10x28 Building (Hilo, Kilauea: insurance, mortgage broker, appliances)

[juan11]

I have been doing research on building in Hawaii and I have emailed the code department... hate to ask them another question (they probably would not mind though they seem helpful). Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had built a permitted 10x28 (280 square feet) house on the Big Island, in HOVE or HOVR?


As far as I can tell, one needs to have one-bedroom building with a living/dining/kitchen area of 120 square feet of open space plus a bedroom of at least 70 square feet (7’ min width) and a bathroom. Ideally, a 10x20 would cover the square footage required for the living/dining/kitchen and bedroom, to get the net space needed for the square footage.... And the last 8x10 section for the bathroom. So, I found myself wondering if anyone had built something like this and was living in it?



I realize the space might be small, by some standards, but I am a single guy and I do not need a lot of space...

[smarino]

I've lived in a lot of mobile homes (trailers) on the mainland, and the feel of 10' wide one vs 12' wide is huge. You might want to consider changing your width dimensions. Most people say the same thing, that 10' gives a cramped feeling, and also limits where you can put furniture or appliances. I would design it in a modular manner, so that if you wanted to increase the length later for more room, you could easily do that.

[hotzcatz]

That sort of thing is best if you ask Planning Department since they'd have the final yea or nay on it. I think there's a requirement for a separate closet, too, but it's been awhile since I've read the minimums. There's another "efficiency dwelling" of 320 square feet or some such, but again, it's been awhile since I've read the requirements and they change them periodically, anyway.

[leilaniguy]

I believe the county will allow a building as small as 240' sq. ft. as a dwelling, but a bedroom must be at least 8'x10' and must have a closet. I've lived in a travel trailer, you will go nuts after a short time. I built my own place in Oregon and made the rooms 12' wide because I was able to do all of it myself, could reach everything. Those two feet do make a big difference.

[leilaniguy]

BTW The county now allows a 120' storage building on any lot and a 600' building on AG zoned land without a permit, just don't call it a house.

[lily4]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

That sort of thing is best if you ask Planning Department since they'd have the final yea or nay on it. I think there's a requirement for a separate closet, too, but it's been awhile since I've read the minimums. There's another "efficiency dwelling" of 320 square feet or some such, but again, it's been awhile since I've read the requirements and they change them periodically, anyway.

When I asked them in 2009 the answer was an efficiency of 500 sf was the minimum. I don't know if that has changed and the size is smaller now. I kind of doubt it, but you never know until you ask.

[terracore]

Originally Posted by leilaniguy

BTW The county now allows a 120' storage building on any lot and a 600' building on AG zoned land without a permit, just don't call it a house.

As I understand it, the county allows such structures as accessory structures. An accessory structure would require a primary building on the same property built to code in order to qualify as an accessory structure.

In other words, if you have a house, you can legally build a shed. If your property has no house, your AG shed will require a permit.

[leilaniguy]

Technically that may be true, there are at least two on Kilauea Ave. in Hilo, both in front yards, one on twelve foot stilts. There are "at least a few" in Nanawale, one on Nanawale Blvd. that is obviously occupied and another on a vacant lot that is being advertised on Airb&b for $25 a night.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by smarino

I've lived in a lot of mobile homes (trailers) on the mainland, and the feel of 10' wide one vs 12' wide is huge. You might want to consider changing your width dimensions.

Any particular reason why you're looking at 10x28?

12 x 24 would have almost the same square footage, give you that extra width, and would be a more attractive footprint. (Close to the golden ratio, phi.)

[terracore]

Originally Posted by leilaniguy

Technically that may be true, there are at least two on Kilauea Ave. in Hilo, both in front yards, one on twelve foot stilts. There are "at least a few" in Nanawale, one on Nanawale Blvd. that is obviously occupied and another on a vacant lot that is being advertised on Airb&b for $25 a night.

I'm guessing there are probably well over a thousand unpermitted housing structures in Puna, and I'm not against people who responsibly forgo permitting. But in many cases, I'm not sure that people fully understand the risks. They might build their homes planning to live there until they die... then plans change, and they find out they can't sell their property because no buyer can get a mortgage on property with an unpermitted structure, so they have to dump their "house" at land-only price, possibly in an owner-finance situation. And forget about insurance. An unpermitted structure can't be insured via conventional insurance. It's just vacant land with an illegal liability on it.

When we were house hunting, we REALLY wanted a particular home / property but our mortgage broker couldn't find a bank who would lend on it. The house was actually permitted, but it had too many unpermitted additions. It wouldn't have actually taken that much work to bring it up to "code" but the price to do that was about the same as demolishing the additions and rebuilding because so much stuff needed to be ripped out and replaced to "prove" it was code worthy. The seller therefore could only accept a cash offer, which she eventually did, probably at more than 50% less than market value. The house / property would have sold for more if the additions were never added.

If anybody wants to build unpermitted housing, they need to be aware that they are throwing money at a liability that can only depreciate in value, can't be insured, and they will always be looking over their shoulder for the tax man or that their neighborhood might become gentrified and their neighbors will start phoning in complaints. Even if your structure isn't visible from the road, it's probably not invisible to Google Earth, and yes, turning in people for that is a "thing" now.