Is this a new phenomenon?
I’m sure many people are viewing the tiny living craze as something new and somewhat of a fad. However, tiny homes are nothing new. In fact, according to MonaStevens.com, the tiniest homes per square foot can be found in….
China
Russia
Italy
United Kingdom
And Sweden
So what’s renewing this trend here in America?
In today’s world economy where so many people are struggling just to meet basic needs, the variety of possibilities we see on shows like Tiny House Big Living, Tiny House Builders, and Tiny House Hunters on HGTV suit just about anyone’s style. You would expect more people to be open to this more economical form of home ownership.
Why aren’t more Americans interested in exploring this option?
Maybe it’s because many people only think of the micro houses on wheels when they think of tiny homes. Many of us simply shudder at the thought of having to minimize and do away with the extravagances that have come to define us. To show you that it doesn’t necessarily mean living in a space you can barely turn around in, here are a few examples offered by RiverRidgeEscapes.com
If you’re creative enough, the options are endless
There are people who have taken prefab sheds and turned them into tiny homes. EZ Portable Buildings offers a shed that can be used as a tiny home at a base price for the largest size of $17,299. Even after adding the modifications that I would want to the base building, my end price was under $30,000.
Think of it this way
If I were to pay $5,000 for finishes inside the house, $5,000 for a concrete slab foundation, and $5,000 for a beautiful lot that sits back from the street and backs up to a beautiful lake like this one I found on Zillow located in Monticello, GA.
I could live a little easier walking away from mortgage or rent payments forever after having spent a total of $45,000 give or take. How is that not worth giving up one thousand or so square feet?
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Maybe live-in ready is more your speed
You could spend a little more for a prefab cabin from a company like the Amish Cabin Company. This is the Cumberland Deluxe 2 bedroom 2 loft cabin. Take a look at the video, then we’ll discuss cost.
This cabin at this size with just a few tweaks I selected from their options price list places this fully finished home, all in, at $48,240. Place that on your $5,000-$10,000 lot on top of a $5,000 slab foundation and you pay a total of $58,000 for a turn-key brand new home you’ve customized. To make it even more appealing, there are now companies, such as Light Stream which offer financing for your little home.
What if you are low income with bad credit?
Maybe you’re reading this and you feel like “Hey, I don’t have $40,000-$60,000 to spend, and my credit is so far in the toilet that I couldn’t get a loan for $5 let alone $60,000. Guess what, there are options for you as well. Earthbag construction is another option for building your tiny home, and much less expensive than other methods of building. In this series, you can view the simple construction of an earthbag home from start to finish.
It is estimated that you can build an earthbag home for approximately $16 per square ft. Therefore, if you were to build one in the same 14’x40′ footprint as the Cumberland cabin above, it would cost you roughly $10,300 give or take. The more natural and recycled materials you use and the more work you can do yourself with the help of volunteers or low-cost labor will bring down that price. $10,000 to build the home on a $5,000 lot brings your total price to just $15,300. Also, you can check out my cheap tiny house post HERE for even more options.
Its at least worth considering
With so many options, the affordability, and the financial freedom that can come from owning a tiny home why not at least look into it with an open mind? For many who have already dived in, they feel free from the chains of modern society without its typical trappings. The big mortgage, the expensive property taxes, etc, can all be relinquished, never again disturbing your groove.
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Hi! I stumbled over this post, because I wrote one about the same topic myself, and realized I should try to find someone with a different opinion to prove me wrong.
I think you’re making some really good points, and the tiny living movement is really amazing in many ways. I agree that more people should do it, but for now, it seems as if this is only for the middle class (and up).
Even if a small house is more affordable in the long run, and the building of it isn’t too expensive, you still need quite a lot of money to start with. Even if you can get a cheap ground somewhere, depending on where you live, there are a lot of laws and rules on how a house should be built for you to be allowed to live there. Rules that will make you spend a lot more money than just the cost for building materials (laws like the bottom of the house needs to be in concrete, building-permissions are required, your house must be connected to the local sewer system, etc..) Another factor could be that your workplace is very far from the nearest plot of land for sale. Or if you want to build one on wheels, where do you store it while building?
So, I think to be able to join the tiny living movement, you need to have a good economy, loads of spare time, and probably be working from home.
For someone like me, $5,000 is an insane amount of money. As my economy is right now, it would take me more than a lifetime to save up enough for the cheapest house on your list. So, tiny living should be for everyone, but it really isn’t.
I don’t have a single thing against it though. I think that the more people start scaling down, the better it is for the whole planet. And hopefully, the working class will eventually be able to take part of this as well.
Thanks for making the list. I hope you managed to get someone starting to look for land for sale.
Have a good day!
Embla
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Thank you for your comment. It has inspired me to research and find the absolute cheapest way to go. I’ll start researching today.
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Have you ever considered writing an e-book or guest authoring on other websites? I have a blog based upon on the same subjects you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my audience would appreciate your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e mail.
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Yes. I have considered it.
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