Looking for guidance on how to downsize in a green way
Hello. Am looking for some guidance. My husband and I want to sell our current home and downsize to something smaller and greener. Our budget is pretty limited, though, so we’re trying to figure out what the best options may be. We will likely have to pay a fair amount just to get out of our current mortgage, pay closing costs, etc. Then we’ve been approved for a 150,000 mortgage and with that we could:
a. buy an existing smaller home, close to nature (though those seem very hard to find in our budget)
b. buy land and put up a modular home
c. buy land and put a “doublewide” manufactured home on it
d. buy land and build new construction of a very small home on it
e. other options we are missing?
What’s greenest, kindest for the planet? We are in south/central PA (York). Other considerations? Thank you so much in advance for any advice you can offer!
Jen
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Replies
Jen,
There is no simple answer to your question, but I would answer "Buy an existing home."
My guess is that you won't simply choose the greenest answer. Instead, like most people, you will probably follow your heart.
A lot depends on where you are in life. How old are you? If you're still youngish and employed, it may be OK to make a financial stretch, but if you are retired, maybe be more conservative.
Can you do any work yourselves? You'd be surprised at how much you can learn if you have to do some stuff yourselves. For example, a quality paint job requires a great deal of skill and experience. But an adequate (if you don't look too closely) job is within most people's ability.
I am biased against anything that looks like a trailer, because they depreciate rapidly. That said, modular homes can be attractive.
$150,000 won't buy much if you build a new house, but a small, simple design might be doable, so long as the cost of the lot, a well, septic, and site work can be limited to $50,000 or less. No budget for an architect to design a whole house, but once you have as design, maybe several hours of an architect's time would be money well spent. If you incorporate the concepts discussed here at GBA, you could do a nice little house. Two floors on a slab, squareish footprint, air-sealed well, decent windows, not too many. Simple heating system, maybe a single minisplit would do. Design it for as little maintenance as possible.
If you can figure out a way to do it, building new is worth it. Buying an existing house is almost guaranteed to cost you more in energy costs and maintenance.