I've seen this being done up here and thought it interesting. Definitely not for everyone but ...

There are a number of old, abandoned or run down small farms near my area. They can be bought cheap because the old houses or mobile on them are in disrepair and any farming operation has long since ended.

Here's what somebody did:

They got several (about10) people together to buy a place and put it into a trust. Each buyer became a beneficiary. If somebody wants out they can sell their spot to another (with approval, or the others buy them out).

They hire a caretaker (someone usually retired on social security) to open the place up in spring, be a host, mow, cleanup and close it up in fall. (Of course, they could run it all year). The host get a free home to live in, utilities paid and maybe a small stipend. During spring, summer and fall the group brings up their travel trailers and takes vacations there as they please. In the winter they store their trailers and shut the place down. (That's how they decided to do it).

Now, if a family goes to a state campground anywhere around here it's usually $30+ a night and most are booked solid 1-2 years in advance. Seasonal campgrounds run $1800+ depending on location. They all have lots of rules.

Bottom line, it's much less expensive for them than using regular campgrounds. Plus, they have guaranteed space.

So I was thinking, maybe I could buy a place with this idea and just get a few friends/others to be the ones doing the visiting. Kind of like a private RV Park in a way.

If I wanted to make it year around, well, that might be done too. Of course there would be much of the same things as running a regular RV Park

I Think about this, not so much in the way of simply a recreational park idea but in the way of an affordable housing idea. Affordable housing is a major concern in my area as there is a big shortage of it. Those tiny houses or older travel trailers could be bought or made cheap by people and if rent was, say, $10-12 a day, it would be more affordable than the $600-900 average rent around here for 1-3 bedroom older places.

Sure, there's stuff to work out but just thinking about it. k

Of course, it might be easier to just buy a RV park but those are pretty expensive. Old motels from the 30's through the 50's with RV parking spaces are also a possibility , but most are well over 100K and also have lead paint and asbestos and are already worn out as well.

Like I say, just thinking.

I've thought of a similar idea on a smaller scale for "lost" lots on the older, north side of my town. Most standard city lots would be big enough to fit between 2-4 tiny homes, and utilities (electric, gas, water, sewer) are already there to hook up to.

If we were allow that, the folks could bring in tiny homes that they own and park them on the lots. Otherwise, the lots just stay where they are collecting trash, because no one wants to spend $60K+ house to build a house. That's about as cheap as it can be done for the 1 unit the city regs allow. The reason is these lots are in a neighborhood of 60+ year old houses valued at $40K-$50K each.

Let's say you simply charged $100/month for someone to park and hook up a tiny home. Folks with $30K can buy a nice, brand new tiny home. Even if they did it on payment, the amount would be....$250/month? $350 for a home that could house 1-2 people. That's PRETTY CHEAP living even in my humble town.

The land lord gets $300/month and is only responsible for lawn mowing & ensuring folks have trash service. I'd see good profits since most of these lots can be bought for $5,000 or less.

Lots provide cheap rent to folks. Lots no longer get trashy/overgrown. Lots increase in value and generate higher tax revenue for the city. Land lord makes a good ROI. Everyone wins.

Nope, city ordinance doesn't allow even ONE tiny home, much less 3-4 to make it profitable.

Thanks, Sid

It seems lots of cities have these type problems that could possibly be addressed by tiny houses, but the nimby factor comes in or there's other rules that prevent it.

I think that the people clamoring for affordable housing should spend more time pressuring the city councils to accept these solutions. Current costs to produce basic housing in my area are $90-110 per square foot per the local contractors I know which makes things unaffordable, especially when you add land, permits and other costs. Yet, here are solutions and even mobile home parks and they go nuts saying they don't want them.

Richard,

I think you nailed it. A group here was exploring something similar. Half a block of vacant land on the edge of a warehouse district that can be bought for next to nothing. They talked with the city about putting "cabins" on them. These are basically an A-Frame kit that comes with pre-built walls and roof sections that can be assembled on piers in a couple of days with a lift.

City would have nothing to do with it. The conversation started with it has to be "stick-built" and then they got into HVAC efficiency, R-30 insulation, bla bla bla. No way to meet the building standards and keep the costs reasonable.