When my husband Brian first informed me he is from Laguna Seashore, it took all the things in me to play it cool. “Oh, is that near Los Angeles?” I requested.
Like most elder millennials, I knew precisely the place Laguna Seashore was. I might seen each episode of the truth present (I used to be an LC with a Kristin haircut) and was a superfan of “The OC” besides. (Seth and Summer time perpetually!)
I do not know why I pretended. Seems, Brian’s a Seth-and-Summer time stan, too.
I by no means imagined we would find yourself dwelling within the land of beachside cottages and sun-drenched ocean coves I might seen on TV. However in 2021, we determined to depart the Bay Space and spend a pair months in Brian’s hometown. We each work remotely — I am a author and he is in tech gross sales — so why not?
We have been right here ever since. Right this moment, we stay in an old-school, 940-square-foot, aluminum-sided trailer throughout the road from the seaside.
Deciding we needed to remain in Laguna Seashore wasn’t onerous — I imply, it is stunning, sunny, laid again, and has a thriving artwork scene. However determining a long-term dwelling scenario in such an expensive space required us to get inventive.
Discovering a inventive option to stay in Laguna Seashore
The median dwelling worth in Laguna Seashore hovers round $3 million and the median month-to-month hire is over $8,000. Brian and I have been paying $6,200 a month for our short-term rental, a steep worth we might abdomen for a few months however not one thing we might maintain.
Fortunately, we found a unusual little neighborhood tucked away in a picturesque canyon throughout the road from the ritziest lodge on the town. It is full of cell properties that promote for as little as $150,000.
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Brian and I are not any strangers to various abodes — we would beforehand lived aboard a 46-foot motor yacht for 3 years — so the idea of a home on wheels did not intimidate us.
While you buy a trailer on this cell dwelling neighborhood, the construction is yours however you hire the land it sits on. We determined to take a look at buying a cell dwelling as a hybrid answer — half proudly owning, half renting — all for lower than what both conventional choice would price.
After dwelling aboard a 46-foot motor yacht for 3 years, the 940-square-foot “feels like a mansion to us,” Brian says. “We’ve always loved an unconventional place.”
Courtesy of Jaclyn Westlake
We paid $212,500 for the trailer utilizing cash we would saved up after negotiating a $5,000 credit score from the sellers when the house inspection uncovered some mandatory repairs.
After dwelling on a ship, we did not have rather more than a TV and a mattress to begin off with. With the intention to rebuild the unstable again deck, fence the yard, re-do the landscaping, renovate the kitchen, and furnish the house, we took out a $150,000 dwelling fairness mortgage towards the trailer.
All informed, we’re at the moment paying about $5,148 a month, together with:
- Land lease: $3,424
- Utilities: $394 (these fluctuate a bit each month, however that is what we paid in April 2024 for electrical energy, fuel, water, sewer, and web)
- Mortgage reimbursement: $1,330
We’re wanting to repay the house fairness mortgage to deliver our month-to-month price of dwelling down much more and hope to take action throughout the subsequent two years.
Have a look inside our ‘classic’ Laguna Seashore trailer
Our two-bedroom, two-bathroom dwelling was constructed within the Nineteen Sixties. The outside is authentic and we love the classic look.
There is no storage, only a carport, so we constructed a storage shed within the aspect yard for tenting gear and vacation decorations.
Jaclyn and Brian’s old-school, 940-square-foot trailer has wheels (although they don’t seem to be seen) and will be moved. You’ll be able to see the carport on the best and the storage shed peeking over the fence on the left.
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In our carport, you will discover a golf cart, which is our favourite option to get across the neighborhood, choose up groceries or zip throughout the road to the seaside. When it isn’t sensible to make use of the golf cart, we’ve an everyday automobile and a van for transporting Brian’s surfboards round city.
We put our personal stamp on the kitchen, including butcher block counters, a tiled backsplash, a dishwasher, and a wine fridge.
After they purchased the trailer, Jaclyn and Brian knew they needed to replace the kitchen. “It was fine, but it didn’t have a lot of warmth or character to it,” Brian says. Jaclyn provides that it was “very white.”
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There are not any closets — not one! — on this home, so we needed to get inventive with storage: My wardrobe is in the lounge, our towels are saved in a buffet in my workplace space, and pots and pans go within the leisure heart.
It is unconventional, however we make it work.
Jaclyn and Brian did not change something structurally in the lounge and eating space (to the left behind the sofa), however they did have to determine the best structure in what they name a “weird space.”
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Although I’ve an actual desk, I usually write on the sofa with our our 15-year-old dachshund combine Indy (brief for Indiana Jones).
Brian normally works within the second bedroom-turned-office so he can shut the door whereas he is on calls. Generally he’ll head outdoors.
Jaclyn is a recruiter turned profession recommendation columnist turned novelist whose first ebook, “Dear Dotty,” was launched in June. She has a second novel popping out subsequent summer time and is at the moment engaged on her third, normally at her desk or on the sofa.
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We went a little bit wild with our wallpaper (tropical all the things!), together with within the main bed room.
There’s one thing so enjoyable about figuring out that this place is ours to embellish nevertheless we please.
Jaclyn and Brian have a king-sized mattress, “which is important when you have a little dog that likes to take up a lot of space,” Jaclyn says. Throughout from the mattress is a dresser with a TV hidden behind it that rises up on a raise after they need to watch.
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The yard is what offered us on this place. It has an out of doors bathe and a eating space, and will get a great deal of solar. We added some tropical landscaping, a scorching tub, Ping-Pong desk, pizza oven, and a projector display.
I like sitting outdoors and watching the hummingbirds dance round our crops.
Jaclyn and Brian spend a variety of their time outdoors within the yard, working, studying, stress-free, and internet hosting.
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A ‘much less disturbing’ model of the California dream
Dwelling in a home on wheels does not exempt us from the everyday house owner complications. Since shifting in, we have handled an ant infestation, tented for termites, and evicted a household of mice, and we’re at the moment grappling with a gopher downside.
However retaining our month-to-month housing prices low (for the realm) makes tackling these points much less disturbing.
We regularly take pleasure in our morning espresso on the deck, take walks all the way down to the seaside, and unwind with a night dip within the scorching tub.
The trailer is throughout the road from the seaside and Jaclyn and Brian sometimes head over a pair days every week.
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We love watching Indy sunbathe on his favourite lounge chair, having mates over for out of doors pizza events, taking the golf cart into city to seize dinner or hit up the annual Sawdust Artwork Competition, and turning on the fireplace pit whereas we watch a film underneath the celebrities.
In brief, we could not be happier right here. We have been on this dwelling for 2 years now and we do not plan on shifting anytime quickly.
Jaclyn Westlake writes books about humorous, flawed girls looking for their means on this planet. Her debut novel, “Pricey Dotty,” is on the market wherever books are offered. A recruiter turned profession recommendation columnist, her work has appeared on The Muse, Enterprise Insider, and Inc. You’ll be able to observe her adventures in writing, seaside dwelling, and past on Instagram @jaclyn_writing or at jaclynwestlake.com.
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