Tiny Houses are nothing new, but in the years since the economic downturn, interest in living small has taken off.
There is a Small House Society (founded in 2002). There is Tiny House Nation, a new show on FYI network (airing Wednesdays at 11 p.m. ET) during which experts help individuals transition to tiny homes. There are tiny house blogs, tiny house workshops and a special real estate listing service for tiny houses: tinyhouselistings.com. In Wisconsin, Washington (the state and the nation's capital) and Texas, tiny house communities are cropping up on vacant land.
The metro area isn't immune to the tiny house movement. The AJC recently featured a Marietta teen who built her own tiny house. Two to three times per year, Tumbleweed Tiny House company -- which designs and builds minimalist homes on wheels -- conducts workshops in the metro area for people who are interested in the tiny house lifestyle (the next one is September 13-14).
While there are plenty of economic reasons that someone may choose to downsize to a small home, there are also reasons that have nothing to do with money. A greater sense of community, a better life balance and a sense of freedom are all mentioned by tiny house dwellers.
In 2010, the average American home was 2,400 sq. ft., more than double the average home size in the 1950s. So what defines a tiny house in 2014? A tiny house on a foundation would be considered a space of about 500 sq. ft. or less, says Ross Beck, manager of customer services for California-based Tumbleweed Tiny House company.
Tiny houses on wheels are generally no more than 172 sq.ft. (not counting the sleeping loft), he says. It's not much different than living in an RV or a trailer, except that somehow these modern mobile houses -- which often have high quality designs -- have managed to shake the pejorative connotations.
Some people use tiny houses as a living space for old or young relatives who have returned home. Others use them as vacation homes. A growing number of young people, says Beck, are using tiny houses as their primary residence.
"They don’t believe Social Security is going to be there for them. They don’t know anyone who has a job with a pension and they have great college debt. Given all of that, they want to control their costs as soon as they can," Beck says.
So how affordable is a tiny house, really? Tumbleweed Tiny Houses are in the range of $50,000 ready-made and about half that if you DIY. It's a lower cost to buy, you get mobility and it costs less to operate (heating a tiny house for example is about $10 per month, Beck says).
Beck adds that you also don't end up going to IKEA or Walmart to buy things for your tiny house since you don't have extra space. You don't buy excess clothing for the same reason. Your tiny house can even make money for you, if you rent it out on a site like Airbnb when you go on vacation. Oh...and you don't pay property taxes.
On the flipside, there are challenges such as trying to get a bank loan to buy your tiny house (banks may balk), finding the land to put it on, and getting around any legal issues surrounding minimum square footage requirements (which Beck notes are changing in some states).
Tiny houses on a foundation can cost more. While most are under $100,000, you will also see some well into the $200,000 range or more such as the $289,000; 500 sq. ft., one-bedroom, one-bathroom seaside cottage in Massachusetts on tinyhouselistings.com.
It takes a special person to commit to tiny house living and it isn't for everyone, but it can be a solution to the challenges of homeownership.
What do you think of the tiny house movement? Would you be willing to give up space to live smaller?
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