Tiny Houses are the newest fad. Are they here to stay? Some people see them as a path toward home ownership. Others see them as a way to stay mobile. Whatever your reasons for thinking about a tiny house, is it right for you?
How will it be financed?
Before you start down the road to a tiny house, think about financing. This is the biggest reason not to get or build a tiny home. It can be hard to raise enough money to build or purchase one of these residences.
That means you may need a loan. Will you be able to get one?
Most mortgage companies won’t give you a loan for a house on wheels. This isn’t considered a good investment. This means you have to go another route. A personal loan may be the answer if you expect to pay it off quickly.
Let’s say you build it yourself, using a no-interest credit card from a big hardware store. You buy everything you need that way. You build the home and begin living in it.
Then all of your old rent money goes to paying off the no-interest credit card as fast as you can. However, if there is any delay, you may have to pay a high interest rate. So, be careful before you go that route.
Where will you park your house?
You can’t put the house anywhere you want to. This means you’ll need to find a spot in a mobile home park or a regular campground where you can pay rent and utilities.
This may be temporary, forcing you to move from time to time. Or, you may have a hard time finding a manager willing to rent to you.
If friends or family are willing to let you park your house on their property, that’s great. You’ll want to be sure that your tiny house won’t be a code violation for the homeowner.
Can you afford a plot of land? This is an ideal situation because you can park there and, in time, build a bigger house. Here again, you’ll need to be sure you aren’t going to get fined by the city or some homeowners association.
What about bathroom waste?
This is one big drawback with tiny houses. You’ll need to have a self-contained septic system and a place where you can take the waste. Or, you will need to live where you can have an actual septic system.
How will you move your house?
If you expect to move your house (and even if you don’t), you need to have a large enough vehicle to pull it. This can be costlier than the house itself. A typical medium duty truck will probably be needed.
Is it too small?
There are many clean up hacks for small spaces that help with organization. Still, you need to be honest with yourself about the limitations. You will probably need to store or sell many of your belongings, especially if there will be two people living there.
The solution to that is a storage unit such as offered here
Can you save enough money to justify the purchase?
For most, tiny house living is mainly done to save money. If the cost of getting started is too high, then it will defeat the purpose. Before you spend a dime, you should make a budget that covers everything discussed here.
That way you will be fully informed before you purchase a tiny house.
How soon will bills go away and the savings start to mount up? If that day is years away, the tiny house lifestyle may not be right for you.
