# Living Small as in Mobile Homes, Tiny Houses etc...



## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

I've started looking into this as a serious option recently, trying to get an idea of what is out there and what is realistic for me. Many of these, even with lot fees can be far cheaper than the current rents in my area. Mobile homes (the original tiny house) are seeming to be the best option. Some are really cool, like this one I was sent by a friend. Already under contract unfortunately and not my ideal location but otherwise perfect for me! 
With the space fee and mortgage and 20% down it would be just under $900 a month, a lot less than I pay now for rent!










More on this here:
http://www.curbed.com/2017/2/27/14751856/palm-springs-safari-park-1950s-vintage-trailer-mobile-home-for-sale

I also looked at one in person more local but it needed too much work for the price. It was good to see it and this one below showed me what is possible.
I am very motivated and working on downsizing in preparation, I have so much stuff and just really need so little of it. Does anyone here happen to live in a mobile park? I am curious about the lifestyle, pros and cons etc... any info would be great!


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## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

I'll watch this thread! 
My DH & I are nearing retirement age (5-7 years out probably) and I'm considering something small but mobile - maybe to travel the Us/Canada seeing things.
But I do really like the inside of this home!


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

*Cuechick*, are you on Facebook. I think you'd be interested in FB page Tiny Home Tours
.


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## WriterSongwriter (Mar 3, 2017)

That's a beautiful home. Normally the most problematic issue with living in a trailer park is the neighbors, but I guess that won't be much of a problem in Palm Springs. I used to have a home like that in Malibu years ago, when the rents were low. Now it's unaffordable.


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## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

Sandpiper said:


> *Cuechick*, are you on Facebook. I think you'd be interested in FB page Tiny Home Tours
> .


I am, will check it out....



WriterSongwriter said:


> That's a beautiful home. Normally the most problematic issue with living in a trailer park is the neighbors, but I guess that won't be much of a problem in Palm Springs. I used to have a home like that in Malibu years ago, when the rents were low. Now it's unaffordable.


Ahhh, the Malibu Mobiles are stuff of legend, they now go for a million or more!


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I always lived in apartments but a few years after I retired I bought a trailer on 1/3 acre about 65 miles outside of Houston.  I'm from Houston.  It was in a very rural area in a subdivision of similar mobile homes.  The trailer was a 42 foot single wide, plenty big enough for me, and brand new.  I bought them both, paying cash with my retirement money.

Unfortunately I'd never owned a house and didn't know what to look for.  My Electric bill was never less than $550 a month and usually over $600.  My water bill was close to $200 a month and taxes were just under $3000 a year.  I lived there for 8 years and ended up completely broke.

That was my fault however.  During that time I found out that there are a lot of such places, at least around Houston, that don't have those problems.

Living there was very nice.  My nearest neighbors were a couple of hundred feet away and were really nice.  There was a guy a few hundred yards down the street with huge speakers who was sometimes a problem but the police were always ready to quiet him down and he eventually learned to keep it down.  Other than that all my neighbors were good ones and I got along well there.  I really liked living there and I wish I could have stayed.

My sister had married a guy in Arkansas and she found a HUD subsidised retirement home for me now that I only had my social security.  I've lived here for 12 years now and I like it even better than the trailer.  My rent is based on my income.  Small town Arkansas is both beautiful and full of really nice people.  Offhand I'd say this is the best part of my life.  And my cost of living, since this is Arkansas, is less than my electric bill used to be.  I generally have some money left over to fritter away every month.

All of this is just to point out that there are lots of options for whatever retirement circumstances you might have,  that a lot of people don't really know to look for.

As for living in that trailer, it was perfect for me.

Barry


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

"Minimalism" is an interesting documentary available on Netflix that touches on tiny houses, along with other ways to curb personal consumption.

https://minimalismfilm.com/


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

We started out living in a trailer 8x32. Tiny kitchen but I never had a problem using it. The bathroom was very, very tiny, but doable. The 3/4 bed was built in and across from it were two small closets with four drawers in between. There were also two double bunks in the back but we used them for storage.

It was a good starter home and I wouldn't mind the same as a retirement home, but at my age, I'd be afraid of hurricanes blowing me and my house away.


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## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

Wow, great info Barry, sorry it did not work out but glad you landed in a place where you are happy.

NogGog, I think I saw that or a similar one but will check it out. 

Gertie, I thought about that too, the blowing away part... will probably opt for one that is really secure to the ground!


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

For what it's worth I had a shed build behind my trailer, probably 12 feet from the back of the trailer, and the people behind me also build a shed behind their trailer, maybe 150 feet from my shed.  It seems a tornado came through between our trailers, twisting both our sheds out of shape completely.  Our trailers were undamaged.

I never saw or heard the tornado.  It was a night of bad storms and high winds.  The next morning we both saw our ruined sheds.  I can't imagine that the tornado wasn't fairly large, at least large enough to hit one of our trailers and probably both.  It had to be big to do that much damage.  These were both well made metal sheds.  They were all but gone.

A few times while I live there we had winds over 75 miles per hour, at least according to the weather reports.  Houston gets some very bad thunderstorms as well as occasional hurricanes.  We were far enough inland to only get the edge of most of them but we did have some bad winds.  None of the trailers in the area were ever damaged.  I once had the skirt blown away around the edges of my trailer but that's not attached to the trailer and is pretty flimsy and easily replaced.

I felt pretty secure there.  I was there every night for those 8 years even though I could have gone to spend the night with my brother in his house when the weather was bad.  I just never felt the need.  And while the wind was blowing nothing about the trailer seemed insecure.

Barry


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

Can't add much other than an older female shirttail relative had lived in a trailer for a number of years and was apparently happy in it.  She got married and lived in . . . .  Marriage didn't work out.  Then first lived in an apartment.  Not so good.  Back into a trailer which is working for her again.  This was all in the Little Rock area.


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## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

Sandpiper said:


> Can't add much other than an older female shirttail relative had lived in a trailer for a number of years and was apparently happy in it. She got married and live in . . . . Marriage didn't work out. Then first lived in an apartment. Not so good. Back into a trailer which is working for her again. This was all in the Little Rock area.


Living situations are all so relative ... what works for one, doesn't work for another ... but learning about other options that folks have pursued can be enlightening


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## WriterSongwriter (Mar 3, 2017)

@ OP are you anywhere near Frank Sinatra's old place in Palm Springs? I visited it a couple of years ago and I was surprised that the estate looked more of a ranch style than a Beverly Hills estate. The caretaker told me that that was the building style in those days in Palm Springs. Fun fact; did you know Sinatra loved miniature trains and that he would put on a conductor's hat and play with his trains for hours? The trains were still there when I saw the place.


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## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

WriterSongwriter said:


> @ OP are you anywhere near Frank Sinatra's old place in Palm Springs? I visited it a couple of years ago and I was surprised that the estate looked more of a ranch style than a Beverly Hills estate. The caretaker told me that that was the building style in those days in Palm Springs. Fun fact; did you know Sinatra loved miniature trains and that he would put on a conductor's hat and play with his trains for hours? The trains were still there when I saw the place.


Im not really that close to Palm Springs, I'm near Pasadena. I did know he had a mid century ranch and have seen photos of it. Palm Springs is full of cool MCM houses and this is my favorite style.


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

I could see me doing the small house or trailer thing. I am a junkie when it comes to reading about solar panels and windmills for energy. 

Barry that is some story about the tornado. Glad it was small and no one was hurt.


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## William G. Jones (Sep 6, 2011)

My favorite place to live was a 450 square foot flat in grad school. Just one big room with a kitchen by the front door and a bathroom next to the kitchen. I loved it. Not too much to take care of, plenty big for me.

If I hadn't been living by myself, it might have been different. I am a loner by nature and I need my space.

That said, I would totally consider living out of a tiny house or trailer if there was enough solar or wind power to keep it going without paying electric bills. I've often toyed with the idea of a small RV as an office, but only if I could power it on solar. Honestly, though, put me somewhere near water — a large lake or the ocean — and I'd live in a cinderblock hut just to enjoy the view.


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## joyfuldesigns (Feb 24, 2017)

I'm also super interested in getting my own tiny house / small mobile in the next few years.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I'm hoping to attend the New Jersey Tiny House Festival in June so that I can get a first-hand view of what these dwellings are like. Facebook event page


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

NogDog said:


> I'm hoping to attend the New Jersey Tiny House Festival in June so that I can get a first-hand view of what these dwellings are like. Facebook event page


Let us know how it goes.

The Florida festival is in November.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I'm going to guess this isn't quite the same thing but decades ago when I was in college I lived for 2 years in a single room house behind a larger house.  I'm guessing it was originally intended to be the garden tool shed and then improved later.  I don't know the dimensions but I live in a small apartment now and my living room is quite a bit larger than that house.

I thoroughly enjoyed living there.  I had a deal with my elderly landlady to do errands, taking the garbage out, carrying her groceries in and such, in exchange for very cheap rent.  It worked out nicely.  I moved into a larger apartment after going to work but I'm not sure I liked that as well.

Barry


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

barryem said:


> I'm going to guess this isn't quite the same thing but decades ago when I was in college I lived for 2 years in a single room house behind a larger house. I'm guessing it was originally intended to be the garden tool shed and then improved later. I don't know the dimensions but I live in a small apartment now and my living room is quite a bit larger than that house.
> 
> I thoroughly enjoyed living there. I had a deal with my elderly landlady to do errands, taking the garbage out, carrying her groceries in and such, in exchange for very cheap rent. It worked out nicely. I moved into a larger apartment after going to work but I'm not sure I liked that as well.
> 
> Barry


Ever read Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series? She lived in a converted garage that got blown up. Her landlord rebuilt and remodeled the interior and I always loved the description of that place. I certainly wouldn't mind living there.

The one thing I don't like about most of the tiny homes is the loft bedrooms with the very low ceilings where you can't even stand up. First, I couldn't climb the ladder. Second, it's the only room that would make me feel claustrophobic.


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## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

Trailers seem to be more common in South. May be due to weather. I don't think these are cheaper than apartment but you own the trailer....


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

*DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) said:


> Trailers seem to be more common in South. May be due to weather. I don't think these are cheaper than apartment but you own the trailer....


Lot rent has gotten to be outrageous. Average $600 per month not including utilities.


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## dgrant (Feb 5, 2014)

One of my old housemates built a tiny home. It works great for him and the dog, out on enough land in Montana that he doesn't feel cramped by the house itself. (I think he can see the smoke from one neighbor's chimney.)

He mentioned that the most common reasons folks move out of their tiny homes are marriage to someone who likes lots of stuff, kids, bad accidents (it's hard to climb to the bed in the loft if you have a cast), or putting it in somewhere where it feels extremely cramped. Tiny home, tiny space doesn't seem to work as well as tiny home, plenty of space or lifestyle that gets you out of the house.

Whenever I clean my house (1400 sq. ft) I think of how much less time he must take, and sigh. He laughs at me, points out he has a malamute who's blowing her coat in the spring shed, and claims the dog hair is piling in mounds  to the rafters no matter how much he cleans.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Ever read Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series? She lived in a converted garage that got blown up. Her landlord rebuilt and remodeled the interior and I always loved the description of that place. I certainly wouldn't mind living there.


I read a bunch of those many years ago. I know there are several new ones I haven't read. I don't recall a lot of details now. I did buy the first few for my Kindle and there on there ready to read.

Barry


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

barryem said:


> I read a bunch of those many years ago. I know there are several new ones I haven't read. I don't recall a lot of details now. I did buy the first few for my Kindle and there on there ready to read.
> 
> Barry


If memory serves (and at my age that's not always a certainty), it was about half way through the series. I never read it all the way to the end.


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> If memory serves (and at my age that's not always a certainty), it was about half way through the series. I never read it all the way to the end.


I think it was earlier than that - maybe in F or G...

We are getting a new travel trailer this year, but we are going larger instead of smaller. We decided that with the puppy we needed more room in the living area. I was fascinated by the teeny tiny trailers at the RV show though. Some of them are basically a bed on wheels. That might be an interesting alternative to a tent without going all the way into a full-blown trailer.


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