Tumbleweed Lusby and Free Land
The post that grabbed my attention most this past week was this story of this nearly complete Tumbleweed Lusby being offered for sale. The seller is asking $38,000 for the tiny house but is throwing in a free piece of land in northern California. The house is on the east coast.
Elaine’s story is one we hear a lot these days… someone who is ready to move on but stuck in a big house they can’t sell. I’m certain the real estate will eventually turn around but it’s still sad to hear that someone has to put their plans on hold until the economy heals itself.
The other part of this story that captured my attention was the offer of free land. The lot is located in a housing development called California Pines. You might remember the infomercials with Eric Estrada describing pristine land for sale and ‘free trips’ for prospective buyers.
But as you begin to peel back the layers of the California Pines onion you can see that there really might be a few good deals up there especially if you want to get away from it all. There are still a few lots on the market and Modoc County seems to be welcoming to owner-builders.
The lot in this offer is apparently buildable, but still needs water and ceptic. Camping is allowed on the property but not year round. So theoretically one could camp in this Lusby tiny house for a good part of the year without breaking any rules. The local codes require that houses be a minimum of 500 square feet so you could eventually build a small house while living in your tiny house and then use the tiny house as a guest room or office.
The only trouble I can see with the place is it’s remote location. California is a big diverse place and this is about as far as you could get from civilization and still call it California. On the upside it’s private and quiet, but don’t expect to find too many jobs in this neck to the woods.
If I wasn’t stuck in my own big house, like Elaine, and had a little more financial flexibility I’d be taking a much more serious look at this tiny house offer myself. But I would definitely do my homework on the transportation costs of moving the the tiny house to California, the buildability of the lot, the status of California Pines and it’s homeowners association, and with Modoc County to determine if there were any red flags for future construction. When the deal looks too good it always pays to do your best due diligence.
Read more about Elaine’s Lusby and Free Land
I can completely sympathize with Elaine, and yourself, as I too am stuck in my “big home”. My wife and I are completely trapped in a 1000 sq ft house in the far northern burbs of Chicago. If we attempted to sell it at current market prices, we would most likely end up at least $75K in the hole. This is compounded by the fact that we only payed $300K in the first place, and we did a 0 down loan to purchase it.
I know there are a lot of young home owners that are very much in the same boat. I even felt so trapped by it, that when I was laid off a year ago, my first thought is “we can’t aford it! We’ll have to forclose! Credit be d***ed, this is awesome!” The flip side is without the sense of entrapment, I doubt the small home revolution would have struck a cord in me at all.