I bought the cheapest one bedroom apartment I could find, it’s not bad but now I’m in decades of debt.
I bought my first home cash at age 34 last year. Of course it’s an 18 foot, 14 year old trailer. But still I’m finally ahead of the curve
Congratulations! To have a home secured with no debt is a lifetime goal few attain in this current cruel world!
hey still -congrats!
Heck yeah, man!
the only reason i own my home outright at 45 is because: My wife died in 2011 and insurance payout covered the house. i could not buy my own home again. capitalism sucks.
I’m 44 and want a tiny home, but even they’re getting up there in price. Apartment living is really disheartening.
It’s not just tiny homes are getting up their in price; they are extremely affordable. The issue is you’ll need to place it on a foundation and once you do, you’ll be beholden to the same permits as a regular sized house which can add a tremendous expense. Sure, you can go the trailer/on wheels route, but that opens up to other issues such as home theft (literally) to cities outright not allowing it on your lot.
Also take into consideration that a lot of municipalities do not like tiny homes as it goes against the look of the town/city, to some even outright banning them to having exorbitant fees placed on them.
I’ve looked into tiny homes and to save money, I would have to move out to the rural areas where I am permitted to build them without being hassles by the city. Oh, and if your neighbor doesn’t like your home, you can definitely expect frequent visits from the city inspectors to fuck your day over.
All I want is a tiny home, and a big front/backyard to garden/self-sustain my family.
One way to get around zoning restrictions is to find an existing small house. I have a 400sqft house that was built a century ago, before building codes existed. It isn’t legal to build something here under 800sqft now. My neighborhood is full of little houses like mine, and demand for them is very low.
I’m 60 miles east, and 1 mile above, Los Angeles, in a National Forest. It snows here. The views are lovely. My house is worth $100k.
Big Bear is such an under rated part of southern California. I loved going there and looking at the giant pinecone. I never realized housing wasn’t too bad out that way. How are the taxes?
Oh yeah you’re well versed in the rules and regs. It’s insane to me the push back tiny living gets from established systems, but it does attempt to fly in the face of the American way and capitalism.
You can buy a Tuff Shed for $20k with foundation installment, insulate it yourself, all for less than $27k. Toss in electrical, and water; you’re looking at around $40k. Permits and such will probably add another $10-$15k. Overall, you’re looking at $80k for a tiny home in a major city versus homes that go for more than $600k. Rurally in my county, I’ve seen homes go for $300k, so you’re still saving a fuckton of money.
Tiny living absolutely goes against capitalism and our need to consume more than what we can handle to be further in debt by those who control the means.
It’s not just the permits; it’s the land itself. The vast majority of every metro area’s land is zoned single-family with minimum lot sizes vastly larger than what a single tiny home would need, so you end up being forced to buy hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of land before you can even start to build on it, tiny house or otherwise.
I refuse to believe that anyone is buying homes
It’s extremely hard. I bought a house by myself last year, but I had the fortune(?) of living rent free in a van for 3 years while I saved as hard as I could. I was also working 2 jobs, 7 days a week, earning about $145k a year. And it’s one of the cheapest houses in the area, a relatively small block. Now I only work 6 days a week. The value of my house has already gone up by 18%, in one year that I’ve been here. It’s madness.
Absolutely none of what you just said makes any sense… However, I’m glad that you’re finally in a home.
A few people are, but the market has dropped like a rock over the past year. Several housing markets are seeing massive drops as post-COVID demand dried up.
Corporations are buying up homes to rent them out or tear them down to build small condos to rent out.
Land is limited in America and it’ll get worse. Before covid I didnt buy a 5 acre lot for $4k because it was out in the desert + wife was unsure of job opportunities. The same lot today is going for $20k.
Only reason I was able to buy a home in my mid-40s was my wife picking up the phone to inquire about Habitat for Humanity. Make the fucking call!
Worst case is you spend an hour at the introductory meeting and figure it won’t work for you. Can’t imagine many reasons it wouldn’t, just put in the application.
Be glad to answer questions, but be aware, the program varies a bit by region.
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