Garage/Apartment/Living Space

[lunarpowered]

My wife and I have recently been discussing buying 5-10 acres of land and building a garage with hopes of turning it into a livable space while we save to build a house. The land we are looking at purchasing does not allow any temporary structures like mobile homes.

Has anyone attempted this? If so, would you happen to have pictures and advice on whether or not we should try it?

[56FordGuy]

My wife and I have recently been discussing buying 5-10 acres of land and building a garage with hopes of turning it into a livable space while we save to build a house. The land we are looking at purchasing does not allow any temporary structures like mobile homes.

Has anyone attempted this? If so, would you happen to have pictures and advice on whether or not we should try it?

I wouldn't buy anywhere that they would tell me what I could put on my own land, but that's just me.

[Guest Jcochran88]

I wouldn't buy anywhere that they would tell me what I could put on my own land, but that's just me.

This!

[enfield]

Considering the construction costs of such a structure (electricity, plumbing, septic tank, drain field, etc.), I think it's impractical.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Long ago in AL there was a place on the highway we drove by for years. The family had build the concrete block basement of a house and moved in, and lived in the basement several years before a house ever got built on top.

Along the same lines, I knew a man in Chattanooga who built a basement out in the woods and moved in with his family. It was a nice big roomy basement set up quite livable. It might as well have been a small house except it didn't look very fancy. Most basements don't look that fancy regardless whether a house is sitting on top. I haven't seen the fellow for a long time. Dunno if he ever got around to putting a house on top of his basement.

[Sidinman]

I have a friend that done that very thing, but they never built a house. They built a large shop and then just closed in one end and made a living guarters, its pretty darn nice. I think the whole thing is about 40 or 50 ft.wide and maybe 100 ft. long. I don't have any pictures though.

[nightrunner]

I haven't done it but I did draw up floor plans for it, however this was designed for a single man. I drew plans for a 50' x 50' shop with an upstairs apartment over one half of it

[R1100R]

We built a large barn to house farm equipment and added a dwelling about it about 1800 sf with three bedrooms above it. Needless to say the house

was never built. We ended up selling the 500 acres and to this day there is no house only the foundation. It was a great place.

[Guest adamoxtwo]

these are little park cabins that are fairly cheap 25-40K. They come on a tailor so that don't require a permit. If you rough in a septic system and get some H2O and Electric (or solar) you would be set. especially since you will need both ran anyways. would make a good guest quarters when you complete your house as well.

Not affiliated with this site at all, but considered them for a hunting property I almost bought. was going to get three of these and put a little 20x20 garage for ATV's and Misc supplies.

Park Cabins | Supplier of Rustic Park Model Cabins to the Campground Industry 800 897-0421

[lunarpowered]

I appreciate all the input so far, from the sounds of it most people are satisfied with the living space of the garage and never build a house.

I've never thought about having a park cabin built. For 25-40k, it seems like a great deal for a temporary living space.

[enfield]

Compare the price of that park cabin to a small double-wide.

[dlm37015]

on river road in west nashville there are 2 pole barns that people live in both are very nice cost about 7,000 to have built

[Guest clownsdd]

I'm with the others that say I would not buy where I had to abide by some "association" rules.

[Guest Guy N. Cognito]

I'm with the others that say I would not buy where I had to abide by some "association" rules.

In many locations, municipal codes, rather than association rules, dictate temporary structure rules.

Of course, there are a few people that prefer to live in an area that doesn't allow mobile homes and living in unfinished basements....

[Guest mikedwood]

I'm with the others that say I would not buy where I had to abide by some "association" rules.

+1 if you comfortable with that OK, but check their rules on boats and RVs as well. Cause I'd about bet you can't have a boat or RV parked visably for more and a few hours.

That said in the 80's my dad built a 1 bedroom apartment setup over a 3 bay garage in the 80's for a customer. it was nice. Kind of a barn look to it. Plenty of room. It would make a nice office when you were done.

Also a friend of mines dad had a huge metal building and the front was a two bedroom living area in the back the work shop and garage.

What will you do with the living space when you are done? Just curious if it would be worth the cost, cause it ain't gonna be cheap.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

In many locations, municipal codes, rather than association rules, dictate temporary structure rules.

Of course, there are a few people that prefer to live in an area that doesn't allow mobile homes and living in unfinished basements....

To belabor the obvious, some folks do that to avoid a mortgage. Save up enough money to buy the land. Save up enough money or borrow just enough to build the basement, and then you can get out from under rent payments and begin saving for enough money to build the house.

If a person has the situation and temperament to do it thataway, then at every step he is safe from the risk of a bank taking away his property, if something temporarily goes awry with the income stream.

Of course a feller living in a basement wouldn't have much moral ground to gripe about the neighbor up the road living in a run-down trailer. I'm inclined to say "aint nobodys business" in both cases.

[1gewehr]

I have a friend who did a similar thing in Western NC. He and his wife bought the land first. They bought one of those pre-fab storage buildings (15'x15') and had it set up on the property near where they planned to build the house. They added insulation and a window air conditioner unit and moved into it. They lived in it for 18 months while they built a 3000sq/ft house. When they had the house mostly built, they moved in and continued to finish the house. He said that after that first winter, they had a HUGE incentive to get the house ready to live in before the next one!

They now have a very nice house, a nice storage building, and no mortgage.

[enfield]

. . . He said that after that first winter, they had a HUGE incentive to get the house ready to live in before the next one!

They now have a very nice house, a nice storage building, and no mortgage.

I can believe that - my wife and I plus two dogs lived in a pickup camper for 6 months straight while we were working in a campground. Great experience, never do it again.