Today show....downsizing, building smaller homes?
booboo60
15 years ago
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mdev
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agojeff2718
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Smaller Homes/Apts of Yesteryear
Comments (22)We had the tiniest house (the family homestead) that we moved into to be with grandma after grandpa died. So there were 5, then 6 of us in that little house. Dad added a little onto it to make the living area larger, but honestly, now I don't know how we did it. We certainly never felt cramped, although we must have been. There was always someone bustling around in the kitchen or the garden. We kids had the run of the neighborhood and township and mom and dad never worried about us as long as we were home for dinner. It seems that the whole neighborhood came to our yard to play and as cramped as we were, there was no end to the family and friends that somehow stayed overnight. I guess we just made do without comparison and judgement. Dad worked hard at his own business and tho we never wanted for anything, we weren't excessive in anything either. Homework was at the kitchen table or on the living room floor; one TV, one radio, etc. My grandfather had the telephone installed on the utility porch, because he wouldn't have it in the house. When he died, it was brought into the living room, but whenever I see people walking around with cell phones and ear bugs, and i pads, I think grandpa would be spinning around in his grave. Small spaces made for family time; we went to bed early (except on monday nights, when we went to bed after I Love Lucy) and got up early; ate a real breakfast and walked a mile to school. As small as our house was, tables were set up end to end in the living room for big family/friends holiday dinners (the kids' table in the kitchen). I've lived in a lot of houses since those childhood days and have always preferred smallish houses....See MoreLifting the Foundation at Nancy's Smaller Home
Comments (39)Well, we were looking at houses in this neighborhood that were all remodeled and new-looking that were $239,000. But with a finished basement, too. Here, we got a larger lot for the dogs, which we needed at the time. We also got a much larger bedroom and a somewhat larger bedroom for Dad. We got the same bath and a half and two car garage and first floor laundry. Here we spent $202,000 but knew we needed to replace the furnace ASAP (the second or third year, my sis in law turned on the furnace without telling us. We had not yet had it checked out for the year and would never have turned it on. Luckily, the CO alarm went off at 3 am, or we would have all been dead. We had not yet replaced it because we were still holding/paying for the old house. Hummm. Gee, we still are, today, too!) We also knew we had original aluminum slider windows that needed to be replaced, patio door that needed to be replaced, and an old water heater. Suspected the AC needed replacement soon, too. We figured all those things were reflected in the lower price. We knew it had foundation problems in the past but were were not only told that they were fixed, but we were shown a letter from the company president of the company that put in the piers that they transferred the warranty to us! They did not guarantee that enough piers were put in or that the problem was fixed or that the homeowner had replaced the broken slab. Our inspector (recommended by a friend) should have wondered more about why there was a 1" difference between the foyer and the living room floors. There were step downs to the family room of 6" from the kitchen, 4" from the hall to the laundry room, and 4" from the front hall to the foyer. What was with 1"? It was all under plush carpet, so we could not tell anything. But an investigative mind could have gone over to a heat vent, pulled up the grate, and seen that there was not duct work coming up to the grate. I had no experience with homes of this era. Despite the RE agent being our agent, she did still represent the "sale" since we were not paying her hourly or paying her commission. So it was in her best interests not to wonder why the floor was a funny height there. But she probably knew something was up. If I was not so behind at work, I might have tried to sue the guy who sold us the house, but I was recovering from a heart attack when we discovered the issue, (I literally bought the bookcases for the project on the way home from the hospital!) and was recovering from shingles when Jim finished the project six months later. I missed three weeks to a month of work with the HA, and a full month with shingles. I do not think we would have bought the house with knowledge of the problem. We also bought the house intending to remodel the kitchen. No way did the price we paid also include the foundation work that needed to be done. We had replaced the doors, the water heater, the furnace and AC, and the electric service panel before we discovered the broken foundation. We replaced one window when we did the kitchen and were planning to replace the others when Jim did the Library work in the Living Room. We remodeled the kitchen the year before the foundation problem was discovered, but I used 24 year-old cabinets that I refinished! I bought a scratch and dent cooktop, a sink for $60 from Habitat Restore, met a stranger at a gas station to buy a half-price Danze faucet, and used Wilsonart countertops. I did the staining and painting myself. You all know that I cobbled together the Library from used furniture stores and Craigslist. No, I would not recommend buying another house with foundation problems unless you take an engineer with you to inspect the home thoroughly - getting under and behind whatever he/she needs to see. Then you get a signed contract for doing the work at a set price. THEN and only then do you know what it will cost you - preliminarily, because something else could turn up in doing the work! The guy who sold us this house had covered up all evidence of damage by taping the cracked corners and repainting. Well, why did not the home inspector wonder why 1. there is corner molding in all the corners of the laundry room, which adjoins the foyer, which adjoins the living room (Library for us) which had a floor that had fallen in and cracked in half and which the homeowner had built a false floor over? 2.Why there was new paneling in the garage (I am still afraid to take it off and find out what is behind it) 3. Why there is a new garage floor when there were no piers put in the garage area? Why didn't our inspector have us ask these questions? House inspections are a joke. If you have a relative or friend who knows something about buildings, have them accompany your inspector and "do" their own inspection....See MoreArticle today on yahoo - smaller house = more money
Comments (11)Have you considered this angle: Until recently, houses normally appreciate at about 5 to 6 percent annually. If you get a mortgage, that will cost you about 6 to 7 percent annually. You get some tax benefit from owning the home but by the time you pay it off, assuming no paying ahead, you will have paid back about three times what you borrow. Even if the house is worth three times what you paid for it, you really are only at a break-even. Of course you would have had to pay to live somewhere so at least while you are running the hamster wheel of financing a home, you will eventually own it somewhere down the road. Unless you regularly tap the equity like so many people have done recently. Vicious cycle. ~Scott~...See MoreBuilding a smaller passive solar/straw bale home
Comments (22)We can definitely plant all the trees we want. For tax purposes as much as possible of the 80 acres will be in "timber". Also there are quite a few young pines around the build site already. I love the idea of a hutch/furniture type pantry. I don't know that we will need a small freezer. We haven't had a use for one yet, though with a bigger garden that may change. If so I think it would likely end up on the porch. Shades of Idaho it sounds like you care for quite a few cats, I am sure they appreciate it. Sadly outdoor cats do not last long where we are building, a few too many predators. I suspect our cats would enjoy having access to a screened porch. I also realized that the plan would be better mirrored to put the back entry closer to our "garage". Below you can see a rough estimate of how the house would relate to an existing barn and the road. There are existing mature trees and shrubbery along the road south of the barn. I also like the idea of having my bedroom on the east side to catch some morning light and make getting up a little easier :). Then there seems there are two options, kitchen in the east or kitchen in the west. Kitchen in the East: better layout for most things, a bit farther for groceries but in a house this size no matter where the kitchen is you don't have to walk far... I do want to keep some sort of "desk" space, somewhere to put a router, charge laptops/cell phones, shove mail, keep office supplies. Not sure about the kitchen next to the bedroom for noise purposes. The kitchen is also farther from a screened porch, though once again not too far. Kitchen in the west: Better access to screened porch, better for groceries, quieter for bedroom. Living room is maybe a little more cramped and the kitchen layout is not as good. I haven't asked my husband to weigh in on the question yet but I feel like both have merits and we wouldn't be unhappy either way. :)...See Morebrutuses
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