Has anyone lived in a camper while they build?

12 years ago

their house. My husband and I were talking this afternoon and he threw out this idea! We're just barely in the planning stages right now. Our goal is to build our house and have no mortgage. Anyways right now we are in savings mode and paying off the cars and then saving more!

Next year we are going to start looking for land to build on. I'm looking for 3-5 acres out in the middle of nowhere! Right now we live in a subdivision and it sucks! All my neighbors love to party and it seems like all of them own DJ systems. It's been a real nightmare. I've decided I don't want neighbors anymore. LOL

So my husband bright idea was to buy the land, put the house on the market and pray it sells, even if we just break even and make no profit off of it. He wants out that bad. LOL And live in a large used camper. That way it will free up a ton of money to build.It's a scary thought!

What we plan to do is hire a GC to frame out the house and dry it in. Then we want to take over and sub out the rest of the work ourselves. I know it's not as easy as it sounds but I think it's doable.

So has anyone ever moved into a camper while they build? How was the experience?

Featured Answer

mushcreek

6 years ago

An update ( I used to be 'flgargoyle')- I followed my plan pretty much as described. I lived in the old pop-up while I built the barn. I then moved the camper into the barn, and lived in it for about two years until I moved into the basement of the house (warmer, and no mice!). I actually did have a shower- I built a full bath in the barn.

It took me 4 years to build the house, working alone most of the time. It was quite an adventure, and I loved it. We sold the FL house 3 years ago, and now live in our snug, solid, mortgage-free home in SC.

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Comments (13)

trudymom
12 years ago
I just saw an interesting show on Central Texas Gardener this weekend where a person did it. Below is a You-Tube about it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Man living in trailer while building his house
User
12 years ago
First find out if the local town/county/state agencies will allow you to live in a camper on the site and, if so, what restrictions/requirements are placed on the utility hook-ups, access and surface drainage.

Also, investigate the utility and camper rental costs carefully to be sure the savings are real and sufficient to justify the potential stress on your family.

I once asked a serious motorcycle enthusiast if I should buy a bike and ride it around Europe. He said, "only if that is your preferred mode of travel".

You need to decide if living in a camper would be an adventure or a nightmare. The cost savings should be secondary.
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kjblock
12 years ago
We are just in the process of getting plans drawn up to build. We own a small house and have considered either building a garage with apartment above before building the house, or living in a trailer. I'm not sure either will work (if we didn't have kids I'd do it in a heartbeat). Mainly we've rejected the idea of the garage because we wouldn't otherwise fix the space up there, and don't want it to be living area after we're done. We have to do septic and we probably wouldn't want to get the appliances that would go into our eventual house. So I think there would be enough extra expense (involving heating, cooling, water connection, septic, etc) that we aren't going that route.

I don't think I'm cut out for living in a camper for a year with two cats and two kids! We also live in a cold winter climate so we'd have to deal with that in a camper.

My husband's parents built their own house and they lived in a trailer with the three kids while clearing the land and building the house themselves (dad was a contractor). So obviously it works for some people. We've done two major remodeling jobs on two different houses while living in them and doing the work ourselves, and I just want this build to be an easier and less stressful time than those two major remodeling projects ;-)

Good luck deciding!
kjblock
12 years ago
Forgot to mention, don't forget to calculate storage costs as well. We'd have to store so much stuff, that would add to the expense (and the hassle, at least in my mind, since we'd be moving the stuff twice--once to storage and then to the house). We moved across the country about three years ago, and I found the moving process bad enough that I really want to avoid moving more than necessary. We had a lot of stuff in storage for six months and now since we are in a temporary house, we still don't really have access to all our stuff that is stored above the garage. That can be a major hassle when you want to put your hands on something and have no idea which box it's in and getting to the stored boxes is not always easy. I also developed severe tendinitis in both elbows from moving boxes and I'm not looking forward to moving them again!

So just remember to take the storage and extra moving into consideration when you're deciding.
flgargoyle
12 years ago
I'll be living in a camper- for a few months, anyway. We're building a barn first. Then I'll have a solid structure to live in, and room to move all of our stuff from our home in FL to our new home in SC. I bought a hard-side pop-up (cheap), and that is what I will live in while I build the barn.

We're not selling our FL home right away, if at all. We might simply rent it out after we move to SC. The market here is such that home sales are very weak, but rentals are strong because it's so hard to get a mortgage. Through frugal living, we've amassed enough to build a modest house without borrowing any money.

It can be done, and people have done it, but the cautions listed here are valid ones. It might not be legal, there's weather to deal with, there's the problem of finding a place for your stuff, and it sure isn't for everybody!
April-Lorraine
12 years ago
We haven't lived in a camper while we built, but we did travel for 2+ years in a motorhome while looking for a home, land and what state to live in. In retrospect, we would have gotten a large, comfortable but less expensive fifth-wheel or trailer (which sounds like what you want to do) instead of the 45 foot luxury, expensive, used motorcoach we got. We were always too afraid of messing up the custom everything to enjoy it.

If you are willing to live in a smaller space for a while, do without some luxuries, and you think you'd be content and flexible, you'll be fine. It can be enjoyable and liberating to see how little you need! If you take the opportunity to, you can make it a time to really slow down, simplify, escape the tyranny of stuff and take the experience for what it is and what it offers. The mistake we made was we tried to bring all our "stuff" with us - computers, exercise machines, a library of books - and it just got in the way and made it cluttered, physically and psychologically. Some luxuries you may have to be content without: baths (most have showers only), a big, fully equipped kitchen, etc. We stayed in hotels sometimes just to take baths! How much you enjoy it is more about your mindset than anything else, I think.
PRO
Meyer Realty Group, LLC.
6 years ago
We just moved from our RV into our new home. I think it was essential to be on site to monitor the stages of construction. Too much can go wrong when you can't oversee your projects. It had the disadvantage of being cramped and having g all of our stuff in storage. The advantage is that we had septic installed early as well as other utilities making the RV more like home. The kitchen table was our office and we ate out for a lot of meals. We survived it though and so did the marriage. If we had to do it again, we would.
PRO
Meyer Realty Group, LLC.
6 years ago
Also, in the country and even in some neighborhoods you can have a construction trailer while building. We just lived in ours.
Ron Natalie
6 years ago
The one house I built (I mean, literally, I helped the guy bang nails in the thing), the owner borrowed and RV and parked it on his lot for the duration of the build. I had dinner with him and his wife in the RV on more than one occasion.

A neighbor here had a more interesting idea. He tore down (well, he had the local fire department burn down), the lakefront shack on the lot and borrowed a houseboat he had tied up to his dock.

What I did is build the house in two stages. The first state was the garage, hangar, bedroom suite (now our master, will be the guest room) and a tiny combo kitchen/living/dining room. I was on the site when I could make it and had webcams all over that I watched remotely, but I'm still amazed how it turned out.

Now seven years later I'm building the bulk of the house. There's not a day that goes by I'm not talking to the workers or they aren't seeking me out.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
6 years ago
I shared a small office with a guy that was living in a small travel trailer while he built his own house. It was a shame his shower didn't work . . .
PRO
John & Tellu
6 years ago
Hey Mushcreek,

Did you go through the entire inspection and certificate of occupancy process with the barn? I suppose you would have had to. We're right down the road from you (we have 10 acres a mile north of the lake), and I'm considering doing something similar while we build.

Right now we're still trying to get bids for land clearing and grading, so we're a ways out yet.

Thanks,

John
mushcreek
6 years ago
We did pull a permit and have inspections. Since the barn is an accessory building, and not intended for habitation, there weren't very many inspections. At times they seemed a little surprised that we were even calling for inspections. I'm not sure about the legalities of living in the barn. I never asked; they never mentioned it. I kept all of my personal effects in the camper, and it was legal to camp on our property. Feel free to PM me if you want more specifics.

Jay

Has anyone lived in a camper while they build?

mushcreek

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