Alternative Housing

Cost of Yurt Homes?

 There are several companies that make all-season yurts that can be turned into permanent homes.  Yurts cost less than stick-built homes, and even with "all the fixins," they are often less money than even manufactured homes.  They can also be assembled quickly in comparison to stick built and even modular homes.  And while you might think of a yurt as something small and temporary, some of the larger models are quite spacious.  With many you can opt for "tall walls," which leave space to build a full or partial loft above.  Overall, a yurt can feel large and open, making it a lovely choice for an affordable housing alternative.

So how much do those yurts cost, anyway?

Basic yurts are quite affordable, starting at $5,000-$10,000 new (though you'll probably want some add-ons, especially if this is going to be your permanent home, and there are additional expenses involved with installing one in an area that gets high winds and/or a heavy snow load each year). 

Typical sizes range from 12' in diameter to 30' (and a 30-foot yurt is very spacious!), with prices increasing proportionately. 

The cool thing about the yurt industry is that many of the major companies are very good about publishing their prices online.

For a manufacturer that lets you put your yurt together online and see how much all the nuts and bolts cost, visit Pacific Yurts. Make sure to check their picture gallery for lots of cool ideas (the pictures in this post are from there). 

Keep in mind that interior finishings (such as flooring, cabinets, countertops, etc.) and plumbing for bathrooms and kitchens are not included with your yurt, so you'll have to hire a contractor or do the work yourself (places like Ikea have full kitchen setups these days, so this can be more affordable than you might think). 

Saving Money with Used Yurt Homes

 Can't afford a new yurt?  It's possible to get used yurts that have only seen a few seasons.  Some have even spent much of their time in dry storage.

You can check on ebay, but I had best results on Craigslist.  Even as I write this, there are four for sale in the Seattle area.  You can search beyond your local area, too, as some owners may be willing to ship.

To check for used yurts, do a domain-only search on Google for "yurt" on "Craigslist.org".  Sometimes the old owners will even help with the installation!

Rammed Earth Construction Pros & Cons

Rammed earth construction is once again gaining in popularity for home builders looking for eco-friendly options.  With rammed earth, you're using the dirt under your feet (or from a local quarry) to build a house.  This is certainly a "green" practice since it usually makes use of local materials (local dirt!) and you don't need lumber, quarried stone, brick, etc. to be transported from long distances.

Rammed earth construction has its pros and cons of course.  Let's take a look at the positives and negatives.

Pros of Building with Rammed Earth

• A properly sited and designed rammed earth home is ideal for passive solar strategies, so it can be great for an off-the-grid house.  The thick, dense walls absorb the warmth from the sun all day and slowly release the heat into the interior of the house at night.  This helps keep heating bills low in the winter, and these homes tend to stay cool in the summer as well. 
• Dirt is an easy-to-acquire material and while there are some requirements (not all dirt is going to have the right mix of sand and clay), you ought to be able to get it locally, so this tends to be an eco-friendly building material.
• And let's not forget the coolness factor of having a house that is built out of something unique.  In many cases, homeowners wanting to save money help with the building process, and there are even DIY sites out there that will tell you how to make a house on the cheap using rammed earth construction.

Cons of Rammed Earth Construction

• Soil selection needs to be done carefully, and if you are able to use dirt from the building site, you'll end up with some big holes you need to figure out how to work into the landscape.
• Though it might seem that a house made out of dirt would be cheap, rammed earth construction actually tends to cost 5 to 15% more than conventional construction (due to the labor-intensive process of creating the rammed earth forms).
• It's difficult to impossible to create rounded or sculpturally shaped walls the way you can with other materials.  Homes made with rammed earth construction are going to be boxy in nature. 
• In colder climates, you'll probably need extra insulation (it's typical to add foam insulation to exterior walls and then cover it up with stucco).

Source: Living Homes: Sustainable Architecture and Design

Rammed Earth Homes--Eco-friendly, Long-lasting, and Just Plain Cool

 An alternative house building material that we haven't talked about before is rammed earth.  And, yes, it's exactly what it sounds like.  The walls are made from earth that is smashed into forms. 

Rammed earth has a long history around the world and was popular in the United States before railroads made the transportation of lumber and other building materials commonplace.  In recent years, the material has been seeing a resurgence as an eco-friendly option for home building.  It doesn't get much more natural than building a home right out of the ground around it!

How Building a Rammed Earth House Works

The building process starts out with a concrete foundation that protrudes above grade six to eight inches as a "stem wall."  The rammed earth wall will stick to the stem wall via gravity and pressure.

Mineral-laden soil (not topsoil--save that for the garden) is used for the walls.  A mixture of mostly sand with some clay works well.  On sight soil often isn't of the right consistency, so you may have to get it from a local quarry (this saves the problem of correcting gaping holes in your landscape anyway). 

Typically 3-10% portland cement is mixed into the soil for stabilization.  The mixture is then moistened to lubricate the soil particles and help with compaction. 

The earth is placed into box-like ramming forms (similar to forms used for creating concrete panels), which are attached to the stem walls.  The wall depths will be anywhere from 18 to 36 inches (in a two-story building the first-story walls are typically wider).  Plumbing and electrical are usually run within the forms, and windows and doors are framed out before the earth is rammed home.

In the end, the rammed earth walls will have a slightly textured surface and striations left from the ramming process.  Wall color depends on soil mixture.  You can, of course, paint but many homeowners want to be able to see and admire their natural rammed earth walls and will simply apply a clear sealant to interior walls to prevent flaking.  In cold climates, foam insulation is often added to exterior walls, which are then covered with stucco.

Rammed earth houses are a unique and eco-friendly way to build a home.

Source: Living Homes: Sustainable Architecture and Design

The Shipping Container House Catches on

The shipping container house may be the ultimate eco-friendly home, since the entire structure is made from a recycled item.  A shipping container to be precise.  Yes, those are the big metal boxes you see on the backs of trains as they port boxes across continents. 

According to a Modern Marvels show on the History Channel, there are enough shipping containers in existence to form a continuous line around the earth at the equator--8 containers high.  Usually these containers are simply sent to the scrap yard, but now you can grab one for your own use... to turn into a house.

They say the cheapest and most efficient form of housing is to use an existing box, which is exactly what a shipping container is.  The containers are designed to be strong, so they make for a sturdy home when they're converted into living space.  They can even be stacked one atop another to form a house with multiple levels or even a multi-unit live/work complex such as Container City in London. 

Once the containers are insulated and water and electricity are added, they make a perfectly fine domicile for any climate and any time of the year.  The insulation and everything can be made with 100% recycled materials to create a truly eco-friendly home.  Since the roof is flat, you can even plant grass or a garden on top of your house.

Further reading:

Container City
Future Shack

Can You Refinance Your Manufactured Home?

Rates are still low when it comes to home financing, and you may be wondering if you can refinance your manufactured home to get a lower interest rate or lower your monthly payment.  You can also use the money you get out of refinancing your home to pay for emergencies (such as maintenance), career retraining, college funds, and the like, but be very careful and never refinance just to pay for luxury items.

You may think of a manufactured home as different from traditional housing, but fortunately the banks still see them very similarly.  As long as you own your own land, a manufactured home can appreciate the same way a stick-built house can, and you can refinance it much the same way as you can a regular house.  (It is also possible to refinance a park-model home.)

How does refinancing a manufactured home work?

To refinance means that you take out a new loan, which pays off your previous loan, and sometimes leaves a bit extra left over.  The best reason to refinance is to get a better interest rate (something that is usually possible when rates have gone down or your FICO score has gone up or if you had to take out a funky loan originally in order to quality) and owe less money each month.  Also, you can refinance to a shorter term payment schedule (i.e. a 15 year fixed instead of a 30 year fixed) if you're making more money than when you purchased the home and you can now afford a higher payment and would like to own your manufactured home free and clear sooner.

Keep in mind that either way you go, you will need to pay closing costs all over again when you refinance, so make sure the end result is worth that expense.

The rules governing manufactured home refinancing vary from state to state

It is possible to refinance both park manufactures homes and models on private land, but because these are not "normal" houses, the financing rules change depending on the state you live in.  To really get the lowdown, you should visit a lender in your neck of the woods.  It's not a bad idea to speak with multiple lenders to see who can give you the best rates and seems to have your best interests at heart.

Articles to read before you consider refinancing:

Refinancing That Makes Your Poorer
When to Refinance, When to Sit Tight
Manufactured Home Refinance with FHA Loans