Tiny Houses

westernrvparkowner wrote:

qtla9111 wrote:
I wonder if that's pretty much what they said back in the 30s when travel trailers were becoming popular. Just a fad. I think they said the same thing about television.

They also called pet rocks, beanie babies, parachute pants, leisure suits and disco music fads. I think tiny houses are more Village People than they are Mozart.

Don't include disco in that. We visited Brazilian friends for a wedding 2 yrs ago and disco is alive and well...it just moved to Brazil.

Otherwise, exactly right.

I've looked into them, there are some that have the same RVIS rating or whatever that rating code is for being an RV. They are available with slides, holding tanks, propane and other amenities to make them able to boondock in. I think Idaho tiny homes is actually building a gooseneck toy hauler for a customer so I'll be watching for that to come out. Not sure how they would hold up traveling all the time but they say there shouldn't be an issue. DRV Mobile Suits build their toy haulers and 5th wheel campers with a stud sidewall system and they are rated for full time use so not sure why the tiny houses would be any less durable.

BizmarksMom wrote:
When I think of an RV, I think of a unit that is self contained. Water tank and pump, holding tanks, battery and propane. I think the tiny houses are all meant to be hooked up to city services.

You can get all that on a tiny home if you want it.

Like everything else in the U.S, houses are super-sized.

I dont think it is as attractive as shown on tv. I read an article about the tiny homes and things they dont tell you, like most subdivisions/neighborhoods dont allow them. I guess thats why the few episodes I have seen they seem to be out on some relatives property somewhere.

We have a neighbor couple near our Adirondack cottage that had a 380 sq ft "tiny house" custom built last year to use as a seasonal residence. This year they're working on the details of how to expand it so they don't feel so cramped. The problem isn't so much the small square footage as it is the layout. They feel, and we agree, that our 324 sq ft motorhome is roomier than their 380 sq ft tiny house.

qtla9111 wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:

qtla9111 wrote:
Actually, it is the minimalist movement that is very popular with Millennials. There will be more and more. People are downsizing and eliminating the cost and maintenance from their lives. Life's to short to be painting and cutting grass when you have more freedom to move around at intervals.

You may believe it is very popular, but the fact is there are not communities of these tiny homes as pop culture would have you believe. Yes, downsizing is becoming popular, but for most people that means 1500 square feet instead of 4000. Cramming yourself, your wife, your kids and your bull mastiff into 250 square feet just isn't going to be the next big thing. Those tiny homes aren't mobile, they aren't street legal, they just sit on a plot of land where they are unloaded. Nothing about them screams "freedom", they just scream "cramped".

Sounds more like personal opinion. One thing that stands in the way are city ordinances. They want you to have big land and big houses so that you pay big taxes.

Many types of tiny homes can be moved. I never said they were moved like an rv. They can be moved from place to place for longer stays.

Maybe to you they don't scream freedom but to many it does. Remember, the latest generation is more mobile and has less to no children. Smart people who want to break the paradigm of American dream lifestyle.
r in the burgeoning tiny house movement. (MARGOT/AP)
BY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monday, November 29, 2010, 3:21 PM
As Americans downsize in the aftermath of a colossal real estate bust, at least one tiny corner of the housing market appears to be thriving.

To save money or simplify their lives, a small but growing number of Americans are buying or building homes that could fit inside many people's living rooms, according to entrepreneurs in the small house industry.

Some put these wheeled homes in their backyards to use as offices, studios or extra bedrooms. Others use them as mobile vacation homes they can park in the woods. But the most intrepid of the tiny house owners live in them full-time, paring down their possessions and often living off the grid.

"It's very un-American in the sense that living small means consuming less," said Jay Shafer, 46, co-founder of the Small House Society, sitting on the porch of his wooden cabin in California wine country. "Living in a small house like this really entails knowing what you need to be happy and getting rid of everything else."

Jay Shafer no longer lives in a tiny home and admits it is not a realistic alternative for anyone other than a young single person. An investigative followup report on him found that only a few hundred people actually bought and live in tiny homes. Among those who trumpeted him and the tiny home movement are people who don't exactly walk the walk. An example was Oprah, who has multiple 10,000+ sq ft properties and doesn't exactly live the minimalist lifestyle. I don't see anything that makes people who actually bought into a tiny home "smart people who want to break the paradigm of American dream lifestyle". Seeing that those homes have a very limited appeal, limited places where they are allowed, minimal mobility, and minimal resale value, buyers may actually not be that smart afterall.

Probably like any mobile home. Most states anyway one either pays the state for a vehicle / trailer type registration or pays real property tax. If that is the case it could be whichever one wanted.

westernrvparkowner wrote:

qtla9111 wrote:
Actually, it is the minimalist movement that is very popular with Millennials. There will be more and more. People are downsizing and eliminating the cost and maintenance from their lives. Life's to short to be painting and cutting grass when you have more freedom to move around at intervals.

You may believe it is very popular, but the fact is there are not communities of these tiny homes as pop culture would have you believe. Yes, downsizing is becoming popular, but for most people that means 1500 square feet instead of 4000. Cramming yourself, your wife, your kids and your bull mastiff into 250 square feet just isn't going to be the next big thing. Those tiny homes aren't mobile, they aren't street legal, they just sit on a plot of land where they are unloaded. Nothing about them screams "freedom", they just scream "cramped".

Sounds more like personal opinion. One thing that stands in the way are city ordinances. They want you to have big land and big houses so that you pay big taxes.

Many types of tiny homes can be moved. I never said they were moved like an rv. They can be moved from place to place for longer stays.

Maybe to you they don't scream freedom but to many it does. Remember, the latest generation is more mobile and has less to no children. Smart people who want to break the paradigm of American dream lifestyle.
r in the burgeoning tiny house movement. (MARGOT/AP)
BY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monday, November 29, 2010, 3:21 PM
As Americans downsize in the aftermath of a colossal real estate bust, at least one tiny corner of the housing market appears to be thriving.

To save money or simplify their lives, a small but growing number of Americans are buying or building homes that could fit inside many people's living rooms, according to entrepreneurs in the small house industry.

Some put these wheeled homes in their backyards to use as offices, studios or extra bedrooms. Others use them as mobile vacation homes they can park in the woods. But the most intrepid of the tiny house owners live in them full-time, paring down their possessions and often living off the grid.

"It's very un-American in the sense that living small means consuming less," said Jay Shafer, 46, co-founder of the Small House Society, sitting on the porch of his wooden cabin in California wine country. "Living in a small house like this really entails knowing what you need to be happy and getting rid of everything else."

qtla9111 wrote:
Actually, it is the minimalist movement that is very popular with Millennials. There will be more and more. People are downsizing and eliminating the cost and maintenance from their lives. Life's to short to be painting and cutting grass when you have more freedom to move around at intervals.

You may believe it is very popular, but the fact is there are not communities of these tiny homes as pop culture would have you believe. Yes, downsizing is becoming popular, but for most people that means 1500 square feet instead of 4000. Cramming yourself, your wife, your kids and your bull mastiff into 250 square feet just isn't going to be the next big thing. Those tiny homes aren't mobile, they aren't street legal, they just sit on a plot of land where they are unloaded. Nothing about them screams "freedom", they just scream "cramped".