Living on a houseboat
 

Anyone ever done it, or stayed on one overnight?

I'm thinking about downsizing. I built a dock at my parents' house, because when they have passed on, that is the house I will live in. They are both 80 and getting to the point where they need a little more help than they used to. I was thinking I would eventually need to move back in with them, although I was hoping it would be several more years from now.

However now is a good time to sell my own waterfront house. I found an 852 sf 2BR houseboat I can park down at my new dock and enjoy waterfront living in a whole new manner. This dock is on an inland bayou and is as sheltered as it gets.

Pics
https://apps.auction123.com/ImageVie...=3331760&sID=0



Aside from a long walk from where I would park, what are the pros and cons of living on a houseboat? I lived in my 300sf RV for seven months and loved every minute, so the close quarters is no big deal. Heck, some of my 2 BR apartments are smaller than this houseboat.

It's 55' long and 15.5' wide. I know it will rock and roll a little from passing boats. It may take some getting used to.

:waiting:

There could be lots of benefits other than a beautiful place to live. Would it help you to be able to invest what you get from your current house for later?

I would use any leftover cash from the sale of my house to pay off a few other investment property mortgages, which would save on the interest and increase cash flow.

So yes, it would make sense financially.

Lots of pics at the link above. It really looks great online.

Plus it comes fully furnished as seen in the pics.

Here is a pic of the dock as was is being built, several weeks ago. It's nearly completed now. The upper deck is 29' by 35'. Over 1,000 sf.

Downstairs is a 10' by 30' deck that is carved into the hill. In the picture, the workers are putting in that deck. There is a 6' high retaining wall all around it. I'm going to add a big outdoor kitchen on that deck like you've seen on tv. There will be a massive 46 by 47' hip roof over the entire thing including the outdoor kitchen.


https://www.thevettebarn.com/forums/...682-image.jpeg

The houseboat would be moored on the right of the ramp that leads down to the lower deck.

https://www.thevettebarn.com/forums/...683-image.jpeg

Here's the sunset I would see every night from the upper deck.

Smells kinda fishy to me.... :spam:

WTF are you talking about?

I could live on a "boat" like that....more like a floating house than a boat. Does it have a motor or is it a pull toy? I lived on a sailboat for two months and you get used to a little rocking pretty quick. That thing probably wouldn't move much anyway.:thumbs:

https://images.auction123.com/23073a....jpg?wtrmk10nw

Make sure you get a survey done and check the size of the holding tanks on board. Emptying the septic might be a pain in the :moon: if it's too small...:ack:

Boat looks good. Does it have its own power or is it strictly a floating barge which relies on shore power to provide power? From the looks of it there is no propulsion power. How much draft does it have? Would you have to dredge the area at your parents house to have it fit? Like someone else asked, what are the sizes of the holding tanks and condition? What are the power requirements for the place? You would have to run a dedicated service for the shore power to the boat. Probably have to install a sewer line with a pumping station to go and a potable water line to the boat. Another thought would be the bilge pump with a battery back up. Not sure what a local or state regulation would be on discharge of the bilge water.

It would be a cool place to live. The rocking on a boat like that would be minimum, a 15 foot beam should keep it some what stable. I know some of the best sleep I've had is on a ship out to sea with a little rocking motion on it. Put me right to sleep every time.

Good luck with the decision.

You're house will smell like fish from living on the water. :D

It was a joke. Hey... I tried... What can I say?

No motor
Full marine survey will be done by a competent marine architect
Holding tanks are around 900+ gallons. The toilets look normal flush toilets. Not marine heads.


Strictly floating
50A 240 VAC Shore power - we were running 200A service down there anyway
27" draft- it weighs 31,000 lb. can bring it just about to the sea wall.
No dredging required
We are going with a macerator and a 1" sewer pipe up to the house septic system.
We are installing fresh water, natural gas, 200A electric, modern high speed internet coax, telephone line and an empty 6" conduit for future expansion
Parents already have high speed wireless internet and DirectTV so I'll tap into all of that.
I see big boats with bilge pumps running all the time at the marinas down here.
I think it wouldn't rock too much either. No big boats go by in this bayou since it's not a through route. One way in and out. Just ski boats and jet skis.


:cool1:

What do you do with all your current furniture and stuff? My main concerns with this are Hurricane related, how will the boat fare in the event of the next Maria, and where will the bulk of your stuff be stored? What is insurance like on that boat? Do you pay property taxes on something like that?

Long ago, when I bought a sailboat (a Cal 27), the couple I bought it from did exactly what you want to do.....they bought a Cal 30 and planned to live aboard for a year or so. They sold their house in North Houston, put their stuff in storage, and lived on board, at the marina. Of course, your situation will be different, as you'll have a residential style bathroom and kitchen, as well as more space.

http://www.troll.me/images/futurama-...-isnt-fish.jpg




https://pics.me.me/when-you-went-int...d-19860503.png





https://cdn.boldomatic.com/content/p...t-tas?size=600

As I said I'll be downsizing. I'll get rid of about 2/3 of my stuff. No big deal. If I can't sell it or give it away, I'll toss it.

In a hurricane any owner of a boat such as this will take it to a protected inland bayou... which is where it would already be permanently moored. I'd need to come out and adjust lines as the storm progresses, same as any other boat owner would need to do. In this situation a big plus for me is that I would be at the residence (which has a 45kW whole house generator!), not on the boat, but close enough to keep an eye on it and take measures as need be. Any other boat owner with no dock has to simply anchor the boat as securely as possible and hope for the best. They wouldn't be able to come out during the storm and make little adjustments. That could be the difference between coming out relatively unscathed and losing the boat entirely.

If I need to store anything I'll do so in a spare bedroom in the main house. They have 3700 sf and my parents live alone. Plenty of storage room.

I don't know what insurance costs. I may decide to self insure it if it's too costly. No property taxes on the boat, although the boat dock is listed as an Additional Feature line item on their Ad Valorum Bill.

why not just live in the main house and skip a step?

This seems much, much cooler.

:cool1:





Being a single man, it would be pretty lame/awkward to take a woman home and have to tell her I live with my parents. :ack:

This seems like a good compromise. I save money and have a cool place to live on my own.

Plus I can always sell it when it's time to move into the main house for good.

"my parents are getting up in their years, so I live with them to take care of them as needed."

"awww, what a sweet, caring man."

Yes there's that... but this seems like a lot more fun than living in one of their spare bedrooms.


:yesnod:

Privacy. Easy water access.

http://blog.ebayimg.com/motors/blog/...00-740x480.jpg




:hide:

Plus telling her to be quiet because your parents are in the next room might be a turn off. :leaving:

Had friends down the Waccamaw river in my mid 80's S.C. high school days that lived in a houseboat. Had every appliance they wanted & plenty of room. The roof was one big deck. Had an onboard gas generator that would run everything when needed (power outages), but had electricity run for normal everyday use. Had a Mercury 40 hp outboard with the tiller handle to move the boat if needed.

They had a couple light poles sunk in the river at the ends of their dock that stuck out of the water a good 20 feet that they used for mooring. They never had any issues, even during hurricane Hugo when my fathers 38' boat sank 1/4 mile down river. :yesnod:

There's also the issue of depreciation to factor in. Saving money on property taxes sounds great, but I'm assuming that would be no different than a mobile home......it will depreciate over time, which will offset the savings achieved.