When building or buying your Tiny/Small House, you'll need land to park it on. You can either park it on someone else's land or buy your own land.
Maybe a friend or relative will allow you to park in their back yard, on land they own, in the driveway, etc. Or maybe someone who owns land or a house will allow you to park there for a monthly fee. RV parks generally charge about $10/night to park there($300/month), for this fee you get to plug into electricity and sewer, and they have wireless internet. Different RV parks charge different prices, some of them are more expensive if they are very close to a major city. In making a deal with someone to park in their yard or on their land, use this amount as a guide. *Good Idea - "bachelor" or "bachelorette" apartments/houses with several roommates are always looking to shave some money off of their monthly bills. They are a good bet to ask to park in their back yard or driveway.*
If you're like me, you'll want to buy your own land. Don't spend too much- good sources to find cheap land are ebay, craigslist and landwatch.com. Watch out for the pitfalls - always have a surveyor come and assess any property you are thinking of buying, in addition have a test done on the soil to see if you can install septic if you can't hook up to city sewer for some reason. Composting toilets are a workable alternative if you can't hook up to city sewer or install a septic system. In addition, have the water tested if you plan on drilling a well or for any reason can't hook up to city water. How to get a land survey: SURVEY Be aware that land could have major flaws - one man bought cheap land only to find out that before he could build his house the land needed $40,000 of extra work because someone had "filled in" a hill that he thought was natural. Be suspicious and check out everything. Whatever the problems actually are, there are ways to alleviate them and work around them, but you should KNOW about them, especially to keep you from spending too much on the property if it has major flaws.
Zoning is an issue. If the property you would like to buy is in a subdivision, there may be minimum size requirements for houses. This will prevent you from living in an RV on your property there, which is what a Tiny/Small House is actually considered. Even if you take the Tiny/Small House off of it's wheels and put it on a foundation, it may not be the minimum size required in the subdivision. These size rules are in place because people who own large houses in the subdivision do not want a smaller property down the street from their house to "devalue" their property. These ridiculous rules are what is keeping some families and children homeless or living in substandard conditions, so everyone SHOULD be working hard to repeal these draconian and selfish rules. But until that happens, you will need to choose a place where zoning does not prevent you from living in a small house. Obviously that will not be a subdivision unless you are parking in someone's back yard or driveway - they are allowed in some cases to have these units there classified as "offices", "mother in law suites", etc. - and RVs are allowed in most cases. Some people take mortgages on large houses, put a Tiny/Small house in the back yard or on the property, live there themselves and then rent the larger house out and in this way pay for their mortgage. I personally feel this is immoral because then you are forcing someone else to pay the bank's loan sharking and usury, but that's how some do it. *Good Idea - one guy I heard of lived in an RV parked in someone's driveway - in Queens. He was able to live in a workable situation 15 minutes outside the city - for about $300/month. Can YOU find a good deal like that one?*
Properties that allow small cabins or RVs are often located far out from the center of town or along roads, etc. You can find Zoning maps of most cities and towns on the websites for those cities and towns. When deciding on your location, think of what you'd eventually like to do with your property - I personally want mixed-use or commercial property so that I can run businesses from the same property that I live on. Check the Zoning map and then either drive around and find signs that say that property is available in an appropriate area, call real estate agents local to the area and see if they have anything available in your price range, or write letters asking local farmers and other land owners in the area if they would be willing to sell you some land. You may want to speak to the Zoning Administrator or a Community Board member of the town you are moving to in order to find out what is and is not allowed on the land you are interested in. If you are paying all at once in cash and not taking a mortgage, you can offer less than what the property is listed for if it is listed. If you can't pay the entire amount down, try to get OWNER FINANCING rather than going through a bank and paying through the nose for a commercial mortgage. Don't participate in the loan-sharking business unless you really have to.
You may be thinking "this sounds like a LOT of trouble". Well- it really is. But think of what will happen if you do NOT do this work. When I think of the money I wasted renting for 17 years, it's pretty unbelievable. I didn't set out to rent for 17 years, but the economy worsened as I got older, year after year went by, and I never "seized the moment" to buy anything, horrified by aaaalll the forclosures, the devaluing of property and the inability of people to sell their property once then owned it, etc. I stayed away from the real estate market, for simple lack of understanding of the way things really worked. In reality, the best thing I could have done would have been to buy land that was affordable, put a small modular house that I OWNED on it, and start banking my money. If you own your land and house, your utilities and taxes together are much lower than what you will pay for rent or mortgage- mortgages in particular are just pure legal loan sharking (usury). This was sold as the "American Dream" and it has been revealed to be financial abuse of USA citizens, and an unworkable gamble in the recession. Living in cities is no longer the great experience it used to be in the USA, so there is no real benefit to staying in the unhealthy and crowded situation of a city when you could live an hour or so away and save most of your money, and be healthier besides. Until the "powers that be" decide to bring back affordable rentals and reasonable interest rates on loans and mortgages, full ownership of your property and living situation may be the ONLY way to get ahead. So stop draining your resources and start saving.
Maybe a friend or relative will allow you to park in their back yard, on land they own, in the driveway, etc. Or maybe someone who owns land or a house will allow you to park there for a monthly fee. RV parks generally charge about $10/night to park there($300/month), for this fee you get to plug into electricity and sewer, and they have wireless internet. Different RV parks charge different prices, some of them are more expensive if they are very close to a major city. In making a deal with someone to park in their yard or on their land, use this amount as a guide. *Good Idea - "bachelor" or "bachelorette" apartments/houses with several roommates are always looking to shave some money off of their monthly bills. They are a good bet to ask to park in their back yard or driveway.*
If you're like me, you'll want to buy your own land. Don't spend too much- good sources to find cheap land are ebay, craigslist and landwatch.com. Watch out for the pitfalls - always have a surveyor come and assess any property you are thinking of buying, in addition have a test done on the soil to see if you can install septic if you can't hook up to city sewer for some reason. Composting toilets are a workable alternative if you can't hook up to city sewer or install a septic system. In addition, have the water tested if you plan on drilling a well or for any reason can't hook up to city water. How to get a land survey: SURVEY Be aware that land could have major flaws - one man bought cheap land only to find out that before he could build his house the land needed $40,000 of extra work because someone had "filled in" a hill that he thought was natural. Be suspicious and check out everything. Whatever the problems actually are, there are ways to alleviate them and work around them, but you should KNOW about them, especially to keep you from spending too much on the property if it has major flaws.
Zoning is an issue. If the property you would like to buy is in a subdivision, there may be minimum size requirements for houses. This will prevent you from living in an RV on your property there, which is what a Tiny/Small House is actually considered. Even if you take the Tiny/Small House off of it's wheels and put it on a foundation, it may not be the minimum size required in the subdivision. These size rules are in place because people who own large houses in the subdivision do not want a smaller property down the street from their house to "devalue" their property. These ridiculous rules are what is keeping some families and children homeless or living in substandard conditions, so everyone SHOULD be working hard to repeal these draconian and selfish rules. But until that happens, you will need to choose a place where zoning does not prevent you from living in a small house. Obviously that will not be a subdivision unless you are parking in someone's back yard or driveway - they are allowed in some cases to have these units there classified as "offices", "mother in law suites", etc. - and RVs are allowed in most cases. Some people take mortgages on large houses, put a Tiny/Small house in the back yard or on the property, live there themselves and then rent the larger house out and in this way pay for their mortgage. I personally feel this is immoral because then you are forcing someone else to pay the bank's loan sharking and usury, but that's how some do it. *Good Idea - one guy I heard of lived in an RV parked in someone's driveway - in Queens. He was able to live in a workable situation 15 minutes outside the city - for about $300/month. Can YOU find a good deal like that one?*
Properties that allow small cabins or RVs are often located far out from the center of town or along roads, etc. You can find Zoning maps of most cities and towns on the websites for those cities and towns. When deciding on your location, think of what you'd eventually like to do with your property - I personally want mixed-use or commercial property so that I can run businesses from the same property that I live on. Check the Zoning map and then either drive around and find signs that say that property is available in an appropriate area, call real estate agents local to the area and see if they have anything available in your price range, or write letters asking local farmers and other land owners in the area if they would be willing to sell you some land. You may want to speak to the Zoning Administrator or a Community Board member of the town you are moving to in order to find out what is and is not allowed on the land you are interested in. If you are paying all at once in cash and not taking a mortgage, you can offer less than what the property is listed for if it is listed. If you can't pay the entire amount down, try to get OWNER FINANCING rather than going through a bank and paying through the nose for a commercial mortgage. Don't participate in the loan-sharking business unless you really have to.
You may be thinking "this sounds like a LOT of trouble". Well- it really is. But think of what will happen if you do NOT do this work. When I think of the money I wasted renting for 17 years, it's pretty unbelievable. I didn't set out to rent for 17 years, but the economy worsened as I got older, year after year went by, and I never "seized the moment" to buy anything, horrified by aaaalll the forclosures, the devaluing of property and the inability of people to sell their property once then owned it, etc. I stayed away from the real estate market, for simple lack of understanding of the way things really worked. In reality, the best thing I could have done would have been to buy land that was affordable, put a small modular house that I OWNED on it, and start banking my money. If you own your land and house, your utilities and taxes together are much lower than what you will pay for rent or mortgage- mortgages in particular are just pure legal loan sharking (usury). This was sold as the "American Dream" and it has been revealed to be financial abuse of USA citizens, and an unworkable gamble in the recession. Living in cities is no longer the great experience it used to be in the USA, so there is no real benefit to staying in the unhealthy and crowded situation of a city when you could live an hour or so away and save most of your money, and be healthier besides. Until the "powers that be" decide to bring back affordable rentals and reasonable interest rates on loans and mortgages, full ownership of your property and living situation may be the ONLY way to get ahead. So stop draining your resources and start saving.
Love your Blog. I am going to build a tiny House on wheels. Not sure how and when this will happen yet. My Girlfriend owns a house and some land. It has been very difficult to convince her that this would be the Ideal place to put a Tiny House. As I explained to her it would be treated as if it were an RV she is still reluctant. She fears that it would raise her taxes or she would be fined by some zoning agency. If it comes down to it I will buy my own plot of land. NYS has land auctions every year, my county has it in September. This might be an option for those interested. Website: http://www.nysauctions.com
ReplyDeleteHi Brian! THANKS for the tip about the Auction website :) If I were you, I'd go ahead and buy my own land. You never want to be in the position where you are depending on anyone else for your stability.
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