Tiny Houses in Colorado

[Catherine+twins]

Here's a nice Colorado Public Radio piece. I grew up in La Junta, Co, so this caught my eye on the home-town page. Also, my kids and I drive through Walsenburg a couple of times a year, and we often comment about houses for sale. My step-mom has a summer condo up the valley from Walsenburg, too.

http://www.cpr.org/news/story/walsenbur ... =FBCPR5964

Catherine

[veetors]

Too cool!

[halfdome, Danny]

This tiny house thing is not for everyone.
If you get into one thinking you'll be saving money, it will only be in the short term, since you won't be gaining the appreciation over the years like a standard house would.
A home is the largest investment someone will make, so why invest tiny & live in something you'll regret as you age, like when you can't get up into the loft anymore.
The realtor who I bought our house through said it broke her heart watching young couples buying a mobile as their first home, only to see it depreciate in value.
They lost money & would have been better off buying a regular house.
Our home, not including the shop, is less than the average size home in the USA, and is fine for us.
We've made upgrades over the years, and continue to do so, it's quite comfortable for us and we're not crawling over each other like in a tiny house.
Wouldn't want to live in anything smaller.
Just my 2 cents worth. Danny

[PKCSPT]

I would go tiny in a heartbeat if I were single, but I would want it on a foundation not wheels. In our neighborhood there are a few older homes under 500 ft.

[Catherine+twins]

I would go tiny in a heartbeat if I were single, but I would want it on a foundation not wheels. In our neighborhood there are a few older homes under 500 ft.

In the article it points out that Walsenburg has changed its zoning to accept tiny homes, but ONLY ON FOUNDATIONS, NOT ON TRAILERS. So that concern is covered.

Catherine

[Catherine+twins]

This tiny house thing is not for everyone.
If you get into one thinking you'll be saving money, it will only be in the short term, since you won't be gaining the appreciation over the years like a standard house would.
A home is the largest investment someone will make, so why invest tiny & live in something you'll regret as you age, like when you can't get up into the loft anymore.
The realtor who I bought our house through said it broke her heart watching young couples buying a mobile as their first home, only to see it depreciate in value.
They lost money & would have been better off buying a regular house.
Our home, not including the shop, is less than the average size home in the USA, and is fine for us.
We've made upgrades over the years, and continue to do so, it's quite comfortable for us and we're not crawling over each other like in a tiny house.
Wouldn't want to live in anything smaller.
Just my 2 cents worth. Danny

I guess you aren't the target market, then. But is the solution for some, and I'm glad a few places are making room for them.

I bought a 1949 1250 sq ft 3 bedroom, 1 bath house with no garage. The realtors shake their heads and tell buyers like me that it will have to be "upgraded" before I sell. It needs a second bathroom and a double garage, and the kitchen needs to be doubled in size. Meanwhile the housing market has crashed and sort of recovered, my salary has barely kept pace with inflation for 20 years, and I'm now the single mother of 2 teenagers. Remodeling my house has amounted to installing double pane windows, a new furnace and hot water heater, and a new stove in the kitchen. By modern standards, I live in a very small, if not tiny, house. You can't build a new single-family home in this town that is this small, and frankly, if I didn't have a small house I couldn't afford a house at all.

Let me say that again. If I didn't have a small house I couldn't afford a house at all.

And I'm one of the lucky ones in this country. I'm 54 and in a stable job that I will likely continue with until I retire. I'm frankly afraid to leave this job, in fact, because it has a traditional retirement plan, so I don't have to rely on my 401k that has gone up and down and up and down, down, down with the stock market. If I didn't have that pension to look forward to, I wouldn't swear that I could keep my house when I am too old to work. My BFF only has her 401k, and she is facing the prospect of working until she dies (her words), and living in her car and utility trailer if she can no longer afford her home (even older and smaller than mine).

All of which is to say, for a lot of people a tiny house will be much better than no house at all.

Catherine