TINY HOUSE THOUGHTS

[Oasisbob]

Just heard on the Portland news we are where the tiny house trend started. I have watched Tiny House builds on TV. They appear very heavy and do not appear very road worthy. I keep wondering if these people have ever heard of an RV? What am I missing here?

[lizzie]

I have a tiny house and an RV. They are used for entirely different purposes. The RV travels down the road,is (despite its price)poorly built and is subject to constant upkeep issues. That said, I like it very much and it does its job well. My tiny house is permanently attached to utilities, is well-insulated and constructed and has reliable appliances. I do not live in either of these full-time, but I could. lizzie

[Johno02]

As before, seems like a lot of folks have a lot more money than common sense. Whatever seems to be the current fad on media is the thing that they have to have. It will pass. Another thing that we forget, is that to lots of young folks that have never been out of the big cities, and many have been living with several in one or two VERY expensive rooms in the big packed cities, an tiny house with a couple off trees around it may very well seem to be a castle to them.. It is hard to some of us that live where they are only a few people per acre (in our case, only ONE per acre) to understand their type of life.

[profdant139]

Let me know when they have a TV show all about folks who camp in really, really small trailers -- we have 77 square feet inside our trailer. The inside walls are 11 feet by 7 feet. The actual floor space is far less, due to cabinets and fixtures and so forth.

Maybe this could be featured on a Horror channel. The episode would be titled, "When Claustrophobia Strikes, There is Nowhere to Hide." 😉

[ken56]

They threaten the tax base, that's why you can't live full time in an RV either. Even if its on an improved lot with utilities its not a permanent structure so its not subject to the same taxes as a sticks and bricks home. I do believe they are constructed to code standards although they may not have the required inspections a permanent structure may be subjected to. They are no more dangerous to its occupants any more than your RV is. Its all about the money.....money the taxing agency will lose.

[Pauljdav]

ScottG wrote:
I always wince when these very young couples pay a fortune for a tiny house. Sure, it's great when they first start but what about when they're cooped up in that little space for months.
And then what happens when the inevitable babies come along...

Lol.
My wife and i think an upcoming show in the next few years will be called.
Tiny House Divorces.

[LVJJJ]

I've had the same question as the OP. I do like watching these shows cause some of the design ideas they come up with are really cool, lot of 'em I've already built into my RV. I'm a former county planner where I administered and enforced zoning laws and can say that there is nowhere in the county which I live (Whatcom County in Washington) where they would be legal to live in. Maybe Montana, Idaho, Nevada or somewhere remote it might be ok. They aren't built to building code standards and they don't qualify as RV's so they essentially have nowhere to go except the driveway they are built on. I actually live in a "tiny" house. We live in a 345 sq ft. park model, so we know the attraction of downsizing, plus we own it and our lot so have no payments. We are in the one RV park in the county allowing full time living in park models, which are probably the original tiny houses.

[azrving]

SidecarFlip wrote:

rjxj wrote:
They are an excellent idea as a tiny house but not as an RV. I bet their feet stay warm and burn far less propane unlike a poorly built RV. Just like many RV issues it's not one size fits all. Most are over priced but that's a supply and demand issue and pertains to any product. The person with a rotted out 3 or 4 year old RV probably realizes just how pricey they are too.

In every case I've come across with a 3-4 year old 'rotted out' RV, the root cause of that was a ignorant owner that never took care of proper maintenance.

Tiny houses need maintained as well.

The real issue with a tiny house lies in the end use not the dwelling itself. Communities look at tiny houses as freeloading squatters that pay no taxes but still use community services and that don't bode well with communities in general plus, most aren't even built to BOCA standards for electrical , plumbing or anything else.

Many of the rigs that are damaged in the first few years were leaking on the dealers lot. My house shingles are 23 years old. A metal roof which is easily good for 50 years is common on tiny houses because of moving it.

A sq ft is a sq ft. If you have a lot vs a little it's more maintenance. Would you rather wash and wax your RV or your house?

It's very common for people/communities to be prejudiced to others that are different. Some even kill over it or make others lives miserable. There is no difference between a person sitting in an RV box or a small house box when it comes to infrastructure costs. They may not be paying a property tax but you can be assured that the park owner or other property owner is paying. If you find an area where a person can park anything without tax let me know.

You really aren't saying that RV's are something to praise as far as plumbing, electrical, are you? A small house with romex stapled to the studs along with a real electrical panel and a frig that doesn't burn it to the ground could be a plus. Tiny house is probably using PEX with connectors that dont blow off which is common in an RV.

It's certainly not all about ultra small tiny houses but there are more and more people looking for very small houses. If so many people are happy to live in an RV which is 200 to 300 sq ft how can they knock someone who chooses to do the same but has 2x4's and a real frig? I haven't seen any tiny houses with water intrusion, fires, bad wiring connections, cracked frames or tanks falling out like RV's.

Even the mobile homes after 1986 are nothing to brag about no matter what sticker is on it. Believe it or not some people also actually care about their carbon footprint. I guess that goes along with it being obvious that no RV'er who can think at all buys into the global warming stuff.

[Gdetrailer]

Fireballsocal wrote:
I can see the attraction. From a young persons viewpoint, or even someone who wasn't able to land the career that could buy a house or even a mobile home, a $300,000 mortgage seems unimaginably unaffordable, and they see no need for 1400 sq/ft of space to hold all the junk that marketers get us to buy. While I am firmly on the home owner side, I fully admit there is way more waste and gluttony in this life style.

At no time in history did we occupy so much space with our homes and there really isn't a necessity for a 3 bedroom 2 bath house for one person or even two. The tiny house premise draws you in with affordable living, a quick to pay off mortgage, and the ability to contribute more of your earnings to experiences (big requirement for millennials). While I agree with most of you that it's not for most people and not even for most people that buy into the idea, the underlying theme behind tiny houses (Minimalism) isn't a bad thing at all.

From my point of view of the "tiny" house craze they are noting more than a over the top glitzed out camping cabin on wheels.

As far as "saving money" on a mortgage, many of those tiny homes are way over priced for what you really get, quality no better than a small mobile home and will have far, far less resale value if those folks were to decide OR NEED to sell down the road..

Tiny homes since they are not attached to land and they are on wheels are most likely to depreciate faster than a RV and the appeal is to a extremely narrow audience of potential buyers.

The tiny craze really started from made for TV unreality programs, can't hardly watch an evening of TV without running into at least two channels catering to the tiny craze.

At least with MOST sticks and bricks homes you do have a decent chance of selling and getting not only what you bought it for but any equity from APPRECIATION of the value.

I will however agree that the super sized mentality that has been the industry norm in sticks and bricks for many years is way out of proportion..

I intentionally bought a SMALL MODEST sticks and bricks 25 plus yrs ago and at just under 1200 square feet is plenty of space for my family.. Can't wrap my head around those 3,000-5,000 square foot homes with 4 bedrooms and 4 baths for a small family of one or two kids..

[Fireballsocal]

I can see the attraction. From a young persons viewpoint, or even someone who wasn't able to land the career that could buy a house or even a mobile home, a $300,000 mortgage seems unimaginably unaffordable, and they see no need for 1400 sq/ft of space to hold all the junk that marketers get us to buy. While I am firmly on the home owner side, I fully admit there is way more waste and gluttony in this life style.

At no time in history did we occupy so much space with our homes and there really isn't a necessity for a 3 bedroom 2 bath house for one person or even two. The tiny house premise draws you in with affordable living, a quick to pay off mortgage, and the ability to contribute more of your earnings to experiences (big requirement for millennials). While I agree with most of you that it's not for most people and not even for most people that buy into the idea, the underlying theme behind tiny houses (Minimalism) isn't a bad thing at all.

[TurnThePage]

They have their place and I doubt they're going anywhere. As mentioned they are intended to be mostly sedentary and not drug around like an RV. The exceptionally tiny ones are not at all attractive to me, but the larger ones do have their charm. They should be treated like mobile or modular homes by the local governments. Especially if they're built to those "sticks & bricks" standards that make them difficult to tow. Non-issue there. I could envision scenarios that we as empty nesters might enjoy one seasonally.

[gbopp]

colliehauler wrote:

gbopp wrote:

You're not missing anything. The people who buy those overpriced boxes are the ones missing something.
Common sense is the first missing thing that comes to mind.

So funny, the exact same thing is said about RV'S in general.

I can't argue against that..:B

[nickthehunter]

Everybody complains about the cheap build quality and leaks, then you wonder about the attraction. SMH

[rhagfo]

The thing I notice when they are showing them the have very, very little storage space.

[SidecarFlip]

rjxj wrote:
They are an excellent idea as a tiny house but not as an RV. I bet their feet stay warm and burn far less propane unlike a poorly built RV. Just like many RV issues it's not one size fits all. Most are over priced but that's a supply and demand issue and pertains to any product. The person with a rotted out 3 or 4 year old RV probably realizes just how pricey they are too.

In every case I've come across with a 3-4 year old 'rotted out' RV, the root cause of that was a ignorant owner that never took care of proper maintenance.

Tiny houses need maintained as well.

The real issue with a tiny house lies in the end use not the dwelling itself. Communities look at tiny houses as freeloading squatters that pay no taxes but still use community services and that don't bode well with communities in general plus, most aren't even built to BOCA standards for electrical , plumbing or anything else.

[azrving]

They are an excellent idea as a tiny house but not as an RV. I bet their feet stay warm and burn far less propane unlike a poorly built RV. Just like many RV issues it's not one size fits all. Most are over priced but that's a supply and demand issue and pertains to any product. The person with a rotted out 3 or 4 year old RV probably realizes just how pricey they are too.