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Small World: The Tiny House Trend

believermag.com

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Re: Small World: The Tiny House Trend

#261

Post by bluGill »

ams6110 wrote: post #247
justaguyhere wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you watch interviews of people who went the tiny house route, a lot of them started with "why do I need to be in debt (mortgage) for 30-40 years of my life?". There is a growing movement of people rejecting being in debt for decades and that is really a good thing. And if moving into a tiny house is carefully done, then it doesn't need to be lower standards of living.

> why do I need to be in debt (mortgage) for 30-40 years of my life Because you're (hopefully) going to come out of the other side of those 30-40 years, regardless. In one case, you can have a house you own free and clear. In the other case, you're still paying rent to someone else. And 30-40 years is the extreme. Paying just a little extra principal every month you can have the loan paid in well under 30 years.

Those are some big ifs in there that you didn't mention. There are a lot of people who take our home equity loans every time their value goes up. A coworker of mine bought a house for 250k, the previous owners had bought it for 90k 20 years ago, and 6 months before selling refinanced for 200k. Each loan is carefully recorded in the title for all time. (I probably have the numbers wrong, but they they are close enough)

If you pay off your loan you are debt free in 30 years or less. However many people don't: they see their house go up in value and take out a bigger loan to spend now.

Re: Small World: The Tiny House Trend

#264

Post by rootusrootus »

benj111 wrote: post #151
bluGill wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That northern tools trailer is rated for 1000lbs - you won't be able to have 2 humans inside without breaking something.

The 1000lbs limit would be whilst moving? You aren't likely to be driving about with 2 people in the trailer.

I think it's pretty safe to say that a tiny house on a trailer rated for 1000 (or 1715) pounds is not ever moving.

For comparison, the smallest, lightest travel trailers you can buy come in around 1500-2000 pounds dry. And they are not rated for full-time living. Anything more durable will quickly weigh a lot more than a 1715 pound trailer can safely handle.

Re: Small World: The Tiny House Trend

#265

Post by rootusrootus »

meritt wrote: post #110
driverdan wrote: post #89

I've been living in a shuttle bus I converted for about 20 months. I built it to be like a high end RV, with everything you'd expect in an RV but with lithium batteries and a solar array. I did it for two reasons, so I could own a home with minimal expenses and so I could take my home and dog when I travel. My cost of living is significantly lower than living in conventional housing. I estimate I've spent around $50k…

Unless it was for the sheer joy of doing the work yourself, is there any particular reason you didn't buy a gently used motorhome for $15-20k and upgrade as necessary (e.g. the solar array and lithium batteries)? You cite the $50k cost but that sounds excessive to me with considerably less work.

Nearly all RVs are built for intermittent (recreational!) use and specifically not designed for full-time living. Of course some people do it anyway, and they fall apart quickly.

Re: Small World: The Tiny House Trend

#266

Post by alistairSH »

jlokier wrote: post #212
alistairSH wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that really true? Most of the trendy tiny homes are 200-300sqft with a loft bedroom. My townhouse is modest by US standards at 1500sqft and 3 bedrooms. I believe this was about average in the early-70s (when the home was constructed). The average new home in the US is now about 2600sqft and 4-5 bedrooms.

In the UK. The flat I live in is the _largest_ place I've lived in 28 years. Lived in quite a few different places, maybe 15. It's a two bedroom flat. Total floor area 36sqm, aka. 390sqft. It's not a "tinyhouse". It's a typical rented flat, about average for the area. I would love a larger place. I dream of storage, of a workshop room. But when I see people reporting US sizes, it's hard to even imagine that much floo…

What's the floor plan like? My son is in a 500sqft 1-bed apartment in DC and I can't picture how you'd fit a 2nd bedroom into a smaller unit.

Re: Small World: The Tiny House Trend

#267

Post by rootusrootus »

mr_overalls wrote: post #94
dwater wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You probably know that you can find longer dimensional lumber at a lumber yard instead of a big box store. I am building my own 2-story 2-car garage, and was surprised at how many independent lumber yards there are tucked away around town. I needed long 2x8s for my rafters, no problem finding them up to 20'. And engineered lumber comes even longer. I'm making the upstairs into a finished living space with kitchen and…

> You probably know that you can find longer dimensional lumber at a lumber yard instead of a big box store. Not to mention that the lumber at lumber yards tends to be of superior quality as well.

There is a certain humor in going to HD and buying 2x4s that are allegedly kiln dried but weigh 25 pounds and squirt water when you nail them.

Re: Small World: The Tiny House Trend

#268

Post by effingwewt »

dvtrn wrote: post #246
module0000 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's funny - I thought it sounded really nice. It evoked nostalgia from the military. Different strokes eh? :)

>It evoked nostalgia from the military. Well now I'm remiss of not getting to see what the comment was, since it's now flagged. I can appreciate that specific nostalgia w/rt living quarters.

HN lets you see dead comments by toggling to in settings.

Re: Small World: The Tiny House Trend

#269

Post by petascale »

Bjorkbat wrote: post #142

I really wish there was more diversity in offerings when it came to manufactured/trailer homes. To clarify, I'm not talking about RVs. I like tiny houses, but really only in the sense that I'm fascinated by unusually small things. Otherwise I think they're actually kind of ridiculous if your motives are to downsize and not pay $300,000+ on a house Trailer homes are pretty incredible when you think about it. They're t…

Here's an architecture student who build his own small trailer home to have a place to live while studying: https://www.tu.no/artikler/na-har-sigurd-19-fatt-smart-strom...

(In Norwegian, but there are pictures and a diagram.)

In short: 130 sq.ft. trailer home, built with structural insulated panels on a boat trailer for around €30k in total. Bathroom, kitchen, sleeping area, room for four people. Google Sketch as design program. "Smart" control unit for electricity, e.g. it turns off the water heater when the electric stove is turned on, so the total power draw never exceeds the current limit where he's plugged in. And remote control from a smartphone app.

He built his own rather than buying a caravan because he wanted e.g. better insulation for winter use and full-size kitchen appliances.

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