Is it better to buy the trashiest used mobile home I can find, buy a shipping container and DIY, or buy a prefab "tiny home", cuckshed, etc.? I want to do the bare minimum, the only real requirement is having a roof over my head.
>>2954235Tiny home 100%, it's like a trailer but more durable and better insulated for harsh weather. Hire a pickup truck bro from craigslist to move it when you get tired of your renter. "Mobile" homes always fuck you with the space rent and you can't really move them.
>>2954235the actual home usually isn't the valuable part of real estate. anyway a quonset hut probably fits your needs.
>>2954253Based quonsets
>>2954235yurt
>>2954235>Aboslute minimum for roofTents. Just hanged fabrics held up with rods and wires. Then you can have wood framed sheds covered by fabric. Then the shed can be covered by roof and wall panels that can't be torn by sharp objects or heavy weightAnything sturdier and bigger needs foundation first so not ready on day one. Anything nicer are more about utilities and appliances.
>>2954235where are you do you have access to cash?get your hands on land. banks dont lend against land itself, gotta have other assets
>>2954235Pallet wood house made from stolen pallet wood.
>>2954235squat in someone's house when they evict you, go squat in someone else's house
>>2956308Squatter's rights is best. You could also try an air bnb then don't leave after.
4 unit housing complex, loan terms are some of the best often one unit is small. live like shit for a few years until the bank has checked all the boxes for the creditors then move in. throw regular bbq gives you a built in community and responsibilities. you will become a better man providing for others and other in turn will want to provide for you. towel heads figured this shit out and it is promoted in their dirt hovels for multiple wives but you can use the same language with western design and move whole families. tldr: use the rent seekers norms to capitalize on intentionally bad math.rent seekers read parasites
A simple tent.
>>2954235>What is THE cheapest form of housing?1000% it's squatting
>>2954350>banks dont lend against land itself
>>2954235You used to be able to find used FEMA trailers on eBay for very cheap. Usually not very old buildings. Sometimes the interior is pristine, and sometimes trashed out.
>>2954235Do what i did. Get a free POS RV, the roof will leak. Do a temp fix with a tarp. Live in it while making a basic off grid cabin and once the basic shell is done strip everything out of the RV and use it for all the houses systems:>Water storage tank>On demand water heater with pump and pressure tank>12v inverter with AC, battery charger and 12v power supply>All the wiring and lights you need>Propane heater>Shower>Stove with oven>Gas/electric powered refrigerator>Kitchen cabinets>Furniture>Bed>Sink>Windows>DoorsAfterwards strip the trailer down and put a floor on it and use it haul stuff.
>>2956380They don't go try and get a loan on woodlot you fucking nonce. They will loan on a HOME
>>2958441i didnt have the stamina to try and explain, anon, thanks.Loans. Unsecured loans are a thing, but rarely enough to buy buildable land. As a result, you need something to borrow against, or collateral.If this thread is where you are learning those terms, you are just a dreamer who knows nothing, not a serious poster asking a serious questionunless you are looking for advice like live in your parents basement? either way, peace loser
>>2958423have you done something like this? or is this just advice?
>>2958630Yes i have, twice. The second time bits of that RV went into three separate buildings and i use the trailer to haul big logs for a friends mill. The part that takes planning is the power system since that is getting installed before you rip out the wiring and 12v fixtures but everything else is simple.>The stove is a gas stove just really small>Heater takes both 120 and 12v if you don't manually light it, same for water heater>Gas Refrigerator requires you to read the manual on how to use itThe power unit is something i strongly advise getting the manual for since it combines a fuse box, 120v supply, 12v supply, 12v battery charger and has both 12 and 120v imputs. It is also the thing most likely to be fucked up in a old RV. The plumbing is all PEX but everything you need is there, even the pressure tank and pump. Think about it: A camper is a self contained house, it has everything you need and they are usually free. The biggest hassle besides planning out how to transfer the electrical system will probably be figuring out if you want to reuse the windows and doors since they can have rounded edges.
>>2954235A cave. It's completely free, you just need to find a suitable one.
>>2958682Caves have cryptids and the occasional 17th reich scout from inner earth if they're deep enough, gotta make sure it's a good neighborhood first
>>2954235>tiny homeAt that point you might as well buy a tool shed from home depot.
>>2954235used travel trailer (with bathroom) and a "camper cover" metal roof thing to park it under
>>2954235Literally just a decent house in a less desirable part of town
>>2954235Cheap used RV if you want a roof over your head with basic amenities, i.e. hot water, stove, microwave, sink, toilet, shower, and basic furniture.t. lived in an RV for years between houses
>>2954310Looks comfy
>>2958664its interesting to me.im living in a house I built largely out of another building set to be demolished, its not like I dont like reusing things, but other than the cute little stove, the fridges really arent that efficient, the furnace blower motors kill batteries like crazy, and the charging system isn't really smart enough not to roast the shit out of your batteries if you hook up a solar panel or three... Rv sinks and fixtures, yeah theyrr there but theyre always gonna feel cheap. good on ya for reusing it all. I have an rv. For my power I bought 1500$ of used stuff from a guy that lived in the national forest and a couple new batteries. Its just.... the real deal not the rv version, like everythingeven the water pump for inside my house, i wanted to use it, but id rather run a 120ac pump off the inverter and use 12 guage wiring already in the walls and not worry about it rather than do another dc run to 1 specific thing just so I could avoid 80 dollars of pump Ill use for hopefully years. good on you for getting shir done in the world
>>2954235Living in a van or buying a really cheap, shitty apartment in a terrible neighborhood
>>2958740Difference is a tiny home will be insulated and equipped for electrical and plumbing.
>>2958664The trouble is finding a plot of land that doesn't have covenants or zoning laws that restrict temporary accommodations. Any reasonably sized parcel will likely have such restrictions, and larger plots are prohibitively expensive requiring cash-only. And if you do find a smaller plot with no restrictions, you run the risk of having a cleetus for a neighbor who lets their 7 pitbulls run loose while they dump their shit to run-off onto your land, and you have no recourse.
>>2960066I just bought land in a unincorporated territory, no permits or even codes.
motorcycle and a sleeping bag
>>2954235Living in a van would be really comfy. I have a house but I want to do it for a few months while road tripping through Europe some day.
>>2958441>>2958629not him but i have personally taken loans out on a few pieces of undeveloped land, two of them without even road accessthey just want a very high down paymentit may be a state to state thing but afaik it's only small banks and credit unions that do it, not someone like wells fargo
>>2961370Fuck off. We're full
Cuckshed kit, they make pre-cut kits that go together like lincoln logs
>>2960394Those are 5 starting bids for homes up for auction and one complete wreck that will cost more than building a new home on empty land as you'll also have to pay to have that unlivable mess torn down. Also Detroit, obviously.
>>2954235>I want to do the bare minimum, the only real requirement is having a roof over my headGets pretty tiring quickly, you can do this with rammed earth/compressed earth blocks and a tin roof with basic timber/pole framing.https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/wiki/CEB_Press>>2954253>quonsetThis, a quonset hut scales up really big, you could even build a warehouse with one and become a wholesale goods trader.Starting cost is at least 80k plus land though.
mud house
>>2960394Best case scenario those have insane delinquent taxes/liens 10-50x higher than their sales prices, while also having been trashed on the inside and not being up to code.And even if you fix all that for what would admittedly be cheaper than a house elsewhere>Detroit
>>2954235If you own the land? Sure, a trailer would work out pretty cheap.If you don't, like in the majority of trailer parks? You're at the mercy of land rent and your landlord. And recent trends have been that privately owned ones are getting bought out by Private Equity and treated as a perfect captive money farming source.
>>2961927Not any more. Abandoned properties in Detroit are seized by the Land Bank, washed of all liens, and then auctioned off with the requirement that they be rehabbed to livable condition or torn down with new housing built. Failure to do so results in the Land Bank seizing the property again without a refund.
>>2961142>motorcycleOverkill. I lived for a few months with a tarp in my backpack.
>>2954235A wigwam is pretty available and cheap form of housing. A loo is in the yard.
>>2954235>I want to do the bare minimum, the only real requirement is having a roof over my head.Diogenes lived in a barrel. But it is necessary to take into account the correction for the climate, not in every climate this is possible.
>>2962526>lived in a barrelhe lived in rome. slept in a barrel
>>2962538He never lived in Rome, he was from a Greek colony in Turkey and lived in Athens and Corinth.
the kilt
>>2962591k>he lived in a society. slept in a barrel
>>2962600>I said something blatantly wrong, time to try to cover it up!
>>2962610point is living in a barrel in miami in 1980 is vastly different than living in a barrel in miami in 2020
>>2962611
>>2962591>Turkeyyou mean anatolia"turkey" didn't exist then
>>2954235>cheapest form of housingRent
>>2954253>the actual home usually isn't the valuable part of real estateMost residential real estate (aka the average 1/4 acre suburban home) value allocation is like 90% improvement 10% land.
>>2962182>If you own the land? Sure, a trailer would work out pretty cheap.You would have to afix the trailer to a foundation to be legal. At that point, you are already paying a new build price for a trailer home that will break down a lot quicker.
Cheapest form of housing is solid stone construction, it will last forever so cost falls to zero in-the-limit>Atlanteans knew this.
>>2964500>afix the trailer to a foundation to be legal.what? The entire point of building on a wheeled trailer is you get to skirt all sorts of building codes.
>>2964511Wait until you find out code doesn't allow you to camp on your property full time, if at all.
>>2954235>What is THE cheapest form of housing?Travel trailer from a salvage auction.
>>2954235The tesla tiny home. Includes Starlink, solar panels so you can generate electricity. Modular so you can hook up a second or third one as the family (if,lol) grows. Totally off grid living you can set it up anywhere...
>>2964595forgot link, you can get one for about 8 grand.https://pezziniluxuryhomes.com/blog/dollar7579-tesla-tiny-house
>>2964595>no annual property tax billOnce you set it up on land, it'll count as improvement that'll be taxable.>8 grandIt won't be, and that doesn't include the cost of foundation, septic, and well. Also in many areas there's minimum square footage restriction.
>>2964512I'm still waiting...
Trailer/RV will be the cheapest with everything you need. It really comes down to prices. There was a 8x27 trailer/RV around for 4K, which is pretty cheap. I didn't get it before the weather turned south here but if it's still available in spring, I'm going to buy it. That's the problem with this kind of thing. Moving is where the cost is. Even if you find a cheap mobile home, the cost of moving can eat up any savings over just building something of the same size. Of course the problem there is permits and inspections. Here, anything of 200sq/ft needs all the bullshit.Of course there isn't anything stopping anyone from just building a complex of 200sq/ft buildings.
>>2964595>Forget to update >Can't open the door
>>2954310this is actually the answer if your local code allows it. You'll have to figure out what bathroom option works for you because septic tanks add a lot of complexity to the yurt situation. That's why most people use an incinerating / humanure toilet in the yurt while they slowly build their 'real' house.If code allowed it I think a large yurt ($12k give or take), a large power station from costco, and some used or cheap solar panels would be a great setup for someone just getting started in the world. Obviously would only work in more rural areas. Could then slowly build a cordwood house and be pretty much set without a mortgage.In more restrictive areas a regular single-wide mobile home on a slab might be the best you can do, and that would set you back over $100k with septic and power hookup.
>>2954235the cheapest form of housing is buying a house with 3-4 bedrooms and having tenants pay your mortgage for you.I have a buddy who does this and he's actually turning a profit, as in he has money left over from his tenants after paying his mortgage.
>>2964497it's like 40/60 here
>>2964512Just has to be zoned for mobile homes
>>2958682>>2958693The cave provides.
>>2967087buying a house is supposed to free you from living with a bunch of renters
>>2967195OP asked for the cheapest form of housing, and their only condition was a roof over their head. buying a house and renting out bedrooms is the cheapest and even allows you to make money with the right circumstances.
>>2954235So, I bought 3 acres of land in rural shithole oklahoma for $12k, bought an old (1995) RV trailer that was in solid condition for $5k, parked it there and spent another $5k getting public water and electricity hooked up, roof started to leak as I learned the roof is always the first fucking thing to go on these so I spent another $8k on a nice enclosure carport built around it to shelter it. Also a few hundred renting a mini-excavator and building a DIY septic from 55 gal plastic drums. Around $30k to escape rentoid life for me. Could have done it cheaper with a bare bones roof-and-nothing-else carport but I went with a fancy full-enclosed with roll up door so I could double-lock the trailer up when I was away. If a determined methoid figured out I'm gone two weeks at a time trucking, they could just angle grinder in anyway, but a lot of times simple deterrence is enough.
>>2956315Don't do that if you can't handle bullshit like SJC and Asian Andy evictions.
>>2958441Depends on the land, land they can flip in less than a week to cover your loan will be fine.If the land is in the sticks with a 2 year turnaround they probably won't be interested.
>>2964698>AWS outage>all the doors and windows open and close at random
>>29672654k an acre, in Oklahoma... grim
>>2967091>Just has to be zoned for mobile homesThere's like zero new zones for trailer parks and towns tolerate existing ones because they can't get rid of them. The chances of you finding unimproved land that allows mobile home use is close to zero.
Maybe I should ask this in stupid questions general instead, but does anyone have knowledge on steel buildings? Like pic related. A single guy could live in one of it had plumbing, I’m aiming to use it as a workshop/garage and could potentially sleep on a cot. There’s countless companies advertising these, generally 20k-30k for the size I want. I understand the concrete pad is the most cost prohibitive part but I already have a pad with the ability to easily add plumbing. Does anyone know any tricks for these? Things to look for in companies? Ways to find deals? Is it diy-able with a couple guys and a piece of equipment with lifting capabilities?
>>2967789Steel and aluminum buildings suffer from some moderately severe problems:1 noise, they transmit a lot of outdoor noise inside especially rain and wind causing them to move and creak. 2. condensation, unless you're ok without heat and cooling you're going to have condensation problems which can rust steel panels / bolts and cause mold growth. Insulating is possible but then you're getting into building science and spending loads of time and money upgrading it from a basic shell to a comfortable livable structure.They also tend to be a bit air leaky - which raises costs of heating / cooling significantly. You'll burn enough wood to heat a 2500 sqft home trying to keep something that size from freezing in the winter.You certainly can do what you're imagining but you'd probably be better off leaving it as a garage, sleeping on a cot temporarily and just stick building some kind of livable home instead of trying to turn that into a home.
>>2967792I typed out a whole detailed response but the captcha is gay I lost my post. You’re right about a metal box being a bad living space. This could be solved in the interest of habitation or just having a more comfortable workshop by sealing the envelope then using a robust ducted dehumidifier like a Sante Fe. You might want mechanical air exchange as you scaled up in size but otherwise you could get by with Chinesium minisplits. I do hvac contracting so that’s what I’d do. Paying someone to insulate and condition your metal box house would be idiotic for sure. Same problems as when people try to make container homes or offices. If you don’t consult a manual N you’re going to lose the fight against humidity and mold.
>>2967792>spending loads of time and money upgrading it from a basic shell to a comfortable livable structureMost construction cost isn't the shell of the building, it's what goes inside it. I've had clients who spent more money on their kitchen and bathrooms than on the rest of the house combined.
>>2954248From the legal perspective, where could you put this house? On a trailer park? You couldn't buy tiny piece of land for it, couldn't you?
>>2967789>>2967792>>2967807my plan has been to build one of these big barndemeniums with a 3" sewer stub up and some water line, electrical. then within the metal frame build a slightly inulated house that's lifted a 4' or so to make it easy to run plumbing and whatever utilities around itdon't have to invest in a roof, insulation of course would be far more moderatecan fit multiple stories in the 4cars i've immagined using.
>>2954235Shipping container homes aren't viable. Good quality used containers are now expensive because people use them in construction, they're narrow and become narrower with the needed insulation and places to run pipes and cables, when you connect two side by side you cut out the side and lose a load of structural integrity so have to spend money re-enforcing it. By that time you're spending a fortune and other methods will be much cheaper.Caravans/trailers don't last. At the 10 year mark it'll have damp issues, all the furniture will be falling apart and the resale value will be 0.The solution to cheap acceptable homes are:Prefabs/SIPs . Bunch of pre-insulated panels put together in a factory that just need joining up and utilities. They can last up to 25 years and be repairable. If you ever watch the series Grand Designs, the only houses that don't go triple over budget and have the happily married couple living in a caravan for 5 years, having 3 kids then divorcing by the time it's finished are the pre-fabs."Novel building materials". Hay insulation, hempcrete, compressed earth, ICF (concrete filled moulds with polystyrene both sides for insulation). Generally building methods that are high on low skilled manual labour costs, low on building material costs but with unknown long term issues. Getting mortgages for these can be a problem and you'll often end up with unusual houses but they're usually good value.Taking on derelict houses. If you're good at all forms of DIY, it's easily the cheapest. Be warned houses stay derelict for a reason and it's usually because it's a shitty area or it's a "historical" house and to do anything you have to consult a specialist who is the only person in the country who knows how replace a window using 1820s methods.
>>2960394I suspect some of those are just banks doing "we'll accept anything" starting prices for mortgage repossessions.
>>2968067>they're narrow and become narrower with the needed insulation and places to run pipes and cablesWhy not to put cables outside, then insulation, then siding?
You get what you pay for.Which is why (You), OP, must define 'housing'.Else the next guy can always come up. with something cheaper which is also a little bit further removed from 'housing'.
>>2968080You have to frame the inside because you can't legally live in a fucking shipping container without reinforcing
>>2968080There are a whole list of reasons that's a bad idea. I'll settle for just saying that there's a reason houses almost always make all this stuff hard to access from the outside and easy to access from the inside.
>>2968090Ok, access is a good reason, however insulation is always the outside level.But in hot climate you can build your communications outside, as they do it in Spain.
>>2968082Why the hell they need reinforcing? Especially that in the average manufactured home walls could be broken with few kicks.
>>2964595looks like the dymaxion house
>>2967418good thing my camper identifies as a boat
>>2967884Yeah you could buy an acre
>>2967269try to get a loan on a house lot in town without a plan and proven funding to build a house. You will be SHIT out of luck. Idk where all these fantasies of easy loans comes from. Inb4 you respond like the people further up in this thread that say shit like "BRO you just gotta put 60% down" if you put 60% down its not even a loan at that point.
>>2954235The cheapest form of housing is a house so fucked you can't get a mortgage, but not fucked enough that you can't get utilities. Unfortunately, you need all the cash to buy one.
>>2954235i bought my house for 50k €, cheap for me im debt free and never will have to worry about housing cost again. this is norway, cabins and cottages go for as low as 15 to 20k here. you can live in one lf you want..
>>2968099The second you start cutting out windows doorways and utility access, the structural integrity goes to shit. You've got to add insulation and a roof plus it has to take the weight of snow/filled drains. Without reinforcing the weight will be spread evenly across the top putting load on the weaker sides, not just on the strong corners.
If i wanted to build a small structure for work without adding onto my house, why shouldn't I permanently anchor down a yurt?
>>295423518-20' gutted camper, and you want it gutted because that's half the fucking work done already and they all need the work to fix the rotting ceilings. then buy you a 98-04 expedition, 1 ton transmission and the reliable 2v 5.4 in all configurations and trims not just some, and 16" wheels for LT tires. Should cost you no more than $3k. Shovel for pissing and shitting, weed sprayer full of distilled water with a hole in the floor is your shower, and fucking move before the rangers ask you to
>>2954235>What is THE cheapest form of housing?sleeping in a dumpster.
>>2967829You clearly dont build well insulated shells. You also probably only work to code requirements, not build-to-last and best practices. Otherwise your shells would cost 3-5x what you're delivering. I want my home to be generational. I want any contractor whos called in to help my hapless progeny to whistle and say "god damn that's a well build house, it's overbuilt. You should take good care of it because you cant buy things that well made anymore."If you're using thick ass rock-wool instead of pink fiberglass, and exterior insulation barrier, rain screen, high quality cedmentboard siding, high R value windows etc you're going to spend the majority of the money on something that will pay dividends in the future in unmatched comfort, quiet and low energy requirements.
>>2968613Yurts smell like shit
>>2967254I've considered doing something like this but I'd bet the parking situation would be complete ass if there's 1 to 2 adults or child per room and they have the adults have their own car for commuting. Also the bathroom situation would be crazy. At the very least 3 bathrooms. And how much is he charging? Like 600 a room for the month? I see people trying to rent out rooms in their apartment/home on Craigslist for like 1k but at that point why bother sharing with someone instead of just renting your own apartment?
>>2967265>If a determined methoid figured out I'm gone two weeks at a time trucking, they could just angle grinder in anyway, but a lot of timI read a book published by the paladin press one time and a section of it went over this topic. I think it was called "Living well on very little". The author talked about rich people who owned second vacation homes on large plots of land far away from civilization/services. They'd often get broken into because bums would stake out the houses, with little to no security and would just ransack the homes whenever they see fit, also breaking and burning belongings in the process just as a big 'fuck you' to whoever owned the place. The only realistic solution the old money guys could come up with is hiring a house sitter to take care of the homes while they were gone. This book was written in 80s or 90s so no modern ring cameras or anything, maybe an alarm system at best, but useless when there's nobody around to hear it. The anecdote's were basically a heads-up warning for anyone considering buying second properties with structures in secluded areas that they weren't going to be at that often. (1/2)
>>2968929>>2967265I've often thought about what modern deterrents would work that aren't outright illegal or as expensive as a house sitter for keeping your stuff safe in the middle of nowhere there are. I've had a neighbor get his house broken into in 2013 when they went to a different state during the holidays. My family was gone too, but for whatever reason they left my home alone for the most part, except for a pair of my mothers shoes she'd left to dry out the day before on the porch. They ended up with a ton of my neighbors jewelry though, so I'm well aware of the nuisance it can be getting your personal property messed with is. Best I can think of is somehow rigging a motion detector to instead of turning on a light, would be to automatically have an mp3 connected to loudspeakers with sound effects of pitbulls or another type of aggressive dog breed barking. I deliver packages and whenever I hear an aggressive loud dog bark emanating from the residence im leaving a package for, I immediately try to find an escape route over a fence or a climbable car for safety. It's similar to leaving the radio or tv on loud enough to hear from the outside, only there's an actual threat that may or may not be there as far as an intruder is concerned. Adding a "beware of dogs sign" At the spot where it detects motion could help as well I think. I'd want to try this but I don't have the technical knowhow. (2/2)
>>2967829>I've had clients who spent more money on their kitchen and bathrooms than on the rest of the house combined.Were these clients of the boomer variety? They love to do shit like that, constantly.
>>2968316>this is norway, cabins and cottages go for as low as 15 to 20k here. you can live in one lf you want..Yeah but you have to pay 15 euro for a bottole of beer and 50 euro for a gallon of gas.
>>2969073>50 euros for the gallon of gas>In NorwayNot even that anon, but this must be one of the most ignorant statements I've read in a good while.
>>2968924>1k but at that point why bother sharing with someone instead of just renting your own apartment?because your own apartment is 2k/moit's a good strat but i'd unironically pay 1k/mo to not have roomates, especially a landlord roomated with ultimate authoritybut plenty of people will
>>2969112>969112>>2969073 please sell me on moving to norway. i'll fucking do it.>3rd gen american mutt, itallian american mutt wife>tradespeople both, just want farm land and cottage to raise our kids and not deal with bullshitcurrent scoping rural american states but it's fucking abysmal
>>2962526Here's a barrel fit for -50°C.
>>2969122You can have all the fermented fish you could ever eat!
i hate my fucking grandpa so muchi could have so much money rn like so goddamn fucking much instead i'm about to buy some land in the middle of nowhere and probably still just live in my car I just need an address
