We were discussing the high cost of housing. I "brain-stormed".... Buy a lot, have a ( 4 car? ) garage erected on it. Live in that !
First response was; "You'd never get an Occupancy Permit".
I realize you'd need a sink, toilet.... electric service. Much else ? Hell... we do with a helluva lot less out camping.
What is this "Occupancy Permit" ? Could a township require certain minimal living amenities ? Could it extend to windows ? heating ? etc. etc...
Could you live in a garage ?
Better look into local laws before you try this. Years ago people would build basements and then move in. Mostly rural Midwestern places outside of city jurisdictions. Electric service will not be much of a trick. Most utilities will set an service at the drop of a hat. Here abouts your required to have automatic heating and cooling. No wood burning fireplaces as a primary source. The biggest stick that they have is the plumbing issue.
You could live *above* a garage. My friend did it that way. Built a two car garage, finished the upstairs as an apartment, and then built the house as he could.
Someone told me years ago that after world war two, that two car garages were selling rapidly. Someone researched, and found folks living in them.
Four cars? That's spacious!
My in-laws did for about 2 years.
The local DOT kicked them out of their house (and paid them for it) so the road could be widened. The couldn't decide on a final plan for the new house, so they built a 3 car garage. It has 200 amp service and a complete bathroom. As soon as they got the 'CO' and could get the power turned on, they moved in. The county probably didn't know or care.
If the locality doesn't require occupancy permits, you probably don't want to live there anyway. :)
bill
A town *CAN* require all kinds of bizzare things.
If you're regulated at all, you will generally, need hot and cold running water, a source of heat, insulated walls, a stove of some sort, a shower or bath, a toilet, provision for natural and/or artificial light and ventilation, an electrical system that meet certain specifications*, and frequently some minimum square footage, which will vary by location but is unlikely to be less than 700sqft.
The most expensive and time consuming issue is probably getting a legal septic systems put in, which requires permits, and is the mechanism by which many municipalities regulate their growth.
Other than that, there's no particular reason that you can't just live in a giant studio apartment...
Bedrooms (anywhere that people are going to sleep regularly), need to have a second "means of egress" which is usually a window big enough and low enough to crawl out, and for places more modern than
1999, AFCI protected circuts for anyplace people are going to sleep.I dunno why you'd have a "garage" erected to live in when it's not particularly harder or more expensive to build a house than a garage, though. (well, except that garages don't typically have plumbing).
--Goedjn
Just a long evening, and nothing better to talk about.
Actually, my first choice would be a mobile home. ( now, they're "manufactured homes" )
They're about the only affordable housing for low-income folks.
Rj, It is not at all uncommon , in my are, for folks who have hangars (for Aircraft) to build an entire two story house inside the hangar and live there. You already have an address, and need everything to house an airplane that you need for people...........Kinda.
Some smaller airfields, individually owned have many residents backed up to the property, thus allowing the arrangements.
It's an idea anyway.
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