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I wouldn`t want to live with just 1 bathroom....I woud always fear that 1 toilet going down.
Oh and once you have experienced you AND your husband catching the Norovirus… two bathrooms are a requirement… luckily when it happened to us with one bathroom he got it and then I got it.
And he didn’t understand why I was cleaning and sanitizing every surface in that bathroom the day after I got over it. He had no clue that you could just keep getting this over and over again, unless everything was sanitized.
Why are houses under 1000 sq feet so hard to find?
My dream house would be around 850 sq feet of space.
I notice that in the 1960s and before plenty of new housing developments were built with houses under 1000 sq feet..
I don't see this in new construction today...Anyone know Why?
I hope to find a mid century home that is under 1000 sq feet......But even an older home at this size is not super common either....They exist, just not very common.
I welcome your thoughts!
Thanks
Sure.
You ever approach any city with plans to build a house? They're gonna want payola to allow you to build. Figure a few hundred grand should cover the city's "costs."
Now, if you HAD to pay a city, say 200 grand, just to get permission to build, you're going to incur costs that a small house cannot possibly absorb/amortize. So, you build big house as there's more profit in that. (Or, you build more of 'em.)
These crazy costs were not always there. City's have discovered that builders are a "cash cow" to be plucked. It also is responsible for filling City coffers too. (Where I am, the City gets $440,000 per house, just to get permission to build...)
You ever approach any city with plans to build a house? They're gonna want payola to allow you to build. Figure a few hundred grand should cover the city's "costs."
Now, if you HAD to pay a city, say 200 grand, just to get permission to build, you're going to incur costs that a small house cannot possibly absorb/amortize. So, you build big house as there's more profit in that. (Or, you build more of 'em.)
These crazy costs were not always there. City's have discovered that builders are a "cash cow" to be plucked. It also is responsible for filling City coffers too. (Where I am, the City gets $440,000 per house, just to get permission to build...)
Almost half a mil for permits and site plan review?
I think there definitely is the appearance of a movement out there to downsize... The fad of "tiny homes" and "Auxiliary Dwelling Units" formerly known as Mother-in-law apartments are a testament to this. Lots of lip service given to less consumption, less "stuff", less waste. Greener living.
I live in a 630 sq. ft, 1/1 that was built in 2014. It's located on a small pond in a resort campground. I have use of all the amenities of the campground. Club house, swimming pools, hot tub, fitness center, bath houses, dog parks, pickle ball courts, etc. The lot rent includes wifi, water, sewer and cable TV. They cut the grass and trim the trees. They are very prompt when I call and ask for a personalized service on my lot.
I purchased my unit furnished. Luckily the previous owners had good taste and bought quality furniture.
I'm not sure why more newlyweds with no children don't go this route. This makes a lot more sense than renting a unit in an apartment complex around here. That can run almost $2,000 a month. I'm in a quiet area with 2 dedicated parking spots for my residence. There really isn't anything not to like. If I ever had a bathroom issue where it was unusable, I'd have the option to use the bath houses over in the campground.
Here's a link to a unit for sale near me. I have no financial interest if this place sells or not. I'm just trying to point out what is available and many people may not have considered as a viable housing option.
And I noticed recently that this has even spilled over into the Recreational Vehicle market. We're looking at and comparing motorhomes and fifth-wheels to retire into when we decide we don't want to keep up a big farm any more. We want to downsize and travel for once! But I am surprised to see motorhomes with TWO bathrooms. IMHO, two bathrooms in a 30-foot motorhome that only my hubby and I will be living in, is huge waste of space! An RV should have one good bathroom, we don't need two. But someone must have demanded this.
I lived full time in an RV for several years. I took my rig to 34 states and several provinces. I logged 40,000 miles behind the wheel. America is an amazing nation. More people need to hit the road and see America to appreciate it.
My favorite area was the US SW. Lots of great national parks and monuments to explore. My favorite road trip was a 4 week jaunt from Maryland to Alaska. That was the trip of a lifetime. I hope you are able to experience the ALCAN highway and the many sights along the way.
Builders would build small houses if there was a market for them.
I doubt that.
Between zoning, codes, financing and other restrictions, anything "outside" the box is not going to be built.
I recall the Energy Crisis of 1970s, and saw how there was a HUGE DEMAND for energy efficiency, conservation, and especially superinsulation. (See: Saskatchewan Conservation House).
In the 50 years since that time, the number of energy efficient, superinsulated houses constructed by the "big builders" can be counted on the fingers of no hand.
IN addition, if you want to build a house out of material that won't burn, rot, be eaten by insects, rot, suffer water damage, etc, you won't find banks happy to finance it.
I personally found myself in that situation in the early 1980s, having tried to get financing to build an "exotic" dry stacked surface bonded concrete house (a process developed by the federal government, no less) in upstate New Yawk. Every bank said, "It's not what everyone else is building. What if you default and we have to sell it?"
IN short, if you dare to build something different, good luck, Chuck.
You wouldn't believe what they do to people who want to build a business.....
I looked at San Diego's fee schedule for building permits and it didn't seem out of line for a high cost area, in fact some of the fees were less than here. Unless what I saw was outdated. It was for SD County, though, not the city.
I looked at San Diego's fee schedule for building permits and it didn't seem out of line for a high cost area, in fact some of the fees were less than here. Unless what I saw was outdated. It was for SD County, though, not the city.
Usually, Cities will place "conditions" on developers. It's these conditions that make the cost skyrocket. Take for example, me. I had 99 conditions placed on me to build a new business in Oceanside, Ca. (This was after I had already spent >$300,000 to satisfy the City Council.) Those 99 conditions would have cost me an add'l $12,000,000. This is just to acquire a permit to build my business. Some of the conditions included grading and paving streets, curbing/sidewalks, a park (that I must pay to maintain) along with 95+ other conditions. Oh, and I'm allowed to operate my business for 5 years, then I must turn it over to the City for their use. These are the kinds of things that make development costs go WAYYYY UP.
Even here in the Midwest, where housing is still reasonable, the build price has risen dramatically in the past 50 years.
Building codes, permit fees, labor, and infrastructure are all more expensive. Thus, even if there is a market for 1000 sq ft homes, developers could not achieve profitability.
At a minimum, it would require state action to reduce these headwinds. And I haven't seen any appetite for that. If anything, the states and feds fuel the fire by subsidizing demand without corollary action on the supply side.
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Solly says — Be nice!
