Project Prepper: House Hunting In The Chicago Suburbs

It’s been years since I’ve been this busy. As I mentioned the other week, in addition to having a family member in the hospital, house hunting is taking up a lot of my time these days. You may recall from a number of earlier “Project Prepper” posts that my girlfriend and I planned some time ago to move out of Chicago to the northwest suburbs by late spring.

The big picture looks to be “purgatory” in Illinois for a couple of more years before eventual “sanctuary” in southeastern Wisconsin.

(Editor’s note: Related posts here, here, and here)

Well, it’s spring now, and not only have we looked at a number of single-family residences out in the ‘burbs, but we’re now “under contract” to purchase one of these homes.

Ironically, the very first one we looked at.

After crunching the numbers, it made more sense for us to buy rather than rent. And while we would have liked to live as close to my girlfriend’s place of employment as possible, the situation is a lot like what I blogged about back in November:

Unfortunately, the prices of many homes within walking distance of my girlfriend’s place of employment are extremely high, and considering that this suburban residence may only be temporary for us, I’m not sure buying makes a whole lot of sense here. Because my girlfriend is open to incurring a small commute time, the purchase of a house in an adjoining suburb that has more affordable housing and lower property taxes might be a better option. Plus, should we move into the subdivision of that neighboring suburb that we’ve been looking at for some time now, my girlfriend would be very close by to several members of her immediate family. Renting hasn’t been ruled out either.

In a nutshell, the single-family residence we hope to close on in a month or so is in that neighboring suburb with the more affordable housing and lower property taxes. While not in the same subdivision as her family, we’re right next door.

But more about the house. At least as it relates to “Project Prepper.” Some time ago I put together a “wish list” for what I’d like a Chicago-area property to have. This includes the potential for:

• An emergency water supply
• A food garden
• Effective layers of security
• Going “off the grid”

Oh, I almost forgot to mention a fenced-in yard for a guard or watch dog.

This suburban property definitely has the potential for all these things. Partial brick construction, spacious backyard, an area all ready set aside for gardening, and more.

As such, I sure hope everything works out and I’ll be able to move into the official “Project Prepper” lab later this spring.

More soon.

By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)

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