I freaking love this house plan.

"CAR_IS_MI" (car-is-mi)
02/13/2014 at 12:41 • Filed to: None

So Long story short, I got a heads up on a bankruptcy sale, which includes a 1.25 acre lot for about the price of what .2 acres is going for. This lot can be divided into four separate .25 acre lots with a short road and col-de-sac occupying the other .25 acres.

I am not really in a situation to afford this, but I almost cant say no. Selling off the other 3 lots would almost certainly pay for the original cost of the lot and build out.

The other side of the story is that the house 2 up from me just rented for almost $1600 / mo. It is 1/3 the size of mine and in a bit worse condition (I went through and upgraded almost everything when I bought it 2 years ago). My mortgage, escrow, taxes, and hoa fees are just under $1k / mo, so ideally I would build a new house for me on a bigger lot, and then the $ from the sale of the additional parcels and income from the rental of my current house would cover all the costs involved in this and, other than utilities, I would live virtually for free.

So I have been looking at plans, and this one make amazing use of space, although it is rather small (1800 sq ft) and is designed to fit on a small lot, so I think it would look dwarfed on a 1/4 acre lot.

My current house is about 2400 sq ft and is a 4 bd 3 full bath where this is 3 bd, 3.5 bath, but smaller, and the garage is slightly smaller (I need a bigger garage!!!) but as this would take up little space on the lot, I could always build a secondary garage / workshop to my liking, and keep the nice, clean cars in the main garage....

DISCUSSION (16)

OPPOsaurus WRX > CAR_IS_MI
02/13/2014 at 12:49

isnt .25 acres fairly small? I guess it depends on where you are but many towns have minimum lot sizes and minim front lot line lengths. Have you confirmed anywhere that that and the road would work? Also please don't by plans from the internet. It makes architects weep for your soul.

CAR_IS_MI > OPPOsaurus WRX
02/13/2014 at 12:54

Iner(ish) city, Las Vegas. Many developments are selling off .05 acre lots with 1100 sq ft houses for $150k. My neighborhood is considered to have 'mid to large' lots and my lot is .117 acres.

Awe_thentiX > CAR_IS_MI
02/13/2014 at 12:54

I love the idea. If it were me, it certainly go through with it. However, I'd adjust the floor plan slightly, making the garage bigger and spreading the livable space out, possibly to 2000 Sq ft. It'll fit on the lot a bit better without much sacrifice. Just my thoughts, though.

OPPOsaurus WRX > CAR_IS_MI
02/13/2014 at 13:00

wow, so that must not include much of a yard? Thats definately an interesting design. do you have a link to it?

WolfmanJimCBW > CAR_IS_MI
02/13/2014 at 13:00

That's a great idea actually.

CAR_IS_MI > WolfmanJimCBW
02/13/2014 at 13:04

Sometimes I'm smart. Sometimes...

The only issue I foresee is financing up front. My current DTI is about 42% and this would put me WAY over 60% so finding a bank to work with me would be difficult and I would probably end up with a high interest rate (albeit hopefully short term).

CAR_IS_MI > OPPOsaurus WRX
02/13/2014 at 13:09

No, yards don't really exist, unless you are rich... Grass is VERY hard to maintain (it is a desert) and costly. Otherwise we pretty much fill empty spaces with desert type plants surrounded by rocks, so in many cases, most people don't care to have a "yard".

Personally, I like having space, especially between mine and my neighbors house, there is no need to be able to pass a pie from my window to theirs...

Here is the link

WolfmanJimCBW > CAR_IS_MI
02/13/2014 at 13:10

The ROI potential is pretty great, but you definitely have to take into account how long it would take to sell the other lots, plus finding a renter for the current house. I don't mean to be a downer, but I have friend who has this amazing old house that the property has three empty lots attached with it. She only wants $100k for the whole shebang. Which isn't a lot here even. She has had these on the market for the last 3 years though. Now, here in Northeast LA, people aren't really waiting in line to buy land, but it still is a lot of time to possibly sell the other lots.

CAR_IS_MI > WolfmanJimCBW
02/13/2014 at 13:15

It is kind of a catch 22. We ARE the fastest growing city in America again, but the lot is kind of out in the "boonies".

Rather hard to explain but it is surrounded by developed ares, but the are its in is rather undeveloped and surrounded by ranch houses (which is not a bad thing if you like a little space and not feeling like your in the middle of a city). Its not very far from anything, 2 miles to the grocery store, bout a tenth of a mile further to the highway on ramp, 3 miles from a target / strip mall, etc. so its not like its the middle of no where, and the developments have been moving in the general direction.

OPPOsaurus WRX > CAR_IS_MI
02/13/2014 at 13:19

I was going to say that the roof sloping back to the house (in image showing right side) is a horrible design move. It will only pile up snow and leak and then I thought Vegas....... Still something to consider with the rain..... o yea Vegas. well i'm sure it rains occasionally there.

WolfmanJimCBW > CAR_IS_MI
02/13/2014 at 13:22

Sounds like the prime spot to me. I hate being in the middle of the bustle. If you have time, why not try to find potential buyers to show the bank first?

Jayhawk Jake > CAR_IS_MI
02/13/2014 at 13:24

Where are you looking at plans?

CAR_IS_MI > WolfmanJimCBW
02/13/2014 at 13:25

I could speak with my Realtor friends about it, even just to gauge interest in mid sized vacant lots to build custom housing on.

CAR_IS_MI > Jayhawk Jake
02/13/2014 at 13:26

Here

CAR_IS_MI > OPPOsaurus WRX
02/13/2014 at 13:28

rains about 11 days a year here, and in my eyes, that roof is PERFECT for solar panels.

CAR_IS_MI > WolfmanJimCBW
02/13/2014 at 14:20

Even better, I just google earthed it (latest imagery) there are 4 4-5k sq ft houses just built across the street and a "small" development of roughly 50 houses, all 3-4k sq ft in size adjacent to this lot.