Mortgage Free Housing Suitable for Florida

Greetings,

There’s no way I can afford a mortgage in Florida, and don’t want to! I’m debt free and saving, I want to buy land, about 1-5 acres, while it’s existent and available still… Solar is ridiculously abundant and I feel confident tackling projects like that and learning how to maintain a house… but I simply don’t know what to do when I have the land and how to not put myself in debt.

Is a tiny house suitable for a Florida homestead? Or should I be looking into other means of living? Hurricanes, blazing sun, extreme heat, I’m not really sure… Earthbag houses?

I’d like to build my own house, but with a potential partner, I’m not sure if she’d like a tiny house, we’d have to discuss it when the time comes, but I’d like to begin pondering this path and see what people think. I’m quite set on Florida, due to what grows here.

Thank you!

Jeff, in my opinion people finish doing nothing becausee they focus on debt, instead of on the task. I sggest you start with your building in small steps, 0ne room at a time. If you  waitt for partner you may  never start, just  get on with it. They  need to fit in.

Jeff,

I would start with the half of the house with mechanical room, bathroom, kitchen and living room with a pulpit roof. You could use the living room as bedroom. It could be 500-600 sq ft for example.
In the meantime you could build a storage building and then animal barn/coop. If you decided to enlarge the house you would add another half, thus creating gable roof.

In Florida I would only use masonry all around with masonry interior walls to create water and vermin tight structure. Tall ceilings and good window placements would help natural ventilation as much as possible.
Earthbag could be nice, but if the house has to be permitted you may save money and stress using easily available concrete blocks - you can add architectural details and lime plaster the walls beautifully.

To keep the cost low, you have to control all aspects of construction, buy all materials in precise amounts, work as much with your hands as possible and work with free lancing construction workers only and no companies.

crystobal, g00d concept, i am thinking 400ft sqor less, something that can be completed

It depends on the county some counties require minimum 700 sq feet. Make sure you call the county building and permitting.

I sent you a PM and can answer any questions. I went through trying to do this a few years ago and ended up deciding to just buy a house. I'm closing next week.

Here are a couple of articles on Tiny Homes in Florida:

Most people who want a tiny home in Florida are interested in residing in a space less than 1,000 sq ft. St. Petersburg (375 sq ft), Dixie County (450 sq ft), and Pasco County have the shortest minimum housing sizes (450 sq ft). Be careful to consider the minimum square footage while planning the design of your home.

https://www.way.com/blog/tiny-home-communities-in-florida/

https://www.southernliving.com/travel/florida/see-inside-tampas-newest-tiny-home-community-where-you-can-score-a-place-for-less-than-50k