Eglin AFB area and "tiny home" (Crestview, Laurel: RV park, sales)

[FZrider]

doing a little research for my kid - recently stationed to Eglin and is thinking of buying a tiny home to put on a small lot (w/hook ups) or parking it in an RV camp.

reasoning behind tiny home vs. apt - job requires a lot of training initially and will doing a lot of outside sales traveling type work-enough to come home do laundry/clean and then hit the road again.

my question to the community is:
1. is a tiny home reasonable in the P'cola/FWB area.
2. pricing/availability of real estate/small plot of land < acre-1/2 acre
3. availability of RV communities that would accept a "tiny home"
4. imagining - hurricanes would be a hitch it up and drive off thing - but of course traffic is a issue during evacs.
5. tiny home sellers in the area.

OR does anyone have other ideas for vagabond living as above???

thanks

[beachmouse]

Land is too valuable south of Eglin reservation for tiny homes and even a lot of the remaining mobile home parks are being bought out for redevelopment. Depending on land budget, search your real estate web site of choice for lots in the Crestview, Baker, and Mossy Head areas north of Eglin reservation. (Laurel Hill and points beyond would make for a quite far commute nad is getting far from I-10)

I'm not overly familiar with the details, but suspect Mossy Head would have the laxest zoning. If the home is legally classified as a mobile home, its also probably going to have to meet HUD windstorm code to be hooked to utilities and such, even if you plan to drive it out for storms.

[FZrider]

thanks for the info Beachmouse - I'll take a look at the areas mentioned and see how things look. I don't know what the classification would be - another area to research.

[southernnaturelover]

I don't understand the appeal of tiny houses when they're built on a utility trailer frame. You can find nice used travel trailers on craigslist for around $7k, just find an RV park that allows extended rentals.

[jamary1]

Well, sort of...... Yes, you can move a tiny house and they will stand up to a couple of moves. After that, things will start to go wrong.


If you look at the tiny houses in the shows, there's all those open shelves, things hanging on the walls, etc. All the stuff that's in and on that open storage has to be stowed somewhere safe during movement. Sometimes you'll see tiled bath surrounds.....yikes! that tile will start popping off the wall in no time at all after a long trip. There's a good reason that shower enclosures in RVs are made of fiberglass or plastic; it "flexes". The lovely siding on the side of the tiny home will start coming loose.


Those $30,000-$40,000-$50,000 tiny houses on trailer frames are going to be expensive pieces of junk in no time at all if they're moved often.

[Crashj007]

You could buy my 1973 GMC motorhome and live in it. We'll have to arrange a tow to a shop first.
You can probably but a pretty good old motorhome for $30K-$50K.

[FZrider]

I know the tiny home movement is the in thing....My kid likes the idea of a "custom home" vs. a production RV - I'm still working on the idea that an RV is designed to be moved vs. the tiny home and the longevity of either....I see both as a depreciating asset that will only cost money and decrease in value over time.

I'm thinking a mobile home is better for saving money while being on the road vs. renting something or buying something in the area.

any other ideas or other input.

[AustinTraveler]

any other ideas or other input.

Time to cut the apron strings?

[FZrider]

no strings to cut - already done - just trying to guide the thought process vs wasting $$

[Jimbo302]

Originally Posted by Crashj007

You could buy my 1973 GMC motorhome and live in it. We'll have to arrange a tow to a shop first.
You can probably but a pretty good old motorhome for $30K-$50K.

I would say that is pretty high end at that price.