Debt is Slavery - Buying a House Without a Mortgage

[BigShiny]

I would like to own a house in the next few years. I see two options: 1) buy a house in the (now) traditional way, with a mortgage and a 20% down payment on an existing house or buy an empty lot and hire a builder. 2) Save up for a piece of property (should take me about 3-4 years), purchase it with cash, and build as much of it as I can using my own labor and the labor of friends and family. I would also search for eco-friendly and recycled materials (straw bale walls for example) to keep the house from emitting VOCs and to keep prices down. I have heard in more traditional areas like Poland that a young family will live with relatives while they put their house together. They build a foundation one year, save up for another year and build the frame, next year finish the bathroom, kitchen, family room and a bedroom, save a few more years and add on the next bedroom etc. etc. until the house is complete and paid for with your own family and friends' labor and without any major debt.

Issues for GSUSers to help with: need a house plan that lets you build in stages and move in while still building the extra bedrooms, garage etc.

Need tips on finding cheap/recycled building materials that are natural.

Where does my family live for the first few years while saving up for a lot and during the initial stages of construction? Is it better to rent or to buy a mobile to have eventually moved onto your lot when you purchase it?

I am trying to set a good foundation for the future, one without the massive debt that most "homeowners" have. I want to be a REAL homeowner. Your thoughts appreciated.

[zusn]

I like the way you are thinking Big Shiny. If I got to do it all over, here are the steps I would take.

1. Save up the $$ to buy the property outright.
2. Buy a cheap trailer and place it on the property.
3. Live in the trailer while planning on how to build the house.
4. After all of the plans are laid out, break it down into logical phases.
5. Save up more $$ until there is enough to complete a phase. Example, I would want to do all of the foundation work/concrete all at once.
6. Continue to save, and build when you have the $$ to do so.

After a few years, you should have you own home built free and clear. In the mean time, you'll be living in an old trailer and people will make fun of you. Little do they know that you'll NEVER have to worry about how to pay next month's mortgage payment. Who's laughing now?

Brace yourself for people and their comments like, "why don't you just get a loan and build the house all at once?" My friend took the path as I listed above and was ridiculed all through the building process. Stay focused on your goals and let us know when the project starts.

[wildcard]

Exactly what I was thinking zusn!

*you can also specify each part of your house and inspect the work. There will be some logistics issues, but a good architect can help with that.

**you'll come out with a much higher quality house and a lot cheaper in the end.

[Saul Mine]

I can't add anything but encouragement. My father bought a lot in 1953 and built a two car garage on the back. Mom, Dad, and seven kids moved in and lived there while Dad built a real house on the front of the lot. It took him ten years, but there NEVER has been a mortgage on the place.

I have known other people who did the same thing, and they didn't even have anything as classy as a two car garage. Just a tar paper shack.

[Ironfield]

If you do indeed go the buy property and build your own home this website I’ve been lurking on has some very good bits of advice and may suit your needs http://countryplans.com/ It meets your requirements of being eco friendly and using reusable materials.
My favorite homes being built have to be Gleen’s semi underground home.

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

http://www.countryplans.com/underground.html

And Bishopknights 30x40 Earth Berm Passive Solar in Maine.

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=5386.0

I wish you the very best in your endeavors, which ever route you decide to go down.

-Ironfield

[Ash_Williams]

Any of these ideas will have to be done in the country. You really build a house in stages in the suburbs or use odd materials, too many regulations. Also a huge portion of the house in the suburbs is what you have to pay for water and sewer hookup.

Do it in the country and have a trailer. If you look on craiglist some people are giving away nice trailers to avoid paying another year of lot fees. You just need to pay for someone to put some new wheels on it and tow it to your place.

[I am me, I am free]

Ken Kern was an architect. The most expendable part of the process is the general contractor/builder. The second most expendable is the architect.

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=ken+Kern&sts=t&tn=the+owner+built+home&x=0&y=0

[wildcard]

I'd rather spend the money on a good GC and architect than pay what it would cost to unfuck something my untrained eye overlooked. If you have experience and know how to deal with folks then game on.

[I am me, I am free]

I'd rather spend the money on a good GC and architect than pay what it would cost to unf*ck something my untrained eye overlooked. If you have experience and know how to deal with folks then game on.


Get a copy of Ken Kern's 'The Owner Built Home' and you will have an entirely different perspective. I know of someone who built his own gorgeous house (pole frame construction) on an 'unbuildable' lot overlooking Lake Travis (it includes 2,000 s.f. of deck around it 'in the treetops') and he used Ken Kern's book as his guide.

If you have 'an untrained eye', then how do you find and vet "a good general contractor"??? 'Owner built' doesn't necessarily mean one does ALL the tradework on the project, one contracts out for what one is not inclined to do on one's own.

An example was cited earlier about how a family builds a house in Poland which is free and clear. The same thing goes on in Mexico, a family's house may be under construction for a decade or two - you see it all over the countryside, houses which have re-bar sticking up in anticipation of adding the next floor(s). And I guarantee you that Mexicans are not contracting out for any of the work, they're doing it themselves (for the most part). Everywhere you look in Mexico there is a house under perpetual construction.

[BigShiny]

I like the way you are thinking Big Shiny. If I got to do it all over, here are the steps I would take.

1. Save up the $$ to buy the property outright.
2. Buy a cheap trailer and place it on the property.
3. Live in the trailer while planning on how to build the house.
4. After all of the plans are laid out, break it down into logical phases.
5. Save up more $$ until there is enough to complete a phase. Example, I would want to do all of the foundation work/concrete all at once.
6. Continue to save, and build when you have the $$ to do so.

After a few years, you should have you own home built free and clear. In the mean time, you'll be living in an old trailer and people will make fun of you. Little do they know that you'll NEVER have to worry about how to pay next month's mortgage payment. Who's laughing now?

Brace yourself for people and their comments like, "why don't you just get a loan and build the house all at once?" My friend took the path as I listed above and was ridiculed all through the building process. Stay focused on your goals and let us know when the project starts.


Thanks for the tips. I know a guy at work who lived in a trailer while he paid for his house to be built. He was constantly called "trailer trash." He was doing it to save money so he could afford to have a very nice house built by contractors. I have some experience standing up to criticism over the long term and still sticking to a plan. It can be very mentally taxing, but worth it in the long haul to have followed your own will and swam upstream.

[Ash_Williams]

If you have some money to spend there are actually some really nice trailers. Naturally you're always going to have a single floor and a rather rectangular shape with brick walls being out of the question, but I've seen some with great interiors and nice exteriors. Also they come with metal roofs, as all houses should, so a trailer from the 60's still doesn't leak.

Of course if you had the money to buy the nicest of trailers you might as well just start on the house!

[BigShiny]

I'd rather spend the money on a good GC and architect than pay what it would cost to unf*ck something my untrained eye overlooked. If you have experience and know how to deal with folks then game on.


I will hopefully be able to enlist the help of some more experienced people, at least in the planning phases.

[zusn]

I like the way you are thinking Big Shiny. If I got to do it all over, here are the steps I would take.

1. Save up the $$ to buy the property outright.
2. Buy a cheap trailer and place it on the property.
3. Live in the trailer while planning on how to build the house.
4. After all of the plans are laid out, break it down into logical phases.
5. Save up more $$ until there is enough to complete a phase. Example, I would want to do all of the foundation work/concrete all at once.
6. Continue to save, and build when you have the $$ to do so.

After a few years, you should have you own home built free and clear. In the mean time, you'll be living in an old trailer and people will make fun of you. Little do they know that you'll NEVER have to worry about how to pay next month's mortgage payment. Who's laughing now?

Brace yourself for people and their comments like, "why don't you just get a loan and build the house all at once?" My friend took the path as I listed above and was ridiculed all through the building process. Stay focused on your goals and let us know when the project starts.


Thanks for the tips. I know a guy at work who lived in a trailer while he paid for his house to be built. He was constantly called "trailer trash." He was doing it to save money so he could afford to have a very nice house built by contractors. I have some experience standing up to criticism over the long term and still sticking to a plan. It can be very mentally taxing, but worth it in the long haul to have followed your own will and swam upstream.
I live in a manufactured home and I drive a geo metro that I can usually squeeze 50MPG out of. It's a badge of honor to not be part of the debt rat race. If I had a 1oz Gold Eagle for every Lexus, BMW, Audi or other new car in the parking lot at my work, I could retire. And no, the salaries here aren't that high, just the egos and easy credit. Live below the radar I say. It's pretty funny listening to people here complain about their car payments, etc. I love cars! I would love to build every car that Factory 5 has to offer. Reality says that I just need something to get me to and from work as efficiently as possible. The day will come when I will have the means to buy what I want and pursue my non essential hobbies. Until then, I have a family that depends on me and a lot of preparation is in order.

Build, save, plan for the future. Let the debt sheep call you names and look down at you from high atop their mountain of debt. One day, they will get sheered and you'll have the last laugh.