11 ms·

Tiny homes are 150 to 250 square feet homes that that can be built anywhere from ~$20,000 to ~$50,000. The person who figures out how to mass produce these hous

by tabeth 10y ago

Tiny homes are 150 to 250 square feet homes that that can be built anywhere from ~$20,000 to ~$50,000. The person who figures out how to mass produce these houses (each one is only about maybe the size of two RVs) for ~$10,000 will change this world.

ghaff 10y ago
So what land is your tiny one story home going to sit on (and be connected to utilities)? Of course, if you're flexible where you live such things exist and are called mobile homes.
- tabeth 10y ago
  There's plenty of land in the United States. Maybe it'll sit on some of that?
  - ghaff 10y ago
    Sure, there's plenty of dirt cheap land in the US some of which even has electricity and water available for a possibly non-trivial hookup charge. (Or maybe you tank in water and use solar.) But the problem with building a house on that land (or plopping a mobile home) isn't the cost of the house. It's the fact that it's nowhere near jobs or other amenities people want to live near. ADDED: The cost of housing in rural Nevada isn't what people are complaining about when they talk about the high price of housing.
    - tabeth 10y ago
      You make good points, but they're not super relevant to the article (if you read the article it's clear that they're not talking about big cities, nor are jobs and amenities mentioned, other than the point I mention below)
      - ghaff 10y ago
        Irrelevant to what? The price of attractive but very compact housing on cheap land away from population centers people want to live around basically isn't a problem for any but a minuscule slice of the population. It certainly doesn't address any issue that a potential tech worker in the bay area or NYC has.
        tabeth 10y ago
        Did you even read the article? This has nothing to do with big cities. The author explains how the development of infrastructure, notably highways changed the dynamic to sprawling suburbia and how suburban "nodes" link to the main metroplex in "second-tier cities." This was because of the fact that you can just drive further and keep your job. Affordable housing requires affordable land. Big cities almost by definition do not have affordable land, therefore the housing will never be affordable in the way the author is asserting.
        ghaff 10y ago
        Yes, I read the article. All the handwaving about maybe land on the fringe... but maybe that would actually be more expensive because of land use restrictions... and utilities would have to happen somehow but not clear about the costs. >Affordable housing requires affordable land. Big cities almost by definition do not have affordable land, therefore the housing will never be affordable in the way the author is asserting. I agree. My assumption was that, given this context, he was talking about the outlying areas of cities people were interested in. Of course, otherwise, land prices are not the issue and housing construction prices aren't really the issue either.
  - scaryspooky 10y ago
    Many counties prohibit this use via land use regulations defining this activity as camping and providing for a maximum time you may camp on your land. So it is likely not something you can do in a large part of the US.
mrefish 10y ago
I ran across the Reefer Home for $12,900 a few days back. Description: - 40ft x 9″6″ High Used reefer container. - Bathroom with shower. - Kitchenette. - Electricity. - Two large glass sliding doors. - Security Bars on Doors. - Painted Link: https://containerhomes.net/products_prices/reefer-home-12900-40ft-long-9-ft-6-high/ https://containerhomes.net/products_prices/reefer-home-12900... Video walk through: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeM1ed7Wrl0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeM1ed7Wrl0
leakybit 10y ago
I could easily build a 250 sqft home for $10,000 excluding the foundation.
- tabeth 10y ago
  1. Why exclude the foundation from the cost? It's necessary, no? 2. Can they be mass produced? You should start a business if so.
  - q3r3qr3q 10y ago
    1. I think not for something like a pole barn. And maybe someone else usually does that part.
nosuchthing 10y ago
Why not mobile? Elio motors designed an enclosed motorcycle for ~$7300. Assuming a design like an enclosed TukTuk moped [1], a mini motor home would actually change the world overnight. [1] http://www.designboom.com/design/cornelius-comanns-bufalino/ http://www.designboom.com/design/cornelius-comanns-bufalino/
baursak 10y ago
In places were housing is expensive, land will be the majority of the cost. In places where land is cheap, housing is already not expensive. The way to affordable housing is high density, mid-to-high rise condos.
- fnl 10y ago
  Isn't that precisely the way cities are built in Europe? If so, housing isn't necessarily cheap/affordable there, either.
  - baursak 10y ago
    It should be relatively cheaper in places with lots of mid-to-high rise development. For example, Berlin is relatively cheap as I understand it. London is expensive, but if you randomly click around it on Google StreetView, you'll see there's way more 1-2 story townhouses there than 5-10 story residential buildings.
    - fnl 10y ago
      Berlin has become a lot more expensive recently, the cheap housing there is mostly historical now. And, income in Europe is much lower on average than in the US (except London, most parts of Switzerland, and such places), so you first have to correct for that, too. Yes, high rises make housing cheaper, but that comes at a price: Hearing what the neighbors around you are doing and often even saying (or their TVs/music/...!) at all times, not having some "green space" or yard of your own (and in most cases not even a shared green space), having to come to terms with all co-owners when you want to change something outside your flat. Etc. For the price you (don't) pay, the European model sucks. (Disclaimer: I'm European... :-))
- maxsilver 10y ago
  > The way to affordable housing is high density, mid-to-high rise condos. How though? Density sounds good on paper, and has tons of side benefits, but (as the blog post explains) the cost of land + construction jumps significantly. I know here in the US, there basically is no such thing as "affordable high density condos". High density urban housing is expensive, by definition. So much so that there isn't a single unsubsidized affordable high-density urban housing unit in my entire state. The only place I'm aware of that has affordable urban housing is Japan. And that's mainly due to a combination of having no meaningful population growth, and having excellent public transit literally everywhere. Two things the US simply can't have in our lifetime
lawpoop 10y ago
We already have them; they're called mobile homes.

by tabeth 10y ago

ghaff 10y ago

So what land is your tiny one story home going to sit on (and be connected to utilities)? Of course, if you're flexible where you live such things exist and are called mobile homes.

tabeth 10y ago
There's plenty of land in the United States. Maybe it'll sit on some of that?
- ghaff 10y ago
  Sure, there's plenty of dirt cheap land in the US some of which even has electricity and water available for a possibly non-trivial hookup charge. (Or maybe you tank in water and use solar.) But the problem with building a house on that land (or plopping a mobile home) isn't the cost of the house. It's the fact that it's nowhere near jobs or other amenities people want to live near. ADDED: The cost of housing in rural Nevada isn't what people are complaining about when they talk about the high price of housing.
  - tabeth 10y ago
    You make good points, but they're not super relevant to the article (if you read the article it's clear that they're not talking about big cities, nor are jobs and amenities mentioned, other than the point I mention below)
    - ghaff 10y ago
      Irrelevant to what? The price of attractive but very compact housing on cheap land away from population centers people want to live around basically isn't a problem for any but a minuscule slice of the population. It certainly doesn't address any issue that a potential tech worker in the bay area or NYC has.
      - tabeth 10y ago
        Did you even read the article? This has nothing to do with big cities. The author explains how the development of infrastructure, notably highways changed the dynamic to sprawling suburbia and how suburban "nodes" link to the main metroplex in "second-tier cities." This was because of the fact that you can just drive further and keep your job. Affordable housing requires affordable land. Big cities almost by definition do not have affordable land, therefore the housing will never be affordable in the way the author is asserting.
        ghaff 10y ago
        Yes, I read the article. All the handwaving about maybe land on the fringe... but maybe that would actually be more expensive because of land use restrictions... and utilities would have to happen somehow but not clear about the costs. >Affordable housing requires affordable land. Big cities almost by definition do not have affordable land, therefore the housing will never be affordable in the way the author is asserting. I agree. My assumption was that, given this context, he was talking about the outlying areas of cities people were interested in. Of course, otherwise, land prices are not the issue and housing construction prices aren't really the issue either.
- scaryspooky 10y ago
  Many counties prohibit this use via land use regulations defining this activity as camping and providing for a maximum time you may camp on your land. So it is likely not something you can do in a large part of the US.

mrefish 10y ago

I ran across the Reefer Home for $12,900 a few days back. Description: - 40ft x 9″6″ High Used reefer container. - Bathroom with shower. - Kitchenette. - Electricity. - Two large glass sliding doors. - Security Bars on Doors. - Painted Link: https://containerhomes.net/products_prices/reefer-home-12900-40ft-long-9-ft-6-high/ https://containerhomes.net/products_prices/reefer-home-12900... Video walk through: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeM1ed7Wrl0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeM1ed7Wrl0

leakybit 10y ago

I could easily build a 250 sqft home for $10,000 excluding the foundation.

tabeth 10y ago
1. Why exclude the foundation from the cost? It's necessary, no? 2. Can they be mass produced? You should start a business if so.
- q3r3qr3q 10y ago
  1. I think not for something like a pole barn. And maybe someone else usually does that part.

nosuchthing 10y ago

Why not mobile? Elio motors designed an enclosed motorcycle for ~$7300. Assuming a design like an enclosed TukTuk moped [1], a mini motor home would actually change the world overnight. [1] http://www.designboom.com/design/cornelius-comanns-bufalino/ http://www.designboom.com/design/cornelius-comanns-bufalino/

baursak 10y ago

In places were housing is expensive, land will be the majority of the cost. In places where land is cheap, housing is already not expensive. The way to affordable housing is high density, mid-to-high rise condos.

fnl 10y ago
Isn't that precisely the way cities are built in Europe? If so, housing isn't necessarily cheap/affordable there, either.
- baursak 10y ago
  It should be relatively cheaper in places with lots of mid-to-high rise development. For example, Berlin is relatively cheap as I understand it. London is expensive, but if you randomly click around it on Google StreetView, you'll see there's way more 1-2 story townhouses there than 5-10 story residential buildings.
  - fnl 10y ago
    Berlin has become a lot more expensive recently, the cheap housing there is mostly historical now. And, income in Europe is much lower on average than in the US (except London, most parts of Switzerland, and such places), so you first have to correct for that, too. Yes, high rises make housing cheaper, but that comes at a price: Hearing what the neighbors around you are doing and often even saying (or their TVs/music/...!) at all times, not having some "green space" or yard of your own (and in most cases not even a shared green space), having to come to terms with all co-owners when you want to change something outside your flat. Etc. For the price you (don't) pay, the European model sucks. (Disclaimer: I'm European... :-))
maxsilver 10y ago
> The way to affordable housing is high density, mid-to-high rise condos. How though? Density sounds good on paper, and has tons of side benefits, but (as the blog post explains) the cost of land + construction jumps significantly. I know here in the US, there basically is no such thing as "affordable high density condos". High density urban housing is expensive, by definition. So much so that there isn't a single unsubsidized affordable high-density urban housing unit in my entire state. The only place I'm aware of that has affordable urban housing is Japan. And that's mainly due to a combination of having no meaningful population growth, and having excellent public transit literally everywhere. Two things the US simply can't have in our lifetime

lawpoop 10y ago

We already have them; they're called mobile homes.