In the last few years, there has been an increase in people buying small houses. We are talking tiny houses, some as small as 100 square feet but most around 500 square feet. There are even TV shows dedicated to it — you’ve probably seen Tiny House Nation and Tiny House Hunters.
Benefits of a Tiny House
Below are some benefits of going tiny:
- No mortgage – For about the price you would pay for a down payment on a large house, you can pay for the tiny house in cash. Some homes are as cheap as $20,000, but some can escalate to around $100,000. Imagine not having to write a mortgage payment each month, that could free up a lot of cash.
- Mobility – Many of the tiny houses can be pulled behind a truck so you can move them from place to place if you get antsy in a particular locale.
- Low cost of ownership – Being tiny, you’ll probably have a minimal electric bill and it will not cost much to furnish it.
- Minimalist lifestyle – A tiny house won’t take long to clean and since you won’t have to work as hard without a mortgage, you can focus on other things in life that excite you.
- Small environmental footprint – Being small, you are forced to consume less and are much kinder to the environment by being much more energy and resource efficient.
Downsides of a Tiny House
The tiny movement is not for everyone, here are some downsides:
- Room to breathe – When you restrict square footage to less than 500 square feet, it is easy to feel boxed in and crowded with others in your own house.
- Less room to work from home – If you work from home, you may find that you are cramped and cannot spread your work out as you did when you were in a larger home.
- Lack of room for exercising – If you’re accustomed to working out at home, you will most likely have to resort to outside activities, a tiny house is just too small to workout in.
- Scary in inclement weather – Imagine weathering heavy rains or a tornado in a tiny home. It’s so light that it could completely come off its footing.
- Less room to entertain – If you love to entertain in your home, doing it in a tiny house becomes tough. You just don’t have separate areas for people to congregate.
Some Cool Tiny Houses
Country Living put together a list of 44 cool looking tiny houses, here are some of my favorites:
Conclusion
Are you ready to join the tiny house moment or do you like your bigger digs? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
About this Blog
Steve and his wife built a software company, sold it and retired early. Steve enjoys blogging about lifestyle freedom, financial independence, and technology. If you like this blog, subscribe here to get an email each time he posts.
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I’d love to go for a tiny house, but I need to declutter first. All the more money to pay off the mortgage as I sell the declutterings, mind.
Decluttering is good in general! Thanks for stopping by.
Steve Miller recently posted…Is the Tiny House movement for you?
Our first house was 980 sqr feet and had an unfinished basement. As the kids came I finished the basement building paycheck to paycheck paying cash until it was all done which doubled our space. However that initial foot print was plenty of room for us even with our first child. I think the two of us could live very comfortably in 750 – 800 sqr ft with plenty of room to move around but that isn’t considered Tiny by the movement. Although by most home standards it would be Tiny and possibly not even allowed by building code in many cities/towns. A Tiny home on wheels is a trailer. I guess I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just buy something designed to be mobile like a nice RV trailer if that is what you want but maybe after watching some more of the TV shows dedicated to the movement I might understand that issue more. I have seen some really nice RVs that could easily be lived in. Much lighter to tow and with bump-outs plenty roomy.
LeisureFreak Tommy recently posted…Retirement and Leaving a Workplace Legacy
980 square feet would be a mansion in Tiny Home terms :). I don’t think I could personally live that tightly but it works for some people.
I am on the same page as LeisureFreak Tommy when it comes to the superiority of a lightweight modern RV if the purpose of the dwelling is for mobility. My understanding is that some building ordinances relating to the legal size of a structure are avoided if the unit has wheels under it. This varies hugely from city to city though. For my hubby and I, a small house of 600-800 sq ft would feel ideal, and would allow us to have a guest room and a little more space to entertain. For now we’re pretty happy with our tiny 380 sq ft condo. With us traveling so much it’s a great answer for this phase of our life. Here’s a link to check it out…http://www.wherewebe.com/early_2015_10-01_tinyhome.html
Your condo is great! Happy Holidays!
Michelle at http://www.makingsenseofcents.com is doing just that. She is killing it, making about $30k a month on her blog and she is going nomadic with her husband in an RV. Lots of traveling for her in 2016.
Steve Miller recently posted…Is the Tiny House movement for you?
Our first house was 650 sqf. Our current is nearly 5,000 sqf. I cannot imagine downsizing to a tiny house, but downsizing is certainly in our future. We are early retiring this April @ 49 years old and our son is leaving for college in 9 months. Thanks for the interesting post!
Congrats on the upcoming retirement. I retired at 50 three years ago so feel free to ask any questions!
Cool … What’s the one piece of advice you’d give me in my first year of early retirement?
MrFireStation recently posted…“One More Year” Giving Fund
Travel. Go on a 2 month trip, enjoy it, blog about it.
Thanks for this blog-post. Excellent pros & cons.
Some of the pictured houses don’t look all that tiny to me, but then I’m always amazed by the average person’s fascination with living in big houses.
Hi Kev – Some look bigger than the really are. I think the largest tiny house pictured was 500 sq feet.
Happy New Year Steve! I had no clue there were houses this small. While I’m not quite ready to move into a tiny house (maybe if I had a village…hehe), it’s a really cool concept I can still appreciate. Perhaps one day I’ll get a tiny house on a peaceful beach in Maui. 🙂
Michael @ Financially Alert recently posted…Financially Alert Friends – Interview #2 with Sarah Noelle @ The Yachtless
Tiny houses are bit small for me too. Now a tiny house on Maui, that’s something I may be able to get behind! Happy New Year!
Ha my fiance and I. Oh that was weird, its the first time i have called her a fiance in text. Awesome! Anyways, my fiance and I watch Tiny House Hunters and its very intriguing but there is just no way we could live in a tiny house. I need a garage dang it! 😉 and room for the dogs!
Alexander @ Cash Flow Diaries recently posted…She said yes! My Wedding Proposal in New Orleans!
Hey, I’m with you Alex. I think 1,000 square feet would be the smallest I could go. Congrats again on your engagement!
I could definitely be a tiny house gal once my boys all move out and have their own places. For just hubs and I in some remote place maybe 40 minutes away from town and off a lake. Yep I could definitely do it. I’ve seen some tiny houses that convert space for entertaining, some with decks large enough to have house parties. Where I live there are no Tornadoes. I love the picture compilation you put together also.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
A tiny house with a lake view sounds fabulous!
We moved from a 1500 sq foot house to 500 sq feet and it has been great. The biggest thing we found is that we tend to fill what ever space we lived in which means more stuff. The move from 1500 to 500 hasn’t been difficult for the two of us. The time savings from less cleaning and maintenance is one benefit we under estimated when we made the jump. The smaller mortgage, utilities and repairs is great. We highly recommend it!
Garrett recently posted…From Fishbone to FIRE: How We Plan to Achieve Our Goals
Bravo Garrett. You are living the tiny house dream 🙂
I personally don’t think the tiny house movement is for me, I need my room to breathe. They are neat looking though. Thank you for sharing!