As a recently single father with adult aged children, my priorities have changed! I want peace and quiet in my own place, where I can do my own thing whenever want! Iv been looking for a small house on a corner/alley lot I could attach a huge garage/shop to. But I'm not having any luck in Iowa City on the bus route. I work at the U of I. So my mind starts to wander while waiting for new listings to appear during this slow time, and I noticed a vacant lot for sale on the bus route where a home burned down $92k asking. I've actually been dreaming about converting a old commercial space (no lawn) etc.. But need to be realistic for this area.. Snap out of it Bud. But this vacant lot has me asking myself if I should just bite the bullet and build a new home, just for me since I could afford it and still need to work another 15 years or so at the U. I'm 48 What style of home would work with the man cave bachelor pad theme? And what things would be must have? a stripper pole? lol I prefer form follows function and have always wanted a simple metal roof and low maintenance everything.. Seems like multi level homes are cheaper with everybody retiring around here not wanting stairs. And a unfinished basement comes in handy for more storage.. Anyway.. what would be on your list if you hit the dusty trail on your own with a 300k budget? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuJD1-1e-i4
Go buy a piece of land that has power/water etc already to it. Build a 40x60 metal shop. Fix up the upstairs into living space. Just tell the tax and building permit people you're building a shop/garage first to live in while you build the house. Taxes are much cheaper on a shop than on a permanent residence. Whether you can pull this off on a city bus route is unlikely though...you may just have to ride/drive to work?
I rented a carriage house for two years and loved it as a bachelor pad. Two car garage and a large bathroom downstairs, one giant room for everything upstairs, and a loft area for sleeping above that. If I was going to build from scratch, I'd divide the kitchen from everything else to give more walls to hang things/put books on and I'd go for at least a 3 car. I liked that the house was small enough that it took an hour to go from bachelor bomb shell mess to spic-n-span for having people over. Just because you have the money doesn't mean you have to spend all of it. Decide what you want and what you need. After you have checked all of those boxes, stop adding shit to your life.
RV in a metal shed. Everything you need, and you get a vacation home too! That's my retirement plan. Somewhere in Arizona... Q~
Those shipping containers ,warehouse houses, or dome homes will have to wait until I retire when I finally move away from this place. If I could find a carriage house to rent Id be all over it. Iv lived in this town most of my life and haven't seen a carriage house yet. Iv sold and thrown away allot of shit and only own things I really want right now. 3 bikes and parts, camper and gear I use. 1 car and the cummins van tools welder lathe etc etc Allot of nice furniture, carpets and art. Its a lot of good stuff. Plus I can leave stuff here if I dont need it. This new construction would cost 1/4 of what I'm worth. Lately Iv been thinking.. Who really knows how long there gonna live? And maybe I should reward myself for the last 20 some stressful years.
I may be kinda a dummy, but why wouldn't a motorcycle enthusiast look forward to NOT riding the bus, but rather a hypermotard to work?
Game over. OP-I lived in a real, slightly converted warehouse for a while. Loading dock, train tracks,trains and all. Plant across the street bagged sand, like Sakrete. Friggin' loved it. Dead quiet at night,except for the train, and empty on the weekend. Only problem was that the street divided gang turf and that got to be more of a hassle than it was worth after a while so we split. Shortly thereafter they gentrified the hell out of the area anyway. We were just off a bus route,btw. Building anything now is expensive and $300k doesn't go far..
That commercial pad sounds pretty cool except for the gangs. Iv also know a few people who did that but the city caught up. And depending on where your at, 300k could get you a 1300 sq ' 2 bd 1 1/2 bath unfinished basement and 4 car garage. But cheap fiberglass and laminate instead of tile and stone. Lumber prices have really jumped. Public transportation in Iowa City is convenient and I'm going to continue to use it if able. Some days I take the Vmax to work, but it doesn't sit in the parking lot which is a whole different can of worms at the university where people pay big money to park. I usually ride the bikes way out side of town to avoid all the young idiots. And the drz never gets ridden or rejetted for IOWA.. Whats the point?
Surplus fire station park an rv or travel trailer in one bay the other bay is a shop. Slowly fix up the office kitchen and sleep quarters as needed.
I have thought about something similar, a couple of points - If possible use a big enough lot & site the building so there is room for a house also to help with resale. I'd have a nice simple building shape (=cheap) with max room inside. Make sure it's laid out & divided up so you're not getting grinding dust on the shiny things & swarf in the kitchen. Cheers Clint
An industrial building that you can retrofit to a house/shop/garage is the ideal situation. There are plenty of these available cheap, near free in the right area. Make it perfect for you. However, consider this: About the time you get it done and perfect, you will meet someone that will change everything. Leave room in your plans for that potential. Jim
Check with your city tax foreclosure records. You would be surprised how many buildings a city will give away for back taxes. Jim
My counties sheriff sales are all residential properties. Most with high Judgment Amounts so you can bet the bank will be there to snatch them back.. And if not, your still waiting 4-6 months for the redemption period then to find out the deed has a bunch of liens attached to it. Allot of time spent determining if the title is clear only to fall through when the owner pays up and gets the deed back. Sheriffs sales maybe a way to flip and make some cash for investors, but chances for me finding a suitable property is slim.
Fast forward two years.. Turns out my dividends wont quite support retiring after I bought the X a different house and I ended up with the crappy beat up old one.
