Is the Tiny House movement for you?

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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.

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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.

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Some Cool Tiny Houses

Country Living put together a list of 44 cool looking tiny houses, here are some of my favorites:

Tiny House 1 Tiny House 2 Tiny House 3 Tiny House 4 Tiny House 5 Tiny House 6 Tiny House 7 Tiny House 8 Tiny House 9

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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22 thoughts on “Is the Tiny House movement for you?”

  2. LeisureFreak Tommy

    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.
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  3. Robin Charlton

    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

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  4. MrFireStation

    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!

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  6. Kevin from Trailsnet

    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.

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  9. Jodi Shaw

    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.

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  10. Garrett

    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!
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