Where can a person live in a shed? While browsing at home depot i noticed a nice shed large enough to live in?

Posted on February 25th, 2010 by admin in home magazines | 11 Comments »

Is there any part of the country in which codes are liberal enough to allow one to reside in a shed or a prefabricated/modular garage? I have seen pictures of old fashioned quonset homes (the aluminum arch houses) but I have never seen any which were lived in. I only read about such homes in magazines like DWELL and Readymade. Here in Michigan, very little housing diversity exists. Is there any part of the country in which an owner could legally build a house for under $30,000? If so, please tell me where and provide links if possible thanks. For anyone else interested, Karrie Jacobs, founder of Dwell magazine, recently published a book called the $100,000 house. It discusses the issue of affordable housing. Thanks very much!
I don’t care to here criticism of my motives.

Also, I trailer plot will require me to live amongst a group of people I dont want to be around. Plus I want to own my home and land not pay some trailer park owner for the rest of my life.

There are a lot more places around the country without codes and zoning than places that do–you need to get away from the cities and out into the countryside. You can purchase a home in many Oklahoma communities for well under $50,000, in small towns across the state if you don’t insist on staying up north. We are friendly and living is cheap. Plus we don’t have a lot of snow. If you live down in the mountains in southeast Oklahoma like a lot of people do, you can build your own log cabin on an acreage and live like a hermit if you wish. Electricity and telephone service is tough, though unless you build near existing lines. In the west part of the state, you can live pretty well anywhere you want and have full services. And unless you live in a city of 5,000 or more, no zoning laws.

11 Responses

  1. Big Boss Says:

    lol nice title, living in a shed. You can put it somewhere back in the woods, with a sattelite…
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  2. HarleyMan Says:

    You are still going to have to have electricity, water and plumbing. Unless of course you plan to go primitive on us. And wait, are you going to live without Yahoo Answers and cable?
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  3. Naomi w Says:

    Don’t know,but is a good idea,think you can live in one
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  4. orf1943 Says:

    Find out how much space rent is at a local trailer park.
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  5. xarmywife Says:

    You’ll need to find a lot with electricity, sewer, water and cable, where the covenants allow any type of residence to be built. You will probably have to build some type of foundation to put it on before you can live in it. Why don’t you look into a small mobile home that is already wired and plumbed? God bless!
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  6. Proud American Says:

    No shed passes any residential code for fire resistance, flame spread, toxicity, insulation, etc,.
    In other words, they could be a death trap.
    Suck it up and get a big mortgage like the rest of us.
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  7. gatlinburgtwinswater Says:

    Dont even think about it- would not be safe for you! Fire hazard for sure!
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  8. Doe Says:

    Good question. I think it depends on how "roughly" you want to live. A lot of Amish people live in rural Wisconsin and have no electricity or indoor plumbing. Their houses are very simple, yet sturdy enough to last for generations. Without plumbing and electricity, you could easily build a house for less than 30K.

    I doubt the prefab sheds meet building codes for dwellings in any state. I do know of people who have gotten occupancy permits here in Wisc to live in their garages while their houses were being built. They had to have a port-a-potty brought in until the septic was installed, but they did it.
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  9. Just Me Says:

    I would assume if you lived in an area where no one is around and it is your property you oculd live in one. The only thing would be code enforcement for your city.
    Some cities done even have a code enforcemnet. Places like in Oklahoma etc.( they have them but no one is out looking for you) However the weather in those remote places can be brutal with out heat in the winter and equally uncomfortable in the summer.
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  10. scout485 Says:

    There are a lot more places around the country without codes and zoning than places that do–you need to get away from the cities and out into the countryside. You can purchase a home in many Oklahoma communities for well under $50,000, in small towns across the state if you don’t insist on staying up north. We are friendly and living is cheap. Plus we don’t have a lot of snow. If you live down in the mountains in southeast Oklahoma like a lot of people do, you can build your own log cabin on an acreage and live like a hermit if you wish. Electricity and telephone service is tough, though unless you build near existing lines. In the west part of the state, you can live pretty well anywhere you want and have full services. And unless you live in a city of 5,000 or more, no zoning laws.
    References :

  11. duke1414 Says:

    Push the shed onto a frozen lake way up north, cut a hole in the floor and let everyone think you are fishing all the time.
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