All of us have a dream like I am writing about today… most of them are about the lottery instead of Publisher Clearing House or a mysterious family member who dies and leaves a large estate to you. It’s all day dreaming of course because the odds of winning the lottery, PCH, or an unknown inheritance coming our way are heavily stacked against most people. However, I like to dream and plan for the day that might happen as a way to keep my spirits up. Today, I am going to share my plans with all of you.
The first thing on my list that I am going to do when I win is to get my mother and I into a better place to live. No, not a HUGE lavish house that would make most people stand in awe. Just something that we can afford that is big enough for us and the pets. There are actually two ways we have talked about doing this. Either buying a condo or small home that already exists or buying some land to build brand new custom homes. My mom would love to have her own one bedroom place so that she can have her own space. I would want a one bedroom as well but I would also need a larger room to have a home gym. I would also want a endless pool swim spa so that I could relax and do easy on the body cardio.
Some of the custom build homes are actually pretty neat looking. Here is a URL list of examples that I have put in my dream list for either myself or my mom. They are all easily altered if needs be by a professional of course. It is the look and size that we would be going for.
One Bedroom, One Bathroom Farm House
The other thing that I would love to be able to do would only happen if I won the weekly prize. I want to start a foundation or charity that would help the homeless and disabled. It’s an idea that I have been kicking around in my head for years. In fact the government could do it if they wanted to but just don’t for one reason or another.
You get land that is zoned for multiple homes to be built and you build tiny or small homes on the site. Then you lease the homes to someone that is disabled or homeless. Part of the agreement is that they pay a certain amount every month based on current or future income plus establish an HOA that will cover trash pick up, outside maintenance, dog park, the sidewalks, road into the neighborhood, etc. The only rule for qualifying to lease one of the homes would be about addiction. Anyone addicted to anything would have to go into a program and then attend a support group to help keep sober. This is because a lot of the homeless at least where I live are addicted to drugs, gambling, or alcohol. If they failed to do so any money paid into the lease would be kept and they would be asked to vacate the property. The money they paid into the lease would be used to update or restore the vacated property and would then be leased to someone new. They would also be put on a ban list for a minimum of two years. The length of time would depend on how messed up the property is, length of time leasing, etc.
Once the lease is paid in full for the cost of building the home and buying the land they would be given the option to own the deed for the home or they could ask for the money paid in minus the cost of updating and restoring the home back in cash so that they could use it as a down payment on a different house, etc. However, that choice would also have them put on a list that would get them an auto decline on another home in the foundation or charity program for a minimum of five to ten years. This is to help discourage abuse of the program and it’s goals.
Once all the homes in a neighborhood are done being leased the foundation/charity would pull their support and allow the home owners to decide what they want to continue doing with their properties before buying more land and starting a new neighborhood. If the foundation/charity has a lot of money growth due to investments or donations then multiple neighborhoods could be established at the same time or staggered so that resources aren’t pulled too much at any one time.
You can put roughly 54 homes on one acre of land. If you take into account roads, sidewalks, etc. you can fit 45 to 48. The homes would be 800 sqft or less. You can put 2 to 3 bedrooms in a 800 sqft home easily with 1 to 2 bathrooms. That is plenty of space for a family of 3-4. With those type of homes mixed in with the 1 to 2 bedroom homes we would see a lot of homeless and fixed income disabled people getting a chance at the American Dream. I also see each of those homes having enclosed patios with drains for easy clean up. Not backyards as there will be a dog park/small park in the neighborhood so their really is no need for a true backyard. But an enclosed patio with a drain would allow those that can’t or don’t want to take their dog to the park a way to have the pets house trained with easy clean up. Or patio gardens, or a place to have small BBQ parties with friends in the privacy of their own place.
It also makes more sense than continuing to hand money over to management companies for real estate moguls with rent supplement support (section 8 in California), rent control, or any of the other ways that government has tried and failed to help the homeless and low income residents in most places that I have seen. It would also I think help with neighborhood upkeep because when people own instead of rent they tend to keep better care of things and have pride in themselves.
This idea could even be used for old motels/hotels and apartment buildings. Buy an apartment building, update and restore the building/units giving the current residents 60 day notices and their security deposits to help with moving, then start leasing the units, establish an HOA for maintenance, roofing, etc. Then when all the units are paid for moving on to a different building.
Derek's Mindscape 