Some small-house love:

[Flaxbee]

I really don't think I could live in a 'tiny' house, but definitely in a small one - I'd rather have a small house and a big garden.

http://www.smallhousestyle.com/

http://www.cozylittlehouse.com/2011/06/why-small-house-movement-works.html

[jwirr]

1. The first small house I saw was way back in 1974 in Iowa near Cedar Rapids. I fell in love with

the idea but now when I am older and living alone I do not have the money to do it. It is a very good idea.

[Flaxbee]

2. one of the frustrating things about the green movement, as well as the small house movement,

is that people still think of a house around $150K as 'reasonable'.

I want to be able to build and sell small homes for about $25K, tops. You'd have a mortgage of $100 a month. There is no reason in the world why homes - even small ones - cost as much as they do.

[jwirr]

3. And considering that I am paying at least $400 rent now that is affordable. I wonder if bankers

would think of it that way?

[tinrobot]

4. Cost of land is a factor, as is labor and building permits.

The materials for a small home could easily be less than $25K, but could you do a small home for $25K including the cost of the land?

Would a city allow you to build it without a permit? How much for the contractors and labor? How much to run electricity, water, and sewer lines?

The best bet for sub-$25K would be buy land in the middle of nowhere and refurbish an Airstream trailer. Even then, you probably wouldn't have water or sewer.

[jwirr]

5. They get you coming and going.

[Flaxbee]

7. yup, land is the biggest nut. If you had renewable/off the grid power, have a well and septic

then you wouldn't necessarily need to pay for access to city features like water and sewer ...

So if could could find reasonable land ... maybe all-in it would be $50K. Still give you one hell of a cheap mortgage.

[Starboard Tack]

9. Consider water instead of land.

Water covers more of the earth's surface than land; plus it provides a great supply of itself. A floating home is not difficult to build (not talking houseboat here). Basically, you can build any house and make it float. I built one for a friend almost twenty years ago; total living area ca. 850sq.ft., 2 stories (loft and sundeck/garden aft and cathedral ceiling forward). No code restrictions regarding construction materials. Total materials cost around $15,000, including pressure treated lumber throughout, green board drywall, cedar shingles all round and fiberglass roof. All fasteners embedded and sealed in epoxy resin.
Flotation achieved using approx. 90 x 55gal. plastic barrels (recycled $5/ea).

All you need is water to float on, fresh or salt. The one I built is on salt water, the harshest environment and it is still holding up without a hitch.
If water supply is needed, I suggest good filtering and boiling fresh water and if on saltwater, use reverse osmosis.

[gejohnston]

10. finally found an advantage to living in Florida

fishing off the back porch. Feed the JW missionaries to the gators....................

[Starboard Tack]

11. Florida does have some redeeming qualities like that

But you can keep those noseeums and palmetto bugs.

[gejohnston]

12. Yeah, but

I would rather go back to Wyoming and shovel snow.

[Shankapotomus]

13. How could anyone

have a floating house on freshwater without owning the land the water is on? And wouldn't there be all sorts of restrictions to doing that? I can see salt water but I imagine if you tried living on a freshwater lake they would eventually arrest you, no? And if it was a lake on your own land, I imagine there would still be building codes and restrictions involved. I would love to do it but how realistic is it?

[Starboard Tack]

14. Good question. Best to check the local rules.

There are many fresh water marinas and private landings where one could lease a slip or mooring. Depends how remote you want to be. If your home is navigable, then it would classify as a houseboat and, as such could be moored or anchored in navigable waters. That kind of vessel would need a hull for flotation. Old steel barges are ideal, but there are many options out there.
I suggest you Google "floating homes". You will find a plethora of designs, images and ideas. Good luck.
Here is an interesting link.
http://tinyhouseblog.com/floating-homes/tiny-floating-homes/

[Shankapotomus]

16. Speaking of floating houses....

but to get around the land issues and mooring payments, not to mention dangerous seas, how crazy would it be to build a small house or covered platform that floats in the sky using a combination of solar and hot air balloons? Can they tax or charge rent on something floating in the sky? lol.

Throw some solar panels on it with a bunch of gadgets and keep it at a low altitude somewhere of the coast of cali. When you run low on supplies you just anchor the thing over some shallow water off the coast, throw down a ladder and motorized rubber raft and head for the nearest store. Maybe even have a small garden up there so you don't have to go to the store as often?

If the weather looks bad you can just float away to clearer skies.

Now that would be living...

[Starboard Tack]

17. Your idea might be crazy, but I like your attitude and imagination.

I am pretty much doing what you describe, except on water rather than in the air. I find water to be a more friendly medium than either land or air, especially in California or any area with major seismic activity.
In terms of cost, I find living on the water far cheaper than living on land. I have friends who make their own moorings for next to nothing. Some lease moorings in very protected waters. We take moorings in the winter at times, because the rates are very low, about $300/month for us.
I notice you want to live in the Catskills. I had the same dream about 30 years ago and bought a 3+ acre parcel of lakefront property for $15k (doubt it would cost so little these days). Anyway, I was going to build a self sufficient home up there. Never happened, divorce etc.. So we sold it and I moved to southern California, where I'm still loving every minute of it. Lakes and rivers are OK, but I'll take the ocean any day.
We are currently anchored in 12 feet of water behind a protective reef in a small island cove (big enough for 4-5 boats). We spend a fair amount of time here (6-8 weeks a year). There is one other boat here which sailed in yesterday. Sandy beach, palm trees, no people. It even rained last night, all night, which is extremely unusual out here between May and October, but most welcome.

[Shankapotomus]

18. you can still find parcels in the Catskills

for that price. Not sure how buildable they are, though. Sounds like you found a great spot in Cali. If I ever set something up in the catskills you are welcome to use it if you're ever in the area. I will still be spending my time between there and nj and it will be good to have someone watch the place.

[Starboard Tack]

19. Sounds good.

Let me know how it goes.

[Shankapotomus]

20. I just realized you would probably know

alot about what I'm trying to do. If you wouldn't mind a few questions...what kind of land did you look for in the catskills to build off grid and what type of area? I know zoning laws and restrictions have probably changed alot since the time you were there...but it might help me decide between buying buildable land or whether to go for recreation type camping land. I want to comply with all laws but people from the catskills on other forums tell me no one will bother you if you do off grid a certain way in the begining no matter the restrictions..ex. keep everything away from the road as to not be visible...plus it's very confusing when i see articles online of people building off grid treehouses in woodstock, an area i am told has highly restrictive building codes and zoning laws, with seemingly no issues...

Another question I have yet to answer is is cheap land with water in the catskills typically buildable? I see all these cheap parcels of land for sale online in the catskills with rivers and waterfalls and wonder there has to be a reason no one is buying them...I met a real estate agent up there a few months ago and on one of the pieces of property he was showing me someone drove by and shouted "wetlands"...needless to say,that didn't make me feel too good about my whole endeaver...obviously if i had wanted that property i would have looked into it more closely and checked if it was buildable...but the mere fact an agent could have been wasting my time showing me unbuildable land really pissed me off about the whole process...

Sorry for the rambling but any insight you can share from somebody who was able to at least get past the buying land in the catskills part on what to look for and look out for would be most welcome...thanks...

[Starboard Tack]

21. It was a lifetime ago and I don't recall too many details.

I bought the land with my ex and we didn't own it long enough to even break ground. It lay between two small lakes, 100 yards from one and a quarter mile from the other. We did not own the mineral rights. The land was definitely buildable. We toyed with putting a prefabricated home on it and had a deal set up with a local contractor to clear the site, lay the foundation and hook us up to municipal water and power, all for around 60k. We weren't looking to go totally off grid at that time, but evolve toward that by adding passive solar for heating and PV panels as needed.
Sorry I can't be of more help, but good luck with your endeavor.

[Shankapotomus]

22. Thanks

That was actually very helpful.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. I love this part of this idea:

Less maintenance costs with a small home, and a far lower energy bill. Less expense for cleaning materials and fewer repair costs. A smaller roof means fewer shingles are needed to re-shingle.


There is less room to store unnecessary stuff if you own a smaller house. You have less space for storage, which directly impacts the amount of excess "stuff" you can accumulate. Which means it becomes more difficult to spend money on impulsive buys. There's simply nowhere to put it!


More time to devote to other money-making endeavors, as there will be a decrease in time needed to do housecleaning and home upkeep. Therefore one can devote more time to other activities. Take those extra hours per week and start a side business.

And especially the "less housekeeping" needed. Spring cleaning would be so easy with just a few walls to scrub, windows to wash, etc.

[Flaxbee]

8. I know! Less cleaning, less stuff (clutter really bothers me anyway, and Husband is a

major clutterer - this would force him to not clutter!)

Less home, bigger garden

[Kaleva]

15. I live in a two story 900 sq. ft. house.

[Flaxbee]

23. How many bathrooms?

I live in a small place now, and wish I had a half bath for guests ...

Otherwise, I don't mind small spaces at all.

Do you like your home?

[Kaleva]

24. 1 bathroom, 2 bedrooms

The house is plenty fine for me. But the lady I bought it from raised 5 kids here. Her husband died young and the daughters and her shared one bedroom and the sons had the other.