Comments

2
I'm glad we now have single-wide trailer homes that are acceptable to a broader demographic.
3
Another good example of why the sooner the exercise in 1950's social engineering known as single family zoning goes away, the better.
4
So, is this legal in Shoreline or White Center ?
5

Isn't this a more wasteful use of land than an apartment building?

6
I think that a pier block foundation could be installed for a few hundred dollars doing the work yourself. All you would need are some jacks (can be rented), some pier blocks, some 4x4's, and some wedges. A layer of sand spread underneath the house would be good too.
7
Apodment.
8
I rented out a cardboard box to a homeless guy, and he's fine with it. All he has to do is pay me $100, I don't care where it comes from, and he has shelter. It's so lame the city tries to ensure that housing conforms to a standard.
9
Luxury, luxury...
10
It's very simple: developers can't make money off tiny houses, ergo they are illegal.
11
I really wanted a tiny house at one point and I kinda still do but where the heck would I put it? I never could figure that part out. I'd have to rent someone's back yard or buy land which defeats the purpose of cheap housing.
12
Mortville
13
I was thinking along the same lines as @6 above. It wouldn't be difficult to put in a pier and breeze-block foundation, along with the sand, that would be substantial enough to pass the city's inspection but also easy to dismantle when it was time to move the tiny house, would it?
14
@11:

Buy a boat. Preferably one under 30', and then rent a slip.
15
@14:

Exactly. Live-aboard boat owners are the original tiny house owners, at least in the post-WWII era.
16
@ 14 & 15...Most marinas do not allow live-aboards and those that do charge about as much as you would pay for an apartment. There is also the risk that the marina can close and force you to move your boat.
17
@16:

That's a great point. We should be including marinas in our planning.
18
There is also the risk that the marina can close and force you to move your boat.

If your name is Arnold and you cheat on her, Marina will close (her legs) and force you to move your butt (out of the house.)
19
If I could afford a boat, then I'd just as soon as try to get a condo or something like that.
20
You really don't want to live on a boat; the maintenance will drive you crazy. You will have to demonstrate that your motor is operational (even on a sailboat), that your holding tanks are functional, and that the vessel is fully equipped with all safety devices. You will have to or at least should do a haul out once a year to clean the hull of algae. Anything metal will corrode just by being there. A boat is a poor living option.
21
@18, 19

And the people with no clue show up, but with all the opinions.
22
I have a feeling this would need more than a foundation to be legal in Seattle. We looooove regulating, and there's a fat book of regulations for DADUs. For one thing they'd have to provide an extra parking space (larger than the house! and no, you can't park it on the parking space).
23
@21 you forgot @15 and @17
24
@21, exactly. These opinions about liveaboards are 100% fact-free. I lived on a 30' sailboat for years - plus it had no engine. There is no requirement to show your engine works. My boat is worth maybe $5,000. The idea that "if you can afford a boat you can afford a condo" is beyond absurd. More like if you can afford 3 months of rent you can afford a boat... Moorage at Shilshole for 30' slips is $350, and there is a $50 liveaboard fee. How much is a one bedroom apartment in Ballard these days? I'm pretty sure the savings will cover your annual haulout.
25
"Everything I earn is self-produced. No outside investors, just myself. So a place like a tiny house allows me to live very cheaply and fund my business off the ground."

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/you-p…
26
If she moved it to nicklesville it would be allowed like all the rest of them.
27
Move it to the street and put a pile of old liquor bottles next to it. It isn't a 70s Winnebago but I'm sure they'd give it a pass, like all the rest.
28
At the beginning of the article, I thought the house was owned by Ali, and she was paying for the right to park on Kardos' property (and get access to his water/electric supply) until she was ready to move elsewhere, because the structure has wheels and that's usually why people get the wheeled version - for flexibility of location.

Seeing that Kardos built it, with the intent to rent it out in his back yard, makes me side with the city to a degree. This isn't an issue of the city evicting someone from their affordable housing, it's an issue of a landlord skirting zoning requirements in order to maximize their earnings.
29
I was a liveaboard at AGC Marina in SLU for almost five years on a 1978 C&C Newport 28'. Slip ran about $450 per month, including electricity and waste pump-out, the boat cost $11,000, and I had what many would consider a "million dollar view" of downtown and Mt. Rainier from my cockpit. And while the State did put a cap on marinas of 10% liveaboards back in the early 2000's there are still many that accept them, although you may have to go onto a waitlist for a few months.

And yes, there are maintenance costs (the old BOAT, "Bring On Another Thousand" being only a half-facetious term), but you would run into this with any piece of property on-the-dry as well. And, if you're an experienced sailor, you can easily deal with some of the issues mentioned above for very little cost by doing a lot of the work yourself - or just by taking the boat out on a regular basis. For example, if you get out of freshwater into the Sound (or conversely out of the Sound into Lake Union or Lake Washington) a few times a year for a couple of days at a stretch your bottom algae problem will be mostly solved - algae being very sensitive to changes in salinity - thus cutting down on the need for annual haul-outs.

All that being said, it's not a lifestyle everyone is cut out for, as it does require a certain level of vigilance, knowledge, skill, and dedication. But if you're an avid boater, the rewards go without saying. Plus, the boating community was by-and-large one of the friendliest, helpful and just plain fun-to-be-around groups of people it's been my pleasure to encounter. Seriously, you could do a lot worse than live on a boat.

And if that's not your style, check out a housebarge; a little pricier, but generally a lot roomier, and in this insane real estate market still well below the cost of a typical condo.
30
What 6 and 13 said. Just build a foundation out of blocks, 4x4s, and sand/gravel. The owner could do it for less than one month of the income that tiny house is providing. I'm sure if he has the ability to build the house he can do the foundation work himself.
31
Wait - camping is illegal in Seattle but we're only going to harass the tiny house kind? Not the "lets park for days in our rundown RV in Frelard" kind? Man this city is so f'ed up...
32
@31:

You can always file a complaint, but as a general rule RV squatters pick industrial areas away from residences, and be very, very quiet precisely so as to attract as little attention as possible, and as such they tend to not be a very high priority for law enforcement.
33
@4 & 29....I suspect that it has been a while since you have lived-aboard. Not all but most marinas have up-graded there rules, especially regarding live-aboards. The motor rule will vay but you have to demonstrate that your vessel is easily moveable such as getting it to a sanitation pump-out station. Many people also use a live-aboard as a dwelling and not as a sailing vessel, hence the need for haul outs. Insurance (particularly fire insurance, is also becoming a new mandatory requirement in most marinas. Many older vessels, particularly wooden hulled ones, can sometimes find this very costly, sometimes impossible. Also, if your boat is deemed unseaworthy then what; you just can't abandon it anymore. Living on a boat is doable but rarely is it economical; a motorhome would be cheaper.
34
Also - $400 for a 150 sq ft house with a compost toilet? Seems like an awful lot.
35
@33:

I had to do all those things when I owned my boat both when I was a liveaboard and after I moved off, so maybe it was just AGC being extra-cautious. I think the additional insurance coverage must have become mandatory after a couple of big marina fires in the early 2000's, but IIRC AGC required it because of the proximity of slips to McCormick & Schmick's Harborside restaurant and the possibility of a kitchen fire. Or something. It was well over a decade ago.

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