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The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in
281–290 of 317 posts
Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
So that provides a reason for temporarily avoiding purchases when the prices are inflated and/or mortgage deals are bad. See purchasing as a hedge. "Worst case" your property becomes worthless, and you're left with nothing when the mortgage is paid down and may have paid more per month on average until them (but if so, while you may have lost vs. renting, properties are now ludicrously cheap, so who cares?). Meanwhil…
"It's extremely hard to come out badly if you are prepared to hold a property long term" This is a major sticking point for many people, particularly once you factor in opportunity costs.
True, though it should be pointed out that "hold a property long term" may not necessarily involve living in that property long term.
Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
But you're renting, right? Isn't part of the point not to be wasting capital on rent? (I'm a CO man myself)
"Wasting capital on rent" may be the worst nonsense in our financial folklore. Always run the numbers. Rent vs. mortgage calculators and spreadsheets are readily available. Understand the factors they use, and perhaps tweak for your own needs and priorities. I'm glad that I did, as I completely dodged the disaster that was the housing bubble as a result -- my rent always looked like a killer deal compared to nutso ho…
After grad school, I shopped around all the sawmills in the state, bought the materials, designed and built a 2500 sqft log home. No mortgage, awesome house. It is out of town, on a great 5 acre wooded lot.
I love the woods, with the deer, birds, etc., but it is a 20 minute drive to the office. On the other hand, the only debt I have is a student loan.
Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in
#284So... plastic + blue foam + blue foam + plastic. This sounds extremely flammable. Are any of your materials actually code-rated for a living structure (as you're using them)? Last I checked, stuff like blue foam board needs to be used in specific ways, such as behind fire-rated walls. You cannot leave any of it exposed, or it's a fire hazard.
Flame retardant corrugated plastic sheets do exist (my brother used several hundred of them for an event inside a hotel). I'm not sure if it would be enough of a firewall for blueboard though.
Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
I moved to Colorado from the SF Bay Area. I'm near Boulder and Denver, and can walk to a dozen restaurants, a grocery store, a bar, multiple cafes, and a big library with free Internet access (oddly enough, almost ALL of the above have free Internet access, now that I think of it -- even the grocery store). And if you like public transit, I'm really close to multiple bus lines, but the city I live in is also very bik…
But you're renting, right? Isn't part of the point not to be wasting capital on rent? (I'm a CO man myself)
No, I own the house outright. There's an argument to be had over whether my money should be in investments rather than in home equity, but it's hard to argue with the fact that I'm only paying taxes & insurance on the house, which seriously reduces the burn rate.
Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
I love how manufactured homes aren't on this list. Oh wait, I forgot this whole thing was about status and "conspicuous authenticity", not about actually living cheaply.
I noticed that "get roommates" also wasn't on the list.
In SF, I have two roommates and pay 1250 in a non-trendy area.
Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in
#287Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Wasting capital on rent" may be the worst nonsense in our financial folklore. Always run the numbers. Rent vs. mortgage calculators and spreadsheets are readily available. Understand the factors they use, and perhaps tweak for your own needs and priorities. I'm glad that I did, as I completely dodged the disaster that was the housing bubble as a result -- my rent always looked like a killer deal compared to nutso ho…
So that provides a reason for temporarily avoiding purchases when the prices are inflated and/or mortgage deals are bad. See purchasing as a hedge. "Worst case" your property becomes worthless, and you're left with nothing when the mortgage is paid down and may have paid more per month on average until them (but if so, while you may have lost vs. renting, properties are now ludicrously cheap, so who cares?). Meanwhil…
"It's extremely hard to come out badly if you are prepared to hold a property long term"
You seem to equate some appreciation in house value with "not coming out badly". Well, if that's all you want, then fine. You can consider things as not having come out badly.
However, if your definition of "not coming out badly" is actually more like, "having done better financially than renting" then it's a much more complicated question. Renting can leave you with better financial outcome even in cases where a hypothetical purchased house appreciates greatly. Not always, of course, but appreciation in value of the house is just one among many factors in the rent vs. own equation.
Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in
#289Earlier quoted context omitted.
The UK is almost (bar perhaps Singapore) a worst case scenario: huge land holdings by a small number of established parties, all jobs in essentially one area, and a culture of huge numbers of people living in cramped housing which reduces the demand for proper living space. I lived there for a year and have visited a few other times myself, plus I have a friend from there with a strong interest in alternative constru…
Yes. This is what I am up against at the moment. You are right though. I should consider moving abroad. My worry with somewhere like France is - being Muslim - I don't know how I would be treated and to what extent the problems shown on TV are representative of what it's actually like on the ground. That said. I do know someone with some land in France . Maybe I could have a chat with him!
My partner's Muslim. There's plenty of Muslims in France. Everyone in London told me French and Parisians in particular were rude and horrible, but I found them far nicer than the English and have never had a bad experience! I'd say they're more likely to get snooty if you fail to drink with them, which, if you're a little on the conservative side of Islam, might be the case. I have a theory, though, that what most of them are really after is animated conversationalists and philosophical arguments! If true, drink is optional.
Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, not necessarily. A lot of zoning regulations in cities require a minimum square footage of a house. And a lot of zoning rules also prohibit nonstandard construction. It's terribly frustrating when you're looking at alternative building methods. In some states you're pretty mostly stuck building in either really rural towns or in unincorporated locations. My own favorite alternative building technique is a "…
i like the look of earthbag homes http://home.howstuffworks.com/earthbag-home.htm
Cool idea. Thanks.
A hybrid approach -- earthbag and shotcrete dome -- might be an interesting approach. A ring of earthbag construction as a foundation with a shotcrete dome on top could get you lots of interior space.