Free Tiny Home In Multnoma County (Portland: apartments, leasing, felony)

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

This has got to be one of the dumbest ideas Portland ever had.

And your brilliant idea is what?

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

Listening right now to OPB about this
issue:
- The vetting process for choosing families " still needs to be worked out" however drug addiction and mental illness are not barriers to being chosen.

- families will have access to services by the city but I don't know if there will be visits by the city. This was unclear to me.

- if a homeowner pulls out of the deal before five years the homeowner will be responsible for paying back the city for partial costs of building the ADU.

did they offer any clue regarding when they might address the 12,000 or so (per MultCo 2015 Point-In-Time Count report) who are doubled up and/or overcrowded?

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by Merry Lee Gather

So I went on Craigslist Portland and looked up "Tiny House" for rent. These are some of the listings in the area. They all say they're ADUs.

Inner NE Portland - Goes by the name "The Nest". It's really artistic and 350 sq ft.
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6037521337.html

Hawthorne/Belmont - It's more simple and standard. It has 300 sq ft.
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6024178067.html

Alameda/Alberta Arts District - This one looks like the Tiny Houses from the front but the inside looks much bigger. It doesn't say the sq. ft. on the listing. It says it's a tiny house but it looks like a standard mother-in-law dwelling.
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6053898905.html

Laurelhurst Park - This one is my favorite. It's charming and it's 800 sq ft. I sent the listing to my husband but he's not going for it.
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6016449100.html

That's as $#&@ Shed!

[Merrily Gather]

Originally Posted by freemkt

That's as $#&@ Shed!

Not the last two.

The last one is a 2 bedroom house really. I tried to talk my husband into it because it's the best house I've seen for that space and price at that location, but he says ADUs are not for us really. I figure we're going to have neighbors anyways. We might as well have a small house...

I also looked up ADU on portland's craigslist and there were more listings specifically for that. The sq ft are similar to the "Tiny House" listings.

Some were above garages. (575 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6055422931.html

(610 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6051043194.html

Some were in basements. (580 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6048676349.html

Some were bigger and look like a regular home. (700 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6051164166.html

(800 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6046837588.html

(750 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6054090337.html

Some were smaller. (450 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6046334228.html

(500 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/apa/6040076490.html

Some I'm not sure what to make of them. (642 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6023763959.html


Another way I found to look them up was by "small house". The square footage becomes comparable for some of them, but they're not really ADUs as they're on their own lots.

(610 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/apa/6045960978.html

(660 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6036866835.html

(285 sq ft) I suspect this one really should be listed under ADU.
https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/apa/6052311754.html

[CAjerseychick]

Originally Posted by Merry Lee Gather

Here we go. OPB posted it on facebook an hour ago. It's an audio about 5 minutes long.

Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury On ADUs For Homeless: 'People Want To Help' . News | OPB

Hey thanks for posting this!
Was driving earlier today and didnt get to hear all of it.

Will be interesting to see how this all pans out....

[Merrily Gather]

Originally Posted by CAjerseychick

Hey thanks for posting this!
Was driving earlier today and didnt get to hear all of it.

Will be interesting to see how this all pans out....

My pleasure!

What I got from it is that they haven't hammered all the details out but there is significant interest already. They've built four to pilot. They propose to build 300, and they have twice as many people wanting them, about 700.

The ADUs sq ft would start at 200 sq ft but it sounds like it could be bigger depending on the backyard space available, because they're willing to spend up to $75,000 on the ADU. The 200 sq ft units aren't going to cost 75k to build, but an 800 sq ft unit might. I believe that kind of space would be more reasonable for the time and investment because it's likely to rent out in the future, and at Portland prices for a descent market rate. The 200 sq ft tiny houses are a more creative utilization of space however, but if you have the backyard and you don't really use it then why not go for a little more room? Say 400 sq ft - 800 sq ft and build a 1 bedroom or a two story.

My initial hesitancy about taking on the responsibility wasn't so much the homeless occupants as it was about their living conditions and what goes into building that. I was angered by the small plywood dwellings they posted for pictures implying a homeless family with children would live in that, and it would cost 75K to build. I can understand a single adult perhaps but a family with children? Then I learned 200 sq ft is more space than was actually shown, and it would be made with better materials, and that families of four have lived in an 8X21 structure for a period of years. The 200 sq ft really costs anywhere between 12K - 23K to build. The 12K is building it yourself if you have the skill and the 23K is hiring labor and designs. A lot of them are built on wheels and it doesn't seem that much different than living in a trailer or a camper of some kind.

My other concern was that if the occupants didn't work out and you evict them you're responsible for the cost of the ADU. However, the OPB specify that you wouldn't be responsible for the entire cost if they've lived in it some time. Just a portion of the property in regards to the time left out of the five years.

[CAjerseychick]

well personally, I would have a terrible time evicting anyone, and I can see how ugly it could get... but there are a lot of seniors that have fallen through the cracks, I wonder if there is some way this population could be served as well--

[Merrily Gather]

I'm not certain what services they offer for the elderly.

I do remember reading that the tiny houses were proposed because they're having a homelessness crisis in the city. People are getting pushed out of their homes and priced out and they've run out of space to help everyone in need. That seems to be the going theme in the city these days.

They said they can't put them in the public parks anymore because that didn't work. The city also doesn't have the land either to expand at the moment. If there are abandoned structures demolition adds to costs and renovation costs nearly as much to build new sometimes. They're working on acquiring land or working with property to build affordable housing for the homeless families. So in the meantime they're turning to creative ways with out of the box thinking by asking home owners to volunteer for this with a financial incentive. Until the city can get the land to build the affordable housing units for homeless families. Which they say will take a couple of years to catch up to what's currently happening.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by Merry Lee Gather

Not the last two.

The last one is a 2 bedroom house really. I tried to talk my husband into it because it's the best house I've seen for that space and price at that location, but he says ADUs are not for us really. I figure we're going to have neighbors anyways. We might as well have a small house...

I also looked up ADU on portland's craigslist and there were more listings specifically for that. The sq ft are similar to the "Tiny House" listings.

Some were above garages. (575 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6055422931.html

(610 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6051043194.html

Some were in basements. (580 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6048676349.html

Some were bigger and look like a regular home. (700 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6051164166.html

(800 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6046837588.html

(750 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6054090337.html

Some were smaller. (450 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6046334228.html

(500 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/apa/6040076490.html

Some I'm not sure what to make of them. (642 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6023763959.html


Another way I found to look them up was by "small house". The square footage becomes comparable for some of them, but they're not really ADUs as they're on their own lots.

(610 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/apa/6045960978.html

(660 sq ft)
https://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/apa/6036866835.html

(285 sq ft) I suspect this one really should be listed under ADU.
https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/apa/6052311754.html

Anything larger than a small studio is going to be in the neighborhood of $1000 or so.

CL doesn't have an ADU category so finding them usually involves inefficiently wading through a lot of junk listings of no interest; I find myself unfortunately wasting entirely too much time there because of the inefficiencies.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by freemkt

did they offer any clue regarding when they might address the 12,000 or so (per MultCo 2015 Point-In-Time Count report) who are doubled up and/or overcrowded?

I had to turn off the radio as I was picking up at school. My main concern is follow through by the city as when asked about social services for the family the response was vague. I can't see how putting a family of four in a backyard without access to services is going to be truly life changing for these families. I am not sure if backyards will have to meet a size minimum which would important.