Unlike traditional homes, living in a tiny home is definitely a cheaper living option. Some units will cost you around $15,000 or more. It usually covers an area of 500 square feet, and can sometimes be as small as 125 square feet. Owning one of these small units means you no longer have to worry too much about mortgage and expensive monthly rents. To put it in this perspective, if you rent an apartment for $1,300 a month, you can literally purchase a tiny home with this amount in just a year.
If you can not afford a traditional home yet, an extremely affordable option would be to buy a tiny home. One of these units good for 1 to 2 people would cost you around $15,000 to $25,000, but after you pay for it, you do not have to worry about paying monthly rents of mortgages. To put it in perspective, paying an apartment for $1,300 monthly for a year can already buy you one of these units.
The Tiny Home is an exploding market primarily because of the two groups of people that are attracted to its concept – millennials and seniors. Millennials prefer to buy these houses because it helps them save up for a bigger traditional home in the future, while the seniors are downsizing to eradicate pricey maintenance expenses. These two groups of people like the idea that smaller means they can spend less time worrying about money.
Aside from keeping the expenses low, here are some other facts you must know about living tiny.
You Need A Plot of Land
While tiny homes are easy to build, you need a plot of land to place or park it. Millennials tend to purchase homes like these and situate them on their parents’ free land. Doing so allows them to save up money to buy a better property in the future. Others prefer to either rent a smaller land within the city or go completely off-the-grid.
Wherever this ends up being for you, you have to manage your own sewage and waste system. You may need to make some work on the land in which case you might have to rent a dumpster in order to take care of junk and waste removal.
Travelers are also attracted to this way of living as they spend most of their time traveling. A tiny home can sufficiently provide basic living essentials without the same commitment and maintenance of a traditional home.
Issues With Location
Some communities are opent to tiny homes, but you may find yourself in conflict with your local law enforcement. Some cities have enacted strict ordinances against small houses while others see it as a possible solution to homelessness. For instance, the city of Chicago in partnership with Catholic Charities are considering building multiple tiny homes for veterans.
Though the development is still a proposal, they surely know that pursuing this project can serve a wide range of individuals in need. Remember, tiny homes are built across the country. In addition, the legalities of it varies widely from one city to another. So, before you purchase a tiny home, make sure to check with your local municipality to ensure that you are not going to break any law.
Electricity and Water Supply
Majority of the tiny homes can be moved around. Which means these units will have to connect to standard hook-ups to get electricity and water supply from a utility provider. If these utilities are not available on your land, you will have to get these lines to run to your property.
Some tiny homes come with solar panels which allows the owners to live off the grid while maintaining a sustainable power line. But when the power from the solar panel is not enough, the owners will have to revert back to the grid. Extension cords are often used to power the tiny home when they are on the grid. Waster, on the other hand, will come from a spigot and hose.
Living in a tiny home can be a fascinating way of life, but they are not for everyone. Before you purchase a unit of your own, it is a good idea to try living in one. Plan a short vacation in areas where tiny homes are being rented out. You can quickly find rentals on the internet or by searching them in Airbnb. See if you can live a life of simplicity in a small living space.