Cabin Exploratory Committee

I hereby nominate all of you to be on the Allred Family Cabin Exploratory Committee.

Your responsibilities will be to determine if you feel this is a feasible project. And if not, why not.

The project will include time and/or money from everyone involved. Some more, and some less, which is great. Everyone's situation and priorities are different. No pressure will be applied to anyone to contribute more than they feel comfortable with.

To summarize the project: Buy some land, build a cabin, enjoy. Let's break it down a little further, shall we?

Buying the land:

There are very cheap lots to be had out there ($5000 or less). But they are generally in the desert with little to no trees, shade, or recreational opportunities close by.

The most important attribute this land must have, in my view, is that it gets everyone excited. That's really the only way to generate enough energy to accomplish this task. That is most likely to occur when it is:

a. within a reasonable driving distance (1.5 hours or less)
b. wooded and beautiful
c. with utilities available
d. with fun stuff to do close by.

If you have other suggestions, please post them.

Building the cabin:

I feel we possess, or know enough people who possess, adequate knowledge to build a simple cabin. I have thought a great deal about this, and have some ideas how to do so cheaply. But more on that later. Requirements for the cabin include:

a. small enough to build ourselves, but large enough to house at least several families at once.
b. energy efficient. We don't want large residual utility expenses.
c. attractive and practical. ie. enough storage space, and comfortable
d. self-sufficient. The cabin will be empty most of the time. It needs to be able to maintain temperature on it own.
e. affordable. the design must be simple enough that we can build it with largely unskilled labor.

Please add more.

Finally, enjoying the cabin.

This may seem strange, but after talking with others who have embarked on large family projects like this, the prevailing advice is....don't embark on large family projects!! The reason being, hurt feelings and disputes over money, control, decision-making, etc. So, this could nip the whole thing in the bud if we don't figure out a way to do this fairly. Here are some requirements I've thought of:

a. one person/family must be in charge. There needs to be someone that has the authority to make the tough decisions. This should be voted on, but once done...is done.
b. Everyone must agree on how to split up ownership. Some may be able to contribute only money, other only labor and materials, and others some of both. How do we divvy up ownership? This must be clearly understood BEFORE any action is taken.
c. Is this an investment (meaning we rent it out on occasion), or a family only cabin. This will effect how we structure the legal aspects, and the sharing of time in the cabin.
d. Any money, time, or material contributed should be considered gone. Meaning you can't ask for it back. So, only contribute what you can live without. However, the group may at some point decide to sell the cabin, at which time we will fairly divvy up the proceeds, if any.

So, these are my preliminary thoughts. I'd love to hear yours. In looking at land, I've already found a couple of lots that seem to meet all the requirements above. One of them is as cheap as $9000. Very doable for a small group of people to purchase.

Now, it very well may be that this just won't work out. But please consider the value to our families that would be generated in both the building, and the enjoyment of a cabin! And it will very likely be a decent monetary investment. No guarantees, though.

Thanks, and please post any thoughts or ideas you may have.

Brandon