General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTwo sisters bought matching tiny homes
Lots of pics at the link.snip
for $75,000 each, and now they're neighbors in a tiny-home village in Florida
Sisters Alexis Monkhouse and Ashley Okegbenro Monkhouse purchased matching tiny homes for around $75,000 each in 2018.
Today, the duo live next door to one another in a tiny-house village.
While their home exteriors are similar, the interiors reflect their different personalities and lifestyles.
From their childhood home to a college apartment, sisters Alexis Monkhouse, 25, and Ashley Okegbenro Monkhouse, 23, have almost always lived together.
snip
They are in a tiny house village.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Politicub
(12,165 posts)And people were shamed for living in them. Still are. I grew up in a trailer park, and was reticent to admit it for a long time.
Its okay if people live in a village of decorated sheds, tough. Tiny house and all.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Id just buy a trailer.
brush
(53,815 posts)you come home with it and the little place gets crammed. Maybe they'll get a storage shed along side.
karynnj
(59,504 posts)"Buy, buy says the sign in the shop window. Why, why says the "junk in the yard".
Having down sized from a large home in NJ (with a giant basement/ crawl space for storage) to a small condo with no basement in VT, we needed to get rid of a lot of stuff. Buying stuff now always come with thought as to "do we have a place for it?" VT also has more of a culture of fixing stuff rather than replacing compared to Morris County NJ.
roody
(10,849 posts)...
brush
(53,815 posts)Torchlight
(3,358 posts)We're both older, and kids are not a factor anymore. We've been invited to build on a large plot of land my friend owns who has already piped in water and electric. Every day we learn more about it, and every day we're moving a little further to doing it.
For us, it's an almost-perfect fit, though we're leaning more towards building and upgrading the shed-model instead of a completed home. If nothing else, it's fun to research, design and plan out.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)they're both still adolescents. And best friends.
Market competition if they sell someday would be mobile homes, of course. This doesn't say if they own the land they put these on or how close it is to shopping, etc. These days mobile homes in parks with individual ownership of the land, but without more desirable location, amenities, or "upscale" style, probably start from about $35K for low end and up, perhaps $80K, When land is not owned, lot rents tend to run from $300/month - $800/month, but MHs themselves where lot rents are $500 and up can be purchased for very little for obvious reasons.
Totally Tunsie
(10,885 posts)From the linked article:
The sisters agreed that finding a place for both of their tiny houses was one of their biggest challenges. They couldn't find many sites offering land to rent for their homes on wheels.
For a few months, they lived on farmland in Land O' Lakes, Florida. Eventually, two lots opened up in a tiny-house village outside of Tampa, Florida, which they now call home.
They each pay $475 a month for their plot of land, electricity, and sewer hookups, and their homes are just a few steps away from each other.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)most tiny homes have had to be placed outside municipalities where land use regulations are too minimal to disallow. Hopefully, that's changing a bit.
It may be 10-home Escape Tampa Bay, which is "somewhat rural" but not that far out, lot rents @$400-600. Pictures look nice, and being in a managed-business community would help stabilize value.
The last couple of stories I read had a few THs located on their own lots in reather undesirable rural areas with low land prices, and I winced (considering Tiny House very high costs) since there's no way to protect value if any of the very few other owners don't maintain their properties, abandon them, rent to problems. Which, frankly, in those places seemed likely over time.
But something of this general type has a much better chance of remaining a nice place to live, even if the units themselves do depreciate steeply:
BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)I wonder what home insurance costs for one of those.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)go stay with friends, head north, or wherever. One couple with a big, rambling concrete block house has a big house party each hurricane. Some regions are bothered more often than others. Interestingly, so far no hurricane has hit Tampa directly. Our friends on the water in a MH who babysit grandchildren each hurricane while the parents work in ERs always turn down all invitations and head for a public shelter where the kids can be kids among others.
THs on foundations to code must be insurable, surely, part of what's being paid for? We buy liability but never asked about property insurance on MHs nearly 20 UBC/IBC updates behind current with effectively no market value -- and no foundations! (though sweet and comfortable homes that've been around over half a century). Unlike TH owners, if a hurricane carried one way we'd just have had another oldie for $1-15K pulled onto our land and refurbished to our tastes, part of the reason for the choice. We NEVER worry about flood damage even though both are on water and prime candidates.
BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)But your attitude is certainly the better, and more cheerful, one!
I lost my place in the surge from Wilma. That was pretty much the final straw for me. I left the Keys a few years later.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)in every way. Though Hemingway would probably be pleased at how his home has stood up. Or maybe not.
An up to 9' surge from Irma when that one emptied Tampa Bay was projected, and that would have wiped out our waterfront MH and its park near Tampa. We sat up in GA and said goodbye to our lovely little place, but Irma also took that elsewhere to smash some other unfortunates.
Our attitude was planned for. We deliberately chose "snowbird" properties in high-risk flood zones not zoned for conventional homes that we wouldn't have to worry about. It's cost us appreciation on the improvements and land but made beautiful views, etc, affordable and saved us anxiety, both important to us.
Wingus Dingus
(8,059 posts)Maybe they are easier to move to a new site than actual mobile homes, where the owners are basically trapped into paying lot rent increases or selling.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)These things can be mass-produced for even less than these sisters spent. Boxabl is one example.
Bigger problem right now is zoning and site prep.
BlueLucy
(1,609 posts)just like that or better.
hunter
(38,322 posts)Tiny homes are built from stuff you can buy at Lowe's. I wouldn't want to move some of them any great distance, especially on highways..
I like tiny homes that don't have wheels. The wheels are only there on most of them so they can be classified as trailers, not as residences which are highly regulated in most communities, disallowing tiny houses on permanent foundations.
I think it's all an aspect of car culture. A permanent tiny house community with gardens, small shops, no cars, and easy access to public transportation could be very attractive.
mitch96
(13,923 posts)Ka-Dinh Oy
(11,686 posts)They are amazing. I have claustrophobia but I found many that did not trigger me. I also can't climb very well and was able to find ones with the bedroom downstairs that were still open. For me I would still have a loft for storage and guests. Climbing occasionally would be fine. Also, you would be amazed how well they can get what you want and still have good Storage. There are some tv programs about people getting these.
FakeNoose
(32,705 posts)How do they get away with calling it a "tiny-house village"? It's a trailer park.
They're nice looking, high-end mobile homes. The affordable price is a plus.
ismnotwasm
(41,998 posts)My husband and I are thinking of something similar, only we will move on my daughters 20 acres. Ive looking at mobile homes, Tiny homes, modular homes. Even barns and pole housing. I want about 800 square feet.
FakeNoose
(32,705 posts)If it has a foundation, and it's not sitting on wheels, then it's not a "mobile home."
A modular home is built in a factory and transported later to the homesite. The difference is the modular home sits on the ground and you can actually build a basement underneath, if that's your desire to have one.
ismnotwasm
(41,998 posts)Its rural, like very rural, and Im a Seattle woman. So, something new. Theres small community hospital I can work at until retirement. My husband has MS, and he feels less stress out of the city. My daughter and SIL have long since planned to help with him as we age, and as his disease progresses.. One of my grandsons is moderately to severely autistic and I can help with him.
A family group on a piece of property has a lot of appeal to me.
And no on the wheels lol
BobTheSubgenius
(11,564 posts)Two of us met in Grade One, along with another that has sadly passed, and two of us met in a split Grade Two and Three class. We would LOVE to get a piece of property and build a wee village.
Kaleva
(36,325 posts)Unless one lives in a warmer region where you can be outside a great deal. I have a 900 square foot second home that my wife and I go to sometimes. It's doable but there's little closet space and it can feel confining during winter and it's pretty much impossible to have grandkids over or have more then one visitor. The downstairs of that house can fit into the living room and adjoining office at our main home.
Torchlight
(3,358 posts)We had visitors. We entertained guests. We had family stay during holidays.
I think it comes down to the intersection between what we desire and what we need. I expect like you, many more will favor one end of the spectrum based on our consumer expectations at the expense of our footprints.
Kaleva
(36,325 posts)Space to store the produce from the garden and orchard. Space to start vegetables in doors before transplanting to the garden after danger of frost has passed. Adequate roof size to capture enough rainfall for potable water and for watering the garden. A large enough basement that could be lived in during winter in case electricity is out and LP gas cannot be delivered or is too costly.
Reducing my footprint will in no way stop or even minimize in the slightest what is coming. Reducing my footprint may negatively impact my ability to successfully adapt to what is predicted by reputable sources to be coming in my area.
Torchlight
(3,358 posts)We all invest in what we think the future will bring and our guesswork as to when it will arrive, and we all justify those decisions at the expense of other courses of action.
Kaleva
(36,325 posts)Torchlight
(3,358 posts)But I don't think science is instructing anyone to ignore our footprint or the consequences of our personal decisions.
Kaleva
(36,325 posts)Some years ago i posted about my efforts to be as frugal as possible. doing things like recycling the wash water, using captured shower water to flush the toilet, keeping the t-stat at 55 (or was it 50?) degrees, using public transportation or walking and such. Despite my efforts, I made no impact on the environment.
Here is a link to a post I made in 2012:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/11281430
ismnotwasm
(41,998 posts)Its tight, but we also have unused space. Like a small bedroom. Its one of those Boeing worker rectangular homes built in the 50s, three bedrooms, galley kitchen, small dining area and three small bedrooms. Small bathroom. Another one in the garage.
We will need a walk in shower with a seat and safety bars, so the space is negotiable.
This will be in Eastern Washington so, no, very cold and snowy in Winter. Dry heat in summer. We will get my husband a 4 wheeler, which he will love. There are miles of country roads, and my daughters family will be close by.
Also, My husband definitely has hoarder tendencies and I want to limit space a bit. I can keep him in check, and hes very aware, but stuff you dont need or use is still just that. He likes stuff
Also, no stairs cause he has a lot of difficulty with them. He has a lift chair, needs a table close by and a TV.
I feel like Im talking this through haha
Kaleva
(36,325 posts)If needed for babysitting, I'd have to go to their homes which wouldn't be an issue. The only issue would be lack of yard space as my garden and orchard here is twice the size of the lot that the small house with unattached garage is located on.
ismnotwasm
(41,998 posts)Im waiting for my daughter to get her house doneshes doing an A-frame. So its early for me to speculate, but it sounds like a great way to walk into retirement, and I know she can use my help with the kids. They are great kids.
Ill be able to have as big a garden as I can handle.
All this is pretty new to us, we are two years away from even starting, I hope the supply chain and availability have improved by then. If I wanted a mobile home, right now its an 18 month wait.
thesquanderer
(11,990 posts)The village is for tiny houses. I get the impression that while these two happen to be on wheels, that's not a requirement (or even typical) for living on one of the lots in the village.
From the article:
finding a place for both of their tiny houses was one of their biggest challenges. They couldn't find many sites offering land to rent for their homes on wheels.
Layzeebeaver
(1,631 posts)its an old fishing cottage in St. Margarets Hope, Orkney.
Basically 3 rooms. Kitchen/living, 1 bed, 1 bath. looking out onto the harbor. Approx 500 sq ft. total.
Needs full refurbishment.
---
I like the story of these sisters, its really cool.
BobTheSubgenius
(11,564 posts)She says she would be fine with such limited space, but I think the tiny home would have to be augmented by a 1000 foot art studio.
TheBlackAdder
(28,211 posts).
Trailer wheels are a different material and are extremely susceptible to sunlight and the elements.
Parking in one spot for an extended period would also cause flat spots and hamper roadway use.
.
csziggy
(34,136 posts)Also, they put serious hurricane straps on them.
My husband and I lived in a double wide mobile home for over 35 years on our farm. When it was set up, they drilled in anchors, removed the wheels, put the house on concrete blocks and strapped the frame to the anchors. That was well before Hurricane Andrew - after Andrew, codes were made stricter and mobile/modular homes were built stronger and set up with much more stringent regulations.
Even so, we rose out several hurricanes and tropical storms in our double wide with no damage to the house. The worst part was going without power for days afterwards but so did people in regular houses.
TheBlackAdder
(28,211 posts).
I would definitely get hurricane straps, even if not mandated.
.
It makes me happy to hear about smart young women making solid and creative decisions. Betcha they are voters, too. Thanks for the uplifting post.