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11/29/10, 04:10 PM
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Unapologetically me
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 12,630
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Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust
Thought some might find this interesting as the conversation here turns to tiny houses form time to time.
Quote:
As Americans downsize in the aftermath of a colossal real estate bust, at least one tiny corner of the housing market appears to be thriving. To save money or simplify their lives, a small but growing number of Americans are buying or building homes that could fit inside many people's living rooms, according to entrepreneurs in the small house industry.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_tiny_houses
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Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Mark Twain
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Enforced tolerance is oppression
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
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11/29/10, 04:21 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: northcentral MN
Posts: 14,378
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$20,000 to $50,000!
I think I can build a well insulated modest sized house for $50,000.
__________________
"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin
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11/29/10, 04:53 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,201
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Fad for now. People always succumb to the two foot disease--- and you know what happens when young people live in rabbit hutches.....
geo
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11/29/10, 05:27 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ouachitas, AR
Posts: 6,049
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I thought the price was kind of high too. We have been in our 400sq ft house since February and I love it.  Now that we have moved into cooler weather it is a breeze to heat! Electric runs us $60 a month and half of that is fees.
I like the little ones on trailers, I wouldn't mind having one of those for traveling.
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11/29/10, 05:37 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2009
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You couldn't be the least claustrophobic to sleep in that bed.
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11/29/10, 09:09 PM
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Unapologetically me
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 12,630
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A guy could build a small house around that size pretty cheap, and as Patt said, heating would be easy.
__________________
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Mark Twain
______________________________________________
Enforced tolerance is oppression
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
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11/29/10, 09:17 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Missouri Ozarks
Posts: 5,069
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Quote:
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We have been in our 400sq ft house since February and I love it.
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Wow Patt, I would love to have you start a thread on that and show some pictures. I lived on my fishing boat for a year when I got divorced and thought I was going to go nuts; I never could find anything and it really started to close in on me but it was all I could afford at the time.
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11/29/10, 09:28 PM
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Male
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York City
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This guy was on oprha pushing his houses. From what I can gather, he is a fraud. He is just looking to rip people off selling this tiny house. He does not even live in the little house, he lives in a regular size house and has this little one on his lawn.
I believe in the small home movement, but these houses this guy is selling defeat one of the main reasons for going small, and that is financial practicality.
He is just some salesman trying to make a buck. If you want a small house like he sells, just buy a DIY book on making a shed or garage and do it yourself.
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11/29/10, 09:32 PM
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Just howling at the moon
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 5,530
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cornhusker
A guy could build a small house around that size pretty cheap, and as Patt said, heating would be easy.
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Taxes and insurance would also be less as they are usually based on size.
Maintenance would also be less but the high traffic areas would get more traffic so have to be handled of more often.
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If the grass looks greener it is probably over the septic tank. - troy n sarah tx
Our existance here is soley for the expoitation of CMG
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11/29/10, 09:52 PM
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Male
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York City
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Patt
I thought the price was kind of high too. We have been in our 400sq ft house since February and I love it. Now that we have moved into cooler weather it is a breeze to heat! Electric runs us $60 a month and half of that is fees.
I like the little ones on trailers, I wouldn't mind having one of those for traveling. |
Patt imagine if you had a few solar panels, your little house could run for so much less.
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11/29/10, 09:54 PM
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Canning Crazy
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Farm Country NY
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Oh Patt...I would love to see some pics too! I live in a 900sq ft house, small and I love it =)
Hehe...less to clean!
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Be the kind of woman that, when your feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
Tammy 
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11/30/10, 12:01 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Carthage, Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fishhead
$20,000 to $50,000!
I think I can build a well insulated modest sized house for $50,000.
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Ditto.
Neat as all get out, but it's only for Yuppies.
Anyone paying $500/square foot is insane or a fool. At that price, I could build a small house for what 4 feet costs. Building a 240 sq. foot insulated home, for the dogs, although it'll be up to code for human habitation, and it should come in for less than 10 a foot.
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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming
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11/30/10, 07:18 AM
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Singletree Moderator
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Kansas
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The builder USED to live in one.
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11/30/10, 07:40 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: northcentral MN
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NOW just had a program last week that showed a tiny house that was pulled by a bicycle. The bed stuck out the side and had a plastic bubble to keep out the rain.
The show also gave examples of how groups of people across the country are using the barter system for goods and services.
__________________
"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin
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11/30/10, 07:20 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Carthage, Texas
Posts: 12,261
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fishhead
NOW just had a program last week that showed a tiny house that was pulled by a bicycle. The bed stuck out the side and had a plastic bubble to keep out the rain.
The show also gave examples of how groups of people across the country are using the barter system for goods and services.
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Now that'd be an experience! Especially in the winter or in grizzly country.
__________________
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming
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11/30/10, 07:53 PM
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Voice of Reason
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 33,704
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fishhead
$20,000 to $50,000!
I think I can build a well insulated modest sized house for $50,000.
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I built a 500 sq ft home and moved in for under $5000, but it wasn't really finished. I put another $2000 into it over the next few years, finishing the exterior and adding a bathroom. The interior still needed to be wired and drywalled, but it was insulated and livable (heck, I lived there for 3 years).
I think I can safely say that $10,000 total would have completed it, but it stayed at the $7000 level of completion when I sold it for $17,000.
If you don't mind living in relatively small quarters of 500 to 600 sq ft, you can do it for $10,000.
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11/30/10, 09:39 PM
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Male
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York City
Posts: 5,895
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Quote:
Originally Posted by seagullplayer
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Yeah, I have watched this a few times. This guy is my Guru.
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11/30/10, 09:42 PM
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Male
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York City
Posts: 5,895
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I reckon you could build a decent home with 10 grand. The expensive things are the wood stove, the septic, the electric, the well.....they eat up the money.
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11/30/10, 10:55 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: central south dakota
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that solarcabin guy's ideas float my boat too. and nevada's place looks great as well. i think going that route is so smart.
those 'tiny houses' are cool to look at, but i also thought that price was insane. i lived for most of a year in a 800dollar camper, cooked meals for our building crew, too. made soap, bread, kept up with my art gallery inventory by painting smaller, and did some commission work in there too. if i didn't live where winters got so terribly cold, and i wanted this way to go, a camper would work fine for quite a long time for a fraction of the price.
to me, the smaller house idea is smaller all the way around--bills to heat, cool, taxes, etc. not just see how small you can stand living in. i see alot of novelty and yuppie junk in that tiny house stuff. i've seen other sites with cabin/cottage that owner's built for around the $10,000 mark. we didn't do that, and some days i wonder what on earth did we get into??!!
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