Advice on buying land and building a shop with apartment

[maroonandwhite]

Just curious if any of you guys have done this. Not quite ready to buy yet but can't seem to find just what we are looking for in a house with some land in our price range.

 

We are considering buying a small piece of land 4-10 acres and building a shop with living quarters above. This will get us out of paying rent and also give us time to really nail down how we would like to build our house. The land is the most important part for me. There are lots of hills around these parts and I am wanting a good flat piece of usable land where the dogs can run and the chickens can roam. :pleased:

 

I am hoping if we play our cards right we could find a piece of semi cleared land for $30-$40k. Am I dreaming on this number?

 

I realize we will have to do the septic and water and all that if we get out in the boonies.

[tnguy]

Was considering doing that at one point. Found plans for a double garage with an apartment above. The idea was going to be to build that, use it as a base to build the main house then rent it out. Never got around to it though due to either time or money concerns (When I have plenty of one, I tend to lack the other).

 

It was either this one or something like it.

 

Edited June 2, 2014 by tnguy

[maroonandwhite]

That's exactly what we have in mind. 

[Dane]

Having just finished my search for a house and/or land I would say your pricing is low depending on the area. I found the zillow ap to be very helpful in my search. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Guest Lester Weevils]

A friend long ago did "something like that" and I've seen apparently the same thing on the side of the hiway a couple of times.

 

My friend built a big concrete block basement for his future house in a big wooded acreage, made sure the top of the basement was waterproof. Can't recall how permanent or temporary his "temp roof" was. Then he moved the family into the basement, and lived in the basement for several years before he finished building the house on top of it. Cash and carry, didn't go into debt a penny to build his house or buy the land.

 

Living in the basement wasn't like living in hell, pretty much looked like a house inside the basement except a little crowded with a house load of furniture stuffed in just the basement. It was real convenient, because when he'd get off work, he didn't have to drive across town to continue building his house. He was already there.

 

This would need to be done in some area where zoning is lax enough to allow it.

 

When I was a kid living in AL, saw the same thing on the mountain between Sylacauga and B'Ham when we'd drive that road. There were folks living a long dam time in a basement on the side of the hairpin turn road, before the top part of the house showed up. :)

Edited June 2, 2014 by Lester Weevils

[Ugly]

We were looking for a place with land and a decent home, we found some fantastic deals on land watch .com

http://www.landwatch.com

We ended up finding a foreclosure we couldn't pass up with less land than I wanted but we couldn't beat the deal. This website is easy to search for what fits your bill and is even worldwide.
The first place I found on had 34 acres and a home with 3 bed 2 1/2 bath, 2 car gar and a pool, they were asking 78k for it. The have just land too.
I found another place in Montana with 112 acres, 3 log cabins and the price was around 148. the ol lady didn't dig the glaciers in the background though :).
Tenn won us over.
Good luck!

[runco]

My best friend bought 20 acres, and built one of those steel buildings, I think like 60 ft x 30 or something.  In the corner, he built an apartment.  Inside, the apartment, it was very nice, but step out the door to inside the building, a typical steel beam type building, complete with white insulation, and concrete floor.  Step out the front door of the apartment, it looked like any typical industrial style building.  He considered a two story apartment, but he works on items with paint and chemicals, and was afraid of the smell or fumes.  He has lived there now 15 years, and is considering to build his dream home about 100 yards from the shop. 

[maroonandwhite]

My best friend bought 20 acres, and built one of those steel buildings, I think like 60 ft x 30 or something.  In the corner, he built an apartment.  Inside, the apartment, it was very nice, but step out the door to inside the building, a typical steel beam type building, complete with white insulation, and concrete floor.  Step out the front door of the apartment, it looked like any typical industrial style building.  He considered a two story apartment, but he works on items with paint and chemicals, and was afraid of the smell or fumes.  He has lived there now 15 years, and is considering to build his dream home about 100 yards from the shop. 

I actually like this idea I just haven't checked into the price of these buildings yet. Seems like it would probably more costly than a regular wood garage though.

[babelt]

I've been thinking about the exact same thing. What I want to do with my current significant other is buy some land and build something like this to live in for 3  to 5 years until we can pay off that and the land then build a house so that we can afford a little nicer house plus I would have my extra garage for the toys. 

[runco]

This is not my buddy's building, but its close, and in the far corner, he has a 1 bedroom, 1 bath, with living room and very well furnished apartment.  You would never thought you were inside a metal building! 

 

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[MudBugjr]

I was building a shop for my business and our house that we had for sell surprised us and sold close to Christmas couples years ago. We decided to make half the shop living space and office and other half storage. I let my wife do the bathroom and kitchen just like she wanted. Have a 1500 sqft living area. When we build our house It will become business only. My mortgage on my building is half what my house was. Worked out good so far. 

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