Why Buy a Tiny House?
September 10, 2009 · Print This Article
Why would you want to spend $15,000 to $50,000 on a small house when you could add a real addition to your house and have a permanent improvement built right on to your existing house?
This article is assuming you are building a tiny house as an additional room along with your existing home.
Here are a few suggestions that may also get you thinking of other reasons this might apply for building that tiny house. You can then decide what would work best for you and your circumstances.
- Permits Costs: The cost of a permit has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. I want to give you an idea what an average permit will cost you today. In most places in the U.S. they range from $15,000 to $50,000. Just to add another room or addition to your existing home. Remember that is just to get a permit to build your addition.
- Permits may not be available at all: Some towns, cities and counties no longer will issue a permit. You are banned from any new construction or additions in some areas of the country. This takes the ability to add to your home completely out of your hands. The answer is NO!
- Permit Time: Once a permit is requested it can take up to one to two years to process. If you need a space addition right away, it won’t happen. It is necessary to plan way in advance and to know your needs are long before the construction can even start.
- Mobile: If you build a small house it can be moved when tenancy or purpose changes. It is not contained by a permanent foundation, but can be connected to a truck and towed to your new location and used again for the same purpose.
- Little Houses can be Sold Separately: When it comes time that you no longer need the additional space you can sell the little house separately from your real estate. It is easy to get back your investment, without completely selling your existing home to downsize. Or if you are living in this home and need to upsize because of additional family members, etc., you can sell it and migrate upwards.
These are five good reasons to buy a tiny house or space on wheels. Do you have other ideas or good reasons to do this? If so please use the comment section to give us your suggestions.
by Kent Griswold (Tiny House Blog)
I have just fallen in love with your wonderful little homes! They are incredibly appealing and innovative.
If I had a large garden I would want the Lusby.
When are you coming to South Africa? We could really do with your fabulous little homes here.
I wish you well, best wishes, Sheila Van Battum
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Jay Shafer reply on September 22nd, 2009 9:17 am:
Now there’s an idea. South Africa would be a great place to visit.
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I am so taken with these great little, beautiful houses! Back in the ’70′s, my husband and I lived on sailboats(30′ to 38′) and I am very familiar with living happily in small spaces. I’m not sure if this is the place to get an answer to my question, but I thought it best to begin here. I want to buy a Lusby, already built, just as it shows in the book (which I loved reading!!) How do I go about doing this? I look forward to your communication. Many thanks, Cynthia Schultz
20 Hillside Rd.
Arlington, VT 05250
802 375 6835
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Tumbleweed Houses reply on March 1st, 2010 11:11 pm:
Hello Cynthia!
The Lusby can be built for you and your husband. Here is a link to give a complete guide on how purchase a tumbleweed house—
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses/purchase/
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Emily reply on January 21st, 2011 3:21 pm:
I’m gonna recommend you remove your personal information now that you have the link from tumbleweed… That’s pretty wide open, hon!
also: I’m totally psyched about tony houses as well and am working on finding a budget done that I may build one as well! You can find practically everything you need, starting with Jay’s designs, and then using thee internet to find locally borne recyclable materials or original fabrications from tons of vendors and creative pros!
Good luck and be smart!
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More tiny-house advantages: Earthquake safety, and mobility during wildfires. Living on the California coast, the safest I’ve felt from earthquakes over the years has been living in a couple different small trailers, while going to school. The Haiti earthquake this week reminds me of the vulnerability of contemporary buildings. The Tumbleweed houses on wheels seem particularly safe. Consider pointing out earthquake-safety in your marketing. “Save your kids! Have them sleep in earthquake-safe tiny houses! ” or “Sitting in an office with concrete above your head in earthquake country? Get a tiny house and roll with the rockin’” I’ve had to evacuate from a stationary house during numerous California wildfires. Tiny-house users can evacuate the whole house and wait out the fire in style. — Looking forward tiny-houses’ many benefits being legal everywhere.
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Michael Kelley Harris reply on February 28th, 2010 7:47 pm:
Plus moving your home away from impending floods, tsunamis, volcano eruptions, changing zoning, changing neighbors, rising sea levels, changing climate zones, and towards new jobs, new relationships, new interests, a person in need of your help, etc. etc. Seems like a flexible use of resources.
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Tumbleweed Houses reply on March 1st, 2010 11:17 pm:
Thanks Michael for these disaster advantage of our tiny houses!
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These small houses are truelly amazing on so many levels! I have to say the single greatest sales pitch for me was the idea that a person could have an extreamlly high quality dwelling for around 20k! and the thought of how mobile it is! for once in my adult life, thanks to Jay Shafer, I can see a way around a house note, rent, roomate/tenant situations, as well as the burdon of all the bills and maintenants that go with a so called “full size house” This is truelly a very forward way of thinking!
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Hi. Terrific houses. And ideas. And site. One thing though. You state that the cost of permits for building a house/addition/etc. run from $15,000 to $50,000. Where? I live in the Hamptons, on the east end of Long Island, NY. It is a very expensive area. Building permits for additions and renovations here typically run in the hundreds of dollars. For whole houses (and here they build BIG houses) permits run in the low thousands. So you might want to adjust your figures. You might find costs such as you cite in Manhattan or San Francisco or another large, expensive city but for most of America, the cost is much, much lower. Thanks.
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Thank you for a great post.
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