Latest Idea-My Little House

I seem to change my mind all of the time. I just can't seem to decide how to spend or invest my nest egg.

I was thinking about buying a used mobile home to replace the old leaky mobile home that is on my property. I would rather build a nice little home. I think it would be a better use of my money in the long run. I haven't found a house plan that is big enough for me yet cheap enough to build. I drew up this little plan today. It has a screened porch, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and a loft and is under 900 sqft. I would love an attached garage but I probably can't afford to build what I drew so far.

I tried to use some economical design principles like having all of plumbing in one area. I would collect rain water off of the roof and incorporate a grey water system to water plants outside. I haven't taken advantage of a passive solar design. There are only 2 windows on the south side (Actually the house is upside down. The top should be south.) The screened porch would give me a view to the west but protect me from the setting sun. I can't figure out how to get around having air conditioning. I don't think window A/C's would be strong enough when it gets up to 112 degrees. The A/C will be a big expense.

A local builder has an advertisement for custom homes at $80/sqft. That would be $72,000 to build. That's probably not including water and sewer. I only have $25,000. I suppose the next step would be to ask around for sub-contractor prices and building materials. I already have the septic system and I plan to have water delivered for now. I still don't think I could do it for under $50,000.