Catskill, NY · Member since 2017 · 16 posts · 24 votes
Does anybody have any experience Investing "impermanent structures"? My close friend lives in a Luxury Yurt in the Catskills in upstate New York. He has all the comforts of regular home, except for a septic system. Instead, has a composting toilet ( I know it sounds weird but it really doesn't leave any smell in the bathroom at all, probably less than a normal toilet). Other than that he has his own running water and electric. The benefit is that he doesn't pay town or school tax only property taxes on the land itself. Yurts like these are beautiful and cheap to throw up. I was thinking that if you attracted the right niche of people they could be great rentals.
There are several requirements for it to be considered impermanent, the main one being that it does not have a foundation.
The biggest issue I think would be making sure that it was all legally above ground some of the regulations may be vague as most communities have little experience with this sort of thing.
I've also been intrigued by the idea and would want to know how the city/County permits are regulated, and how insurance companies cover liability for the yurts.
I bought a gooseneck 26' travel trailer from a guy for $1200. It was parked in the driveway next to one of my furnished rentals. The rental was a 2 bedroom house, but I had a 3rd and 4th bed in the living room. Sometimes I would get 3 or 4 guys (refinery contractors) to rent the house. My idea with the camper was to connect to the water and electric from the house and have the sewer go directly into the cleanout opening. They camper people could do laundry in the house and use the wifi/cable service. 4 people could be in the house and 2 in the camper.
I ended up letting a tenant sell the camper and keep 100% over what I paid. People like space. They don't like cramped quarters.
One of the top rentals on Airbnb is a funky bohemian treehouse in Atlanta. I think they get something like $350 per night. I happened to be calling my zoning department with another question, so I asked about regulations on building a treehouse, and they said there were none. And I'll bet there are no regulations about renting one out, either.
I have experience staying in one here in Colorado. Down near the Great Sand Dunes. Was a lot of fun for the kids and a great way to begin a week long road trip without having to bring along camping gear.