Curious what others think about these options. My husband and I are rapidly approaching retirement, and are planning a move to the Portland, Oregon area. In fact, a realtor is coming by tomorrow to do a walk-through, though our house needs so much work inside and a roof that it will most likely be the only one required. We have taken a huge amount off the market value to assure an investor can do the repairs and still make a profit, we believe what we have in mind for an initial and lowest price is well within reason. We are looking at several options, including getting a camper/truck, or RV then obtaining land and placing a mobile or prefab home on the lot. We had thought of building a tiny home on wheels though there appears to be several laws related to tiny homes and camping, even on personal land so not sure that's going to be the best option. At any rate, was curious to hear from people who may be living any or all of these lifestyles in retirement at the moment and the pros and cons of each- I greatly appreciate your help and feedback on this issue. All the best, Sky
We were in the province earlier this month and my husband had planned to have an overnight stay in one resort called CWC - Camsur Watersports Complex. they have cottages and trailer homes. The target of my husband is the trailer home, just to experience because his parents stayed in a trailer home for months in California. Unfortunately, my sister had other plans and we were not able to have an overnight stay in that resort. I am also amused with the trailer home to think that it is a complete home that is portable, so to speak.
I've never much like trailer homes because I've always thought they looked tacky and, of course, they are usually not built well. But, at sixty-five, and having had two cancers already, I think I can safely assume that I wouldn't really need a home that will last fifty years, so a trailer might do just fine. In many ways, a house trailer is a tiny home, although there are some quite large ones. The advantage of something like a motor home would be that you could easily pack it up and move again, or take your home with you on a vacation. I know my wife would like to sell our house and buy a motor home. I wouldn't look forward to living with three cats in a motor home, and I strongly suspect my cats aren't either.
Very interesting! Have you obsessively watched all Tiny House shows on TV and many videos on YouTube like I have? I couldn't do the tiny on wheels thing but a permanent tiny house I'd love. Things may not be as simple though as some of these programs try to hint at, since not all areas allow these places. Portland area is not cheap either. So you are looking for land with a manufactured home eventually on it? Sounds good to me. I'm looking for one in a park. That's not for everyone I know. Ken brought up a good point regarding pets, if you plan to live very small for a time and you have any. I think an RV would be preferable to a tiny house for it's movability. And RV parks are not hard to find. Would allow you to do some traveling around to find where you want to stay permanently. Would you put things in storage?
In case you haven't thought of this; A movable home whether a trailer or motor home, will not be connected to a sewer. The "honey pot" will have to be emptied regularly. Most RV parks and campgrounds have a place for this but you'll have to move your camper to the place. Just one thing to consider as you decide what to do.
LOL. Remember the movie RV? I know with a lot of the Tiny House shows I've watched, it seems they are sitting in the middle of a field and I wonder about water and disposal also. Even with a composting toilet, the shower and sink water and then fresh water needs to come into the place.
No one wants to film the inevitable emptying of the wastes from a compost toilet. On the low end of the tech scale, a compost toilet is very much like crapping in a bucket while, on the high end, it's like crapping in a bucket with a chemistry set and a fan.
I think that the best answer might be different for each person. I definitely do NOT want one of the tiny homes. I would not mind having an RV and traveling some; but I do not want to lose having a real home to do that. Years ago, when I was in my mid-50's , I did the thing of putting an older mobile home on property, and then had to go through living without electricity and water until I was able to afford it. I would not do that again either. However, I still think that it is a good idea, just not for me anymore. I was pushing it, doing that alone in my mid-50's, and now that i am almost 72, it just does not make sense for me. Some places have trailer houses in parks that have been rentals, and they need work, and the park owner does not want to do that anymore. I have seen theses trailers advertised for free, providing that you fix and repair what is needed on the trailer and pay the lot rent. I can see us doing something along that line if the park was someplace where we wanted to live. It is an affordable way to own your own home, and still not have to start from scratch putting in septic and electricity, which can be very expensive.
After living in this neighborhood for 7 years and seeing how quickly an area can change, I prefer the idea of an RV that can be moved or placed on a preferably large lot, not in an RV or trailer park, or a modular home on private land. Although when I moved here, the plan was to eventually purchase the place and live here forever, if I'm every able to, I'd like to get out of here and do one of those options first mentioned. I would like to not be exposed to other people's pets or their disruptive lifestyles. A tiny home is too tiny for me, but something around 1,000 square feet or even a little smaller, maybe 750 or up would probably work.
I am currently looking into modular homes. They can be built to code and some of them are really nice. Of course my friend reminded me that you have to have a lot, however, I am going to look in a community that is in the area I want to be in, and see how much it would be. I have been very impressed with the homes, if I could get a deal on the lot, it might work. There was a huge one on the end of our street in a log cabin style that was constructed in about 3 days...and when I walked down there about a year later,,,the whole thing was gone...the people moved it out without me even knowing..I was surprised!
I understand. When I lived in a stick built neighborhood house, it was the worst housing experience of my adult life. People were jerks. Blasting stereos in their back yard. Loud surround sound TV. Dogs left unattended to bark. Nasty kids, with nasty parents. So am I. Looking for already established in a park. I'd love a modular tiny home but I don't think most parks take them. For me tiny would be 350-500 square feet. I would never go up a loft to sleep.
Well, I think you have to be in an area, that has those types of homes. There is a small development I know of, that has all of those pre fab modular homes. The development I live in doesn't allow "trailers" but a modular home is something different, that is why the one I was talking about was here. Anyway, I am going to look at some in an area where I think I want to live.
Yes, I think there may be a difference to Manufactured vs modular. To clarify, manufactured/trailer/mobile home, is what I'm looking for. We have several all adult parks.