Building a Tiny House on a MoCo lot - possible? implications?

[Anonymous]

Not sure if someone posted this but take an existing small home and just keep the foundation. Site work, county requirements are very expensive and don't scale down that well. Uneconomy of small scale.

We ended up restoring a small old home after looking at costs to completely tear down and build new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I could see doing this in the city where you'd be close to places to go (not really that different than a city apartment). It's harder for me to imagine doing it in deep suburbia in a cold climate. Long drives every time you want to go somewhere don't really appeal to me.

Maybe a city apartment plus community garden plot? I could see that.

We hate sharing walls mostly bc we are on our second round with a neighbor that smokes indoors and the smell, and presumably the carconogens, seep in. Otherwise we would be considering precisely this set up. OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have two girls or two boys?

Why?

[Anonymous]

The most eco friendly thing to do is live in a van down by the river

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have seven bathrooms and my family is 4 persons. Love it

And obviously you have someone else clean. Nothing wrong with that just not my thing- the outsourcing or cleaning 7 toilets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't be discouraged, OP. Keep in mind that the DCUM forums pull from every part of the DC sprawl. Your family, your house, your life. I have a hard time understanding the hostility toward the idea. I would guess that you will end up in a cool, funky little neighborhood where you will not find this kind of resistance.

The original post suggested doing this in Silver Spring or Takoma. Well, the development there is all infill, and many people have questioned why you would tear down an existing small house to build something even smaller. Doesn't seem green or smart (for resale, for comfort....). People offered a variety of very practical advice and suggestions. The OP has made it clear that what he really wants is to live out some romantic idea about being unique and special....

Anonymous wrote:We are not entirely opposed to standing out per se.

Anonymous wrote:If you are living somewhere that small you actually want it built exactly how you need it not a bunch of cubes inside a big cube but lots of windows, open areas, and so forth.

Anonymous wrote:Modular is definitely an option but we like the hobbitat aesthetic.

....which is the kind of thing you need to get over when you're grown up and married and have kids. Most posters in this thread have been giving advice in good faith, but its like spitting into the wind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are dreaming.

Building permits in MoCo are at least $50,000.

So you have your $300K left to buy the lot and build the structure. To comply with MoCo's building permits, you are probably going to have to spend at least $200,000 for the structure, water control, site prep and other details.

You have $100,000 to buy a lot.

This is false. Even at 5% of a 400k buildout would only be 20k.

http://permittingservices.montgomerycountymd.gov/dps/fee/CurrentFeeResidentialBuilding.aspx

These are permit fees. Montgomery county will also charge development impact fees that are used for road maintenance and schools if you are starting with an empty plot of land that could run close to $50k. Impact fees are waived with tear down infill lots.[/quote]

To bolded #1: Yes, plus your impact fees.
To bolded #2: THANK you.

To all, added together these are your $50K. If you teardown and rebuild you avoid the impact fee but have permit for demo and actual demo costs - probably between $20K - $30K, so you're back at $50K.

Jeez. I'm the stupid realtor though. Yeah. I have no idea wtf I'm talking about.....Haven't been doing this 15 years, nope, not at all......

OP, you are starting to sound a bit unhinged. Truly. I think you should look into therapy before you consider building and living in such a small house. You're likely to go postal on your own family and become a Dateline special on how the economy forced you into building a tiny house which then forced you into an insanity and crime spiral. Get help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure if someone posted this but take an existing small home and just keep the foundation. Site work, county requirements are very expensive and don't scale down that well. Uneconomy of small scale.

We ended up restoring a small old home after looking at costs to completely tear down and build new.

OP here- Someone mentioned this but then others said it was probably cost prohibitive too- as in over 300K. Mind sharing your house size, location, and total cost of purchase and renovation? Ballpark is fine- just wondering if it is doable.

[Anonymous]

http://tinyhouseswoon.com/wildwood-cottage/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are dreaming.

Building permits in MoCo are at least $50,000.

So you have your $300K left to buy the lot and build the structure. To comply with MoCo's building permits, you are probably going to have to spend at least $200,000 for the structure, water control, site prep and other details.

You have $100,000 to buy a lot.

This is false. Even at 5% of a 400k buildout would only be 20k.

http://permittingservices.montgomerycountymd.gov/dps/fee/CurrentFeeResidentialBuilding.aspx

These are permit fees. Montgomery county will also charge development impact fees that are used for road maintenance and schools if you are starting with an empty plot of land that could run close to $50k. Impact fees are waived with tear down infill lots.[/quote]

To bolded #1: Yes, plus your impact fees.
To bolded #2: THANK you.

To all, added together these are your $50K. If you teardown and rebuild you avoid the impact fee but have permit for demo and actual demo costs - probably between $20K - $30K, so you're back at $50K.

Jeez. I'm the stupid realtor though. Yeah. I have no idea wtf I'm talking about.....Haven't been doing this 15 years, nope, not at all......

OP, you are starting to sound a bit unhinged. Truly. I think you should look into therapy before you consider building and living in such a small house. You're likely to go postal on your own family and become a Dateline special on how the economy forced you into building a tiny house which then forced you into an insanity and crime spiral. Get help.

Realtor?! This is not me. Unless the post says it's OP, it isn't. I am following along though since I actually don't know all of this info (hence seeking information here) but the links are helpful and I appreciate the breakdown between permits, tear down, and all. Your chain of events does in fact sound unhinged; it makes me worry about you a little bit. But maybe you are just being funny and ridiculous. I hope so.

While you're here, though, can you comment on whether you've had any experience getting with buying infill lots in MoCo that could then have movable structure(s) on them that did not require a permit. It seems that this is what the folks in DC did. Those structures are too tiny but I wonder whether you have any knowledge of the rules regarding developing infill lots and/or where I could get that info.

Thanks- you are really amusing and helpful so I hope you stick around until we have all of our questions answered. In fact, do you sell in MoCo? You remind me of our old realtor and the attitude with which she discussed popcorn ceilings and basement renters apartments. Most amusing. By-the-by the "going postal" thing is not so funny if you've actually been to the post office where the term originated. Pretty sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://tinyhouseswoon.com/wildwood-cottage/

I just fell in love with you! OP- here. THANKS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't be discouraged, OP. Keep in mind that the DCUM forums pull from every part of the DC sprawl. Your family, your house, your life. I have a hard time understanding the hostility toward the idea. I would guess that you will end up in a cool, funky little neighborhood where you will not find this kind of resistance.

The original post suggested doing this in Silver Spring or Takoma. Well, the development there is all infill, and many people have questioned why you would tear down an existing small house to build something even smaller. Doesn't seem green or smart (for resale, for comfort....). People offered a variety of very practical advice and suggestions. The OP has made it clear that what he really wants is to live out some romantic idea about being unique and special....

Anonymous wrote:We are not entirely opposed to standing out per se.

Anonymous wrote:If you are living somewhere that small you actually want it built exactly how you need it not a bunch of cubes inside a big cube but lots of windows, open areas, and so forth.

Anonymous wrote:Modular is definitely an option but we like the hobbitat aesthetic.

....which is the kind of thing you need to get over when you're grown up and married and have kids. Most posters in this thread have been giving advice in good faith, but its like spitting into the wind.

Dude- the OP is a she. Taking all of this into consideration. We really posted here to learn and iron out the details. Thanks! We are grown up but not in a stodgy, refuse to dream sort of way. Hope you aren't either whether your dreams are a yatch, a tiny house, or some monster on the French riviera. The world is sad enough without dreams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The most eco friendly thing to do is live in a van down by the river

Love it! We'll park off Washington Parkway. No problems there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://tinyhouseswoon.com/wildwood-cottage/

I just fell in love with you! OP- here. THANKS!

There are all kinds of blogs and FB pages on this. Google tiny house, tiny homes, etc. Good luck OP, I envy you, you will be living my dream!

If you like that you might like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMAAWABynns

[Anonymous]

And this. Ok I'll stop now https://homes.yahoo.com/blogs/spaces/a-tiny-house-built-with-used-tomato-cans-and-paper-grocery-bags-235727897.html