Kristina Black

carrie watson wrote:Hi Kristina
Just wondering if you've read "Mortgage Free" by Rob Roy? It's been my mantra since reading it in 2005 and I've been on my path to self-sufficient freedom ever since. Best of luck!

Hi Carrie! Funny you should mention that; I have started reading that book very recently. It is very fascinating. As far as being mortgage free myself, I think that it may happen. I am starting looking for land, and since I plan to live in it long-term, I want to find it with maximum acreage that I can afford, mortgage or not. I don't know how long it will take me to find land, but if I find something within the year, I will get a mortgage that I can pay off in a year. If I find something in a year or two, then there is a very good chance that I won't have to take on a mortgage. Same thing with the house; if I wait a while then I will have cash to build it. Anyways, I really like the idea of working without a bank, but I will take a chance and get a mortgage if I find something to live in sooner! There are definitely pros and cons. If I do get a mortgage, I want to try and pay it off within 5 years for both house and land, or sooner if I can. Thank you for your input!

John Weiland wrote:Just throwing this idea in to the ring, more for the cost aspect than the natural building angle.

Pole buildings covered in steel siding have been the go-to design for agricultural building for over 40 years now.  In the past 15 - 20 years, more of these companies are helping to design and build homes based on post and beam construction rather than the more typical stud-frame on slab or foundation approach.  Apparently there is good cost savings, but this may vary by state, codes, etc.  Nevertheless, if moving to a more rural area where post and beam construction firms are common, it may be worth consulting them and some of their past home-building projects to see if it may work for you.  Were I to start from scratch, I would probably have a post and beam ag building erected first and rough it using that immediate shelter while having the same crew/business work on adding an attached building/home for living quarters.  The finished product would be a home designed with your needs in mind directly attached to a larger ag-type building where storage/vehicles/shop items/...and animals?... would be in one place.

Thank you, John! I will definitely research that; it sounds like a great idea to me.

Eric Hanson wrote:Kristina,

Sorry it has taken me so long to get to you.  

Since I last posted you have had a lot of good advice.  It may be difficult to shuffle all of this information around, but it is all solid advice.

For my part, I am glad that you have an appreciation for Southern light.  I find that this makes the house so much more livable in the winter.

Best of luck and please keep us updated.

Eric

Thank you, Eric. No need to apologize; I am grateful to everyone for taking some time out of his or her life to give me advice. I am writing down all of the advice and experiences everyone has mentioned and will reference it in the future. I probably won't have any more questions until I actually start considering properties/land. Until then, I will be browsing this forum to get more ideas. :)

Teri Reed wrote:You have to do your homework. The county I built in, the regs stated that a structure 255sq ft or over must be anchored and needed all sorts of additional permits. As a result, we only did 250 sq ft on the tiny house. The shell for the tiny house was approx. 11k - not including fixtures/hot water heater/sink/frig/hookups etc. Still under 17k for everything. I think the silver lining was the rural community and super friendly building inspector who could see the structures were solidly built and not thrown together. Got all lumber for the finishing touches from a local mill, stayed away from big box stores as much as possible. For the house, craigslist was my friend - got a beautiful 1930s concrete laundry sink for the kitchen, etsy has some great finds too.
Many builders turned me down because they only build Mcmansions. To keep my cost down, I purchased all fixtures - the mark-up from the contractors is eye-popping and would have put me over budget. I found awesome artistic, unique sinks, faucets, lights on etsy (my chandeliers in the kitchen are handmade stained glass from Turkey) so much cheaper than Home depot/Lowes.
Attached greenhouse is not that more expensive - when the foundation is poured, have them pour that as well with a slope wherever you want the floor drain. I bought the windows/sliding glass door and the roofing material for the greenhouse that was seperate (approx 2k)
Without a very lengthy note, it can be done with research. I went 8k over budget on the house and incorporated alot of expenses from the tiny house into the house construction loan (running septic/electric lines etc)

Thank you so much, Teri! That is a lot of very helpful information!

So what I'm gathering from what you state, it's possible to find a general contractor to give a house plan to, and he will coordinate the subcontractors (who you choose) to build the house with the materials that you also choose yourself, all instead of hiring a builder. Or is a builder the same thing as a general contractor?

As for the tiny house, my main concern is the county not liking that I'm living there full-time, even if it is during construction, though I read that a permit for this can be acquired, but it is usually for 1-2 years only. I will figure this out, but very great to hear that it worked for you, and only 17k for the tiny house that you will get back from renting it out.

I will research more into builders/contractors in the areas I want to buy land in.

Teri Reed wrote:Hi Kristina,

Just finished my barn home in central VA on 11 acres, 2 of which is a stocked spring fed pond, 7 acres hay pasture and the rest trees. My landlord raised my rent during the build so my builder built me a tiny house (250 sq ft) to live in during the build. It is hooked up to the house power and septic. Complete blast to live there during the build! And had the bonus to 'get to know' the property. Moved in April and now I rent the tiny house on Airbnb. The house is small (around 1300sq ft) but has an attached, insulated greenhouse which offers heat and natural filtration - in addition to fresh fruits/veggies year round! Also adds another almost 200 sq feet to the house. Because I designed the house, I wanted the attached greenhouse and an outdoor shower added in the build.
Huge savings on kitchen and bath, all cabinets/shelves are made of left over lumber from the build - stained or cut a different pattern.
I believe you can do it, don't ever give up on your dream. Do your research. I interviewed all subcontractors and was responsible to hire them as well as my contractor. I brought the builder in from out of state because I did not want a cookie cutter home.
Beware, nothing can prepare you for the psychological/financial/emotional roll coaster ride due to a variety of reasons (weather, equipment failure etc) but it is definitely worth it.
Have fun and best of builds to you!

Hi Teri, that sounds like an absolute dream! When you lived in that tiny house during the build, did you have to get a permit for temporary living there or just winged it? I am not against buying a used tiny house and living on the land until I can afford to start building a house, but I don't think that's legal unless the tiny house is on a foundation and passed inspections.

And I wonder how much the tiny house cost to build? I know they can be from 35k to 100k, but it must have been worth it to see the building process close by, as you said.  

Interesting that you brought the builder out of state, and interviewed the subcontractors! It must have made for a better quality home too.

Your additions and custom features probably added to the cost of the build, but are worth it like you mentioned. I was thinking of an attached greenhouse a while ago but I would imagine it to add a bit to my budget. Besides that, do you think that there are builders in VA that will agree to build a smaller house for less than 100k?

Thank you for sharing your experience and advice!

Wow! That's a lot of money saved. I'm willing to go that route if needed. I don't know if some builders may not be happy about less money/work, but being the general contractor yourself saves you that trouble

Kathleen Sanderson wrote:

Kristina Black wrote:

Kathleen Sanderson wrote:Somewhere I've seen a website that compared countertop materials for how easy they were to maintain.  That's something else to consider, in addition to cost -- if I recall correctly, surprisingly, one of the less expensive countertop materials was also the easiest to maintain.  For anyone like me (housework isn't my favorite thing to do) that could be an important consideration.  And if you get rich later and can afford to get one of the more expensive materials, go for it.  I do, however, recommend getting the best cabinets you can afford.  Well-built cabinets (plywood, not particle-board) can last a life-time, only needing fresh paint once in a while to keep them looking nice.  But they are a pain to replace.

That's a great point! Perhaps if cabinets are costly in the beginning, it would make sense to have less of them in the beginning, and add more later instead of replacing them or having lots of them from the get to?

I think that makes sense.  I mentioned above that this house had a blank slate with no cabinets in the kitchen at all.  I got a sink cabinet (on clearance at Lowe's).  My oldest daughter picked up a section of countertop (formica type) at a yard sale, with a sink in it already, that just fit the extra-wide sink cabinet.  So that all went into place, along with a used (over-sized) frig.  I filled in with other Craigslist and FB Marketplace finds -- a couple of antique Hoosier cabinets, a dresser with bookshelves on top, and two portable kitchen islands as well as a dresser I already had.  I have more than enough shelf and drawer space for everything (especially since I've been de-cluttering a lot).  I do also have a big metal cabinet -- formerly a filing cabinet, it has doors that lift up -- in the enclosed back porch that holds canned goods, and the small freezer is also on the porch.  Now I can add cabinets when I can afford them, and once the cabinets are all in place (with temporary plywood countertops, probably), I'll finish it off with a regular countertop.  You don't have to do everything the 'standard' way.  Improvise, make it work!

That was very smart of you to do, and I can only imagine how much money you have saved! It's easy to make it all look good with the proper placement of the shelves, paint, and decorations. I want to minimize costs as much as possible, too, for things that won't be necessary in the beginning.

Kathleen Sanderson wrote:Somewhere I've seen a website that compared countertop materials for how easy they were to maintain.  That's something else to consider, in addition to cost -- if I recall correctly, surprisingly, one of the less expensive countertop materials was also the easiest to maintain.  For anyone like me (housework isn't my favorite thing to do) that could be an important consideration.  And if you get rich later and can afford to get one of the more expensive materials, go for it.  I do, however, recommend getting the best cabinets you can afford.  Well-built cabinets (plywood, not particle-board) can last a life-time, only needing fresh paint once in a while to keep them looking nice.  But they are a pain to replace.

That's a great point! Perhaps if cabinets are costly in the beginning, it would make sense to have less of them in the beginning, and add more later instead of replacing them or having lots of them from the get to?

Eric Hanson wrote:Kristina,

When we were planning our kitchen, our quote for the house allocated just a bit over $12k for the whole kitchen.  We came within pennies of our budget, but my wife wanted granite countertops.  Sadly, the price for the granite countertops alone was $12k.  Obviously we went with much cheaper countertops.

Eric

That's good to hear that everything can be done much cheaper. Plus, granite can be pretty radioactive if not checked before buying it, so there are other benefits besides cost to not having it installed!

Eric Hanson wrote:Kristina,

I like that you want natural light.  If I could recommend, I would try to emphasize southern living lighting/windows.  The reason is that southern windows will let in lots of natural sunlight in the winter when the weather is cold and the sun is low.  In the summer the sun will be high and not let in direct sunlight during the heat of the day.

Eric

Thank you, I am definitely keeping that in mind. I've lived in both southern and northern facing houses and there is certainly a difference in my mood and sleep between the two! Plus, southern exposure is great for gardens.