Tiny house

You mean something like this? I'm seriously considering it if I can get the divorce done before it sells...

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/212-Rear-Haller_Boonville_MO_65233_M80862-48423?row=14

I'm not trying to pry into your personal reasons, but it is hard to advise if we don't know what you are trying to accomplish.

For example.... If cost is your concern, there are probably cheaper houses for sale in your home town.

If you like it for green construction, reclaiming an existing property will always have a smaller carbon footprint.

If creativity is your thing and you want to DIY and have a source for cool architectural components, it's a great match.

If you intend to hire someone to build it, expect the cost to be about 1.5X per SF.

If small and portable is your thing, RVs may offer more bang for the buck.

In reply to stroker:

Yes, something like that. I am thinking of two loft bedrooms, one on the main floor, and a full basement. Laundry/garbage/clutter stuff gets the basement treatment. I love the price on that, too!

How can a detached house and shop be that cheap? That will run you 350,000 in my town. I'd buy three. One for the kids, one for the wife and I and one to party in.

Tom Suddard wrote: All I know is I watched this on Netflix the other day: http://tiny-themovie.com Interesting, but not my thing. YMMV

I was wondering who would recommend it. That was an interesting documentary. The real take away for me was how much crap can you live without? If you cut everything down to basics, surprisingly little.

Not exactly my cup of tea but interesting none the less.

bearmtnmartin wrote: How can a detached house and shop be that cheap? That will run you 350,000 in my town. I'd buy three. One for the kids, one for the wife and I and one to party in.

Because bumble-berk MO. That would be around $200K in my neighborhood, $300K+ near work, and a half-Mil in NNJ (where they would knock the house down, build a 4K monster and sell it for $2M). I've been in houses up there where the kitchen alone is larger than my house.

To Tuna55: I like your way of thinking but a "Tiny House' won't work with your family. That be said, The house in the Realtor link is worth checking out.

The tiny house deal can work for one or Two people. I lived in an old hotel converted into a Studio Apartments for Four years WHILE racing an Oval Kart. The footage was around 150 Sq. feet counting the bathroom. I loved it since the water and power was free and the rent was $220 a month. So I'm looking for a 200-300 Square foot house with a legit bathroom myself.

I was the youngest of 8 kids, raised in a 1925 era house of 1,300 Sq ft with unfinished basement. One bath.
I'm not going back.

I own a unique home, built as a custom house in 1973. I call it the little spacious house.
Living room
Dining room
Kitchen (small by modern standards)
Two bedrooms
2480 Sq ft.

Not included in the 2480 are the two 3-season porches that make up another 320 Sq ft.

Check out this website: http://www.notsobighouse.com/ I generally like Sarah Susanka's ideas on small houses or as she calls it "not so big" houses. She focuses less on square footage nomenclature and rather not wasting space with 10' wide hallways and big foyers.

My mother-in-law gives my wife and I her old "cottage life"(or something) magazines that tend to focus on well designed spaces, too. Take the 600sf realtor link house. It matches your 600 square foot mark but the design is completely lacking any specialized details to give you the areas you will need.

A basement makes a world of difference. It's quite a rarity in the south, but I actually grew up with a basement. When SWMBO and I moved to OH our townhouse (end unit of a quadplex) had a full partially finished basement, it was SWMBO's first experience with a basement, and it spoiled us.

Our townhouse was 1000 Sq Ft, full basement, open floor plan main floor, kitchen separated by bar and pantry, with a half bath. Top floor was master and second bedroom with a full bath. Deep 1 car garage with 12' walls off of the main floor.

Now we're in a 1200 Sq Ft, single level with 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, laundry room, and typical 2 car garage. We don't have room for all of our stuff even with 200 more Sq Ft.

In the townhouse we had the washer, dryer, elliptical, office, server, spare bed room, and tons of storage in the basement.

We've decided that when we build/buy we WILL have a basement again.

It's not as much about the amount of space you have as it is how it's utilized.

• Lee

In reply to bigdaddylee82:

Sounds like you were using the basement as living space. Not really fair to call that 1000 SF. It was more like 2000.

As noted many tiny home options are not really cheap when determined cost per square foot.

Arguably the best bang for your housing buck is manufactured housing. Stay away from the cheapest as the quality likely us subpar. Many of the old reasons against them no longer apply as build quality has really improved especially in the past 5-10 years. Thanks to several hurricanes for this.

As for the pocket community website. I don't see any pricing anywhere on the website. Because of that I suspect there is no cost per sq ft advantage over traditional stick built homes?

I'll say this so far. I don't one lick about cost per square foot.

drainoil wrote: As for the pocket community website. I don't see any pricing anywhere on the website. Because of that I suspect there is no cost per sq ft advantage over traditional stick built homes?

Advantage?? How is that an advantage?

So, if you are in the market for a BMW Z3, you're gonna buy a Chevy Impala because it is bigger and therefore less cost per SF?

That's an advantage?

I think it's just stupid.

Good job, Tuna. Don't fall for that stuff.

But, you still haven't really shared your goals, so you are getting suggestions like "mobile home". Is that what you want??

I honestly think his goal is to have less stuff to deal with, from my reading between the lines.

In reply to SVreX:

The basement was included in the 1000 Sq Ft total, I can't find a legible enough floor plan online, but comparing the main and top floor of the town house to the 1200 Sq Ft place we've got now, the town house would have only been ~600 Sq Ft if you didn't include the basement.

Or he just thinks they're cool.

Duke wrote: I honestly think his goal is to have less stuff to deal with, from my reading between the lines.

Keith Tanner wrote: Or he just thinks they're cool.

Right.

So the later goal would mean he should build one and consider nothing else, including the bungalow options presented here.

The former goal means he should buy one of those pre-fab tool sheds from Home Depot. The size is only determined by how committed he is to the goal.

Looks like a lot of people in this thread are assuming his goal is "cheap". (Though I don't think that is what he is saying)

My work here is finished.

In reply to bigdaddylee82:

Gotcha.

Basements are not typically included in square footage calculations.

Ian F wrote:

bearmtnmartin wrote: How can a detached house and shop be that cheap? That will run you 350,000 in my town. I'd buy three. One for the kids, one for the wife and I and one to party in.

Because bumble-berk MO. That would be around $200K in my neighborhood, $300K+ near work, and a half-Mil in NNJ (where they would knock the house down, build a 4K monster and sell it for $2M). I've been in houses up there where the kitchen alone is larger than my house.

That is barely half an hour from Columbia, which is where the University of Missouri is located, along with 3 large hospitals, the home of Carfax, a huge branch of Statefarm, and the primary location of Shelter Insurance. Hardly bumb berkeley, you east coast snob

That would be about $22,500 in my area.

But, I live in Bumble-berkeley.

Midwestern snob.

Instead of price per sq ft maybe I could have said overall cost to purchase?

What is the advantage to the pocket housing that was linked? Please learn me.

singleslammer wrote:

Ian F wrote:

bearmtnmartin wrote: How can a detached house and shop be that cheap? That will run you 350,000 in my town. I'd buy three. One for the kids, one for the wife and I and one to party in.

Because bumble-berk MO. That would be around $200K in my neighborhood, $300K+ near work, and a half-Mil in NNJ (where they would knock the house down, build a 4K monster and sell it for $2M). I've been in houses up there where the kitchen alone is larger than my house.

That is barely half an hour from Columbia, which is where the University of Missouri is located, along with 3 large hospitals, the home of Carfax, a huge branch of Statefarm, and the primary location of Shelter Insurance. Hardly bumb berkeley, you east coast snob

People consider Tulsa in the middle of nowhere and our metro area is more than FOUR TIMES the size of Columbia, that's why it's bumb Berkeley.

That's cause Tulsa is in OK and that pretty much says it all.

singleslammer wrote: That's cause Tulsa is in OK and that pretty much says it all.

At least OK isn't the home state of Rush Limbaugh!

BOOM!

Thread sufficiently floundered.