Modular Homes for Under $50k • Hacker News Board

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#331

Post by EricE » Thu, Jul 01, 2021, 2:58 PM UTC

engineer_22 wrote: post #188

Johnythree wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no shortage of cheap land. There is however a desperate shortage of land on which you can legally build. And that of course is due to zoning regulations.

There's a lot of buildable land. It's just not highly desirable. The land is good, and green, and the neighbors are agreeable, but it's not close to a major city. EDIT: Case in point, my first purchase in 2017 was 5 acres of buildable land 30 minutes from a tertiary city, with an existing 900 SF manufactured home and 400 SF garage. Total price: $30,000

One of the only real bright stars from the COVID fiasco of 2020 - large swaths of people realizing they can work from home as effectively, if not more, from home. I think we are on the cusp of seeing a population migration that will make the post-WWII suburbanization move look tame in comparison.

And I think we will all be FAR better off for it!

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#332

Post by EricE » Thu, Jul 01, 2021, 3:04 PM UTC

rtpg wrote: post #37

I wish some of these interior designers would check out European or Japanese apartments for the layout. You could do a lot better (and I would never want to have to use the sink proposed in that clip on a day-to-day basis). That A/C location is just plain wrong (the kitchen is where you'll spend the least time). And that shelf splitting the living room + the bedroom? What? Meanwhile you have like... storage for plate…

That AC location easily covers the entire main room. You could put it on any wall and it would be effective in that tiny of a space. If you put it on the opposite wall now you potentially have plumbing on the front of your house, or longer line sets to tuck the exterior unit around the corner - increasing complexity and cost.

As for the kitchen I know this may shock a lot of people but there are ways to feed yourself that don't involve restaurants, take out or delivery. If anything I'd prefer a slightly larger stove/oven even if it intruded into the other space more. I enjoy cooking for myself so a decently sized fridge and pantry storage is more than superficial. Heck there are two story four bedroom houses that were built in the 70's around here that have similarly sized kitchens - it's insane when most RVs have better kitchens these days.

I do agree the TV shelf thing seems more like an opportunity to be clever with a rotating TV but that's a relatively minor quibble - the rest of the layout is actually quite functional.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#333

Post by EricE » Thu, Jul 01, 2021, 3:12 PM UTC

pyrophane wrote: post #278

There is so much marketing to the effect of "millennials love tiny homes!" I can't help but think if regular homes were even slightly affordable for the average 30-something, there would be no tiny home trend.

I don't think so. I'm currently in a 2800 square foot home full of stupid shit like a formal living and dining room that get hardly used. But it's trendy, "everybody wants it" and so that's all you get unless you are willing to be your own general contractor and oversee building a completely custom home. The only people benefiting from two story houses or formal living room/dining rooms are the builders and realtors that get more for money because of the padded extra square footage. I'm getting ready to relocate - and I will more than likely be targeting an older, more reasonably sized home this time. Ideally I'd love to find something with good bones that just needs updating - drywall may get cheap again someday - if it does rip it off, run all the networking and other cables I want, upgrade the insulation then re-drywall. Get a better than "new" house the way the vast majority of them are half-assed constructed to minimum code :p

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#334

Post by EricE » Thu, Jul 01, 2021, 3:13 PM UTC

leoedin wrote: post #127

arichard123 wrote: post #98

I don't think it compares that well to a static caravan. The price here likely includes VAT (20%) https://www.abiuk.co.uk/our-collection/the-roecliffe/

Every static caravan I've been in has been a horrible building. The walls are paper thin, the whole thing shakes when you walk around, it's poorly insulated, the furnishings are cheap. I'm not sure how much of that requirement comes from weight limits due to road transportation vs cost cutting vs target market, but those things are just horrible to spend time in. Houses need to feel solid.

Dunno why you are getting voted down but you are spot on. Mobile homes have MANY severe compromises to keep the weight down that this solution does not have to worry about.

It's laughable that people think they are even remotely comparable.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#335

Post by EricE » Thu, Jul 01, 2021, 3:17 PM UTC

bluGill wrote: post #205

bigthymer wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's infeasible for a person to construct their own house anymore, given building codes and such What has changed that this is no longer possible any more?

You need to be a licensed plumber to touch anything that connects to the public water supply. While there is nothing hard about plumbing, doing something stupid could poison the whole town and so towns are paranoid. For everything else, you can do all the work yourself if you have time. I've done framing as a job so I have the experience to build a wall about as fast as any professional crew. I do my own electrical w…

>Professionals are up on all the codes and the latest tricks and so will be a lot faster.

"Professionals" also get preferential treatment from municipal governments. I'm pretty sure the only thing my local building inspector did was sign paperwork - good thing I found an actual home inspector that had a construction background because he found electrical, plumbing and framing issues so glaring it's obvious the local building inspectors "inspected" from the curb only :p

My parents built the house I grew up in and over the years I've helped several friends build their own houses and the amount of trivial crap they had to put up from drunk on power building inspectors is nuts by comparison. It's an utter farce. The problem is very few people will ever experience it, so it's easy to not even realize what's going on.

Until a large condo suddenly collapses in the middle of the night :p

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#336

Post by EricE » Thu, Jul 01, 2021, 3:20 PM UTC

unethical_ban wrote: post #318

bluGill wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to be a licensed plumber to touch anything that connects to the public water supply. While there is nothing hard about plumbing, doing something stupid could poison the whole town and so towns are paranoid. For everything else, you can do all the work yourself if you have time. I've done framing as a job so I have the experience to build a wall about as fast as any professional crew. I do my own electrical w…

>doing something stupid could poison the whole town and so towns are paranoid. Why not have a backflow preventer at the mains and call it a day? I get electricians in a way, but plumbing... eh.

There is more to it than that. The trades are a huge protection racket, and the municipalities are in on it. Yes, there are aspects of specialized knowledge where an actual tradesman provides significant value - but a lot of the bureaucracy exists to favor the incumbents, not to necessarily ensure you are getting a better or safer product.

Insert the George Carlin quote about clubs here...

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#337

Post by j45 » Thu, Jul 01, 2021, 5:42 PM UTC

brudgers wrote: post #280

j45 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Savings of time to build and use, can be removed as easily as it’s deployed.

$50k will buy a reasonably nice RV that includes wheels and a hitch and such options abound.

RVs have much higher maintenance. Maybe Tiny homes would be an alternative.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#338

Post by decebalus1 » Thu, Jul 01, 2021, 9:20 PM UTC

sumedh wrote: post #81

decebalus1 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I admire your admiration of him, it's a sign you haven't reached the level of cynicism required to classify him in the 'snake oil salesman' category yet.

Elon delivered on his promise of using reusable rockets which other govts and billionaires could not do, how is that snake oil?

Hyperloop - snake oil

Crypto - snake oil

Colonization of Mars - (hilarious) snake oil

Starlink - (subsidized) snake oil

Tesla stock - snake oil

Mini rescue submarine - snake oil

Tesla cars from an ownership perspective - snake oil

etc.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#339

Post by bluGill » Fri, Jul 02, 2021, 12:56 PM UTC

EricE wrote: post #335

bluGill wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to be a licensed plumber to touch anything that connects to the public water supply. While there is nothing hard about plumbing, doing something stupid could poison the whole town and so towns are paranoid. For everything else, you can do all the work yourself if you have time. I've done framing as a job so I have the experience to build a wall about as fast as any professional crew. I do my own electrical w…

>Professionals are up on all the codes and the latest tricks and so will be a lot faster. "Professionals" also get preferential treatment from municipal governments. I'm pretty sure the only thing my local building inspector did was sign paperwork - good thing I found an actual home inspector that had a construction background because he found electrical, plumbing and framing issues so glaring it's obvious the local…

Different cities have different inspectors. However you should take up local politics if professionals are getting better treatment for crap work.

That said, my experience with inspectors is they know who are the good ones and who are the bad ones. The bad ones get everything looked over closely. The good ones get a close look once in a while, but if the inspector is busy a quick look is all they will get. Trust comes from the inspectors experience in this case though, something that one off homeowners obviously haven't earned.

Re: Modular Homes for Under $50k

#340

Post by bluGill » Fri, Jul 02, 2021, 1:02 PM UTC

DVassallo wrote: post #314

bluGill wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can build a custom home for the price of a spec home. However it means sticking to the budget instead of upgrading. You can put a $15 light fixture in the bedroom, or a $50 one - spec homes do the former, custom homes all later - it doesn't seem like much but these all add up. The cost to build a custom home and a spec home is nearly the same if you are careful not to do any upgrades. Those upgrades cost money th…

In my region, the material costs are just ~15% of the total cost to build. It's almost all labor costs.

That depends on the materials. Installing a $600 light fixture is the same labor as a $40 one. Thus a spec home the material cost tends to be a lot less a % of the total costs compared to a custom house. Though some custom changes require more labor, the effort difference between most is 0, and in a few cases slightly negative (if the material cost wasn't higher all spec homes would get these features)