EP 004: Why Build a Citadel Now?

And what resources are available to us?

Let’s recall the Domains of the Citadel

To refresh ourselves, the two major principles of Citadel building are to Defend, and then to Advance ( in that order).

Below each principle we have a number of sub-priorities that allow us to create an entirely self-sovereign location:

• Defend: (i.e. Location)

  1. Water

  2. Food

  3. Energy

  4. Housing

  5. Medical

• Advance: (i.e. Speculative Attack)

  1. Production

  2. Connection

  3. Community

Before I update you on my preliminary research and objectives, I’d like to explain to you why I’m doing this work now, as well as the personal resources I’m working with, so you can begin to determine to what extent you can either copy, expand, or make a trimmed version of your own citadel.

Why are you doing this now?

In short, I have the cash and time available.

I’m relatively new to the Front Range of the Rockies after spending nearly a decade in the South. When I moved to the West, I rented out my multi-unit shotgun house and enjoyed the cashflow for a while.

What came next was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

A new neighbor two houses down moved in, and purchased the house next to my house as well.

When he reached out to me about the placement of a fence between our homes, I floated the idea of him purchasing my house.

He bit.

It’s really a beautiful home and I loved being there, but to be honest, after a few hurricanes, having to tent fumigate for termites, and realizing it’s just over 100 years old (read: will break a lot), I was happy to have the opportunity to sell.

What’s more, because of the Coronavirus and the ensuing insanity in the urban real estate market, I’m going to make a decent profit, after only owning the house for ~3 years. (Also, no commissions paid to agents, so I capture ~6% more.)

Leaving closing, I should have ~$97,000.

Additionally, I have a salaried/commissioned well paying job with a startup (my professional work has always been either running my own companies, or working within startups), and excellent credit.

I say this because you should be aware of the resources you personally are bringing to the table when building your Citadel.**

If we list them out, mine would look like this:

Personal Resources:

1. ~100k in cash (I am adding some additional non BTC savings to round it out)

2. Excellent Credit (~800)

3. Well Paying Salay/Commision job at startup.

4. Intangible: Startup and business building experience.

5. Intangible: Available time to invest in this project.

With these resources listed, we can now begin to determine our Citadel Objectives, so we can build a team and ensure everyone is on the same page.

**NOTE: You’ll notice I am building my citadel like an entrepreneur, because I am one. Play to your strengths when building your personal citadel. If you are a banker, I’d expect your lending strategy to be advanced. If you are a builder, I would expect you to do the majority of construction yourself. Know what you are bringing to this process and leverage it fully. Do not attempt to do it all yourself. Use experts.

Citadel Objectives and Team Building

Building my Citadel is not a one man journey.

I’ve already gone to WY for research, and from that meeting have connected with both a Real Estate Agent specializing in Ranches and Rural Property, as well as a Lender who is familiar with local and federal funding resources.

A good agent and lender are invaluable in this process, and detailing to them precisely what you hope to accomplish over the course of this process is the only way to ensure everyone is on the same page, and you get the outcome you desire.

I’m sharing my objectives and rough planning notes with both my lender and agent.

Why?

The more my Agent can envision what I’m trying to build, the more intuitively he can accept or reject potential properties for me to view and by looking into my thought process, he can challenge my thinking because he may know a better way to accomplish what I want.

The more my Lender can see what I’m building, the more she can suggest advanced lending strategies, State programs, and Grant applications to apply to. My Lender is a KEY source of the speculative attack I am executing on the USD (more on that later).

Here are my current objectives I’m sharing with them:

Here is the (rough) map of locations I’d like to scout within:

Set Up Defenses. Prepare to Attack.

You’ll notice here that a few defensive decisions have been made:

• The location of the Citadel is roughly determined.

• The financial goals of the project are roughly determined.

• A few lending options are roughly determined (contingent on location)

I’ve chosen WY because it is an extremely deregulated state with low taxes and high business friendliness. It is also more rural, which is overall much safer.

I can get to my citadel within 3.5 hours, which is important while my main residence is further South on the Front Range.

I’m beginning to explore lending, which is an extremely important aspect of using the Citadel as a speculative attack on the current system (this will probably get its own update).

What next?

In my next update we’ll be looking into my specific criteria for properties in greater detail as well as lending opportunities that serve as the basis of a speculative attack on the USD.

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I hope you enjoyed this update! I’m really enjoying the process of getting my thoughts down and hope you’re getting excited to build your own Citadel (or are actively in the process.)

It would mean a lot for you to subscribe to this newsletter, to share it with those who you believe can benefit, and to tell me what you think in the comments.