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Here is the scenario:
C - Wait, continue renting, and try to save enough money (very difficult to do when renting) and revisit the build 4-5 years from now and try to build the larger home.
If you find it difficult to save while renting then you will find it particularly hard to save while owning/building homes! Once you become a homeowner/landlord an emergency fund becomes extremely necessary. Equity in a house is not liquid and does NOT qualify as savings. My recommendation is C with the caveat that if it is difficult to save then you should find a cheaper place to rent.
Only to move into another area with a more restrictive HOA?
This entire area has HOA's, no way around it, the area I am in is the least restrictive HOA. Other HOA's out here mandate 3,000+ sqft homes and have crazy restrictive rules like not leaving your garage open or face $500 fines.
Like I said, the lot I have is lenient compared to other HOAs out here. That's just the way it is out here. I am not moving to another state to avoid an HOA. My life, family, church, lot, job is here.
What I would do would be to build the small house, which would be called an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) in my area. Live in that and save your money up until the time deadline and then you should have a chunk of cash and borrow the rest to finish the big house.
Site the ADU carefully and design it to coordinate with the looks of the main house
Washington Federal does an owner/builder mortgage if you happen to have a Washington Federal in your area.
Worst case scenario, if you approach the deadline and can't start the main house, you can always sell that property.
The CCR makes sense to me. It's to prevent the area from being filled with little shacks which would destroy the value of teh area. People who want to live in a falling down chicken coop must go elsewhere to live. It's generous to allow reidents to build their ADU first and to live in it while building the more expensive house
Well stated.
The CC&R's are there to "protect" the community from people putting up 300 square foot sheds and living in them. I might not like it but I do UNDERSTAND IT and why it is there.
This HOA was the least restrictive out here. Others are way, way worse. Most of them would NOT allow to build the smaller ADU. They require 2,500 or 3,000 sqft homes minimum and dictate the design. You can't build modern or contemporary, everything must look the same with these crazy looking multi hip and valley roofs which cost a ton of money to build. They make you build an expensive home, not an efficient home.
If you find it difficult to save while renting then you will find it particularly hard to save while owning/building homes! Once you become a homeowner/landlord an emergency fund becomes extremely necessary. Equity in a house is not liquid and does NOT qualify as savings. My recommendation is C with the caveat that if it is difficult to save then you should find a cheaper place to rent.
No "inexpensive" rent out here. It's a landlord market and they are making a killing on rentals since they are in high demand. Not enough affordable housing and rental properties are priced high.
Sure, ideally paying low rent and saving money would be the way to go but nothing in life is ideal. Rent is high out here and the apartment "waiting list" is 12-24 months, some places are seeing 36 months wait.
No "inexpensive" rent out here. It's a landlord market and they are making a killing on rentals since they are in high demand. Not enough affordable housing and rental properties are priced high.
Sure, ideally paying low rent and saving money would be the way to go but nothing in life is ideal. Rent is high out here and the apartment "waiting list" is 12-24 months, some places are seeing 36 months wait.
Then you need to cut expenses. The personal finance forum is full of people willing to critique your spending. Home ownership is not for you if you can't afford to save while renting IMO...
How long are building permits good for? You could get involved into the smaller house and immediately use the rent money that you are no longer paying to start on the big house. Check the CCR's carefully and see if the fine does not apply if the larger house is under construction.
Where I live - you couldn't build a "casita" and rent it out. We call it a mother-in-law suite here - although these places are often used by household employees/staff as well as real mothers in law. Our HOA wouldn't allow it. The county wouldn't either (single family zoning is single family zoning). Best to check. This is one big fly in the ointment I can see.
Our HOA is extremely large (1100+ lots). And there were a couple of extremely large multi-acre lots where people did build the mother-in-law suite first - moved in - and then started to build the main house. Then the housing bust happened. Don't know what happened to those lots (they are pretty much in the middle of nowhere in our HOA). Will have to take a look (haven't been in that part of our HOA for years). Robyn
How long are building permits good for? You could get involved into the smaller house and immediately use the rent money that you are no longer paying to start on the big house. Check the CCR's carefully and see if the fine does not apply if the larger house is under construction.
Building permits are good for 12 months when issued.
Once the permits are issued for the larger house the fine does NOT apply since the larger house is under construction.
Where I live - you couldn't build a "casita" and rent it out. We call it a mother-in-law suite here - although these places are often used by household employees/staff as well as real mothers in law. Our HOA wouldn't allow it. The county wouldn't either (single family zoning is single family zoning). Best to check. This is one big fly in the ointment I can see.
Our HOA is extremely large (1100+ lots). And there were a couple of extremely large multi-acre lots where people did build the mother-in-law suite first - moved in - and then started to build the main house. Then the housing bust happened. Don't know what happened to those lots (they are pretty much in the middle of nowhere in our HOA). Will have to take a look (haven't been in that part of our HOA for years). Robyn
Technically one is not supposed to rent the casita/MIL suite. I would only rent it to a close friend. It's not like I would rent it to a stranger or post the renting. I've rented rooms and houses from friends in my early years. They would charge me $500+ a month to rent a basement area, room or something like that. It was done on a private agreement and they were friends of mine. Roommates do that all the time. They split the rent or if they have a house they leave vacant, they offer the house rental to a closely vetted person.
Technically one is not supposed to rent the casita/MIL suite. I would only rent it to a close friend. It's not like I would rent it to a stranger or post the renting. I've rented rooms and houses from friends in my early years. They would charge me $500+ a month to rent a basement area, room or something like that. It was done on a private agreement and they were friends of mine. Roommates do that all the time. They split the rent or if they have a house they leave vacant, they offer the house rental to a closely vetted person.
Illegal is illegal. You want to play the illegal game and hope you won't be caught - that's up to you <shrug>. Don't care as long as you don't live near me. Robyn
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