7 ms·

Some math: A 208 sq-ft. mini-studio for $600/mo (+ the up-front purchase cost, whatever that is). That's $2.88/sq-ft. By way of example, I found a 538 sq-ft.

by basseq 10y ago

Some math: A 208 sq-ft. mini-studio for $600/mo (+ the up-front purchase cost, whatever that is). That's $2.88/sq-ft. By way of example, I found a 538 sq-ft. studio in downtown Austin for $1,387/mo. That's $2.58/sq-ft. So, by area, the Kasita is more expensive. (This should not be surprising.) The argument then becomes one of absolute dollars: the difference between a 538 sq-ft. studio and a 208 sq-ft. Kasita being fairly moot, so hey, save $600+/mo. And I laud this: I think there's a great market for micro-housing. (See also: all the "Tiny House" shows on HGTV.) I don't understand why I need to buy a "pod" and then convince developers to put a "rack" on their lots. Just build smaller apartments: the math should work out.

extrapickles 10y ago
Its to allow you to easily move by shipping your pod with all of your stuff in it, no need to do as much packing/unpacking. Pretty much the only thing to move would be to secure breakables then lock your cabinets shut. This would make it easier to change employers as you only need to see if a potential employer has open rack space nearby, rather than dealing with possibly selling/buying a house or finding a suitable apartment nearby.
- electriclove 10y ago
  How much stuff would a person living in a Kasita have? I'm skeptical that avoiding packing/unpacking hassles will be a driver of demand.
  - extrapickles 10y ago
    Its more of a friction reducer than anything. I find the appeal similar to the containerization technologies for computer software that have taken off recently. While having the binaries as part of the container is nice, the important part is that I can put my containers pretty much anywhere with minimal effort on my part and quickly/easily move if the current host tries charging too much. This basically is trying to do the same for housing. Also you are not locked into the whims of the developers of the racks as much as you are with an apartment. Like making lots of noise at 3AM? Buy a pod with lots of sound insulation, same goes for someone who works night-shift and wants to sleep at 6PM on Saturday when everyone else is having a party.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- ameister14 10y ago
  You could also just live in an RV.
jhallenworld 10y ago
>See also: all the "Tiny House" shows on HGTV. We just watched one of these on Netflix and looked up some of the follow-on stories you can find on the net from the featured people. The general consensus is that after about three months you realize that the house is way too small.
- ghaff 10y ago
  I suspect it's like many people who do the digital nomad thing and other lifestyle experiments. The novelty makes it cool for a bit. Until it's not.
- Doctor_Fegg 10y ago
  Yet there are thousands of people happily living on narrowboats in the UK, which typically give living space of 300 sq ft or below. (Narrowboats are 6ft 10in wide, giving <6ft usable interior width; and anywhere between 40ft and 70ft long, but the engine and front/rear decks take up a chunk of that.) I suspect the key is an identity and a setting beyond the accommodation itself. If you put a bunch of narrowboats on an industrial estate on dry land, few would go near them. The Kasitas aren't designed to float, of course, but careful attention to neighbourhood, landscape, and nearby amenities could make them just as desirable places to live.
  - lmm 10y ago
    Narrowboats aren't desirable places to live. They're mainly a way for unscrupulous landlords to rent out illegally-low quality living space while evading inspections.
    - Doctor_Fegg 10y ago
      I'm going to call out [citation needed] on that blunt "aren't desirable" and that "mainly". Source: I edited Waterways World magazine for six years, worked for British Waterways for two before that, and know a fair bit about narrowboats.
  - makomk 10y ago
flubert 10y ago
If you can swing the $53/month mortgage, you might like to take a look at: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/11451-Lansdowne-St-Detroit-MI-48224/98031530_zpid/ http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/11451-Lansdowne-St-Detroit... ...looks like a nice neighborhood, and the inside seems we'll maintained. So that's $0.04/sq-ft/month.
- nikkwong 10y ago
  Hah. I once worked with a guy who put essentially his entire life's savings into 10-15 of these Detroit properties a few years back in 2013-2014. Suffice it to say I was right--there's been little-to-no upward pressure on home pressures in the area, despite the fact that he thought he was soon to strike it rich. The old mantra holds--like any publicly available asset--if it were a great deal--it would already have been sold!
  - HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
    He's probably right about the appreciation but wrong about the timeframe.
    - nathanasmith 10y ago
      He's probably right about the appreciation I'm not saying you're wrong but I'm curious what you have to back that statement up. Detroit is rapidly losing population[0] with no end in sight. Typically for prices to rise, there has to be some kind of demand. I guess you could just gut the supply by wholesale tearing everything down and seeing if you can sell what's left. 0. https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&met_y=population&idim=place:2622000:3916000&hl=en&dl=en https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&...
      - HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
        Property eventually appreciates, you just have to wait long enough. Now, at the extreme you may need to wait longer than a lifetime, but that's not likely to be the case here. However, it could very well be more than 20 years depending on how much he paid. I don't think it's unreasonable to hold an asset for that length of time if the projected value makes it worthwhile.
majormajor 10y ago
I've lived in two studios with a less extreme size difference than that: 333sqft and 450sqft, and the difference between just the extra 117sqft is actually pretty massive in terms of flexibility. 208sqft sounds terrifying to me after living a year in 333sqft. By contrast, if you're single and don't have too much stuff (say, a bed, a desk, TV, 2-person table, small couch), 450sqft is pretty easy. I spent three years living in that much space.
- beachstartup 10y ago
  you're right, i've spent 5 years (damn... time flies) living in 450 and it's the perfect amount of space for one person. i wouldn't go below 400. it's just too small... studios larger than 400 tend to have real bathrooms (sink, tub/shower, and full size toilet) and real kitchens (30" sink, 30" range, 30" fridge) which are requirements for me. feeling restricted in the kitchen is frustrating/suffering to me because i cook a lot. i think someone who doesn't cook could probably do 350.
  - sdrothrock 10y ago
    > i wouldn't go below 400. it's just too small... This is pretty amusing to me in Japan, where 400 square feet is pretty far above the UPPER limit of a usual apartment for a single person. I guess that shows how culture/environment can change perception. :) I would go so far as to say that a lot of single people live in apartments that are closer to 200-250 square feet here and that 400+ is seen as extravagant. I live in a 600 square foot apartment and people are always blown away and ask what I do with all the extra space; my apartment is intended for a family with kids.
    - ido 10y ago
      Is this in Tokio? In Germany & Austria 37m^2 (~400sqf) will also be seen as small, even in the bigger cities.
      - sdrothrock 10y ago
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
ArkyBeagle 10y ago
It fairly reeks of "pet rock" to me ( and the HGTV show is the principal evidence for that ) , but I'm not exactly in the target demo. The world need the Sears Craftsman house again.
- jcoby 10y ago
  The latest house on This Old House [1] is being built in the same way as the Sears houses were from a company called Connor Homes [2]. They even talk about the Sears homes in the first episode. 1. http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/house-project/overview/0,,20994500,00.html http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/house-project/overview/0,... 2. http://connorbuilding.com http://connorbuilding.com
  - ArkyBeagle 10y ago
    I more mean the whole business model more than I mean the design of the houses - although the designs were worth repeating.

by basseq 10y ago

extrapickles 10y ago

Its to allow you to easily move by shipping your pod with all of your stuff in it, no need to do as much packing/unpacking. Pretty much the only thing to move would be to secure breakables then lock your cabinets shut. This would make it easier to change employers as you only need to see if a potential employer has open rack space nearby, rather than dealing with possibly selling/buying a house or finding a suitable apartment nearby.

electriclove 10y ago
How much stuff would a person living in a Kasita have? I'm skeptical that avoiding packing/unpacking hassles will be a driver of demand.
- extrapickles 10y ago
  Its more of a friction reducer than anything. I find the appeal similar to the containerization technologies for computer software that have taken off recently. While having the binaries as part of the container is nice, the important part is that I can put my containers pretty much anywhere with minimal effort on my part and quickly/easily move if the current host tries charging too much. This basically is trying to do the same for housing. Also you are not locked into the whims of the developers of the racks as much as you are with an apartment. Like making lots of noise at 3AM? Buy a pod with lots of sound insulation, same goes for someone who works night-shift and wants to sleep at 6PM on Saturday when everyone else is having a party.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
ameister14 10y ago
You could also just live in an RV.

jhallenworld 10y ago

>See also: all the "Tiny House" shows on HGTV. We just watched one of these on Netflix and looked up some of the follow-on stories you can find on the net from the featured people. The general consensus is that after about three months you realize that the house is way too small.

ghaff 10y ago
I suspect it's like many people who do the digital nomad thing and other lifestyle experiments. The novelty makes it cool for a bit. Until it's not.
Doctor_Fegg 10y ago
Yet there are thousands of people happily living on narrowboats in the UK, which typically give living space of 300 sq ft or below. (Narrowboats are 6ft 10in wide, giving <6ft usable interior width; and anywhere between 40ft and 70ft long, but the engine and front/rear decks take up a chunk of that.) I suspect the key is an identity and a setting beyond the accommodation itself. If you put a bunch of narrowboats on an industrial estate on dry land, few would go near them. The Kasitas aren't designed to float, of course, but careful attention to neighbourhood, landscape, and nearby amenities could make them just as desirable places to live.
- lmm 10y ago
  Narrowboats aren't desirable places to live. They're mainly a way for unscrupulous landlords to rent out illegally-low quality living space while evading inspections.
  - Doctor_Fegg 10y ago
    I'm going to call out [citation needed] on that blunt "aren't desirable" and that "mainly". Source: I edited Waterways World magazine for six years, worked for British Waterways for two before that, and know a fair bit about narrowboats.
- makomk 10y ago

flubert 10y ago

If you can swing the $53/month mortgage, you might like to take a look at: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/11451-Lansdowne-St-Detroit-MI-48224/98031530_zpid/ http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/11451-Lansdowne-St-Detroit... ...looks like a nice neighborhood, and the inside seems we'll maintained. So that's $0.04/sq-ft/month.

nikkwong 10y ago
Hah. I once worked with a guy who put essentially his entire life's savings into 10-15 of these Detroit properties a few years back in 2013-2014. Suffice it to say I was right--there's been little-to-no upward pressure on home pressures in the area, despite the fact that he thought he was soon to strike it rich. The old mantra holds--like any publicly available asset--if it were a great deal--it would already have been sold!
- HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
  He's probably right about the appreciation but wrong about the timeframe.
  - nathanasmith 10y ago
    He's probably right about the appreciation I'm not saying you're wrong but I'm curious what you have to back that statement up. Detroit is rapidly losing population[0] with no end in sight. Typically for prices to rise, there has to be some kind of demand. I guess you could just gut the supply by wholesale tearing everything down and seeing if you can sell what's left. 0. https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&met_y=population&idim=place:2622000:3916000&hl=en&dl=en https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&...
    - HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
      Property eventually appreciates, you just have to wait long enough. Now, at the extreme you may need to wait longer than a lifetime, but that's not likely to be the case here. However, it could very well be more than 20 years depending on how much he paid. I don't think it's unreasonable to hold an asset for that length of time if the projected value makes it worthwhile.

majormajor 10y ago

I've lived in two studios with a less extreme size difference than that: 333sqft and 450sqft, and the difference between just the extra 117sqft is actually pretty massive in terms of flexibility. 208sqft sounds terrifying to me after living a year in 333sqft. By contrast, if you're single and don't have too much stuff (say, a bed, a desk, TV, 2-person table, small couch), 450sqft is pretty easy. I spent three years living in that much space.

beachstartup 10y ago
you're right, i've spent 5 years (damn... time flies) living in 450 and it's the perfect amount of space for one person. i wouldn't go below 400. it's just too small... studios larger than 400 tend to have real bathrooms (sink, tub/shower, and full size toilet) and real kitchens (30" sink, 30" range, 30" fridge) which are requirements for me. feeling restricted in the kitchen is frustrating/suffering to me because i cook a lot. i think someone who doesn't cook could probably do 350.
- sdrothrock 10y ago
  > i wouldn't go below 400. it's just too small... This is pretty amusing to me in Japan, where 400 square feet is pretty far above the UPPER limit of a usual apartment for a single person. I guess that shows how culture/environment can change perception. :) I would go so far as to say that a lot of single people live in apartments that are closer to 200-250 square feet here and that 400+ is seen as extravagant. I live in a 600 square foot apartment and people are always blown away and ask what I do with all the extra space; my apartment is intended for a family with kids.
  - ido 10y ago
    Is this in Tokio? In Germany & Austria 37m^2 (~400sqf) will also be seen as small, even in the bigger cities.
    - sdrothrock 10y ago

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

ArkyBeagle 10y ago

It fairly reeks of "pet rock" to me ( and the HGTV show is the principal evidence for that ) , but I'm not exactly in the target demo. The world need the Sears Craftsman house again.

jcoby 10y ago
The latest house on This Old House [1] is being built in the same way as the Sears houses were from a company called Connor Homes [2]. They even talk about the Sears homes in the first episode. 1. http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/house-project/overview/0,,20994500,00.html http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/house-project/overview/0,... 2. http://connorbuilding.com http://connorbuilding.com
- ArkyBeagle 10y ago
  I more mean the whole business model more than I mean the design of the houses - although the designs were worth repeating.