Living underground might sound like an apocalyptic, worst-case scenario, but Caitlin J. is doing it now.
Caitlin, who asked Realtor.com not to share her last name (she doesn’t want anyone knocking on her door or, rather, hatch), has been living in an underground bomb shelter in California for just over two weeks. And no, it’s not because she thinks doomsday is on our doorstep. It’s simply to save money.
Caitlin pays just $500 per month for her subterranean abode, which is in the backyard of her friend’s house. She plans to hunker down here for a year, so she can save money to buy a condo — above ground.
The bunker was built in 2012 and is a little over 1,100 square feet. And while it’s not the most typical living situation, Caitlin is excited rather than scared — at least so far.
“Some people go on ‘Naked and Afraid,’” she says, referring to the reality show where people challenge themselves to live out in the wilderness for weeks. “I guess living in a bunker is sort of my ‘Naked and Afraid.’”
She’s chronicling her experiences day by day on her TikTok account, undergroundgirl1, which has sparked a flurry of concern for her well-being. Some fret over her lack of daylight and fresh air, urging her to “watch your health,” while others confess, “My fear of getting locked in there would never let that happen.”
Why unconventional homes are a growing necessity
Bunkers are having a moment. Companies who build these fortified structures, designed to offer protection during an emergency or catastrophic event, say interest has risen this year alone by 30% to 50%.
While most bunkers remain uninhabited “backup plans” rather than current residences, some desperate house hunters like Caitlin see them as a place to survive and wait out today’s high-priced housing market headwinds.
“My friend bought a house a couple years ago, and it came with a bunker,” she explains. “I just pitched the idea, ‘Hey, why don’t you just rent it to me? And then when you guys want to sell the place, we’ll know that everything’s in good working order down there.’”
While many might shudder at the idea of living underground, some homebuyers like Caitlin see it as a necessity for saving enough money to buy their own places.
“Prospective homebuyers are finding creative ways to save money for a home purchase,” says Realtor.com® economist Hannah Jones. “Hopeful buyers may be open to less-than-ideal living arrangements in the short term if it gets them closer to their goal.”
Particularly in California, the housing market has gotten so expensive that Devin Lucas, a real estate attorney, broker, and Realtor in Orange County, CA, admits, “I’ve witnessed firsthand the challenges buyers are facing in this increasingly expensive market.”
Lucas observes that because many would-be buyers have found themselves priced out of their desired neighborhoods, they’ve had to adjust their expectations accordingly.
“Some are exploring alternatives, such as looking further away or considering smaller properties to make homeownership more attainable,” he adds.
He’s also seen an uptick in Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and other rental options.
“With the newer and far more relaxed building laws surrounding ADUs, we’ve seen a lot more smaller rentals coming to market recently — some are spectacular units, some are converted garages,” he says.
Caitlin notes that even though she likes her new home so far, she wouldn’t consider living in the bunker permanently.
“I just figured with the cost of housing right now, and the interest rates, I’ll just stay here for a year,” she says. “And, you know, see if everything kind of calms down a bit.”
The surprising perks of living underground
Caitlin has only lived in her bunker for a matter of weeks, but she’s already discovered a few perks that come with this way of life — in addition to her safety in case a catastrophe does hit, that is.
Of course, one of the biggest perks of the bunker is its affordable rent. (Though Caitlin admits this bunker would likely cost more than $500 per month, if she wasn’t renting from a friend.)
She also reveals that utilities in the bunker are actually free.
“The water is on a well, and everything is covered by solar,” she explains.
But Caitlin says there are some other unexpected benefits, one of those being that she sleeps like the dead.
“One of the biggest perks that I didn’t realize was that you can get really good-quality sleep,” she says. “I’m so used to living in cities, that when I’m down there, it’s so quiet. Your mind isn’t buzzing, your brain slows down a little.”
She’s also found that working from home is uniquely efficient in the bunker: “You can focus — I’ve gotten so much work done down there, just because there’s not outside distractions,” she says.
Caitlin also notes that the bunker is great for dealing with the weather where she lives, which can get very hot and humid.
“I came out here a year and a half ago, when my friend first got the house, just to check it out,” she says. “It was really hot because it was summer, but it was so cool down there in the bunker. I didn’t realize that you actually stay cooler underground.”
The downsides of bunker life
Yet Caitlin admits that living in a bunker has required some adjustment. For one thing, without a window, it’s easy to lose track of time. To help with this, she bought a daylight lamp, which mimics the sunrise and sunset every day.
“I can set it so that it feels like the sun is kind of waking me up,” she says. “The first like three nights, I slept for like 12 hours. It’s so quiet, and you’re just knocked out. And so I’m like, ok, I can’t do this. I have a job, you know?”
She also says that some of the biggest changes she wants to make aren’t exactly underground-specific.
For one, although this bunker has enough bunk beds to sleep 22 people, she certainly needs nowhere near that many beds. She also says the walls are painted “hospital” white. And the furniture, which was bought when the bunker was built over a decade ago, feels dated.
Like many renters, Caitlin plans to do some updates (with her landlord’s permission, of course) to make the space feel homier.
Safety concerns of living in a bunker
Even though Caitlin seems fine with her living situation so far, many of her TikTok followers voice concerns over the potential risks of living underground.
“People have asked, what if someone parked on top of that door?” she says, adding that she tries to allay people’s fears by pointing out, “The door hydraulics are so strong, it would flip the car over.”
She also notes that her “entrance” is not in a public parking lot but in the backyard of her friend’s house.
She explains that this hatch is too heavy to push open, but if the hydraulics ever failed, there’s a hand pump to open the door. Plus for extra peace of mind, Caitlin reports that there’s a second hatch she can access from the other side of the bunker.
When asked what would happen if she was hurt or incapacitated while in her underground home and couldn’t call for help, she insists it’s not any more concerning than a similar risk in an above-ground home.
“You know, it would be the same thing if I was an old person in an apartment,” she says. “If I had a heart attack, I’d have to call or have like an emergency button.”
She says that she and her friend in the main house “check up on each other a lot.”
In addition to their worries about getting trapped inside, some TikTok commenters have also expressed concerns about not getting in. Since the hydraulic door takes 10 to 15 seconds to open, a commenter asked, “What if someone’s chasing you to your door?”
Others joke that Uber Eats deliveries might be tricky, as would bringing guys home from a bar to her underground lair, where “nobody will ever hear you scream.”
Can a bunker help homebuyers survive the housing crisis?
So will Caitlin’s plan to wait out the market, in hopes that home prices will drop, pay off? Agent Lucas is dubious.
“In today’s competitive market, sitting on the sidelines hoping for prices to decrease is often not a viable option,” he says. “We’ve seen continued increases in pricing and interest rates, pushing potential buyers further away from their homeownership goals.”
But Jones sees both sides of the equation.
“‘Waiting out’ the housing market can be tricky since no one can predict the future,” she acknowledges. “However, saving until you can comfortably afford to purchase a home that is suited to your needs is a good idea. The best time to buy a home is when you find a home suited to your needs that is in your desired area and in your desired price range. If today’s market does not offer options that suit your budget and your needs, then the best — and perhaps only — option is to hold off and keep saving.”
And even if the market doesn’t calm down by the time Caitlin is ready to move, she still likes the idea of living in this unorthodox home for a while.
“I figured it’d be a really fun adventure for a year,” she says. “Just to know that I could do that.”
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