Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust

He is buying trailers at a deep discount and removing them from the parks.

Thanks for the further details. Very interesting.

[flintlock]

Re: Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust

During the boom, all the new home manufacturers were willing to put new homes on his lot with no money down to buyers paying $60 - 75k for the home. As soon as the financing disappeared in 2008, the homes lost 75% of their value.

This confirms my belief that some people can sell ice to eskimos.

I saw the same type activity around here. Manufactured homes selling at a higher per ft price than stick built homes. Only due to easy financing though. When that dried up, so did the MH business.

[Spartacus]

Re: Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust

You can get a decently equipped 1200 sq ft trailer manufactured home for under $40K.

For the gas mileage and the unobtrusiveness I would prefer a used Honda Element with a portable gas stove & a futon, with some modifications to prevent the windows fogging up (which in an urban area at night makes it kind of obvious someone's in there ... )

If I couldn't afford that, a late 80s Toyota Tercel hatchback with the rear seats taken out. LOVED those cars. Even Jaws from (of James Bond fame) or the con artist that goes by the moniker "Tony Robbins" would find that roomy.

[dbarberic]

Re: Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust

If I was on my own (sans wife and kids), I'd would love to adopt the "tiny house" lifestyle. Lots of positives: pay cash, pick up and move at will, live in a high quality, super efficient home (although small), rather than a mobile home or tent. I could easily see myself having a lot of time on my hands to pursue passions and hobbies.

[don]

Re: Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust

Cali has been in the small house market for some time. Here's an update:


Stanton Miniature Foreclosure

12671 BRIARGLEN LOOP C, Stanton, CA 90680
Beds: 1
Baths: 1
Square feet: 673

This is a condo in a lower priced city in Orange. The thing about condos especially in Orange is that they usually carry a hefty HOA monthly bill. For this place, it looks like the HOA is $201 a month. This is nearly on par with the monthly property tax amount. Let us take a look inside:


“Yup, looks like 673 square feet to me.”

Let us look at some listing history here:


The last sale occurred in 2001 for $112,000. So you might be asking, how can this be a foreclosure if the current listing price is $163,900? This was a 643 square foot home equity machine. The story is familiar yet who in the world would make home equity loans on a 643 square foot condo in Stanton? Any takers at $163,900?

With 10 percent down the monthly payment would be:

PITI + HOA = $1,219 ($16,390 down payment)

Is this a good deal? Well a bigger rental can be had for $990:

Either way, prices might start to make more sense in these markets if you are really set to own a place and stay put for a very long time. But you better be ready to stay in suspended animation in these markets because if interest rates rise, you won’t have such a large pool of potential buyers in the future (and is there a large pool for this home even today?).

Compton

2008 E ORIS ST, Compton, CA 90222
Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Square feet: 634

The above home is even smaller than the Stanton home but is selling for half the price. I love how the ad tells us this is a “spacious” two bedroom home. Keep in mind these are active listings. I think many of you are getting flashbacks of 2006 but the prices are more reflective of the value of these homes. This home was an early riser to the housing bubble:



This home sold over and over (5 times in the last 15 years). Whoever bought in 1995 for $20,000 and sold for $105,000 in 1998 was the big winner. The home is now back below the 1998 level. What do you think this home is worth? Let us take a look inside:

“Remember, someone paid $120,000 for this home.”

The current listing price is $72,500. Is this a good deal? Do you want to be an aspiring landlord and purchase this as an investment property? Good luck to you since this needs thousands of dollars of rehab work. All of sudden those buy and flip HGTV shows don’t seem so plentiful on the media.

Artesia Mini Home

11925 169TH ST, Artesia, CA 90701
Beds: 1
Baths: 1
Square feet: 396

I had to save the best foreclosure for last. This lime green home of your dreams is the smallest of the three homes I’m featuring today. This home is a mega-mansion at 396 square feet! Some of you may have closets bigger than that but I doubt they have this kind of awesome coloring. Of course, whoever took the above picture had to leave the blue trash bin in site; and as you can see from the photo above, it is virtually half the size of the house. The good news is you can jump on the trash bin and hop on the roof to clean off the two leaves you’ll find there.

Let us look at the listing description in all its full cap glory:

“COZY 1 BEDROOM 1 BATH HOME THAT IS WAITING FOR YOU. THIS PROPERTY IS IDEAL FOR SOMEONE WHO IS JUST GETTING THEIR FOOT OUT THE DOOR AND STARTING THEIR LIFE! FEATURES 1 LARGE BEDROOM BATHROOM, GREAT OPEN KITCHEN WITH STOVE. FENCE AROUND PERMITIER OF PROPERTY FOR THAT EXTRA SECURITY EVERYONE WANTS”

I think the only thing you will get in is your foot. Let us take a look inside:


“Not for Barbie usage.”

This home is currently listed for sale at $119,900. People forget that these are homes that are selling right now. Full on active listings here in SoCal. Think this will help comps in these areas? If they aren’t selling at these price levels you will see prices go down. And frankly, for the two 600 square foot homes and definitely the 300 square foot home these are incredibly overpriced. But maybe I’m showing my bias against lime green homes and boarded up windows.

Today we salute you Stanton, Compton, and Artesia with our Real Homes of Genius Award.

http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/t...n-and-stanton/

[flintlock]

Re: Tiny house movement thrives amid real estate bust

I saw a house similar to that one in Compton on some house flipping show a few years ago. I was amazed at what people would pay for something like that.

Talking about the mini houses, for the money I think I'd rather have a used RV to tool around in. If I'm going to go small then at least I can change the scenery that way.
A college buddy of mine lived on his 35' boat for several years after his divorce. He didn't seem to mind.