Smallest Space Lived in Happily

We have owned 4 houses in St. Louis that did not have a centralized source of heat. They all had coal stoves at one time, but in modern times they used electric heaters. Except for our own house, people were living in all of them.

This is in an area where natural gas is cheap and is the common heating source for a forced air system, it’s just that someone has to spend the $ put in a forced air system. People did not have the money to install these systems in these old houses.

I’m serious when I say find out about the rental policy of your condo building. Do they allow short-term rentals ( Air bnb?). Do they allow long-term rentals?


Since security is a major issue with you, you want to think through that issue.

IL, we have owned 3 condos and I always ask about rentals. I didn’t when I bought my first one and it seriously negatively impacted how much money I had to put down and the interest rate. I learned that the hard way.

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry

IL, we have owned 3 condos and I always ask about rentals. I didn’t when I bought my first one and it seriously negatively impacted how much money I had to put down and the interest rate. I learned that the hard way.

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Oh! Didn’t know that buildings with rentals concerned the mortgage holder but I can see that.

In my current condo building where there’s 40 units, the owner is not allowed to rent it if it was purchased after October
2017. I’m sure that causes some concern for some people who can’t get their unit sold. In the building there was a foreclosure that people are talking about but I never knew about it. In the same building is another unit that they’ve been trying to sell for months now, but I’ve truly don’t know if it’s overpriced, it might be. It’s a nice enough unit two bedrooms two bathrooms. Was way too big for me when I was looking to buy in that building .

My house is so old we have 3 bedrooms and one bath. The bath has 2 sinks, though, and DH and I often brush teeth together! Maybe once a week one of us has to ask the other, "Are you almost done in there? I really need to get in." Otherwise, no real problem with sharing. Two bathrooms would be a luxury, and additional cleaning.

Having had experience with outhouses, I have no nostalgia for them--or, for that matter, for any of those "can you top this?" stories of primitive living. I'm unapologetically thankful to live in an era of reliable heat and running water. Fortunately, any place I'm likely to purchase will have those amenities. :D

I’m in that sweet spot where we had an out house but we also had an indoor bathroom. It must’ve been installed just before my dad bought the place. It was fun for me as a kid to use the outhouse because it was so different from what I was used to. Dad maintained that out house for about 20 years, and then when it needed major repair he demolished it.

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Originally Posted by Alan

Believe it or not there's probably a great deal you'd find unfathomable if you base everything on what you've personally seen. Yes, my family was poor and no we weren't in the Ozarks.

When my family moved into town in 1965, we had a furnace set into the floor in the center of the house with a 2'x2' grate you had to step over when coming out of the bathroom, otherwise you'd burn your feet if you were barefoot, just out of the bath. I loved it though because it beat the hell out of bathing in a wash tub in the kitchen after drawing the water a bucket at a time from the well using a hand pump and then heating it on the kitchen stove. Then, if you wanted to warm yourself you had to stand by the coal stove in the living room because there was no furnace. My mother still lives in that little 800 sq ft house, the only one she'd ever lived in with running water. It has central heat and even central air now as part of the re-build after suffering a great deal of tornado damage in the late 80's or early 90's.

Given that you didn't know anyone living that way I'd have to say you were quite fortunate, but on the other hand I feel sorry for you too, for not experiencing enough of life to know otherwise.

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You don't have to feel sorry for me. I have seen enough of poor people and a multitude of living conditions in many places in the world I have traveled. Sadly, it is a shame we had/have to have this in the US. I agree I am fortunate. I know my parents struggled during the early years of their marriage. I was born later so did not have the same experiences as my older siblings. I feel sorry for you to have had such a tough childhood.

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Originally Posted by frugal-one

I feel sorry for you to have had such a tough childhood.

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No worries, it wasn't a tough childhood, it was an educational and philosophical opportunity to learn how to rise above your surroundings. I feel bad for everyone denied that opportunity.

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Originally Posted by Alan

No worries, it wasn't a tough childhood, it was an educational and philosophical opportunity to learn how to rise above your surroundings. I feel bad for everyone denied that opportunity.

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Good attitude... opportunity... ha.