Dealing with septic tanks - rotting uneven floors , shitty no pun intended plumbing and electrics - broadband from the copper era.
No thanks - much prefer my modern sterile IKEA isocube.
No thanks - much prefer my modern sterile IKEA isocube.
I live in a very small town from the POV of what I perceive as the majority of HN - <15k people, and it’s the largest town in an hour’s drive in any direction. My home is in a neighborhood on the edge of town that was annexed only a few years ago, and as a result even though my property has city sewer access, I still have a septic tank. I dread the day that I’m unable to legally keep it operational and have to tie in to city sewer. It’s just one more monthly bill I’ll have to pay. The zoning here is such that a homeowner can do any repair work they please on their own without having to get a permit or licensed contractor.
I have gigabit fiber and solid, level floors though. :)
I could easily increase my income by $75-100k if I were willing to move to LA or SF. I’m not even tempted by it.
Wow, that's pretty strict for a "small town". Most places allow you to make repairs without a permit or contractor as long as you're not making changes.
For example, I needed a permit to put in an interlock and receptacle for a generator. If something breaks the receptacle, I can replace it with the same model/type/size without a permit. If I replaced it with a different type/size then I would need a permit. On a side note, the inspections are mostly a joke and just a way for the municipality to make money (permit costs more than the materials in many of my cases). The inspector had no idea about electrical stuff and didn't ask any questions about wire gauge/run, receptacle sizing, receptacle height, or how the breaker box was balanced. You know, the stuff that's important to do right to avoid fires, etc.
Where I live you theoretically need to permit the typical stuff but the official unofficial policy is that they don't expect anyone who isn't a professional to pull permits.
One thing to consider is that most insurance companies will not cover a house if it had unpermitted/uninspected work on it that could even possibly be the cause.
This usually (I'm sure someone somewhere has a cut rate policy that states otherwise) only matters if the unpermitted work was what causes the claim which basically just means responsibility is back on the owner. In practice this is mostly fine since people doing their own work for their own houses tend not to half-ass things.
Freedom, baby.
All in all, not a great experience, although it looked very cosy in Instagram photos.
On top of which, this "cottagecore" trend is one reason none of the locals in my area can afford to buy a house. The house prices have skyrocked since Londoners decided living in the middle of nowhere was cool.
The locally quarried stone used for the walls of the oldest buildings (which obviously made things difficult for accommodating additions containing bathrooms and kitchens).
The charmingly narrow and irregular front doors on some houses, making it an impossible dream to move a typical new couch or appliance in.
The turnbuckles used to stabilize some houses after all these years, and those cables being one more thing to hit your head on.
Then I get home from a walk and enjoy the central air conditioning, tall ceilings, modern windows and level floors of my home. I know some of my neighbors in the older houses really enjoy them. They research the history of the houses and are enthusiastic about maintaining them and keeping things mostly original. The house basically becomes a hobby. Just about everybody likes looking at quaint old houses, so you have to find out if that's you or if you'd actually enjoy living in one too. I know I just like looking at them.
I mean don't get me wrong, I can see the appeal in 'cottagecore', but at the same time I'm being realistic about things.
When I was in my 20s and put everything in storage and traveled for a while it was great. Now my wife and kid (and the grandparents who want to see the kid), etc would make such a move a lot tougher in a lot of ways.
Public toilet, camping toilet, or behind a tree, to answer your question.
But I then go camping and realize after a few days how much I would miss my modern amenities.
Nostalgia.
1. P2P wireless means you can cheaply get a 50/10 internet connection in remote areas. This is plenty for most users. Also starlink is apparently pretty good.
2. Just pay someone to pump your septic. You don’t have to pay city taxes covering sewers so you probably come out ahead.
3. Plumbing and electrical is usually exposed, making it very easy to work on. For plumbing, shark bites and pex are way easier than soldering copper.
One thing that does suck about owning a cottage is needing to worry about mice…
Get a cat or two.
Trapping a mouse at 1am in the bedroom is not so endearing.
We are on septic despite being 100meters from the border of tokyo. Our costs for quatery inspections, and a yearly pumping are about 220 dollars. In exchange our water bill is about 40dollars every two months, so twenty a month. This is half what we paid in Tokyo while using much less water.
Now compare to many water bills in the states where many towns have over built sewage systems and you often year families spending a hundred or more a month. I strongly suspect cities hide the cost of sewage behind the water supply charge. They run the departments as one and assume all supplied water is drained.
The floor boards do suck, and the electricity gets cut more often.
But I get 58.6Mbps down, 21.4Mbps up. Ground to ground satellite.
Plus, I can actually afford a house here, unlike the city I moved from. Fleeing the city has never been this good.