I haven't lived on site during construction (yet!) but I've read plenty of threads about it. I think it depends a lot on your attitude going in. Some families take it in stride, others are miserable the whole time. I would embrace the casual lifestyle, and remember that in many parts of the world, you would be considered to be living in luxury! As for moving out to the country, I've lived in both places over the years. For me, country life far out-weighs any of the inconveniences. We have acreage in rural SC, and can't wait to get out of the crowded expensive exurbs we live in now. You need to plan ahead when shopping, esp. if something you need isn't available in your small town. At the price of gas these days, you don't want to run to the store constantly. Some people aren't cut out for country life, freaking out when a critter gets in the house, or the dog comes home covered in mud and burrs, or you have to check the kids for ticks after they've been out catching fireflies. Other folks take it all in stride, in exchange for fresh air, beautiful scenery, abundant wildlife, and not worrying about being a victim of gang violence. To each, his or her own- good luck, and let us know how it goes for you.

Try searching for posts by TotallyBlessed. They are from NorCal and purchased a semi-finished winter home in Alabama. TB, her DH and their children lived in their RV on site while the house was being finished and moved in as soon as they could.

She's back in CA for a few months and on dial-up, so not posting much these days.

Good luck with your project!

Sounds SO wonderful! You will be able to see progress and it will enable you to keep the end in sight and stay hopeful and excited.

We DIY'd our house...a wonderful family project. We have 8 kids and lived in a 900 sq ft, 35yr old (falling apart more as time went on), single wide mobile home that was already on the property while we built (2 yrs). It was actually much better than we'd imagined it was going to be. The time working in the house and the ability to be out on our own property took the pressure off the small quarters...and we didn't have a pool or tennis courts to distract us. (Nice!) You just have to try to limit yourselves to the bare essentials so you don't get crowded out by 'stuff.' That was easy at the beginning, but as time went on and we got busier, it was harder to stay vigilant about that. The clutter can make it miserable pretty fast, so just keep it simple. I'd feared we might all get on each other's nerves, but it really did bring us all closer.

Remember that it's just temporary and makes interesting memories...and you REALLY appreciate the house when it's finished! :-)

We didn't live on-site. But, because our construction ran longer than planned, and we had sold the previous place, we had to move into a motel for six weeks. During which time we had a baby. Now that's fun! :)

Fortunately it was was our first child, so we didn't have to cope with (other) young children in the close quarters of a motel.

Also fortunately, DW and I have an excellent relationship, and were not fighting during the planning of this house, nor as its construction ran late.

It can be stressful. But if you stay focused on the goal, then the temporary stuff is over soon enough, and fades.

--Steve

We have done it twice. We bought acerage in the country and an old mobile home which we live in while we were building. Once we moved into the first house, we gave the mobile home to our son who moved it elsewhere on the acerage and set up his own home. Now we sold off the house and 3 acres (we have 25 left) and are building again. We are again living in a mobile home while we are building. It's been a long road, but we should be in the house by the end of the year. It's SO well worth it. The work site is a whole 10' away from the temporary housing.

This is what we will be doing soon. We sold our house, closed July 1, and the new owners gave us two months to move out, so in 41 days (and counting) we will be moving into our shop. Right now we are very stressed about getting the shop finished, we only have 1/2 the roof (1/2 of the metal was 15" short!!), so until we get the other 1/2, no elec, insul, etc...hopefully the supplier can pull their heads out of the sand and get it right, so we can get this finished!

Many people look at us like we're crazy for living out there, but I'm looking forward to it, no more running back and forth when we forget something, I can do laundry while we're working (no more late night laundry when we get home), and our poor doggies will be able to be with us (as soon as we can get their yard fenced in! Plus, I don't have to keep up a large house, just a small apartment in the shop!

I wish I could give you good advice, but we're just winging it as we go, one thing that I want is to make sure that the things we store will be easy to access so I don't have to wade through a mountain of boxes if I need something! Good luck, and just remember it's temporary!

Jenk, I don't think you're crazy at all. Sometimes in life we make sacrifices to get ahead. The first time we moved to the country as a young married couple (we both grew up in the city), we only lived there for 6 months and our mobile home burned to the ground. So we were 21 years old and homeless. We built our first home then. That county had no building codes, and we just winged it. We lived with his mother for a few months and moved in when the house was nothing but bare block walls. We heated with a wood stove made out of a 55 gallon barrel. It was so cold in there that the ice in the toilets froze in the winter!! But we survived, finished that house and later sold it, built a much larger one and sold that one and are now at the age of 50 we are building our forever home. When we moved from that big house into this little single wide, we bought a 40' long overseas shipping container to store our stuff in. I got a set of shelving from a Wal-mart going-out-of-business auction so everything we own is stored neatly in the container on shelves. Now the end of this build is finally in sight and we can soon move into the new house. And not a minute too soon.....I am getting WAY too old for this!! I laid a bunch of tile this weekend and don't remember getting so sore last time I did tile work. lol!

DH, me, the golden and the doxy lived in our 5th wheel for a couple of months...26 ft. living space- 12 ft. garage whch gave us a little over 200 sq ft living space. Although it wasn't on our lot we were only 1 mile away in a forest type campground. It's not something we would want to do as a steady diet. And it's hard when you have thousands of sq ft near by just waiting for you to move in. So like you, we were apprehensive but it actually turned out quite nice. I could run up to the lot/house in a flash.... we had the nightly bears to entertain us.... and DH and I found out we "actually LIKED each other!!!

:)

Keep in mind the big picture and know that it's all how you approach the challenge as to whether it's going to work or not.

I just wanted to send my warmest thanks to you all for replying and for putting my mind at ease. I suppose its just a confidence thing that I need to work on, that we CAN do it! and will do it and we will have our brand new home.

I am in Australia and my story is so similiar to yours in the US, you all have great stories to tell. The current owners are living in temp accomodation, portable large rooms, one is the bedroom, another the kitchen, another the bathroom etc etc, so we will arrange a storage shed for all of our "stuff" ans as someone said, just live with the essentials. And I think the home will be built much quicker if we are on site, and yes take advantage of our pool and tennis court!!!

I am very excited and really appreciate hearing your stories. Best wishes to you all.

Two years ago we bought 17acres and subdivided it into two lots, one for my inlaws, and one for us. My inlaws refused to rent and insisted on living in a trailer on the property. They didn't think anyone would rent to them with all of their animals.

We couldn't find anyone who would rent us a mobile home, and prices on them were out of our budget...so we bought a tow behind 33ft travel trailer. My inlaws, their 3 100lb dogs and 4 cats lived for 9 months in the 33ft trailer with my 12yo daughter spending weekends.

They hated living there, having trouble with the plumbing, which was hooked up to our well and a temp electrical permit for fence building. They had to drive to our house to spend the night a few times during severe storms...and when the AC went out during a heat wave...but over all...being on the property far outweighed all of that for them.

Getting to know the area, and their neighbors was the most important. Now they are in their new home, we are 3 weeks from closing on ours and everyone is thrilled. They suffered a little, but they loved maintaining their independence and being on their own land.

Laney