Author Topic: Buy illegal tiny house?  (Read 2568 times)

clairebonk

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Buy illegal tiny house?
« on: July 25, 2020, 05:30:21 PM »
We found a really nice 380sq ft house built on a trailer that the owners want to sell. They bought an RV, stripped it, and built their house which is now on family land. They want to sell. The problem is, they can't register it with the DMV so technically can't move it- its an oversize load so you have to notify each city you drive through (3). Once it gets to our property, we have plenty of space and have checked all the boxes for regulations in other cities which have legal tiny houses (San Jose, CA ex). Well, except for register with DMV.

It's a really good deal because we'd be able to pay our monthly mortgage from the rent. This significantly decreases the amount of time needed to FIRE. Plus, in the time of shelter-in-place, we'd welcome more people in our neighborhood.

Is the risk worth the reward? Lots of kinks to work out. The best solution would be for the sellers to get it registered with the DMV but we don't think that's even possible. If they take all the risk moving it to our property, we're still stuck with it in case our city notices it and requires us to move it. Which we couldn't do, because it's not registered with the DMV....

Keep pursuing this somehow or throw our hand in the air?

Another Reader

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2020, 05:37:31 PM »
We found a really nice 380sq ft house built on a trailer that the owners want to sell. They bought an RV, stripped it, and built their house which is now on family land. They want to sell. The problem is, they can't register it with the DMV so technically can't move it- its an oversize load so you have to notify each city you drive through (3). Once it gets to our property, we have plenty of space and have checked all the boxes for regulations in other cities which have legal tiny houses (San Jose, CA ex). Well, except for register with DMV.

It's a really good deal because we'd be able to pay our monthly mortgage from the rent. This significantly decreases the amount of time needed to FIRE. Plus, in the time of shelter-in-place, we'd welcome more people in our neighborhood.

Is the risk worth the reward? Lots of kinks to work out. The best solution would be for the sellers to get it registered with the DMV but we don't think that's even possible. If they take all the risk moving it to our property, we're still stuck with it in case our city notices it and requires us to move it. Which we couldn't do, because it's not registered with the DMV....

Keep pursuing this somehow or throw our hand in the air?

You want to do this in Walnut Creek, California??  @Dicey , what do YOU think?

marble_faun

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2020, 06:30:45 PM »
Would it be less hassle to just build your own tiny house?

SndcxxJ

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2020, 07:15:53 PM »
Can it be put on a trailer or somehow legally towed?
A lot of equipment that is not road legal can be legally moved on a semi trailer or something of that sort.  How far does it need to travel? 
« Last Edit: July 25, 2020, 07:18:15 PM by SndcxxJ »

Papa bear

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2020, 07:22:15 PM »
Your plan is to move it and then rent it? Is that how I’m reading this?

If it is, then you can expense all the costs of getting it ready to rent, including the costs of moving it to your property. 

How much are you talking here, though? I agree with the above poster, would it make more sense for you to just build a small house on an actual foundation for this purpose?  Or even get a manufactured home brought on site.


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FINate

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2020, 07:43:16 PM »
Oversize load that cannot be registered? Nope! How much does it weigh, is it even safe to tow? Does anyone even know? I've seen these custom RV/trailer rebuilds... tear out all the light-weight materials specifically used to stay within weight limits and replace with solid wood, tile, cement, etc. The liability isn't worth the risk, and I'm not talking about getting caught, but rather it tipping or otherwise losing control and killing someone. You *may* find someone willing to tow it on a flatbed, though this will be expensive.

Also, I don't understand the legal situation of renting once on your property. The whole point of a tiny house on wheels in the Bay Area is to circumvent the planning and permitting process that NIMBYs use to stop most new development and/or make it prohibitively expensive to build. So typically you can put a tiny home on your property, but you cannot legally rent it out as an inhabited dwelling. Usually this means hoping that fussy neighbors don't notice or report you to the city/county. If you do get reported it's not a simple matter of moving the house or terminating the rental. There are pretty severe repercussions for landlords renting illegal units.
« Last Edit: July 25, 2020, 07:46:53 PM by FINate »

Dicey

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2020, 08:35:53 PM »
Oversize load that cannot be registered? Nope! How much does it weigh, is it even safe to tow? Does anyone even know? I've seen these custom RV/trailer rebuilds... tear out all the light-weight materials specifically used to stay within weight limits and replace with solid wood, tile, cement, etc. The liability isn't worth the risk, and I'm not talking about getting caught, but rather it tipping or otherwise losing control and killing someone. You *may* find someone willing to tow it on a flatbed, though this will be expensive.

Also, I don't understand the legal situation of renting once on your property. The whole point of a tiny house on wheels in the Bay Area is to circumvent the planning and permitting process that NIMBYs use to stop most new development and/or make it prohibitively expensive to build. So typically you can put a tiny home on your property, but you cannot legally rent it out as an inhabited dwelling. Usually this means hoping that fussy neighbors don't notice or report you to the city/county. If you do get reported it's not a simple matter of moving the house or terminating the rental. There are pretty severe repercussions for landlords renting illegal units.
FINATE, your first paragraph is spot on. However, that second paragraph is riddled with errors not up to date. The laws involving ADU's have changed dramatically in the very recent past. To the OP's question, I'd need more details to formulate an answer. @clairebonk, feel free to PM me. Another Reader is right, I am in that general area. I do know someone in Code Enforcement who could probably help. I suspect you could move it as a house, which would be costlier, but avoid the registration issue.

FINate

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2020, 08:55:57 PM »
FINATE, your first paragraph is spot on. However, that second paragraph is riddled with errors not up to date. The laws involving ADU's have changed dramatically in the very recent past. To the OP's question, I'd need more details to formulate an answer. @clairebonk, feel free to PM me. Another Reader is right, I am in that general area. I do know someone in Code Enforcement who could probably help. I suspect you could move it as a house, which would be costlier, but avoid the registration issue.

Thanks for the correction :)

ManyMountains

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2020, 09:23:57 AM »
Hi All - thanks for the replies! I'm filling in for my partner, Claire, who started this discussion originally.

@SndcxxJ - There is a way to put I-beams under the trailer and tiny house, use a crane to lift it up and place it on a low-boy trailer. Then, it would be safe and legal to move it. However, it would also thousands of dollars more expensive and bring a lot more attention to our efforts. The cheapest, fastest but likely illegal way to move it would be just to pull it here. We are worried, as @FINate pointed out, that the current owners essentially built a regular house on a trailer so it is much heavier and not designed for the road. Might it be fine being moved ten miles? Who would be responsible for the risk? Is it worth it?

@FINate and @Dicey are both kind of right. A tiny house in CA, specifically HCOL places like the SF Bay Area, can circumvent permit departments and expensive construction of a legal ADU. It also minimizes construction time at our site. Laws have changed recently from the state level that now remove a lot of the local (NIMBY) rules that severely limited the construction of ADUs. However, the new laws haven't addressed tiny houses, so they are still technically illegal. Some cities, like San Jose and SLO, have even expressly allowed and even encouraged tiny houses on trailers to be installed to help with the housing crisis.

In our case, by renting it, we would have a 3 yr payback after which, it would be enough to cover our mortgage. As discussed, transporting it here is an issue because of how it was built, so our demand of the seller is essentially going to be: we'll buy it but you deliver it. This brings the cost, complexity and risk out of our part of the equation. But it doesn't eliminate the risk of now owning and renting an un-permitted tiny house / ADU.

We don't want to draw attention to the tiny house. We are at the end of a private court. We share a long property line with one neighbor, who many years ago doubled the size of their house, including adding their own  (permitted) rental unit. Their house is quite far away from our tiny house spot. Behind us a very large property with lots of trees and a natural drainage area that will never be built upon. The tiny house is 10 ft tall, has the same roof slope and paint color as our house. We'll put greenery and fencing around it. In summary, we don't anticipate problems from neighbors and it will fit in well with our house and property. However, it will still be somewhat visible from the street and definitely visible from satellite. If the tiny house isn't permitted, we will always run the risk of running afoul of local code. Is it worth the risk? What are the punishments?

To @marble_faun 's question - we have thought about building our own tiny house and I have the knowledge and ability to do it, but that would involve many many stressful months of construction on our property (we have young kids) and annoyance to our neighbors. It would be nice to custom build it, but then too I would agonize over all the decisions and have to spend a lot of time shopping for the right materials and supplies. But buying one, used and local, would mean ~1 week of work to get it installed. In our area, the cost of permitted new construction is around $500 sq ft. (I've heard this from numerous reliable sources over the last several years). Our potential tiny house is less than $200 per sq ft.


FINate

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2020, 09:46:18 AM »
As we're finding out on this thread, this stuff is hyper local. You'll need to enquire locally to learn more of the potential liabilities.  I actually don't know: what is the insurance situation with illegal THOWs?

Legal issues aside, please make sure it at least has smoke/CO detectors, adequate unobstructed emergency egress, and complies with health and safety codes.

In my (very recent) former city, landlords were responsible for relocation assistance of 3 months of market rate rent to tenants evicted from illegal and/or unsafe housing. [https://www.tobenerlaw.com/santa-cruz-tenant-protections/] And that's on top of whatever fines and other remediation required. A restaurant down the block from us got caught housing employees in an unused area of the building and were shutdown and red tagged. Two years later and it's still boarded up. Not saying they will necessarily red tag you, but then I don't know your local ordinances.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2020, 09:49:27 AM by FINate »

ManyMountains

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2020, 12:27:55 PM »
I don't think we could get the THOW insured. Normally, when they are made to RV code, they can be registered at the DMV and then insured through vehicle insurance. On the flip side, what we like about this particular tiny house is that it doesn't look or feel like a tiny house - no loft, wider than 7.5 ft, and no funky toilet or mini shower. It would appeal to more people, like potential renters or (think longterm) if our elderly parents want to move in.

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #11 on: July 26, 2020, 01:07:13 PM »
So it would be both illegal to move the tiny house and illegal to put it on your property?  Please, no.

What is the problem with buying a pre-fabricated ADU to put on your property that would be legal? It sounds as though you will be able to get enough rent to still make this venture profitable if you do it legally.

Can the tiny house be taken off its trailer? If it was off its trailer would it be legal to move it and put it on your property?

FINate

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #12 on: July 26, 2020, 01:43:02 PM »
If you cannot insure it then code enforcement and tenant protections are the least of your concerns. IMO, you're taking on potentially life altering liability moving it and/or having people live in it w/o insurance.

maisymouser

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #13 on: July 26, 2020, 05:48:20 PM »
Been there done that on the tiny house front & renting it out. My experience: Never again. Too much liability, too little $. One "bad" tenant and you're SOL with legal fees, etc.... Not to mention the county/locality.

Goldielocks

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #14 on: July 27, 2020, 10:37:46 AM »
What is the difference between and ADU and a tiny home?   

Why can't this "not a RV/ Trailer" be considered an ADU once installed at your place?  Do you have specific permitting or code items that need to be followed that this doesn't conform to?

I suppose you looked into this, but if the trailer deck is fine, could you get a Tow truck to bring it to you?  One that loads it onto their trailer? Rather than I beams and a lowboy trailer.  It has wheels, and you already think it is able to go on the road, etc.  So it should be able to be loaded?  You still need oversize permits.

theoverlook

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #15 on: July 27, 2020, 11:07:36 AM »
You should not need I beams and a crane if it currently rolls, just to load it onto a low boy using a tow vehicle. The cost to haul it should be rounding error compared to the cost of buying the building and the cost of the lawsuits and code violation fines you'll rack up.

I tend to be pretty liberal about what I'll risk with motor vehicles as long as it's safe. 10 miles and you'd really be fine towing it to your house. But I wouldn't buy it and rent it out for anything if it can't be insured and wouldn't be code legal. To use for your needs, including maybe a guest house? Sure. But as soon as money changes hands and someone's living there year round it's a different story and I wouldn't ever want to be involved.

Papa bear

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #16 on: July 27, 2020, 02:05:23 PM »
2 big things you still haven’t answered.

What’s this cost?
Why not build your own, real building?


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ManyMountains

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #17 on: July 27, 2020, 03:31:27 PM »
Cost for the tiny house is $70k, plus ~$10k for install. So that is about $200 sq/ft. New construction costs are about $500 sq/ft in our area, so the build a structure of the same size and quality would be closer to $200k. I know that sounds crazy, but it is what it is. I could do a lot of the work myself, but that would still require a similar amount of cost plus a lot of my labor (plus hiring some help). And it would mean our home is a construction zone for 6-12 months instead of one week with a tiny home.




former player

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #18 on: July 27, 2020, 05:38:46 PM »
If you are saving $120k on build costs by buying this tiny house then you can afford to put $$$ into the cost of moving it legally by putting it on a low loader.

The other question is: what is it about this tiny house when on your place that makes it not legal when an ADU would be legal?  I would have thought there would be a way to take it off the trailer and put in on a proper foundation: would that make it legal?  You could have that done for $$$ and still come out ahead on the construction costs of the ADU.

If you want this to happen, you need to put the work into making it happen legally.

cchrissyy

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #19 on: July 27, 2020, 05:47:48 PM »
https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/07/27/123-year-old-berkeley-ca-house-moved-downtown-streets

i don't know the laws and process but based on this article there are companies in the bay area who know how to move a house. contact them?

Papa bear

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #20 on: July 27, 2020, 06:29:27 PM »
Cost for the tiny house is $70k, plus ~$10k for install. So that is about $200 sq/ft. New construction costs are about $500 sq/ft in our area, so the build a structure of the same size and quality would be closer to $200k. I know that sounds crazy, but it is what it is. I could do a lot of the work myself, but that would still require a similar amount of cost plus a lot of my labor (plus hiring some help). And it would mean our home is a construction zone for 6-12 months instead of one week with a tiny home.
Holy forking fork is that insane. 500/sf is nuts.  I can get a small 400sf size on slab for around 150/sf when I was back of napkining our plans for some. 


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Dicey

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #21 on: July 28, 2020, 01:19:42 AM »
Cost for the tiny house is $70k, plus ~$10k for install. So that is about $200 sq/ft. New construction costs are about $500 sq/ft in our area, so the build a structure of the same size and quality would be closer to $200k. I know that sounds crazy, but it is what it is. I could do a lot of the work myself, but that would still require a similar amount of cost plus a lot of my labor (plus hiring some help). And it would mean our home is a construction zone for 6-12 months instead of one week with a tiny home.
Holy forking fork is that insane. 500/sf is nuts.  I can get a small 400sf size on slab for around 150/sf when I was back of napkining our plans for some. 
One of the many differences between Bay Area, CA and Ohio...

dragoncar

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #22 on: July 28, 2020, 04:26:51 AM »
Interested to see how this goes.  My jaw dropped at the price tag.  Is it really $500/sqft for an ADU out here?  I've been thinking of doing a 120sqft "studio" that doesn't need a permit but I also don't plan to rent it out.  Could use a separate in-law unit though.

Maybe I missed it, but how far does it have to go? ah ten miles  I wouldn't personally take the risk but maybe the seller would drive it out.  We already know they like to push the limits.  If it all falls apart at mile 5, you've just lost your $70k plus cleanup costs and maybe even a defense lawyer.  At that point you'll wish you just built your own.  Are you a gambler?
« Last Edit: July 28, 2020, 04:31:34 AM by dragoncar »

Fishindude

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #23 on: July 28, 2020, 07:52:43 AM »
A house built on a salvaged RV frame.   No thanks, sounds like it was jerry rigged from the start.

the_fixer

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #24 on: July 28, 2020, 09:49:26 AM »
Cost for the tiny house is $70k, plus ~$10k for install. So that is about $200 sq/ft. New construction costs are about $500 sq/ft in our area, so the build a structure of the same size and quality would be closer to $200k. I know that sounds crazy, but it is what it is. I could do a lot of the work myself, but that would still require a similar amount of cost plus a lot of my labor (plus hiring some help). And it would mean our home is a construction zone for 6-12 months instead of one week with a tiny home.
I am not sure you can really compare the PSF between the two.

With the construction you would get permits, inspections and a legal space that adds value.

With the illegal tiny house you are getting something that is not permitted, not permanent, not inspected and I would have to think would add very little to the value of your property and might even make it harder to sell.

——

I would think that you could find someone that would build an non permitted non inspected tiny house onsite for close to that $200 figure and in far less than 6 - 12 months. Honestly if it took them more than a month or two I would be  surprised.

It sounds like you fell in lust with this tiny house and you are trying to justify it warts and all.


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Dicey

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #25 on: July 28, 2020, 02:41:59 PM »
Interested to see how this goes.  My jaw dropped at the price tag.  Is it really $500/sqft for an ADU out here?  I've been thinking of doing a 120sqft "studio" that doesn't need a permit but I also don't plan to rent it out.  Could use a separate in-law unit though.

Maybe I missed it, but how far does it have to go? ah ten miles  I wouldn't personally take the risk but maybe the seller would drive it out.  We already know they like to push the limits.  If it all falls apart at mile 5, you've just lost your $70k plus cleanup costs and maybe even a defense lawyer.  At that point you'll wish you just built your own.  Are you a gambler?
Here is how one clever guy did it for less. It's kind of buried in the middle of the article, but worth the dig. There may be another article on the topic, but this is what I could find. Note that this was done before the new ADU laws were enacted in CA.

https://granolashotgun.com/2016/06/14/affordable-housing-that-might-have-been/


This gives you a later glimpse of it and is interesting as hell all on its own. The video is almost half an hour long but worth the time. BTW, Johnny is a total prepper and runs the always interesting "Granola Shotgun" blog.

https://faircompanies.com/videos/bottom-up-urbanism-solves-urgent-housing-needs-in-ca-vicinity/

ManyMountains

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #26 on: July 29, 2020, 09:31:47 AM »
Well, thank you all for the good questions and honest opinions. You all made some excellent points and we are very grateful for your help. We have decided not to buy that tiny house.

Now are options are to either wait until our town changes the codes to allow tiny houses on wheels (THOW), or we build a legal Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU, aka granny flat, in-law unit). We are leaning towards the latter as we can start on it as soon as we want, design it to our specifications, and I can do some of the work. The downside, as mentioned before, is that it will make our property a construction zone for much of the next year, it will probably cost more than we anticipate, and it will cost more than a tiny house (but also have the upside of improving our property value).

FWIW, a friend in our area recently completed a small structure on his property that cost $472 sq/ft. It was a fairly basic tiny house on foundation (not on wheels).

Papa bear

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #27 on: July 29, 2020, 09:51:09 AM »
Why not build a garage, but rough it in for mechanicals so that it could be converted to an ADU when the laws change? 


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Dicey

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #28 on: July 29, 2020, 11:42:23 AM »
Why not build a garage, but rough it in for mechanicals so that it could be converted to an ADU when the laws change? 
Now there's an interesting idea. ;-)

Papa bear

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #29 on: July 29, 2020, 12:01:08 PM »
Why not build a garage, but rough it in for mechanicals so that it could be converted to an ADU when the laws change? 
Now there's an interesting idea. ;-)
Did I steal your idea? I’m good at taking what other people say and just yell louder about it.


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MissPeach

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #30 on: July 29, 2020, 12:04:11 PM »
I looked into tiny houses in CA and in some cities it's legal to live in the tiny house/RV if you're doing construction on your property. I know several cities allow that in CA. It might be an in-between loophole that might help.

FINate

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #31 on: July 29, 2020, 01:32:50 PM »
Well, thank you all for the good questions and honest opinions. You all made some excellent points and we are very grateful for your help. We have decided not to buy that tiny house.

Now are options are to either wait until our town changes the codes to allow tiny houses on wheels (THOW), or we build a legal Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU, aka granny flat, in-law unit). We are leaning towards the latter as we can start on it as soon as we want, design it to our specifications, and I can do some of the work. The downside, as mentioned before, is that it will make our property a construction zone for much of the next year, it will probably cost more than we anticipate, and it will cost more than a tiny house (but also have the upside of improving our property value).

FWIW, a friend in our area recently completed a small structure on his property that cost $472 sq/ft. It was a fairly basic tiny house on foundation (not on wheels).

IMO this is a wise decision.

Before you start designing, it may be helpful to get in contact with someone or a group that has experience with ADUs in your area. Lots of things have changed lately, and I think(?) there are now certain things you can do to ensure a non-discretionary planning and permitting process within a guaranteed timeline. Your local YIMBY chapter may be a good starting point, or ask around to see if there are organizations that specialize in this area.

Dicey

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #32 on: July 29, 2020, 02:06:07 PM »
Well, thank you all for the good questions and honest opinions. You all made some excellent points and we are very grateful for your help. We have decided not to buy that tiny house.

Now are options are to either wait until our town changes the codes to allow tiny houses on wheels (THOW), or we build a legal Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU, aka granny flat, in-law unit). We are leaning towards the latter as we can start on it as soon as we want, design it to our specifications, and I can do some of the work. The downside, as mentioned before, is that it will make our property a construction zone for much of the next year, it will probably cost more than we anticipate, and it will cost more than a tiny house (but also have the upside of improving our property value).

FWIW, a friend in our area recently completed a small structure on his property that cost $472 sq/ft. It was a fairly basic tiny house on foundation (not on wheels).

IMO this is a wise decision.

Before you start designing, it may be helpful to get in contact with someone or a group that has experience with ADUs in your area. Lots of things have changed lately, and I think(?) there are now certain things you can do to ensure a non-discretionary planning and permitting process within a guaranteed timeline. Your local YIMBY chapter may be a good starting point, or ask around to see if there are organizations that specialize in this area.
As crazy as this sounds @ManyMountains, we've found our city's Building Department to be a wonderful source of help. We had some unusual limitations on what we could spend on our last flip house (due to flood plane restrictions). They were super helpful in guiding us through what needed to be permitted and what didn't have to be and offering workaround suggestions. They were wonderfully responsive, to our neverending delight.

Xlar

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #33 on: July 29, 2020, 03:57:07 PM »
Cost for the tiny house is $70k, plus ~$10k for install. So that is about $200 sq/ft. New construction costs are about $500 sq/ft in our area, so the build a structure of the same size and quality would be closer to $200k. I know that sounds crazy, but it is what it is. I could do a lot of the work myself, but that would still require a similar amount of cost plus a lot of my labor (plus hiring some help). And it would mean our home is a construction zone for 6-12 months instead of one week with a tiny home.

For $70k it seems like you could by a brand new proper tiny house from a legit company? Something like: https://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/design-your-tumbleweed/?model=Roanoke%2026

Dicey

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #34 on: July 29, 2020, 04:07:14 PM »
Cost for the tiny house is $70k, plus ~$10k for install. So that is about $200 sq/ft. New construction costs are about $500 sq/ft in our area, so the build a structure of the same size and quality would be closer to $200k. I know that sounds crazy, but it is what it is. I could do a lot of the work myself, but that would still require a similar amount of cost plus a lot of my labor (plus hiring some help). And it would mean our home is a construction zone for 6-12 months instead of one week with a tiny home.

For $70k it seems like you could by a brand new proper tiny house from a legit company? Something like: https://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/design-your-tumbleweed/?model=Roanoke%2026
IIRC, the one in question was considerably larger than the lovely Roanoke, which was the root of the problem. And yeah, any decent tiny house aficionado knows Tumbleweed Houses. They were featured on The Profit in 2017:

https://www.theprofitupdates.com/2017/11/the-profit-tumbleweed-tiny-house-company.html

And then there's this:

https://businessden.com/2020/03/12/tiny-home-manufacturer-featured-on-cnbc-show-the-profit-files-for-bankruptcy/

cchrissyy

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #35 on: July 29, 2020, 05:08:00 PM »
https://www.shedshop.com/

these guys have a showroom in Hayward

dragoncar

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #36 on: July 29, 2020, 05:49:57 PM »
Why not build a garage, but rough it in for mechanicals so that it could be converted to an ADU when the laws change? 


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I believe the laws are already there for ADUs so there’s no need to wait.  OP is waiting on le change for tiny house on wheels. 




theoverlook

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #37 on: July 30, 2020, 08:48:53 AM »

Here is how one clever guy did it for less. It's kind of buried in the middle of the article, but worth the dig. There may be another article on the topic, but this is what I could find. Note that this was done before the new ADU laws were enacted in CA.

https://granolashotgun.com/2016/06/14/affordable-housing-that-might-have-been/


This gives you a later glimpse of it and is interesting as hell all on its own. The video is almost half an hour long but worth the time. BTW, Johnny is a total prepper and runs the always interesting "Granola Shotgun" blog.

https://faircompanies.com/videos/bottom-up-urbanism-solves-urgent-housing-needs-in-ca-vicinity/
That was really interesting! That guy has a good writing style and an interesting perspective to read. Even his comments below the article were interesting. How many times can I say interesting in a single line reply?

PDXTabs

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Re: Buy illegal tiny house?
« Reply #38 on: July 30, 2020, 02:27:34 PM »
I would consider moving an illegally wide load (S2 7.9 owners do it all the time). I would not buy it if you don't have a legal place to put it.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!