Author Topic: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home  (Read 30952 times)

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Online Libertas

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #60 on: May 13, 2015, 07:43:56 AM »
If those are good, concentration camps must be super-swell!  I mean 200SqFt sounds awfully damned luxurious, no responsible citizen needs that much, unless they're greedy, rich...evil!
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Offline Glock32

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #61 on: May 13, 2015, 10:48:34 AM »
Just last night, the local news station ran a teaser for a feature on a family living in a 200 sq.ft. tiny home. Of course, according to the 15 second spot, it was a wonderful thing, and everybody was just so darn happy and smug about how little space people actually need.


Yet, you replace the environmentalist Gaia-worship with Christianity and skepticism in government and all of a sudden it's no longer a wonderful thing but instead something that demands attention from CPS and the sheriff's office.
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Offline John Florida

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #62 on: May 13, 2015, 06:39:09 PM »
  Idiots!! 
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Offline richb

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #63 on: May 14, 2015, 12:55:08 AM »
You know what the biggest irony of this "tiny" house movement is? 

There actually is a market for newly built smaller and more modest homes.  One that is largely not filled,  in a good portion of the country.    Not that builders wouldn't  want to build these homes.   Many would love to do so,  but they aren't allowed by regulations and the cost of land (which is priced higher due to over regulation, largely due to zoning).   They would be easier to sell to,  because more people could afford them.   And most people still prefer a single family house over a multi-unit building,  even in cities.


What I am meaning,  homes between 800-1800 sq ft.   Not these tiny 200 to 600 sq ft.  houses but homes that aren't huge but not tiny.  Think of the homes built by the millions in the 1950's through the 1970's.   The ones you didn't really see large numbers of after the 1980's.   That's what people want, need and can afford.  And you largely cannot buy a new one anymore,  and most of the existing ones are now 40 or more years old (as is,  fixers).   Yeah,  they wouldn't be the same as those from the 1950's since most people would want a house with more open floor plans, 2 bathrooms (rather then just 1), and a bigger kitchen.  But the rest wouldn't be that much different. 

Zoning makes these types of homes basically impossible since many communities have minimum  square footage floor size (it blocks the tiny house movement too)and often minimum room sizes too.   Top that off with the cost of lots (often they have minimum sizes too) which are driven up in cost by many requirements that were never demanded of in the past.   You end up with just 2000-5000 square foot houses few can afford because that ends up being the only thing that pencils out for home builders. 


Online Libertas

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #64 on: May 14, 2015, 07:09:51 AM »
So, ramblers and condos getting popular again?

The former is fine, the latter is OK but facilitates faster population concentration, which isn't necessarily good...depending upon the location/demographics.
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Online ToddF

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #65 on: May 14, 2015, 09:08:02 AM »
Early in my working life, I would have loved something like my grandparents' houses.  Under a thousand sq ft, older, worth under $30k (at the time).


But Iowa isn't Minnesota, and to get that in Minnesota you would have had to move into the worst neighborhoods of Crapholeapolis...so condo it was.  These wooden, American buildings are the worst, for such living.

Offline IronDioPriest

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #66 on: May 14, 2015, 10:11:54 AM »
When I was growing up, My great-aunt Cleo had a tiny home in Aitken MN. She was a spinster, and two of her sisters were nuns - one of whom lived with her in the little house. It had one front-room that served as kitchen/dining/living room, and in the rear was a bedroom and a small bathroom.

It was tucked back away from the road - further back than the two normal sized houses on either side. It almost looked like it could have been a shed for one or the other neighboring houses, except for the fact that she kept it impecabbly decorated like a home. There was no garage, no driveway. Just a concrete walk from the sidewalk.

When we would go visit, we would literally have to stand. Cleo and Sister Clara would sit, there was one extra kitchen chair for my mom, and the rest of us would stand.

If I had to guess based on my childhood memory, I would guess that this home was probably 300sq.ft. 15'X15' seems about right. It was barely sufficient for two immobile old women in their 90s.

If the government is going to start taking children away from parents for not providing the minimum accoutrements of government-approved childhood, I think the tiny home would be a perfect place for them to begin.
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

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Offline richb

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #67 on: May 14, 2015, 05:02:45 PM »
So, ramblers and condos getting popular again?

The former is fine, the latter is OK but facilitates faster population concentration, which isn't necessarily good...depending upon the location/demographics.

Well,  condos are what get built to fill the market for the most part (since you can build more units per acre).   However,  even most people who end up buying condos would still prefer a single family house if it was possible.  For many its no longer possible,  the choice was taken from them.    Condos are still generally better then a rental. 

Generally single family houses are better investments too.   When the market goes down,  like it has over the last couple of years,  condos get harder hit,  as cheaper single family homes come on the market.   Then the pool of buyers of condos goes down faster as they can get a single house instead,  and most people do.   Towards the end of my RE  sales people who would have  probably gotten a condo a few years before,  ended up with a house because they had come down in price. 

Many places will never see a ranch house again,  lots are either too expensive or not big enough for a single floor house.   There is a reason why so many new neighborhood are garage door city,  lots aren't big enough to put garages in the back like they did in the 1950's. 

Online Libertas

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #68 on: May 14, 2015, 09:54:07 PM »
So, ramblers and condos getting popular again?

The former is fine, the latter is OK but facilitates faster population concentration, which isn't necessarily good...depending upon the location/demographics.

Well,  condos are what get built to fill the market for the most part (since you can build more units per acre).   However,  even most people who end up buying condos would still prefer a single family house if it was possible.  For many its no longer possible,  the choice was taken from them.    Condos are still generally better then a rental. 

Generally single family houses are better investments too.   When the market goes down,  like it has over the last couple of years,  condos get harder hit,  as cheaper single family homes come on the market.   Then the pool of buyers of condos goes down faster as they can get a single house instead,  and most people do.   Towards the end of my RE  sales people who would have  probably gotten a condo a few years before,  ended up with a house because they had come down in price. 

Many places will never see a ranch house again,  lots are either too expensive or not big enough for a single floor house.   There is a reason why so many new neighborhood are garage door city,  lots aren't big enough to put garages in the back like they did in the 1950's.

About what I would expect, thanks for the rundown.  My nephew is a realtor and until recently it had been bad all across the board, there is action to be had the past year or so, but it is definitely in the affordable end of things and people (wisely for the most part, despite bankers trying to push easy money still) are getting what they can afford for the area they look at, with the majority going further into the burbs even when older inner city dwellings dropped in price) and the inner cities have gotten wise to this and when old areas get renovated often times you'll see condos and townhomes pop up so they can keep more in the tax base.  The lack of rental property has been an issue for some time too.
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Offline Weisshaupt

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #69 on: July 16, 2015, 08:53:51 AM »

Online Libertas

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #70 on: July 20, 2015, 09:03:18 PM »
Sadly, we'll see more of this, the wrecked failing economy alone guarantees it, living standards are declining but people will accept less space if they still have all their crap...and rising crime cannot be far behind.
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Offline Weisshaupt

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #71 on: July 22, 2015, 10:19:30 AM »
Adaptive Curmudgeon weighs in  in his usual brilliant style

Quote
I once wanted a tiny house. I wanted one desperately! The reason I wanted one was because I needed a place to live. I had none. Big houses were out of my fiscal league. Why not a small one? No house is too small when the alternative is sleeping in your car. (Yes, I slept in my car among other oddball solutions… sometimes it’s nice but usually it sucks.)

Then came the “tiny house” movement. I was delighted! Except it all went wrong. Eager trustafarian pinheads made tiny homes into a “green” thing, a “political” thing, an “it’s not an off grid/straw bale/geodesic/yurt but it’s just as impractical” shining example of snobbery writ small. They managed to push the idea that a tiny house ought to cost a fortune and backed it up with photos of free standing closets that were as utilitarian and attainable as Faberge eggs. All I could think was “what’s the point”? I had a concrete need. They had an ethereal agenda. I never forgave them.

There’s room on this earth for someone who can’t or won’t float a mega-mortgage. Room for someone who doesn’t want fifty windows to wash. Tiny homes killed the most recent iteration of that idea. Killed it with delicately arranged spice racks mounted next to wicker seats beneath stained glass windows where plywood and benches might serve in good stead. All the good intentions in creation stink of bullsh*t when some hippie turns 180 square feet of “roof over your head” into the Whole Foods organic kale of the housing world.

as they say.. read the whole thing..

and then read this

Online Libertas

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #72 on: July 22, 2015, 10:42:12 AM »
OK, as good as AC is...I think I like rant #2 better!

The pace and timing of the humor is quite good.   ::thumbsup::

Guys, you know when the zombie apocalypse comes you’re going to be the first to go, right? Four zombies could pick up and shake your tiny house like a Smart Car. Your bodies will be flinging out the windows like hornets shaken from a nest. You’re only going to have that one cooking pan and farts to save yourself.

 ::hysterical::

I wanna see that!   ::popcorn::
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Offline IronDioPriest

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #73 on: July 22, 2015, 11:17:31 AM »
I don't get it. Why not just buy a Minnie-Winnie? They have everything the tiny home has, AND you can roll the thing wherever the f*** you want. You could live someplace new every week. One week Berkeley, one week San Francisco, one week Eugene, one week Portland, one week Seattle, one week Boulder, one week Madison... You could sample the weed from every region of the country (North of the Mason-Dixon Line, of course) all from the comfort of your tiny home on wheels. And they're so small, you could pull it with your Prius.
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

Online Libertas

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #74 on: July 22, 2015, 12:03:00 PM »
I don't get it. Why not just buy a Minnie-Winnie? They have everything the tiny home has, AND you can roll the thing wherever the f*** you want. You could live someplace new every week. One week Berkeley, one week San Francisco, one week Eugene, one week Portland, one week Seattle, one week Boulder, one week Madison... You could sample the weed from every region of the country (North of the Mason-Dixon Line, of course) all from the comfort of your tiny home on wheels. And they're so small, you could pull it with your Prius.


 ::laughonfloor::

 ::clapping::
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Online Pandora

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #75 on: July 22, 2015, 12:34:21 PM »
Quote
I don't get it. Why not just buy a Minnie-Winnie?

Too off-the-rack/typical American consumer materialist/making Big Corp. rich. 

These people feel the need to express their individual artistry and that can't be done with 'see above'.
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Offline IronDioPriest

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #76 on: July 22, 2015, 07:44:54 PM »
Quote
I don't get it. Why not just buy a Minnie-Winnie?

Too off-the-rack/typical American consumer materialist/making Big Corp. rich. 

These people feel the need to express their individual artistry and that can't be done with 'see above'.
They could always spruce it up with a Che Guevara mural and an upside-down cross.
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

Offline AlanS

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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #77 on: July 22, 2015, 08:03:11 PM »
Tiny houses in Des Moines?

Quote
Not everyone loves it. The ULI study collected completed surveys from 110 micro-apartment renters, finding that they were less likely than traditional renters to be satisfied with the value they got for their money.

Great! Now get your ass outta there, get a real job, and a REAL house!
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Re: The constant drumbeat of the Tiny-Home
« Reply #78 on: July 22, 2015, 09:22:45 PM »
Quote
I don't get it. Why not just buy a Minnie-Winnie?

Too off-the-rack/typical American consumer materialist/making Big Corp. rich. 

These people feel the need to express their individual artistry and that can't be done with 'see above'.
They could always spruce it up with a Che Guevara mural and an upside-down cross.

Newp.  Not good enough.  The upside-down cross has to incorporate shelving and Che has to be hand-carved in the drawer/cabinet fronts.
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Offline Weisshaupt

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