So you’re considering buying a tiny house. A common question that gets asked following on from that is “how much is a tiny house? What do they cost?”
In the past few years, the interest in Tiny Houses has escalated beyond anyone’s expectations.
So much so, that there are now businesses that manufacture prefab tiny houses for sale.
There are even businesses that have taken up the gauntlet and set themselves up and focus on used tiny houses for sale.
These aren’t necessarily just your tiny little 200 square feet boxes on trailer wheels either.
Some of these tiny houses actually extend out to being around 400+ square feet in size.
The innovation, creativity and sheer mindfulness of many of the creators of these little homes have to be seen to be believed.
Many of their designs are pure genius and yet often times the designer had no previous design or architectural skills or knowledge, they simply used their ingenuity to create something that fits their lifestyle needs.
When you’re looking to live in a space that you are going to be building, it does make you think about the practicalities and potential pitfalls of your design, so when it comes to putting it all together, it works.
One of the beautiful things about tiny houses (that is possibly missing in many other construction industries) is the close-knit community that seems to surround the tiny house industry.
There is definitely a culture of sharing and that extends to sharing ideas, experiences, tips, and creativity to help one and other achieve the most practical use of their limited space.
After all, one of the reasons behind building or buying a tiny house is to conserve capital, save money, live more frugally, or simply to escape the demands of modern society.
And because most tiny house owners share the same type of philosophy, there is more openness to sharing ideas and experiences.
Mainstream business is beginning to catch on to this new industry though.
If you explore the web, when buying a tiny house, you’ll find websites that have tiny houses for sale and small houses for sale.
You’ll also find tiny house kits for sale and prefab tiny houses for sale too.
So, there are two routes you could pursue if you were looking to change your lifestyle and start living in a tiny home.
You could be creative and buy all the various component parts you need to build your own tiny house (perhaps in a workshop, a garage, or out the back of your property or someone else’s).
Or you could look to buy a kitset that enables you to still build your own, albeit someone else’s design, but more than a likely a proven design that isn’t going to be difficult to put together.
Or you could simply purchase an already built tiny house built by someone else, or perhaps a secondhand or used tiny house that you find for sale on the web.
The decision on which way to go will depend entirely on your time available and your overall affordability, or financial resources.
Sometimes if you’re limited on finances, you can achieve a lot by roaming around recycling centers or even demolition yards, where you often source some great pieces for your new home for next to nothing.
via Nashville-Tennessee-Tiny-House-Design
Why have tiny houses become such a growing trend of late?
We take a quote from ‘Wikipedia’ which summarizes some interesting facts about home sizes over recent times
“In the United States the average size of new single-family homes grew from 1,780 square feet (165 m2) in 1978 to 2,479 square feet (230.3 m2) in 2007, and to 2,662 square feet (247.3 m2) in 2013, despite a decrease in the size of the average family. Reasons for this include increased material wealth and prestige.
The small house movement is a return to houses of less than 1,000 square feet (93 m2). Frequently the distinction is made between small (between 400 square feet (37 m2) and 1,000 square feet (93 m2)), and tiny houses (less than 400 square feet (37 m2)), with some as small as 80 square feet (7.4 m2).
Sarah Susanka has been credited with starting the recent countermovement toward smaller houses when she published The Not So Big House (1997).”
An interesting fact is that the tiny house growth is not unique to just the USA.
There are many people now all around the world wanting the benefits of owning their own home that find the typical price of a standard house out of their financial reach.
The tiny house movement is one method that is helping those forced to look at alternative home ownership options due to unaffordability of the typical house on a plot of land (or even unaffordable apartments in the central parts of most cities.
via www.newfrontiertinyhomes.com
However, whilst tiny houses may provide a fantastic, convenient and affordable means of living, it does (or has) presented some very real problems and that is where do you put it? Wikipedia gives us a few more insights into this;
“One of the biggest obstacles to the growth of the tiny house movement is the difficulty in finding a place to live in one.
Zoning regulations typically specify minimum square footage for new construction on a foundation, and for tiny houses on wheels, parking on one’s own land may be prohibited by local regulations against “camping.”
In addition, RV parks do not always welcome tiny houses.
DIYers may be turned away, as many RV parks require RVs be manufactured by a member of the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association “(RVIA)”.
Tiny houses on wheels are considered RVs and not suitable for permanent residence, according to the RVIA.
From RVBusiness, “The RVIA will continue to shy away from allowing members who produce products that are referred to as ‘tiny houses’ or ‘tiny homes’. (However, the RVIA does allow “tiny home” builders to join as long as their units are built to park model RV standards.)”
In 2014, the first “tiny house friendly town” was declared in Spur, Texas; however, it was later clarified that a tiny house may not be on wheels but must be secured to a foundation.
In July 2016, Washington County, Utah revised their zoning regulations to accommodate some types of tiny houses.”
So, you can see that the tiny house movement is constricted somewhat in growth due to the controls exerted by many organizations, and local authorities.
Still, the tiny house community is a resourceful one, and they are very adept at having to think outside the square, and so consequently, they are also quite adept at finding solutions to the location problem.
For those people who are still committed to living the tiny house lifestyle and want to build or buy their own tiny house, we would suggest doing some extensive research into where you intend on placing your new home first.
A part of the whole tiny living process is to live a peaceful, resourceful, self-sufficient lifestyle and wherever you plan to lay your little piece of paradise, try and make sure you have some security around where you decide to live.
The last thing you need is to create your little sanctuary, only to find you’re being asked to ‘move along’ within a few weeks or months.
If you can afford to purchase your own little block of land, ideally not in a central part of a city, check with the local authority before you part with your money to ensure they don’t have any rules that will prevent you from setting up your tiny home there.
Below are some external website resources that will help you in buying a tiny house to fit your tiny home lifestyle creation.
Here you will find sites that have tiny houses for sale, used tiny houses for sale, tiny cottages for sale, and tiny houses on wheels for sale.
This site is a classified directory of Tiny Houses For Sale which can be awesome when you’rebuying a tiny house.
Here you can search unique tiny houses for sale and rent the world over.
If you have a tiny house for sale, then you can get a free directory listing on this site.
We have included a range of tiny houses for sale to give you an idea of how much a tiny house costs and what sort of size tiny house you get for your investment.
Tiny Houses For Sale $50,000 -316sq ft
Tiny Houses For Sale -$42,000-360 sq ft
Tiny Houses for Sale -$27,000-listing-270 sq ft.
Tiny Houses For Sale -$48,000 240 sq ft
Tiny House For Sale -$53000-300 sq ft
Tiny Home Builders
An awesome site that provides all-round tiny house information and is from designers and builders of tiny houses on trailers which gives homeowners the flexibility to move their tiny house to the perfect location, even if that perfect location changes.
A tiny house can be built with all the amenities required to function as a stand-alone house, or equipped more sparsely to be used as an office or studio.
For those looking to build their own tiny house themselves, there are also guides, consulting offers, and plans available for purchase. All of the plans have been used to build tiny houses and have been perfected in the process.
Tiny Heirloom
Is a family business where their values and principles are close to the heart in every decision they make.
The belief that upright integrity and hard work is how a company makes history.
Their philosophy is to create a solution for those who would like to start fresh with the freedom to go wherever one desires in a tiny house that is as uniquely beautiful as its owner.
Downsizing to create a more simple and free life is what tiny living is all about but at what point do you stop compromising your living standards?
Tiny Heirloom as a business decision decided to bridge the gap so that downsizing doesn’t have to mean downgrading.
So, they decided to create a way for someone to downsize and upgrade at the same time.
Tiny House Community
This website is where tiny house enthusiasts can create, read & discuss anything to find information on designing and building (or buying) a tiny house, places to live, FAQ, blogs and more.