Houses aren’t cheap and they aren’t getting any cheaper. What I aim to do here is provide a few ideas that can get you thinking. By no means is this meant to be a comprehensive guide. As house prices continue to skyrocket, it looks like housing, at least as we typically see it, will continue to become something only the megarich can afford. Meanwhile average people will be forced in smaller and smaller places that grow more dangerous by the day for more and more rent.
Not a winning proposition if you’re not super rich. So, what is there to do? There’s always apartment living and with enough room mates this can be a decent option. But anymore apartments are becoming more and more expensive. And neighbors and roommates can be absolute hell depending on certain factors.
There’s government housing. Which is almost always low quality and will put you in a place that’s not always the safest. Granted this can vary and things are changing where governments are buying houses out of the inner city and more suburban and even rural places. If you’re barely making ends meat it might make sense to take advantage of this as hitting that next income bracket may actually make you poorer.
But that’s a topic for another time.
What about other housing options.
Tiny Houses…Yes Or No?
Tiny houses are ridiculous. Well, let me rephrase that. The way the average tiny house is marketed and sold for, is ridiculous. Some of them are upwards of 250 dollars a square foot. You’re paying insane, almost home, prices for a small converted shack that half the time doesn’t have decent plumbing. That’s a bum deal that only the super rich can afford to waste money on. But that doesn’t mean that tiny houses are foolish in and of themselves.
Matter of fact, they’re a pretty smart idea when used properly. But that means doing a lot of handy work yourself. I’ve seen kits here and there and they run pretty expensive but for those that are less handy they might be a good option. This is something I’ve been experimenting with. Get the bare bones basics and work from there. Work at it while you can. You’ll need a contractor for some parts. And make sure you get a professional for things like wiring. But there’s a lot of work you can do yourself.
The biggest expense will be property to set it up on and then running electric and sewer out to that properly. You can save some money by using composting toilets and the like but you’ll still want running water and the ability to shower and such. If you know someone who has property or can go in on property with, meaning someone you’d trust with your life, then it be cheaper.
Or if you have family you could buy, or bum, part of their property off of that could also work.
Prefab Homes, The Best Middle Option?
Prefab homes are another growing market. These are essentially homes that come premade and are set down at your building site. They can run pretty expensive but there are plenty of relatively affordable options. They run way cheaper than “normal” homes especially if you already have land and/or hookups. These provide you with a “real” sized house but for way cheaper than a regular home. There are many builders with more seeming to pop up every day.
Check out a few. Again, they run to ridiculous prices but the “lower end” models are decent and affordable. There’s not that much difference between them and a house you’d get in your typical suburb. Sure there will be seams where the walls connect and a few other things, but if that’s what you’re worried about then this article really isn’t for you anyways. But for having a roof over your head and a decent place somewhere nice?
They’re hard to beat.
RV’s & Renovations
I had a friend who lived in a van for a year and loved it. He explained how it worked, how he cooked, how he used the restroom, how he showered. And some of it was gross and a lot of it was contingent on being near a developed area where you can make use of washrooms, rest stops, and the like. But hey, he had no money and wanted to get away from his father so it worked for him and more power to him. I’ve seen others do likewise with RV’s and the like. And this is an option that can work.
But you should really know what you’re getting into with this, same with tiny houses. The living is different. But it can work great for many people, depending on what you want. Again for full time living you’ll want electric and plumbing hookups. And in many places it’s probably illegal to live in an RV, so check your local laws. But again this can work. If you’re handy, notice how that keeps popping up, then you can take a relatively cheap base RV, tear out what you don’t want, and end up with a decent end product.
I’ve helped friends with stuff like this. It’s hard work and you have to know what you’re doing, and there’s always unforeseen expenses and pains in the asses involved, but in the end if you stick with it you can get a decent ‘tiny rv home’ or whatever you want to call it for relatively cheap.
Alternative Housing
Again, getting a house with a garage, a plot, and all of that is quickly becoming something only the uber rich can afford and I don’t see this trend changing anytime soon. At least in ‘developed’ nations like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, most of Europe, and the States. More and more people are going to look for alternative options. Eventually these options may be too expensive for the average person and we’ll all either live in mansions or live where the government tells us too.
But who knows what the future holds. Things go up and down, left and right, and run in cycles. Right now, it might be wise to check some of these alternatives out and see if they’d work for you. You might be surprised what you like.
If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!
-Charles Sledge
