Tiny house -too much $$$

[offroad]

So am a subscriber to some tiny house newsletters. People are really over value by 50% on their tiny house properties. $30,000 to $50,000 costs are way way too much. These properties should be selling for $15,000 to $25,000 maximum. People just want too much.

In comparison my girlfriend is selling her full house in a rural town in Michigan and it's going for $85,000. Full three bedrooms and full basement. Walking distance to public library and town and elementary schools. No problems with the house at all.

Also looked at a 1995 class c in relatively useful condition with 65,000 miles. Owner wanted only $7000 for it. Even if you needed to replace the engine you could spend $10,000 and have a nice living space.

Just don't understand these over valued estimates.

 

[Hereandthere]

I agree. Am considering doing an ebook titled something like From "Funky Old RV to Tiny House for Under $10,000"

 

[LeeRevell]

Every time I look in various auction sites, I get a laugh at the ridiculously high prices people want for various things.

 

[highdesertranger]

yeah when it comes time to sell a lot of people way over value what they have. they act like they have caviar when all they have is fish bait. highdesertranger

 

[offroad]

Watch a YouTube video of a cute young couple breaking the law on California. They rented a vacant lot for $2600 monthly. And placed hard transport containers they bought in it. Think they mentioned $2500 for a container. Then the chop windows in it. But in the basics for homesteading in 150 square feet. And they want to sell them and instructions to double their money. Yes they put in sweat labor. Just can only move them to no-zone locations.

They are renting them near sanfrancisco for $500 to $800 monthly. In their vacant lot. Until some inspector fines them, and attaches their pay with a law suit. That is (speculation that could happen)

 

[concretebox]

How are you valuating those tiny houses? 50k seems like a lot, but 15k seems barely enough to cover the cost of materials. Do you think the labor someone put into building it should be zero?

 

[offroad]

Good question concrete - much thought about this is needed. 200 labor hours in a hard month at $10 per hour (after taxes and expenses) gets $2000 labor costs. Two months labor is $4000. Would think two months of work chopping trees and building a deep woods cabin would get you somewhere, if you have skill. Not sure how much time Thoreau took to build his cabin, but that would be how long it should take in labor. Maybe much more for Alaskan cabin.

---

Five years ago I built a tiny house with someone who teaches home building as a job. He does it with $5000 material cost. Every time. It's jus a cabin with four walls and a loft and door. But will sustain a winter. Add in $5000 for windows, wood stove, etc.

 

[concretebox]

There is a documentary on Netflix about an amateur who thought he could build a tiny house in a month, ended up taking him a year, working on it part time. He stated with a new flatbed trailer, so that was a big portion of his cost.

An expert builder working full-time using a used trailer as a base could do it in less time and less money. But still you're paying for skill and quality too. A lot of people complain about cheep Chinese made carp, but few people spend the money on high quality goods.

 

[offroad]

In Detroit they can turn off your water. Just a don't pay. But the money owed still goes against the house to prevent it's sale later on. Hope new buyers are closely made aware and just don't buy if you have an automatic $200 water in-out billing. Run away run away.

 

[akrvbob]

The ideal tiny house is one of the pre-built sheds you see on many corners. They have them in many sizes and shapes (including lofts) and deliver them to your lot with the shell totally framed and ready for you to do whatever you want inside. You can get them for a few thousand dollars depending on size and extras!

Generally you can't match their prices even buying the material and building it yourself.
Bob

 

[LeeRevell]

The ideal tiny house is one of the pre-built sheds you see on many corners. They have them in many sizes and shapes (including lofts) and deliver them to your lot with the shell totally framed and ready for you to do whatever you want inside. You can get them for a few thousand dollars depending on size and extras!

Generally you can't match their prices even buying the material and building it yourself.
Bob

There's a couple places near my home that sell them. Cute little wood buildings, some with covered porch, regular house-style door, big enough to make a very livable cabin!

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

be careful, i went in and looked at a few and the construction wasnt the best, especially the floors. some pretty thin ply and not much support, felt like i would go thru if i jumped.. tho ive been in one that was much better built. they go for like 5-6 k here and if you are handy you can build for much cheaper. Good thing is they allow pretty cheap payments (compared to rent).

 

[offroad]

Buy one, a good one, on payment. Put it on your unzoned rented lot. Make sure it can be moved into a flatbed and towed somewhere else. Interesting idea. Like the YouTube video of the kids doing this with $2500 transport containers.

 

[jeanontheroad]

Building permits? On a tiny house? I thought they were just more or less special built trailers.

As for building permits going sky high, that is happening in a lot of places where water is a problem. They really don't want more people there.

 

[PeterG]

My understanding of Tiny Houses is that they are built on trailers most of the time due to their size. In most areas, there is a minimum square footage set in building codes for a residence. It has the added benefit of enabling you to take your house with you when you go somewhere else. Many of these folks park their houses on friend's or family's property, or go off grid. I can see where a self-built Tiny House would be much less expensive than buying a regular house or condo, while allowing you to build it exactly as you like. Many of them (from what I have seen online) use recycled or used building supplies they get from houses being torn down, habitat for humanity type stores, etc. You can save a lot on that kind of stuff if you shop around.

I don't see buying one from some tiny house builder, though. If you are going to pay $50K for a Tiny House, why not either buy a really nice RV or a condominium?

 

[GotSmart]

I am currently doing a labor job in CA where for a 620 sq ft conversion of a basement into living space, the homeowner has already spent $2,000 for permit fees so far...

I built a 1,500 sq ft house in Missouri for $36,000 for materials and labor. Half of the labor was donated. But we are talking pipes, wires, appliances fixtures carpet, and cabinets.

Labor at $10 an hour???

 

[Iggy]

I built a 10x12 cabin on the back side of a farm I owned in Oregon. It had a tiny kitchen, bathroom, combo area, closet, and sleeping loft. It did not have a refrigerator or inside toilet (I built an outhouse). It had electric heat and 6 gallon hot water heater. I lived in that for 10 years. This was 20+ years ago that I built it. It cost about $3000 for everything, no cost on my labor. It still stands and is used for a playhouse and changing room for a swimming pool.
I miss that little house but not all the work I had to do on that farm. That helped prepare me for living in a van. I'm the opposite of claustrophobic, I like cozy.