Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

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George the original one
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Re: Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

Post by George the original one »

If you truly believe it could bring $75k when finished and delivered to another market compared to the $30k you think you might get locally, then I'd say it's worth the expense of taking a trip for an extra $45k provided you can navigate any necessary licensing required to get it to the destination.

Provided, of course, that money is a motivator for taking on this project.

black_son_of_gray
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Re: Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

Post by black_son_of_gray »

Just curious as to the sleeping arrangement: I'm used to seeing these layouts with a sleeping loft, but the roof seems low and I don't see where the bed would be in the schematic. Does one sleep where the table/couch is? 30k seems in line with the price points I've seen for California-located builders (can't remember specific companies, though).

henrik
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Re: Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

Post by henrik »

It definitely wouldn't hurt the popularity of your journal if you took this on and shared the process:)

Is there a way you could just unload it to a company that specializes in selling them? I understand it's a thing in the US nowadays. This is something you can probably find out before hand (i.e. a make a prearrangement of some kind).
Or consider setting it up as an AirBnB rental on your property?

saving-10-years
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Re: Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

Post by saving-10-years »

@ffj Sounds like a good deal if you like the design or can modify it (I am assuming that there is a sleeping loft over the kitchen and bathroom but its not one you can sit up in easily?) Do you have a space where you can work on it (are they selling because they have lost interest/lack time and don't want to pay to store it? An Airbnb option sounds good if your planning laws permit and if you don't mind sharing those awesome views.

Laura Ingalls
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Re: Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

Post by Laura Ingalls »

There are several Tiny House events in the summer. Maybe finish it, find an event in a place you want to visit, tow it, and sell it there. You are a country guy, so you have a 1 ton truck (jk)?

halfmoon
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Re: Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

Post by halfmoon »

I think it would be expensive and a lot of work. But still fun. I've dreamed of doing this just for kicks and even suggested it to DH once when we had an equipment trailer we didn't need. He wasn't enthusiastic...probably because it woudn't have a tower.

Most of the tiny homes for sale on this website https://www.tinyhomebuilders.com/tiny-h ... pa-edition seem to be generally priced well below $80k. I also think you really need a loft to sell it, which might be problematic if you don't want to mess with the roofing already in place. I guess you could squeeze a loft over the door, but it would be a head-banger.

Maybe you could dispense with the expensive finish elements and build it for a lot less than you're thinking. There's probably a healthy market on the low end as long as you sell it in an area of the country where it's hard to break into housing with limited money.

I'm a little confused by the floor plan, which seems to show the door in the corner. In the photo, it appears to be framed in the middle of the wall. That would preclude upening the couch up into a bed, which puts you back into a loft unless you move the door. Also: no jacks on the windows? Is that normal? I'm just curious.

Anyway, it would be fun and challenging. If you don't mind working for free, you could always donate the finished product to some charity and take a whopping tax deduction for the materials.

jacob
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Re: Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

Post by jacob »

I don't think asking on ERE, where most forumites fill their wallets with glue, will get a realistic estimate of the price compared to asking in the real world or at least asking in the minimalist hipster world. If ROI is important, then buying a used travel trailer is the better deal.

Since it's in a non-finished state, I think having the buyer choose a custom design/finish is going to result in a higher end-price than if you build it with your own design and then sell it(?)

Riggerjack
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Re: Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

Post by Riggerjack »

There seems to be a huge spread between bid and ask for these things. This is just an RV trailer and some lumber so far. Is what is there worth reworking? It doesn't look like it. If the roof we're right, I could see it. But it isn't. Barely any rise, hard to get a good looking flat roofed (or nearly so) tiny house. There is a reason architects choose steep roofed and big eaves. And these are hard to incorporate into a tiny house that is roadworthy.

I'm a big fan of metal roofs, but don't see much here worth the effort. Maybe if I needed a shed, and wanted the trailer to start new...

Fish
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Re: Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

Post by Fish »

How do you normally address liability issues with your construction projects? This seems like a special case since it’s clearly intended for use as a dwelling.

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C40
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Re: Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

Post by C40 »

Check ebay completed auctions for real prices. I think $75k is probably too high to expect unless you make it super high-end. $50k might be closer to a realistic max price for a pretty nice one in California.

Also take a look at Tinyhouselistings.com. Not sure if you can see actual sale purchase prices there or not.

A question -- were you already thinking about building one? Is this something you would have wanted to do without coming upon this? If you'd sell it for an income of about 20,000+, saving a couple thousand on this doesn't make much difference. So, don't let the $2,000 savings influence you much. Only do it if you'd start from scratch if this deal went away.

Laura Ingalls
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Re: Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

Post by Laura Ingalls »

ffj wrote:
Mon Nov 13, 2017 6:02 pm
@Laura, Half-moon

I don't have a big truck, but I got a lot of redneck friends that do. haha
Even better :lol:

I have seen designs that have no lofts but instead have a raised desk or seating area with a low bed on casters underneath. I thought it was very clever.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: Tiny house build? Should I buy it or not?

Post by SavingWithBabies »

I vote yes but only so I can watch you build it out via your posts. But from a financial viewpoint, I vote no unless you have a serious store of scrounged materials you can use that you don't mind parting with. My gut feeling is that we're nearing the end of the tiny house hype due to people finding out just how hard it is to find a place to put them unless they are one of the lucky few to live in an area where they are allowed by code. For example, I have distant relatives that bought or had one made for them. They bought a couple acres (I don't remember where exactly but it might have been Colorado) and they couldn't keep their tiny house there. So they were having problems figuring out where to go with it even though they could live the nomadic tech life.

But I could be wrong -- maybe the trend will continue and you'll be able to sell at a profit. I give it a 50-50.

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