In the old days a man who saved money was a miser; nowadays he's a wonder. - Author Unknown

Cheap Housing?

A Poor man’s Guide to Suggested Resources

I always joke that the first house my parent’s purchased (in the 1950s) cost under $10,000 and they had a 2% mortgage for 30 years. Nowadays, you can’t buy a car for that good of a deal. It’s no secret that housing in this country has gone through the roof – even despite the decline in housing values.

Part of the problem lies in government fees. Where I live, the combined government costs run $17,000 to build a new home! Both of my grandparent’s built their own home for less than $6500 in the 1940s. Your dollar, thanks to stupid government policies, buys much less today than ever before.

No matter what you do, remember...in most US cities you no longer have property rights.

The government can dictate everything you do on your own property including size of home.

Housing bargains have always been available, especially if you’re handy and can repair fixer-uppers. At one point, we owned three homes, all purchased in this fashion at a combined cost of less than $50,000! Right now, if you have the cash and/or credit, one can pick up foreclosures in many parts of the country on the cheap. I’ve seen houses in Michigan going for less than $1000 and many government programs such as HUD and the VA frequently offer bargains.

In 1956, the size of the average American home was 956 square feet.

Still, there are alternatives which make sense environmentally and in terms of cost. We’ll explore some of these here. Your suggestions are always welcome. Send them to bedavid@yahoo.com

www.abetterplan.com )

Photos of the cabin we got from Zook! Energy Saving devices included right down to the light bulbs!

It's getting mighty cold, you can see how bundled up

the Poor Wife is in the distance!

Our cute laundry room-storage area

Modular and factory built homes by John Grissim

The factory-built home sector—once known for producing shoddily-made mobile homes—now offers everything from small, stylish, energy-efficient retirement cottages to luxurious mansions. Example: A six-bedroom 7,200-square-foot French country-style mansion erected this February in the upscale Bethesda, Maryland, development of Greenwich Forest looks just like many of the other grand homes in the neighborhood. Only this mansion went from vacant lot to mostly complete residence in just 32 hours. Despite its grandeur, it’s a "modular home," built in pieces in a factory in Pennsylvania, delivered on trucks, lifted into place by a crane, then bolted together, with only finish work done on site.

Prefab also works for home additions, such as family rooms or second floors. Most well-made factory-built homes are indistinguishable from traditional site-built homes—but they have some important and timely advantages...

Cost savings. Factory-built homes typically cost around 15% less than site-built homes of similar size and quality, because of the efficiencies of factory construction... lower labor costs... and the volume discounts that these companies can obtain on components.

As long as your factory-built home is well-made and looks like the other homes in the neighborhood, it’s likely to fetch just as much as comparable site-built homes when resold.

Time savings. Factory-built homes often can be completed in less than half the time it takes to build a conventional home—typically two months or less.
Lower mold risks. Factory-built homes are built in climate-controlled environments with no exposure to the elements, especially moisture that can cause mold. Mold is not just a health risk—it’s a financial risk. Eradication can cost many thousands of dollars and often is not covered by insurance.
Lower heating and air-conditioning costs. Factory-built housing has made huge strides in technology in the past 20 years. Factories can build energy-efficient airtight homes, resulting in significant energy cost savings.

Here’s what home buyers need to know when they consider three major types of factory-built homes...

Modular Homes

Modular homes generally consist of two or more "modules," or sections, that are transported to the home site on flatbed trucks, then, typically, lifted onto a conventional foundation by a crane and bolted together. Modular homes arrive at the site about 65% complete, requiring one to two months of on-site finish work, such as joining modules together, completing the roof and adding porches, decks and dormers.

Top modular home makers offer a wide range of styles, layouts, colors, components and flooring options.

There are poorly made modular homes on the market, so it pays to stick with today’s most reliable, high-quality manufacturers...

Genesis Homes’ innovative new "GO House" is an energy-efficient ranch or Cape Cod-style home that buyers can customize online to suit their needs (starts at $66,480). Quality is high, the range of options is extensive and—unlike other modular builders—Genesis sells nationwide. 877-523-2181, www.TheGoHouse.com.

Nationwide Homes offers quality modular houses and an excellent network of general contractors. The company even trains its truck drivers to confirm that modules are correctly sited on home foundations -- an extra set of trained eyes helps ensure successful builds. Nationwide’s homes are available in 16 southern, southeastern and mid-Atlantic states. 800-216-7001, www.Nationwide-Homes.com.

R-Anell Homes are well-made and available in the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. The company sells through a dealership network and through contractors, so buyers can visit a dealership and walk through model homes before making design decisions. 800-951-5511, www.R-Anell.net. Guerdon Enterprises offers a wide range of well-built modular homes (including multifamily homes) in the Pacific and Northwest regions. 800-473-3586, www.Guerdon.com.

Visit these companies’ Web sites to view examples of their houses and confirm that they serve your region.

Contact the makers that you like most, and ask for their list of recommended general contractors in your area.

Request bids from several contractors who have put up a dozen or more of that maker’s modular homes. These bids should include everything you would expect if you were buying a site-built home from a developer—site preparation, landscaping, septic system construction or sewer-line connections, utility connections, etc. The land itself typically is purchased separately.

High-Design Prefab

This type of factory-built home is appropriate for buyers who want architecturally distinctive homes or stylish energy-efficient smaller homes without paying an architect to draw up plans for them. Top makers... Modern Cabana makes attractive, affordable and energy-efficient small buildings appropriate as vacation getaways, guest homes or home offices. They’re available throughout the US. 415-206-9330, www.ModernCabana.com.

Blu Homes recently acquired the architectural plans of top designer Michelle Kaufmann and now offers her energy-efficient homes across the US. 617-275-2333, www.BluHomes.com.ideabox makes small, stylish, affordable and energy-efficient modular homes. They’re available in the West. 503-510-4789, www.IdeaBox.us.

Nationwide Homes’ ECO-Cottages are cozy, affordable modular homes that often are used as vacation homes. They’re available in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic. 800-216-7001, www.Nationwide-Homes.com/
ecocottages. Its one-bedroom ECO-Cottage Palmeco beach house starts at just $69,500.

Manufactured Homes

Manufactured homes, previously called "mobile homes," are built on a steel chassis, typically in either one or two sections.

Despite their low-end reputation, a well-designed, well-constructed manufactured home can be every bit as nice as a site-built or modular home—but even cheaper and with an even shorter build time. Among the best bets...

Fuqua Building Systems makes homes featuring a craftsman style and quality workmanship that set the top end of its product line far above most of the competition. Fuqua’s homes are available across most of the western US. 800-336-0874, www.FuquaHomes.com.

Silvercrest features several well-made models with appealing open layouts. They’re available in the West as far east as Colorado. 800-382-0709, www.SilverCrest.com.

Hi-Tech Housing makes beautiful well-constructed manufactured homes—as well as modular homes—available in the Midwest for $75,000 to $250,000. 574-848-5593, www.Hi-TechHousing.com.

Only consider models that have a steep roof pitch with at least four inches of rise per lateral foot... overhanging eaves on all four sides... and ceilings at least eight feet high. Pay a contractor to install a conventional foundation, a porch or deck and an attached garage. These design elements prevent a well-designed manufactured home from looking like a manufactured home.

Manufactured homes tend to be sold through dealerships, not general contractors. Lending officers who handle manufactured-home loans for local banks often can provide off-the-record advice about which of an area’s dealerships are most reputable. The dealership’s price quote likely will not include some necessary on-site work, including site preparation, utility hookups, septic system installation and foundation construction. Expect to pay a contractor around $20,000 for these services.

Bottom Line/Personal interviewed John Grissim, an independent consultant based in Sequim, Washington, who helps consumers around the US select and purchase modular and manufactured homes. He is the founder and former publisher of The Grissim Report, an industry newsletter about the factory-built home sector, and author of two consumer guides—The Grissim Buyer’s Guide to Manufactured Homes & Land and The Grissim Ratings Guide to Manufactured Homes (Rainshadow). www.GrissimGuides.com

How to get things done (around the homestead, not Washington) Quite frankly, most people need help figuring out how to get things done. That’s where Hipp’s Help comes in. On this website, you’ll find the information you’ll need to do what you need to do. Hipp’s Help includes tutorials on home improvement, basic and intermediate gardening, cooking and other topics to help you live life

http://www.hippshelp.com/

Cut your electric bill - Research your area to find competing utilities. Prices can vary by 20%. Check:

www.WhiteFence.com

DIY Project - The solar batch heater is made with a steel drum.

Since a standard 55-gallon drum cannot withstand city

water pressure, but some pressure is needed to push

water through the system, gravity flow is often used.

This involves a second 55-gallon drum, filled with cold

water and elevated above the batch heater drum. Gravity

provides enough pressure to move water from the

elevated drum (cold-water source) to the batch heater

drum and finally to the hot water faucet in a sink,

shower or other outlet….Materials Needed

55-gallon drum (Be sure the drum has not contained any toxic materials.)

Flat-black paint (made to adhere to metal surfaces)

75 (approx.) concrete blocks for frame

Foil-faced insulation, 2 - 4 ft. x 8 ft. sheets (Do notuse polystyrene sheets -- they will melt. Use Thermax, Rmax or another isocyanurate insulation.)

Reinforced garden hose or automotive heater hose, 3 sections (1/2-in. inside diameter)

Hose clamps, 3

3/4-inch fitting, copper or CPVC (3/4-in. thread x 1/2-in. sweat x 1/2-in. sweatPipe, copper or CPVC

Pipe, copper or CPVC (1 ft., 1/2-in. outside diameter)

http://diysolarhotwaterheater.com/

Free Do It Yourself Garden and Landscape Project Plans and Guide Books…nice variety to choose from.

http://www.todaysplans.net/find-free-garden-projects-guides.html

Talk about frugal living space! And we thought the Poor Man's cabin was small.

Woman lives in 90 sq ft apartment in NYC-View her video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZSdrtEqcHU&feature=player_embedded

Housing from Spare Tires

There are tons of spare tires available in dumps in every city in the country and these can be recycled into homes.

Michael Reynolds, creator of the Earthship concept, is a world leader in environmental building. He is the author of five books and has 30 years experience designing and building fully self-sufficient homes. The innovative Earthship design combines passive solar heating with thermal mass construction to create buildings that heat and cool themselves without consuming fossil fuels. Earthships create all their own electrical power with sun and wind, collect and treat their own water with integrated water systems. The main building block of the Earthship makes use of one of the worlds most plentiful, and most troublesome “natural resources”, scrap automobile tires. Thousands of Earthships have been built all over the world in the US, Canada, Mexico, Bolivia, Japan, South Africa, Honduras and Belgium. Michael's Earthship/Biotecture website provides a wealth of information about his innovative building concepts. See more of their information at:

http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/QandA/earthshipQandA.htm

More great free DIY building plans-storage barns and more.

At 10 x 16 ft., this handsome building is large enough for most backyard needs. It has an interior partition so it serves double duty as a storage shed and an all-weather multi-purpose room. Double doors on the side and gable end make it easy to access the space.

A free illustrated step-by-step building guide, by Joseph Turini of Popular Mechanics Magazine, includes an isometric drawing showing all building details.

This project is planned to be easy for do-it-yourself builder.
( http://www.todaysplans.net/use-popularmechanics-free-backyard-barn-plans.html )

Click here to find more free shed and mini barn plans >>>
( http://www.todaysplans.net/find-free-shed-plans.html )

Click here to find hundreds of inexpensive small DIY barn blueprints, prefabs and building kits >>>
( http://www.backroadhome.net/barns-small-diy.html )

New to straw bale. How do I get started?

It’s very easy to get started. We have all the resources you need to get familiar with straw bale building and can guide you every step of the way. I recommend you go through the steps below and start off by watching our introductory video and signing up for our FREE "7 Essential Steps to Straw Bale Success" E-course.

http://www.strawbale.com/strawbale-faqs

http://strawbalehomes.org/

Pre-Fab or Manufactured Homes

You can save a lot of cash and can choose from a large variety of styles, including log homes, using prefabricated homes. There are many suppliers. This supplier offers a large variety and useful information. Visit them at: http://www.raisearoof.com/prefabricated_home.php

http://www.manufacturedhousing.org/default.asp

One of architecture’s modern debates is over the design credibility of the modern prefabricated home or building. Around in the United States since the time of the Great Depression, prefabricated homes are those that were, completely or partially, mass-produced in a factory and then delivered to a build site. While some prefabs can be seen moving down the highway on trailer beds marked “WIDE LOAD,” others arrive on site in pieces or panels that can be assembled easily on site.

No matter how large or small your project, feel free to contact us if you need a unique or modified design. We're here to help!

While “prefab” once conjured images of mobile homes, trailer parks, or Hoovervilles, the modern prefabricated home is nothing of the sort. Well known and cutting edge architects and designers from around the world now work in prefab design and constructions. They notice the market for them in terms of prices and build time, and the manufactured nature of them appeals to the precision that these world class architects are used to. To the architect, the prefab project is a much more hands-on and complete affair where s/he is involved not only in the design but in the production.

The contemporary debate over prefabs is in their design appeal. While many architecture specialists recognize the interesting and cutting edge design in today’s prefab, there is concern over whether the prefab has appeal as “real-world homes.” The thought is that home owners want their homes to have an individual handcrafted feel, and that, perhaps, the prefabricated home lacks this homey feel.

But with any research into the scope of design in prefabricated homes over the last ten years specifically reveals that they are available in all types of designs, sizes, shapes, and styles. Some prefabs can and do look as handcrafted as traditional on-site stick-built homes.

While the Hoovervilles and Levittowns of yesterday have cast a shadow on prefabricated homes in the past, with the help of modern architects and modern technology, prefabs have come into their own. With a build time of almost half of a traditionally frame home, and a design that now rivals any other home style, the prefabricated home is becoming a choice home for modernists and traditionalists alike.

In many respects, it’s a shame we cannot operate more like the Amish communities whereby the entire group gets together to build a barn or a home. In many Amish areas, local politicians are attempting to interfere with this lifestyle by imposing taxes, permit fees and the like.

Cheap Cabin or storage shed plans

Black and Decker, Inc. calls their 8'x12' shed a Basic Storage Shed. It is that, but it can be more. They have designed a simple 8'x12' platform and stud-wall building that has higher side walls than most sheds. You can build it with simple doors and no windows for the maximum storage space. That way, you can hang tools and shelves on the walls and still have plenty of space left for your lawn mower, bikes and such.

However, you can also take advantage of the high walls for adding windows and doors wherever you want them. Add a potting bench and windows on the south wall of your shed to get your Spring seedlings off to a great start. Have north windows for a little backyard studio. Or, add French doors to create an attractive poolside cabana.

The finish materials for the basic shed also are true to its name: asphalt roof shingles, plywood siding, and simple trim de tails are appropriately practical. But, you can easily dress your building up with a cupola, siding to match your home and window boxes. You can purchase prehung doors and windows in any style, or build your own using the project plans.

At 96 square feet, the structure is below many building department's minimum size for required design review. It's planned to be build on pressure treated wooden skids, without a permanent foundation. Because of that and the small size, you may be able to build it without obtaining a permit. Check that with your community's building official.

The plans are accompanied by a complete materials list and an illustrated building guide with step-by-step instructions.

Click here to see the Basic Storage Shed and to use the free plans, material list and building guide >>>
( http://www.todaysplans.net/use-blackan ddecker-free-all-purpose-shed-plans.html )

Everyone needs water to survive...here's a great site for digging your own well & other self reliant material.

Terrific information on digging your own well also!
The Survival & Self-Reliance Studies Institute: SSRsi is a comprehensive database of self help, self reliance, survival, emergency preparedness, outdoor adventure and Do It Yourself information. No annoying ads, banners or frames and absolutely free!

http://www.ssrsi.org/sr2/Water/digh2o.htm

Poor Man's Recession Survival Center

Urban Survival Tools

Housing from Spare Tires

New to straw bale. How do I get started?

Pre-Fab or Manufactured Homes