I have recently received several e-mailed requests for assistance in finding y2k-secure property from my website or for suggestions on some other aspect of y2k preparation, which I am happy to provide, time willing, but I can't respond if you have a block of some kind on your return e-mail. Several of you are getting quite worked up because you haven't received a reply from me but I can't reply if you block your incoming e-mail (such as with aol.com).

Note: this is not an open invitation for people to overload me with help requests. In the first place I don't have all the answers and in the second place I'm already swamped with work as it is, so please respect this.

-- cody varian (cody@y2ksurvive.com), October 05, 1999

Answers

Isn't it a little too late to be looking for Y2K property? Who are these people requesting information? Are they people posting here that are asking you for help? If they are asking you for help on the internet, what's wrong with their fingers and mind that they cannot search this stuff out for themselves? We are in trouble, the herd follows the leader and they don't realize the leader is headed for the cliff.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), October 05, 1999.

bardou, it would sure seem to be, but even at this ridiculously late date the fact is that rural property is still available, cheap. Here in Northwest Arkansas (where I moved back in April), there are great places around.

Where there is a will there is a way.

87 days.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.~net), October 05, 1999.

Here is a resource for people interested in relocation to escape the likely societal effects of Y2K. Look at the article on my website entitled "Serious Voluntary Relocation". In addition to a fair amount of research I have done on this subject, it lists some of the best books on the subject. Also, these links on my site (look in the Emergency/Weather Maps section) are also potentially especially useful to someone researching this subject:

Minnesota Gazeteer (versions sold for all 50 states)

Hazard Maps

Location of Nuclear Plants

Forestation of the U.S.

You may also want to look at the original version of the infamous Navy report on many cities at risk for utility failures next year; look for "Cities at Risk" at www.jimlord.to.

Some other resources: Ed Yourdon's "The Complete Y2K Home Preparation Guide" has a section of local preparation groups/community contacts starting on page 282; the noncorporate/nongovernmental people in there may be able to advise you. Lastly, a Y2K-oriented listserv of which I am a member has a state contact service (free); it can be reached at:

http://www.geocities.com/researchTriangle/Lab/7731/state.html

Hope this helps. I, too, get repeated requests for relocation advice, and give some pointers where I can, but the above resources are much more extensive assistance than anything I can do for someone in a quick E-mail.

my website: www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), October 05, 1999.

Well, bardou, I think it's very late to be thinking about moving to a rural area, which is why I don't spend much time promoting the 50 or 60 rural properties still on my website. However, better late than never, particularly on questions of survival.

The problem is that recently several people have e-mailed me and my reply bounced back undeliverable. I'd like to help but they'll have to use a working e-mail address for my reply.

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me a bit to get a flurry of rural property inquiries in late November or even early December as people start to get really scared.

-- cody (cody@y2ksurvive.com), October 05, 1999.

Its like anything else that the sheeple do -- the interest only gets intense when EVERYBODY wants to do it, so that it then becomes 10 times as hard and costs 10 times as much. So sad, so true....

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), October 05, 1999.

There's lots of rural property here for sale too. Lots of mobiles with acreage but the only problem is there's isn't any water. I think people will be hard pressed to make a move now and get settled in the community and into their new home. My mother just sold her place and it took 90 days just to close the deal. Cody, maybe you should try to hold off selling any property for a couple of months, you may be able to double your commission in December if there's a high demand for rural property. I'm looking to buy property next year if Y2K fizzles. I figure there will be people wanting to sell cheap and move back to the city.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), October 05, 1999.

It is not too late. It is essential to think critically and move swiftly. If you are out there lurking and thinking of moving, do it now. Have a prioritized list of exactly what you NEED and what you WANT. Also, meet your potential neighbors! Then after moving in, make concentrated diplomatic efforts (don't scare them off) to be good neighbors. Bring them cookies or bread, just be neighborly. If you are a decent and caring kind of person, they will be glad to know you. Fit in, don't try to bring your old lifestyle with you.

Those who say it's too late are underestimating people on both sides. I grew up in small town Midwestern America, and I still say, it is not too late to move. But do it now!

As far as the escrow etc., you better figure out a quick and creative way.

-- Mumsie (Shezdremn@aol.com), October 05, 1999.

I still think it's awfully late to be starting out in a new area, particularly if you have to make the property Y2K-secure. I know of one house for sale in Maine that is completely y2k prepped, with food, heat, and everything, so that you could just buy it, move in and wait out the crisis, but most of the other properties I'm aware of require some work to make them y2k-secure, and that takes time. Time is something we don't have much of.

-- cody (cody@y2ksurvive.com), October 05, 1999.

Cody, I'm one of the above mentioned email inquirers/blockers and I mentioned this forum because I saw your posts here. Thanks for the tip and although I do realize that it is "late," I will contact the property owners and try to visit them this weekend. I would think that I could close on one of them in about 45 days. We'll see!

-- Last minute bug-out place (Stressed@RealLate.com), October 05, 1999.

No argument here that earlier would have been better... still, the odds of surviving in a partially ready place versus certain urban locations make it worth the attempt. If priorities for the new location include a good water source, alternative heat etc., then a person would still be ahead of the game by moving.

Better to be a live dog than a dead lion. (Proverbs)

-- Mumsie (Shezdremn@aol.com), October 06, 1999.