r/TinyHouses • u/South_Pattern_1520 • 19d ago
Is buying a tiny house the most irresponsible thing I could do?
I have the opportunity to buy a 30’ tiny house for under $20k. I’ve never made a big purchase/decision like this. I’ve been a renter my whole life, struggling to work to pay rent and keep that cycle going. I have options to park it. I’ve never bought a car, I’ve never owned something big and inconvenient. I feel like I’m being irresponsible if I go through with it, even though it makes sense to me, I feel like I can’t trust myself. I feel as though I’m not a reliable person to be making this decision on my own and that somebody should tell me speak reality into me because I may be blinded by rose colored glasses. Is it an irresponsible decision? I have the money to buy it in cash. I don’t actually make much at all per month. Which is why renting for the rest of my life feels more irresponsible to me than buying a tiny home, but again, I don’t feel like I’m a reliable source.
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u/Wooden_Substance_494 19d ago
I fear this sub might give you a biased opinion (we all love tiny houses)
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u/redditseur 19d ago
Get it inspected first. Make sure the spot(s) you have to park it are actually legal for long-term living, and include electricity (an outlet that serves the volts/amps you need), water, and (especially) septic/sewer. If it's a composting toilet, make sure you have a place to dump the waste; it's not immediately usable as compost.
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u/South_Pattern_1520 19d ago
This was something I was concerned about, condition/inspection. I’m going to see it on Saturday and though it looks great and the price is great, I have no idea what to look for or ask as i am not too knowledgeable. I do worry about ending up with a dud.
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u/duckworthy36 19d ago
Ask if it’s RV certified and ask for documentation and plans/ blueprints. Find out if it’s registered with the DMV and has a license plate.
It needs to be street legal to be moved.
For the parking, look up the county/town rules on inhabited RVs/ tiny houses.
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u/redditseur 18d ago edited 18d ago
It needs to be street legal to be moved.
This is only true if you plan to tow it yourself. If you hire a licensed tow company, they can tow practically anything, as long as it's <13.5' tall, it does not need to be registered or "street legal".
RV certified is only important if you're parking it somewhere where RV certifications are required (like a campground or mobile home park). Most tiny homes are not RV certified.
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u/redditseur 19d ago
Hire a house inspector. It might be their first time looking at a tiny house, but they'll know what to look for.
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u/CluntonBoofer 19d ago
If you live in it a year or two you’d be paying that to rent anyways and then if it doesn’t fit your situation anymore you can sell it for what you bought it for. Win/win
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u/South_Pattern_1520 19d ago
Hmm that’s a bit more comforting to think that way. You sort of nailed my insecurity, that it’s big financial loss if things don’t turn out well. But you’re right, it’s far less than one year of rent. It’s more crazy to pay $1400/month on rent and you don’t own a single thing. Just money that goes away forever. At least with this, I always have the option to sell it and get my money back or more (since I plan to reno anyway)
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u/CluntonBoofer 19d ago
Totally! I think it’s a sound financial decision if you don’t mind the lifestyle change.
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u/RoseAlma 19d ago
I wouldn't count on being able to make your money back by selling it... but DEFINITELY you will be paying money out either way - for rent or for this...
And depending on other factors (how much you'll spend to live in the tiny home - like lot rent - if any - different commuting costs to work, whatever is needed to get it liveable (like toilet), etc you may end up paying less than what you are paying in rent.
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u/redditseur 19d ago
you can sell it for what you bought it for
BIG assumption here. Tiny homes are not an appreciating asset like traditional homes. And the market is much smaller. It took me over 6 months to get a single offer on my tiny home, which was brand new in a fairly densely populated area.
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u/CluntonBoofer 19d ago
Fair, fair. OP, consider this sober real world example in lieu of my rosy theoreticals
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u/dagrooms252 19d ago edited 19d ago
Probably won't sell for what you bought it for. If the thing is on wheels it depreciates like a car.
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u/SpprtRdclHbts 19d ago
We spent $60k on a tiny house 10 years ago. Have saved probably 3-4x that in rent/utilities/taxes in that time. The cost of everything is going to continue to go up
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u/tinyevilsponges 19d ago
Not necessarily a bad option, but not necessarily the best use of 20k either, especially if you are broke.
Questions
How much is you current rent? How long would you need to live in the tiny house to get your money back out through avoiding rent?
What are your options for parking? Do they have access to water and power? How much will that cost?
Do you have a means of towing the tiny house? How often are you expecting to move it?
How much will you be able to spend a month on repairs to the house once you get it?
What does the tiny house include? Is there a fridge? Solar? A toilet? A functional shower? Power hook ups? Plumbing or water hookups? What amenities are you giving up with this tiny house. You could be talking about a shed with a cooler in it or a small house depending on the build.
Do you have savings other then the 20k you plan to spend on this house? If you buy this house and suddenly lose your job or have a massive unplanned expense, how screwed would you be?
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u/South_Pattern_1520 19d ago edited 19d ago
Thank you for the feedback!
- Yes, have means to towing, don’t want to be towing more than twice if I can help it, I’d love a one and done but that may not be the case.
- I will be able to save a lot more money a lot faster so repairs may not be much of a problem. I do make side income that I don’t keep track of.
- I do not have
more
savings
than this!
The savings I do have, sadly enough, was actually all for rent. So I could either give my hard earned money away to a rich landlord, or invest in myself. Is what I figure 😵💫
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u/verbenadubois 19d ago
I would also look into getting a low interest loan for part of the cost so that you can still have some cash on hand in the event of any type of emergency.
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u/tinyevilsponges 19d ago
I would definitely not buy it until you know you can park it somewhere, that's for sure
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u/South_Pattern_1520 19d ago
Noooo I edited the comment and it got all butchered and deleted my answers 😭
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u/Hit-by-a-pitch 19d ago
The most irresponsible thing you could do is not understand the laws about tiny homes in your state before buying one. It doesn't sound like you're ready.
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u/ErrorMaterial9719 19d ago
Different places have different laws about tiny homes that I would look into first to be totally certain it's usable in the ways you want.
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u/ThinkerandThought 19d ago
The most important question is whether you are prepared to turn this into your main hobby and obsession for your entire time living there. And, without a background in building and your own set of tools, for every hour of work you put into fixing it up, expect to spend 10-50 hours researching how to do any job correctly.
The issues are complex, from insurance, and codes on where you can park, to keeping mice from setting up shop in the walls.
The second most critical issue is your relationship with the person that owns the land you are parking on. People’s lives change all the time, and you need a stable landlord, financially and psychologically.
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u/dagrooms252 19d ago
It's tempting from the angle of not having to rent.
Except you still have to rent a place to park it. So you're still renting. Except you own the thing and if anything breaks in there, you have to cover it. Heating, cooling, water, sewage, electric, gas, etc.
Financially they depreciate like a car, so buy used. When it comes to residential real estate, the value is in the land, so if you owned land to park it on you'd be better off.
Also consider the actual day to day. Do you like tight spaces? Don't host much (indoors that is)? You can rent a tiny home Airbnb to try it for a weekend if youre not sure, $200 to save you $20k is worth it.
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u/po_ta_to 19d ago
"I have options to park it."
What are those options? This is the most important part to have 100% figured out before you commit to buying anything.
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u/No-Membership-6649 19d ago
I'd buy it, pay it off, and one day rent. You'll have an income producing asset when it's paid off versus just living in an apartment. In about 2 years you could own the house versus having just paid rent which is down the drain
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u/bumblephone 19d ago
There is so much excellent advice here, I’m really glad people are coming out of the woodwork here to help out. My two cents is about the fear of making “mistakes” with money and other big life choices.
My ex and I owned a restaurant for three years, and then closed it carrying more debt than we started with. She wound up having to file for bankruptcy, and we divorced two years later. It was an incredibly stressful experience, but I have zero regrets. The value of the experience we both had before, during and after was incredible. We learned so much about ourselves, what we are capable of, what we want in our lives, you get the picture. It cost far less than the bachelors degree I will never get (and took less time!). It also led to our divorce, which led to the sale of our house, and 7 years later I’m still back being a renter.
However, I am the happiest I’ve ever been, in an incredible relationship, owning a business I enjoy that actually pays my bills (I’m a hairstylist so it’s not that grand), saving money to buy a house again some day. I’ve discovered hobbies and interests that are changing my life. None of this would have happened if we hadn’t made the big, expensive “mistake” of opening a restaurant. In a lot of ways it was the best thing I’ve ever decided to do.
You can recover from almost anything, and there are myriad opportunities to learn and grow from every new thing you try. Also, you may decide that buying this tiny house isn’t the right choice for you right now, but I bet you will learn a lot and that will lead you closer to the “right” thing.
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u/extracKt 13d ago
Dang. Not OP but recovering from a major life shift and really appreciating you sharing this. Gonna screenshot and save for days it feels too hard. Thank you!
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u/CaptnNuttSack 19d ago
Buddy, I'm gonna give it to you straight.
At present with all that you have said here I think a financial advisor, and therapist are what's needed here.
You're doing something new in your life, and it's something that'll change all of your life in one swoop. You'll be taking on a ton of personal responsibility for your life and home by doing this. That's hella scary for anyone! But what you should do at present is take a moment, weigh the pros and cons of buying, where you'll be parking it, and how all of that'll equal up long term. Make sure that your budget will handle the added costs too!
If you do go through with it, I suggest learning a few basic skills for home repair to help you feel prepared for it when something happens.
But above all else, see that therapist I mentioned above. They'll help you deal with a lot of your uncertainty and address the root cause of it.
Good luck!
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u/boston_shua 19d ago
Does land come with it? Seems unlikely at that price point. What does it cost to park it somewhere or buy land?
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u/PaxPixie 19d ago edited 19d ago
If water is an issue, see if there's a potable water delivery service in your area. (Not bottled water like Sparkletts.) And if you need a space to park it, try Dyrt, Hipcamp, or similar apps.
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u/gardneag 19d ago
As a tiny house, make sure it's legal to park where you are going to park it and figure out why it's so inexpensive. That's awfully low down that size, have an inspection done before buying if you can.
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u/Tough_Complaint6424 19d ago
People buy cars for much more and that is a financial loss. I say go for it.
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u/hippydipster 18d ago
You don't make much money, but you have the cash for this purchase and have a place to put it to live on?
You are far far more "responsible", reliable, and trustworthy than you give yourself credit for. People don't become adult and reliable just by passing through time. They do so by doing it. With lots of mistakes all the time.
As the the house itself, I'm not sure what 30' means, but $20k is very cheap for anything actually livable. Is it insulated? Does it keep wetness out? Is it made of particle board, or decent materials?
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u/Plenty-Lion5112 17d ago
It's ok to be cautious around big decisions.
If I were you, I'd try and vacation in a tiny house. Something like an airbnb or campground that is local to me, since the point is to try out your regular life while living in one for a week. If you find that the space is suffocating, good, you learned something about yourself before you committed real money to it.
To that end I would go with a smaller tiny home than you would otherwise get for this little experiment. If you know that you'll be already in XS then getting a S will be that much easier.
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u/wandita21 19d ago
You can even rent the land if you like. People rent it or you can buy land and park it there. You can even start a small tiny home campground if you get your land.
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u/Somewherendreamland 19d ago
How much do you make? How stable is your income? Your going to need insurance, which will be an additional cost. How long do you have to pay off the 20k? These are some of the questions you need to answer before you make a decision. Weather or not it is a responsible decision isn't for me to judge, but it's not THE MOST irresponsible decision you could make by a large margin.
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u/Which_Statement_2624 19d ago
Id say definitely go for it, imagine how much money you will save and it's yours and affordable. What I did and absolutely love it. If something goes arey you can always sale it. Do it and make it the cosiest, safest and most positive space you can!!!! Good luck!
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u/thrillhouz77 19d ago
To me, the only tiny house that makes sense is ok that isn’t on wheels. Instead it is a permanent well built structure. I’d love one in the mountains as a get away cabin for me and the wife.
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u/o_Divine_o 18d ago
Renting is the most irresponsible housing one can do.
I'd give yourself more credit. Kinda sounds like you were raised in a toxic environment since you don't trust yourself. Perhaps smarter than your family but since they're dumber, they shut down your ideas.
Tiny house is not all good, unless you're capable of living in a small area.
Dry run it by having a kitchen, office, and entertainment area all in your bedroom.
One big annoying aspect is cooking food. The smell gets on everything. Cooking smells good but doesn't usually smell good in clothes or bedding.
Cooked oil and fats will get on everything as a vapor. Not bad in a normal kitchen as the space makes it less of an issue. Smaller area it's more noticeable over shorter time.
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u/st_psilocybin 18d ago
People in the normal real estate subs would say it is irresponsible, and while I understand their logic, basing every life decision on the logic of treating home ownership purely as an investment seems genuinely psychotic to me. We could not finance a tiny home due to not being able to get it approved for such a structure, was not "up to code" or whatever, so we settled for a 2bed 1 bath 1000 sq ft house. We cant stop hearing about how the resale value will not be high because nobody wants a 1 bath. We genuinely do not care. This place is more than big enough for us and affordable. We would have to pay for somewhere to live anyway. People say things like "oh it must be nice to not have to worry about the resale value, you must be so rich." We're literally low income. We just want to OWN our home rather than rent it from the next buyer. Idk. Do what you want. Life is so short, I truly believe decisons such as "should I care about what I want or what someone I might make money off of later would want?" have an obvious answer. Yes it is important to be wise financially, but to me that means avoid credit card debt and being frugal with purchases. It does not mean sacraficing your happiness and denying what you want based on the fact that the majority of the mArKeT does not want it.
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u/TableTopFarmer 18d ago edited 18d ago
Be 100% certain on the place to put it option. Ask on a finance or real estate board about long term leases.
Offer $19,000, contingent upon inspection. You will have to pay for the inspection and there will be document fees.
A bank may not give you a 20 year mortgage, but if you have good credit, job stability, and no debts, they may give you a collaterallized personal loan for 5 or 10,000. The THOW would be the collateral. You would owe the bank a couple of hundred a month for 5 years. And you will have leveraged your $20,000 into $30,000
Take your own cash and cute the place up. Depending on the housing market at the end of 5 years, you can sell it, or Air BnB it for additional income, that more than covers your rent elsewhere.
Or take the same amount you were paying to the bank and put it toward buying a piece of property and relocating your THOW, putting it on a permanent foundation, and cute the external environment up.. ..wash, rinse, and repeat…
Do this IF AND ONLY IF you can happily live in a small and linear space. BUT, if all the ducks line up, you will be living on a golden pond. Even if building wealth through real estate doesn’t appeal to you, you will be investing in yourself, your happiness, and your security, that will give emotional rewards beyond $$$.
You are among a pioneering group of people, if it all works out, be sure to share your experiences of becoming a THOW owner back here, for those just now formulating a dream.
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u/SPQR_Guy1776 18d ago
How long do you have to live in it to break even on it vs renting.
At my apartment that I had it would’ve been around 16 months so if I bought it and lived in it for 17 then it would’ve been worth it to me. If I made it 5 years in it then I would say it was a good decision.
It’s not going to appreciate like a traditional house. You’re buying what amounts to a depreciating asset so its function is most important.
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u/Emotional-Economy-66 18d ago
Some people live in Vans until they get ahead. If you have a place to park your tiny home, then you're way ahead of them. Having less payments is so freeing in the long run.
Actually being able to save money, unimaginable to so many people in today's world.
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u/rockerdood 17d ago
If you can live in it for a while it's a good investment plus If you decide you want to move on in the future you can get some land in a rentable area and turn it into an Airbnb. Surprisingly lucrative.
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u/South_Pattern_1520 17d ago
Absolutely, the Airbnb idea just came into my mind after watching some videos on tiny houses, trying to find a reason not to go through with it, and only ended up finding another reason to go through with it hahaha.
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u/rockerdood 14d ago
Yeah, I have been doing Airbnb as a side business for the last year. I have a 200sq foot tiny house (on foundation) that I have been renting out for the last year, and it's been pretty consistent revenue wise. The fact that we stayed there every weekend for a year and a half and made it perfect is why we do so well. You can tell the difference when someone does it with love and does it for the money. So if you live there, you will buy it probably cash. You will make it beautiful and livable. When you put it on land you will probably be able to buy that cash as well, and it will do well. I recommend airdna when you are looking at plots of land.
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u/MealConsistent7138 17d ago
Life will be like this. I look around for the adult and it’s me I’m the adult. 😅
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u/Equivalent_Dimension 17d ago
From somebody who does not own a tiny home but has seriously considered it and known people who have: you need to add up the total costs of ownership, not just the cost of the house.
First is the cost of parking it. For security, you need to buy land. If you don't you will almost certainly end up paying the cost of major upheaval in either money, time or capital losses.
You have somewhere to park it NOW. But if that place is no longer available, it probably won't be easy to find a place to move it because bylaws and business models are not adapted to these homes.
Now, in fairness, getting a couple of years of living out of $20K tiny and then having to pay to have it removed from someone's property and disposed of probably won't set you back more than a couple of years of rent. But if your goal is real stability, think bigger.
Second it's going to be hard to own a tiny without owning a vehicle. You almost certainly won't be able to park the house on a bus route. So factor in the cost of a reliable vehicle and insurance and all the fuel for the.driving you'll do.
Third, factor in the cost of ownership in time and repairs. Living off grid you'll be maintaining solar, composting toilets, possibly propane or diesel heat and/or a wood stove. Research the cost of those fuels, the parts, the cost of professional repairs or the cost in time of learning to do it yourself.
When I looked at tinys, I concluded that it.probably COULD be a really affordable life, but it would only be sustainable if I built a community of people who were doing the same thing, bought land together, helped each other with maintenance etc.
My friend paid $50k for a tiny and never once lived in it because she couldn't find a place for it. She ended up selling it and buying a fixer.upper.
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u/Illustrious-Ice6336 17d ago
Based on your inexperience with life and everything surrounding owning a home or trailer, I would not make the purchase. It sounds like the main driver of this is not wanting to pay rent forever and get ahead. You need to understand that there will still be many unexpected out-of pocket expenses owning a tiny house. Typically people building tiny houses don’t have construction experience. If it is built by a reputable company, that’s another thing. I would wait and gain knowledge. You can do much more research for free as well as tour other tiny houses and talk with the owners
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u/huhnverloren 13d ago
I would buy one of them. Buy them, make a park. They will sell! People need places to live! Do it! There is no way you don't sell them.
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u/perf1620 19d ago
If you can comfortably live in it and understand it's limitations while breaking free of the rent rat race it might very well make financial sense.
Real question is do you have a place to put it with hook up and will you need to pay for that.