Plan B? (no small, updated homes available) (houses, landscaping)

[OpinionExperience]

Talk to Hammond Lumber about a house package and they can recommend a builder, anywhere.

https://www.hammondlumber.com/homepackages/

[roadrat]

Originally Posted by OpinionExperience

Talk to Hammond Lumber about a house package and they can recommend a builder, anywhere.

https://www.hammondlumber.com/homepackages/

Good luck trying to get a permit to build a 900 sq ft home anywhere on the coast, Oh yes the entire city council may worship at the global warming alter, but at the end of the day its the church of the almighty property tax dollar that rules them.
Tiny homes pay tiny taxes, the greatest sin of all!

[OpinionExperience]

Originally Posted by roadrat

Good luck trying to get a permit to build a 900 sq ft home anywhere on the coast, Oh yes the entire city council may worship at the global warming alter, but at the end of the day its the church of the almighty property tax dollar that rules them.
Tiny homes pay tiny taxes, the greatest sin of all!

That's a pretty pessimistic view.

900 sf isn't a tiny house, maybe compared to the McMansions built today.

The town won't deny you a permit based on the size of your home.

[roadrat]

Originally Posted by OpinionExperience

That's a pretty pessimistic view.

900 sf isn't a tiny house, maybe compared to the McMansions built today.

The town won't deny you a permit based on the size of your home.

Ever heard of zoning? Go ahead try to get a permit to build a 900 sqft house on the coast, not a camp mind you a year round house.

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by roadrat

Ever heard of zoning? Go ahead try to get a permit to build a 900 sqft house on the coast, not a camp mind you a year round house.

I live in a mid coast town. You don't need a permit to build anything, except within shoreland zoning, 250 ft. You can get a permit to build a 900sq. ft. home. It's been done for smaller places, but you don't need a permit for a structure in most of the town.

[OutdoorLover]

I think some towns will have a lower limit on home size, but likely that's a zoning thing where the biggest concern is probably the (real or imagined) impact on the desirability of the neighborhood, similar to how you can't put a trailer just anywhere. Even for towns with such limits, I'd be surprised if the lower limit would be higher than ~ 600sq ft. For what it's worth, I couldn't find any minimum floor area for a single family home in the coastal town of Camden in the Camden zoning codes, and I did see description of a stand-alone 480sq ft house in town that's been built there just a few years ago.

[Last1Standing]

Thank you very much for the information offered so far. It is very helpful and led me to investigate modular houses as suggested. I think that's a good suggestion. I don't want a mobile home, but modular would work, I think.



As an older person living alone, I want to be somewhat near a town with services. Where I live now I'm finding it very difficult to find affordable people to maintain my home and property; hence I'm doing heavy physical work on my own and I can't keep that up much longer. I also worry about being able to drive myself to grocery stores etc. as I age. I don't want to be stuck out in a rural area, isolated, unable to care for my property, unable to drive. I'm hoping to find a town that cares about senior citizens, where neighbors care about each other. Hence my interest in Belfast.


I'm not interested in tiny houses, which are defined as up to about 450 sq ft. "Small" is a specific genre about 500 to 900 sq ft. My current house has 1200 square feet and I only use half of it, so I think 700 to 900 sq ft would be good. Here are some examples:


https://www.houseplans.com/plan/600-...-0-garage-4836


https://www.houseplans.net/floorplan...oom-1-bathroom


https://www.houseplans.com/plan/874-...0-garage-27362


These houses can be simple yet attractive. I'm looking to greatly simplify my life to be able to spend time on activities and interests rather than home maintenance, which has consumed much of the last 25 years of my life.

[OutdoorLover]

Among other features, "tiny houses" typically have you climbing a ladder into a small loft sleeping area. That might be okay when you're younger, but in your 60s, 70s, and 80s, you don't want to be doing that, and if you fall, you could really get hurt - for what?

Also agree completely that if you want to live independently as long as possible, to "age in-place", you want to live in a house that makes it easy to get around in, to keep clean, to keep organized, and to maintain. To me that's a small-ish (900-1200 sq ft assuming a 2-bedroom) place on a single level, with 1 good-sized bath, and outside uses hi quality vinyl clapboard or shakes, poly trim, fiberglass windows and either long life asphalt shingles or a standing seam metal roof. Such a house might be able to go 30 years or more with little to no exterior maintenance. You can also get ceramic tile and wood flooring finishes that are low slip. I think you want an attached garage to ease winter-storm cleanups. Set it in a small-ish (1/4 acre) yard to keep up and you're all set :-).

We won't be the same at age 75 that we were at age 35, but that can still be fine, if we just make some adjustments.

[brightdoglover]

I had my retirement house built, 800 sq. ft., two tiny bedrooms, maintenance free siding, metal roof. Small yard, a short walk into town if not driving. Neighbors very close, town density.

There are "tiny homes" that have a first floor bedroom area. It's well known that a lot of people don't want to or can't climb up to lofts, or if there are stairs, don't want the bathroom on a different level. They're a very good design for aging in place if zoning will permit them on the property.

[Last1Standing]

I agree with OutdoorLover that one story is preferable. The small house genre is not characterized by loft ladders as a tiny house is.