Buying property with debt
This thread is somewhat related to the "BUYING RURAL LAND" thread (THANK YOU Katie Rose!!!), as that is what my family would like to do, but I think this warrants its own thread. I have been thinking about doing exactly what that thread is talking about for the last year or so. Since "awakening", my family and I have been preparing the best we can with the assets we have. We have a silver stack (reasonable for a middle class family recently "awakened"), a couple months worth of food, appropriate self and home defense weapons, CCW permits and training. One major preparation step has been to completely get out of debt: we sold our old house (which was in a neighborhood we did not want to stay in), paid off car loans, school loans, credit cards, and we've resolved to never again buy anything in debt - with "perhaps" an exception for property. Currently renting a house within the city limits and itching to get out into the country. This leaves us completely liquid and mobile, but without much of a nest-egg beyond the silver stack (which is being held "long").
Debt, in general, is a huge part of the problem we're in nationally, and as a family we are resolved to avoid it at all costs. I hate the idea of being owned by the bank - having the possibility of someone coming and forcibly taking my property/assets if I fall on hard times. Having that said, we're itching to "move to the country", and get off grid as much as reasonably possible. In our current situation, it would not be possible without a mortgage.
I would like everyone's opinions here as to how you would proceed in a situation like this. The sheeple in the real estate industry scream "it's time to buy, interest rates are low and property is on the rise!!!", which on it's own causes me to doubt. My personal gut is that the real estate market is nowhere near the bottom: I think when the impending "financial event" occurs, it won't bode well for real estate values when a substantial portion of the working force loses their jobs and cannot pay their bills.
However, if an impending "economic event" occurs and we wait to move out into a rural area until after that happens, it may be "too late" - i.e. that will be the time when it will be better to be as far out of town and as much off the grid as possible.
I've heard people speculate that when the dollar collapses, your debt value will also collapse with it so therefore you should not worry about debt because it will be worth so much less. However, my gut says that whatever the resolution will be, it will not bode well for the common man. I just can't wrap my head around the idea that the end result will be positive for all the typical Americans who can barely service their monthly debt payments. I obviously don't know everything will play out, but if I've learned anything, its that the elite bankers and corrupt government officials will not lose out to the common man.
So the discussion point is, how would you proceed? Finance a home out in the middle of nowhere in an attempt to take the next step to self sufficiency at the risk of becoming a slave to the debt/being owned by the bank? Continue to save and stack with excess funds with the hope that after SHTF, it will actually be valuable enough to trade for property? Or some middle ground; perhaps purchase a small bit of land as it can be afforded and attempt to build as you go without incurring debt (which could very well take more time than is available before a currency event occurs, also has specific issues like expiring building permits, etc.)
