter time is great for indoor items, spring a good time to look at roofs and gutters, structural work over the summer, and then winter proofing for fall.

Are you on or off the grid? What kind of utilities do you use? Make sure all the utilities there are still functioning as intended when you visit. Occasionally fire up that generator, test out those solar chargers, etc.

The big thing is to make any repairs you need to as soon as you spot a problem. A torn shingle can lead to a leak in the roof. That can lead to water inside, which will not only deteriorate your structure, but encourage growth of things like black mold.

Nip it all in the bud.

Leaves are a bugger – they clog gutters and then when a hard rain comes, you lose that important drainage. It can back up, damage the roof, flood the basement, and so much more.

In that video? Those leaves were hiding a worse problem that he was able to take care of before it became a serious issue! Nature at its best – working against us.

Just make a plan

If you consider those three things, make a list of all you can think of, and break it down into bite-sized pieces, it is very manageable to accommodate all of your Homestead Maintenance.

Other articles you may find helpful:

• Best Survival Horror Movies to Watch
• Free Survival Books: Your Ultimate Guide to Wilderness Skills and Preparedness
• Off-Grid Greywater Systems: Sustainable Water Recycling Solutions
• DIY Survival Food: Tips and Recipes for Emergency Situations
• Coalcracker Bushcraft: Essential Skills for Surviving in the Wild