For a lot of people, the idea of a low-cost retreat is just going to blow your minds, so hang on and hear me out.
A Low-cost retreat is do-able for people with moderate incomes…
If you have been thinking “I need a bugout retreat but can’t afford to buy 80 acres”, I’ve got a totally different option for you… find a small town, off the beaten path, and buy an inexpensive property there to use as your low-cost retreat / getaway property.
Spice and I basically live in this situation daily, we live at a place where virtually nobody would bug out from and LOTS of people would want to bug out to, if they knew about it.
A low-cost retreat podcast
We recorded this podcast a while ago, but hadn’t aired it until now, and in it we talk about a rural low-cost retreat and give some options about what to look for.
Why would I want to do this?
Well, it’s simple. If you need to bug out, it only makes sense to have a place that you can go set up ahead of time. Additionally, since most of us are not made of money, it needs to be some place that is affordable, and also some place that if situations changes, you can at least get your money back out of it by selling it.
A small house or commercial building in a small, quietly fading away little town is perfect. Prices are very, very low, sellers are often motivated (often it’s estates of older people who have gone to the nursing home or have recently passed) to sell. Demand for housing is not high, which makes it a buyers market.
Some of the best buys out there are for older commercial buildings, like this one:
A random old commercial building in a random small town in a random state… there are thousands of these across the US (this one’s in Draper, SD)
Know whether the structure is sound
As long as the building is sound (no idea if the one in the picture is or not, it’s just an example), as long as it has a good roof on it, then everything else that it takes to make it a cool, fun low-cost retreat option shouldn’t cost that much money to put together… as long as you have family buy-in on the idea…
The key takeaway is that you are building a BUGOUT option, not trying to make it resemble a resort.
Small town? Expect people to ask questions…
Of course, if you buy a building or a house in a small town, people will what to know who you are and why you are there. The key is to don’t be shy, and tell anyone who asks (and they WILL ask) your story… stick to the truth, but not the whole truth.
“Why are you buying the old general store?” they will ask. You reply something like “Well, I’ve always wanted to own a _____________ when I retire, so I’m buying the building now and will be working towards having it set up to be a ______________ by the time retirement gets here”. Great options are something like a woodworking or metalworking shop, custom fabrication, etc. Tell them that with the internet and UPS, you can operate anywhere and the costs are low.
The kicker is, this is also a perfect opportunity to start thinking about what micro businesses you want to be working on going forward.
There are many places you can buy that cost less than your average new car
Assuming that building pictured is in sound condition (again, I have no idea if it is, in fact this one looks like it has foundation issues but there are many out there that don’t) you can wave $10,000 cash under the nose of the owner and you will probably own it.
Houses are both easier and harder than old commercial buildings, because they tend to have bigger yards and yards need maintaining. You can generally hire a local kid to keep the grass mowed, and frankly crime isn’t a problem in the type of town I am talking about, so break-ins shouldn’t be a big issue.
Often, you can find properties that have been on the market for a while but are a bit distressed, you can spend weekends doing a fixer-upper job on it and often come up with a nice little house in the end.
A random old house for sale in a random town in Alabama. What’s behind all the hedge? Are the bones of the house strong? Could this be a great buy or just a money trap? I don’t know, but it’s the type of property that can be bought cheap. Is it worth it? It would take investigation.
Is this type of low-cost retreat for me?
Is this option for everybody? Obviously not, because a lot of folks are really, REALLY tied up in their image of “proper” places to live. Any place that isn’t “move in ready” is beyond consideration for them. OK, no problem, they stopped reading this a long time ago if they even started.
Is this a possibility for you? Here’s my challenge. Go for a drive out into the country, and by into the country I mean onto a blue highway… find some really, really small forgotten towns, then start looking around. Look for the For Sale signs, and then check them out on Zillow, just to see what you see.
You might just be surprised by what you find.
GREAT article, Salty!
One of the advantages of commercial buildings is that they are easily configured as far as interior partitions are concerned. Also, because they usually have higher ceilings, it is possible to create plumbing systems even above the finished floor (in the case of slab foundations).