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Stupidity is the only reason for paying such a price.
A "tiny" home can be built for $20,000 or even much less with a bit of the "owner/builder" thing. That's assuming you have the land and small homes aren't illegal.
Note where they are located. Certainly, the homes themselves are built with expensive materials, but the cost is mostly in the land.
Quote:
Originally Posted by evilnewbie
$100 per square foot?? For cheap materials? Ughh... rip off...
Are we referring to the same houses? The Third Street Cottages made it into Fine Homebuilding. They are not slapped together with cheap materials.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisC
If you think you want to live in less than 400 sq ft like I do (I would have it no other way), rent a motel room with a kitchenette and live there for two or three months. If it's you, great! If not, you haven't made a stupid mistake that will cost you big money.
Another possibility is renting a hermitage. There are many out west. You'll learn very quickly whether or not the lifestyle suits you. For me, the answer is unequivocally yes, but as I am married with children, my tiny house experience is limited to two weeks every couple of years.
Last edited by randomparent; 06-05-2014 at 09:10 AM..
The irony is that people with money are downsizing to smaller, more efficient homes while the rest still march to the American Dream of bigger is better.
Opulent display of one's wealth is built into American society.
Slowly people are shedding that and that is good.
"Affordable" is subjective and relative.
Laminate counters, carpet and vinyl tile in the bathrooms are things that make homes affordable.
The irony is that people with money are downsizing to smaller, more efficient homes while the rest still march to the American Dream of bigger is better.
Opulent display of one's wealth is built into American society.
Slowly people are shedding that and that is good.
"Affordable" is subjective and relative.
Laminate counters, carpet and vinyl tile in the bathrooms are things that make homes affordable.
??? People without money have always been downsized.
This is the same company that built the third street cottages.
I don't see anything shocking about that price given its location. I sold a 1100 sq. ft. home on the west coast in 2006 for $550k, and, unlike the house above, it really was cheaply built. In any case, the house referenced, while small by today's standards, is definitely not a tiny house.
The tiny house movement is facing tremendous hurdles. For the moment, it is a niche market hamstrung by municipal codes that are for the most part insurmountable. The major cost of a house is not in the building materials; it is in the land and underlying infrastructure. That's why these tiny homes are often found in backyards, hooked up to the utilities of a traditional house. Alternatively, a handful of tiny home pocket neighborhoods have experienced limited success in progressive cities on the west coast, but it comes at a price well above what even a middle-class home buyer can afford.
Jay Shafer's effort to found a "trailer park" for tiny homes in Sonoma County, California, is one way to thwart the establishment's rules and regulations. We'll have to wait and see how it turns out.
Last edited by randomparent; 06-05-2014 at 12:20 PM..
Jay Shafer's effort to found a "trailer park" for tiny homes in Sonoma County, California, is one way to thwart the establishment's rules and regulations. We'll have to wait and see how it turns out.
Why is that a way to "thwart rules and regulations". They are trailers. They belong in trailer parks. Not such a reach. And...nothing new.
Why is that a way to "thwart rules and regulations". They are trailers. They belong in trailer parks. Not such a reach. And...nothing new.
The homes are on trailers because they are below the minimum threshold for square footage in most municipalities, and it's the only way to make it work. Few tiny house owners have been successful in putting their home on a permanent foundation, although many would very much like to do so.
Last edited by randomparent; 06-05-2014 at 02:27 PM..
The irony is that people with money are downsizing to smaller, more efficient homes while the rest still march to the American Dream of bigger is better.
Opulent display of one's wealth is built into American society.
Slowly people are shedding that and that is good.
"Affordable" is subjective and relative.
Laminate counters, carpet and vinyl tile in the bathrooms are things that make homes affordable.
Exactly, that's why the tiny house movement is really more of a lifestyle statement than a true solution for affordable housing. It's a way to display a rejection of conspicuous consumerism and hoarding of necessary stuff., Which is kind of ironic considering that they are buying something to show their disdain for consumerism.
Anyway, even outside of the tiny house movement, there is a movement by a subset of wealthy Boomers and younger urbanites to eschew the bigger is better American dream for simple homes in urban centers.
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