Is anyone recommending a studio or tiny home for families? That’s crazy talk. I don’t think I’d ever share a studio with a SO either. You need at least one other room to get away from each other that isn’t a bathroom.
2 Likes
I’m sure the invisible hand of the market held an invisible gun to their head.
12 Likes
The houses built on open land tend to be maxxed out sizewise due to customer demand but also because a bigger house sells for more $.
1 Like
Isn’t one of the ideals behind tiny homes is that they’re more sustainable? Having more space is always nice, but maybe we can do without it if it’s better for the planet.
3 Likes
Agreed, it’s very obvious. I ride on a dedicated bike pathway as part of my commute and some the bikes I see are probably worth significantly more than my car. But even without all the carbon fiber, the spandex would give them away.
(In recognition of my own privilege and for boring reasons I won’t go in to, cycling to work actually costs me $8/month more than taking the bus. So I too fall in to the category of those who choose to ride. But without the spandex).
4 Likes
Yeah, middle- (and upper-) class “poverty” isn’t the same as being poor.
10 Likes
I once lived in a one car detached garage, which had been converted into a small house. Every single couple who lived there over the years broke up as the lease ended, including the person I was with and me. Small spaces are great, but small shared spaces can be torture on relationships.
15 Likes
Mobile homes famously lose enormous value after being bought, too - their value behaves more like cars than the rest of the housing market.
Oh, but it’s not a “mobile home” in that case - it’s a “pre-fab tiny house”!
6 Likes
I know of two couples that have near killed each other after Winter in one of these up in Joshua Tree. Next up is the resale value is kick in the gut, you pay $60 - $100 K, and it ain’t worth crapola on the open market, nobody wants your Tiny Home, ever…
8 Likes
It’s not a mobile home - it’s a castle.
It’s a starship!
Nah - its a perfectly lovely, very livable mobile home.
If it’s good enough for Jimbo - it’s good enough for anyone.
15 Likes
Tiny houses are interesting, great for some, not so great for most. I think its so much smarter to aspire to a small house - which these days would be 2500 sqft and down. My own house is 1600 sqft, and it feels huge. People could do so well with so much less space, and turn their budget towards insulation and energy efficiency instead of Bonus Rooms, and soaring Foyer Ceilings and other signifiers of bigly success.
8 Likes
deleted the post
7 Likes
In places where land isn’t expensive, a mobile home can be a way to have an inexpensive home on some land you own without having to have a mortgage, if you can save up the cash.
I also know people who have lived in an old RV or small mobile home or “tiny home”, or a tiny cabin,yurt, whatever while spending a few years working on building their own larger permanent home, so that’s also an option.
5 Likes
How about we make all the tech-bros live in tiny houses sited on the parking lots of the Silicon Valley corporate buildings, and leave SF and Oakland housing to the bohemians who can appreciate the city.
6 Likes
Well… 240 square foot is ~22 square meters, which is not much smaller than my own flat which is ~27 square meters/290 square feet, just the right size for me (a single woman who doesn’t often have people around). Previously I used to live comfortably in a flat that was about 22-23 square meters - that was small, but it was well-designed so it wasn’t terrible as long as I wasn’t having anyone over for too long. I think many tiny house owners go into living in one without understanding what they’re getting into, or not realizing just how much space they actually need. (Like… why would a family want to live on ~20 square meters, that sounds like hell even for a couple, never mind a couple with a child.)
Also, many small homes I see are just badly designed, often by amateurs, focusing on saving space instead of being actually effective but also comfortable to use. My flat was entirely furnished by Ikea - as in, the owner gave Ikea the floor plan and requested a full furnishing, including bathroom, etc. And it’s pretty effective and comfortable.
11 Likes
Then again, it never was.
8 Likes
I think it’s crazy for two people to try and live in such a small place. No matter how intimate you are with one another, most people do need some space for just themselves.
7 Likes
Yes, and as my Dear Wife says to maintain matrimonial bliss, two bathrooms is a must.
7 Likes
But they’re carefully selecting which market demand to respond to. A large part of the housing problem is driven by developers producing luxury properties for sale in the investment market, while ignoring the massive demand for non-luxury rentals. Creating a glut of the former and a shortage of the latter.
And that’s before you get into the regulatory environments that prioritize one over the other. In large part this isn’t one of those pure free market supply and demand situations (which pretty much don’t exist anyway). Municipalities are restricting permits and zoning permission for those regular people rentals, while actively courting more of the luxury investment properties. And huge tax breaks come with having a bunch of vacant or unsold units awaiting payouts, prompting developers to leave prices high, even as demand goes down. Rather than cutting bait and renting at market rates, lowering prices or shifting development to the sort of units that would actually move. Very much the same dynamic exists outside of urban areas. Where larger lot sizes and large single family homes in culdesac heavy developments are being prioritized over multi-unit housing and denser down town style development. And in much the same way large Golf Course McMansions are sitting vacant rather than lowering their prices or shifting models. Even as they build more of them.
12 Likes
It’s pretty hilarious now to think someone would just be able to plop a trailer onto a beach parking lot in Malibu and live there. Pretty sweetheart deal he had there.
8 Likes
