Nope,
you've not gone off my autobiography site - this chapter is dedicated to a
concept I created. The above is a banner I put together for a site
called House & Cottage. I had planned to do this site a long time ago -
in the mid-1990's while the internet was taking its first baby steps.
Whether or not I was able to get Habitat's help in building an
accessible home, I really thought this was needed - especially for
people who didn't qualify for a Habitat For Humanity home and couldn't
afford to build one on their own. In the end, I couldn't get Habitat's
help and I fell into a slight depression after all my efforts. So, this
was put on a back burner for a long time before I brought it to life.
Its not really commercial, but has a lot of links to offer individuals
in finding ways to build their own homes when all else fails.
If you are young and
single just getting by on minimum wage, there are not many avenues open
to you. And if you are lucky enough to be looking in the market for your
own home, many of the structures in your price range are substandard in
areas that are simply not safe - hence fire sale prices being offered. A
lot of people in a similar circumstance will roll over and play dead.
Not a good thing. Most likely, someone in that circumstance is forced to
live in a crime-ridden neighborhood hoping to survive the night - one
day at a time. Its not a pretty picture. Trying to have a family -
forget it, utilities will eat you alive over a winter. Bringing up an
old place to code? Not on minimum wage.
So new home ownership
for most low-income single individuals is out of the question... Or is
it?
The answer is how you
tackle the challenge. Realize it takes a lot of research and planning.
Buying the right house design software and thinking about your
individual needs now and into future. For instance, you may someday want
a family, if you don't already have one. Another is like it or not, if
you live long enough, you are going to grow old. So the house you design
needs to take these considerations in mind. Lets spell it out. Whatever
layout you have in mind, eventually you may want to expand on it. While
a two bedroom home is initially built, you and your family may require
three or four bedrooms. Another is growing older. Chances are you may
find yourself in a wheelchair. Having a house means unless you plan
ahead, you may have a very expensive renovation to contend with to make
your home adaptable, or worse, be forced to sell and move someplace you
don't want to...or heaven forbid, find yourself in a nursing home. You
may consider this negative thinking on the surface - but the reality is
you want to have as many options as possible when aging - and we all age
from the moment of birth. Keep in mind, that every time you move, you
lose equity. The only winners are the banks and the realtors. So pick
the best location possible. Myself, I like more of a rural or an edge of
a suburban location. The reason is even the best urban neighborhood will
someday come face-to-face with squalor and the crime that goes with it.
We live at certain
comfort levels, and we'd like to maintain them, or better yet improve
them. By now you've heard your parents complain about the electric or
natural gas bill...if you now pay them, then you feel their pain when a
bill shows up. In bad times it can be catastrophic. No doubt, you've
lived through a power outage for an hour up to a few days. Everything
almost comes to a stop. That's why I'm very high on energy
self-sufficiency. Not depending on outside factors to control your own
personal world. Ergo, if you can incorporate alternative energy sources
and energy-saving devices into your home design, you will be the better
for it.
These are some of the
things I cover and incorporated into House & Cottage.
Now lets talk money.
When you borrow, you pay a certain percentage over the amount of money
you initially received. Bankers and other creditors make their money
through issuing loans, and they stack the deck against the borrower -
especially where it concerns credit cards. If we allow ourselves to
tread debt for any amount of time, we end up drowning in a sea of debt,
unable to get out...its a very miserable way to live and to die.
Therefore, I encourage you to find a safe place to store building
material that you can pay for with cash than delve into buying things on
credit. Owning a home with no mortgage to burn twenty to forty years
later is true freedom, allowing you to sleep at night with few serious
worries. Also realize if you plan to buy land, few banks will grant a
loan with no buildings over it. Therefore, you need to save there as
well.
Gaining working
experience is the only way to make sure you have a personal expanse of
knowledge to do the project right. Spend some of your time by working on
a Habitat For Humanity home, actually a few of them. You may never get a
grant of your own from them, however, you'll know what's involved in the
building process to achieve the best degree of success in your own
building project. The more you know, the better your results.
I wish you nothing but
good luck my children and offspring to come... |