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They can still be cheap, if you put in the sweat equity and build or partially build your own house. And many people collect used wood and windows and doors to keep costs down. So I do see pricey THOWs as well as those that work to keep a better bottom line.
Yes, let's face it, most people wanted to live cheaply and get rid of a lot of their possessions. This type of "living" sounds like so much work to obtain and maintain it doesn't seem worth it.
I think a lot of people who watch Kirsten Dirksen videos really think that they do it for cheap, missing the fact that so many of those people did the labor themselves AND owned the land prior AND did it OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS.
Agreed! I actually left a comment on one of her videos inquiring about the permitting, considering none of the homes were on a foundation. I’m explaining about that in some videos I’m creating. 👌
@@ShortTermRookie Subscribed. One thing though: KD is a documentarian, and she travels all over doing these short films , so she may not know the ins and outs of permitting. The best thing is to try to reach out to the subjects of her films for permitting especially those who are in North America/USA. But still, people need to realize that there are challenges that will not be necessarily covered in those films.
@@EMSpdx Thank YOU, Edith! Ah, didn’t think of that - you make a vey good point and that’s very good advice. I may do that soon, when a property is of real interest. You might need to start making content to educate others as well :).
Agreed. I'm one of those crazy people. It takes a lot of time gathering salvaged materials. Then it takes a lot of time designing to use those materials. And I often run into it just not working so I have to start over. Lots of unused materials have to then be sold again or tossed. So yeah I can honestly say I remodel a normal 3/2 house from the studs in for around $15-20k which is crazy cheap but it takes me about 2 years full time. I consider my labor as free because it's a hobby for me. I couldn't make a living at it if I had to do it for other people because builders using new materials could charge half. But then I like the result of my remodels better because they always are unique. Some buyers will pay a little more for unique done well but that still wouldn't cover my actual labor. It doesn't scale very well.
Never build just one. Make sure your land is zoned for either multiple residences or can be subdivided into separate parcels so that you can build 3+ at the same time. That way you offset the cost of electrical, well, and septic hookup as well could have shared drive. Got to get creative to squeeze the asset.
As a certified residential appraisal in So Cal, thank you for understanding how difficult it is to appraise a tiny home. The ease or difficulty of an appraisal has everything to do with available data. If you're the 1st tiny home, there just isn't data to compare to. I'm glad you got that 3rd appraisal.
3 approaches to determine value (appraisal theory): market, income & cost. Not preaching to you, Brinsley. Wondering if a lender would accept the other approaches? Generally, new construction can use the cost approach.
I worked for a tiny home building in Oregon and they were RVIA certified which is the same certificate as RV and camp trailers so you could get RV loans on them at equal rates compared to a standard RV
i love your honest truth statement about --- foundation , driveways , water/ electric meter connection, septic tank? ,water well? ,land , permits . . are all a good 50% of the cost of the house --- if the house is 500 sqft or 2,000 sqft the difference isn't as much as you think
Yes just went thru a year of buying land putting in well and power with composting solutions excavation on supposedly unrestricted property, was not true lots of harassment the lumber went thru the roof, Hard to do as a single older female in this country.
I LOVE to hear fair criticism of the small space movement. Like many others in recent years, I have become fascinated by tiny homes. I often watch video tours of these modestly sized dwellings, imagining what adjustments I'd need to be satisfied (or to discover what is the minimum amount of space I truly require). However, I do not like making big lifestyle/financial decisions that I will regret later on. For example, I am grateful for the knowledge that shipping container homes are actually not all they're cracked up to be (e.g. not cheap, often damaged, not actually that environmentally friendly, not good for insulation, require a lot of adjustments to put in windows and meet regulations and requirements, and so on).
Depreciating Assets can be a myth. We were surprised by this too. We bought our THOW for $55,000 in 2017, lived in it for 4 years, and sold in 2021 for $60,000. It was only $5k in appreciation but because it had already been fully paid off for 2 years, it felt like $60k.
I've heard this argument before. That a house is not an appreciating assert. Perhaps not. But it is a store of value, like gold. If you sell it for what you paid for it, you recover all the money you would have paid in rent so those years. If it has "appreciated" in value, you will be able to move and buy a home of equal somewhere else or greater value because you will qualify for a higher mortgage. I observed this in my old neighborhood in Las Vegas. My white neighbor didn't appreciate all of the blacks moving in so he and his Mexican wife did their home and moved several miles away but purchased a home of equal value but in a "lighter" neighborhood. My other neighbor was experiencing economic pressure from health issues and ostensibly for that reason sold his house. Coincidentally, it was just after we'd had two random shootings in two weeks and his move was also lateral. So no economic benefit. Shortly thereafter the worldwide housing market crashed. I'm not sure how the two families ultimately made out.
@@terrifictomm I'M currently trying to get a cardinal by resort cottages out of Texas & last year the exact model was 64k &, now is 85k BUT still better than a $140k + house. I'm just wondering w 20k down if I'll be able to get a RV loan for 65k. My fico is 691 & I have excellent payment history for 2 cars. However no credit cards so aka thin credit. After putting it on land & after paid off on a foundation I agree I definitely don't see it as depreciating.
If you don't mind my asking was it hard to get a RV loan? The model I want is now 85k (was only 64k last year) & I have $20k to put down. My fico score is 691 & am about to buy 1 acre. However I don't have any credit cards aka thin credit history. I do at least have excellent payment history- from 2 cars. But I'm worried about finding a RV loan that would be for 15 years for 65k.
@@WarmongerYT I just wrote a very long reply to you, published it, and RUclips ATE it! I'm so pissed off at RUclips, this is not the first time. it's been happening more and more so I'd taken to copying and saving some of my comments until I was sure they had posted. I thought it might be RUclips censorship so I didn't think it would happen to this post. But it did. Just a crappy software glitch, I guess. Give me some time to recharge and I'll respond again. It won't be revelatory. Just helpful, I hope.
I was all-in on the idea of a tiny house a little less than two years ago, I guess it was ... but then started hearing and reading about all sorts of zoning restrictions, the inability to park them on your own property if they were too small or you didn't have all sorts of the usual things built up around them like sewer, electricity, etc. And also their just being outright outlawed. This looked like a coming wave in municipal regulation that was likely to leave tiny house owners in serious trouble. So much as I loved the idea, I turned aside from it. Govts want their money! And NIMBY homeowners want to "retain property value." It's very hard to beat city hall and your neighbors at the same time.
@@Beuwen_The_Dragon Exactly! We live in such a greedy and dictative world it's pathetic. No one should dictate how you want to live. Taxes are illegal anyways.
@@happybeetz They are illegal because the government is taking your earnings that you have worked hard for and then pocketing that money as their own. If you don't pay yearly taxes you go to jail. How do you think all those people in power are millionaires? Why do you think our system is so flawed, or there is poverty and crappy roads and buildings everywhere. They are supposed to take our money to put back into the community but they don't. It's just actively stealing a huge portion of our wages. It's just a way to control the people.
Unfortunately there are far too many people out there (including the host), who believe that a house is an investment, rather than a place to live. This is why the vast majority of people across the world will never own a home and struggle just to pay rent. Greedy landlords, multi-home owners, and investment companies should all be called out for their scummy behaviour.
Why most local Governments don't like tiny houses. Because they loose money on property taxes like you said some banks don't really know how to appraise the value.
That's just dumb. You still have to pay personal property tax on your RV but you will have nothing to show for it after it ages. Also, financial institutions do know how to appraise them but consider the people borrowing for "tiny houses" a poor risk unlike real RV owners.
Thanks for this. I've recently been seriously considering building a "tiny house". I floated the idea of downsizing to my husband, and we began researching the costs of tiny homes, expecting to spend maybe around 20k or so since we already own our own land. Imagine our absolute SHOCK at the fact that most of the prices for "tiny homes" cost _just as much_ as a _full-sized_ home. In fact, sometimes the costs can actually EXCEED a full-sized home. Seems simpler to just buy a manufactured home for cheaper and with 5 times the space...or just go to Home Depot My and buy one of those outdoor barns. But even converting those could get quite costly from what I've seen. We even looked into shipping container homes and were _shocked_ at the costs. There is absolutely NOTHING cheap about starting with _either_ of these options, (tiny homes or shipping container homes) contrary to popular belief. Although I don't begrudge anyone who does this. But for those looking for a "cheap" alternative of living, the only benefit (for me) would be that I wouldn't have to worry about becoming a hoarder in my old age, since a tiny house would have so little space to begin with. Thank you for sharing, and I'm sorry folks are giving you a hard time for simply stating facts.
As someone who grew up in a large city, I think part of it is that the tiny homes are cheap compared to houses in urban areas. And for people who don't have land yet, a smaller house might allow them to park on someone else's land. Though I have seen videos where people said they managed to build a tiny house for that cheap. Salvaged woods, reused windows and using their own labor cuts down on the costs a lot I believe.
Yep capitalism at its finest. The government and banks don't want you to live a debt free and simple life. They want to make their millions off the backs of the American people so therefore you can't "own" anything.
When Rob goes to the barber all he says is "2010 me bro." ETA this is a good video though. I didn't know you could argue about appraisals with banks. I am getting my rental appraised soon. Now I know what to do if the appraisal is low.
@@adeptronic An appraisal is nothing more than one man's opinion. His certificates give him credibly with the banks, that he has a professional level knowledge of the appraising process but but that's all he has over your opinion.
@@terrifictomm Yeah, the appraiser even asked me what I thought the house was worth. It seemed like he agreed with me after he found out that pretty much everything in the house was new.
@@adeptronic I did the same thing with my appraiser just before the econ collapse in '08. He told me he was busy as hell and how everyone was pressuring him to appraise their property higher and higher because of what "the market" was doing, but he was resisting. Problem was, if he got a reputation as someone who low-balled there was a chance he wouldn't get hired anymore or not as much. Everyone around that time was riding the bubble for all they could get before the music stopped. We all saw what happened when it finally did.
So far from what I understand with limited knowledge when it comes to codes and tiny houses. It's basically cheaper/easier to get the paperwork done for like an RV park, or trailer park. Where the essentials of electric, water, and septic are nice hookups to attach to. HOWEVER then you make it modular for the tiny houses. The tiny houses on wheels in the long run are the better investment for this style of project. You may not be able to flip it for a profit like a normal home, but the money is made via rent. Then still getting some money by selling it after use, and not needing to scrap it. Plus you earn brownie points for supplying someone with a home too. Along with if something happens, say a fire or whatever, you can simply slide the tiny house off the lot then replace it. That way you scoot around all the BS that comes with what essentially is a suburb, but uber small due to the houses sizes. They're modular so if you want to change the style of the neighborhood you can, or to do maintenance swap units out. Most of the time too. People just build the stuff, and then deal with paperwork later.
Rob, I asked you this question earlier in your channel. There are 2 technologies or techniques available to you that I do not believe you've ever implemented: 1. SIP - Structural Insulated Panels 2. Manufactured Homes SIP panels as you know, are stryrofoam sandwiched between wood (or metal) panels. You submit plans to a factory and they build the panels that will comprise your outer walls and roofing. They go up with less labor than traditional stick building, and less onsite waste (clean-up) and less on-site theft issues. With the panels delivered, it may be possible for you, and one or 2 partners to put up a tiny house structure yourselves. Manufactured homes as you know, are built to code in a factory, and delivered by truck to your site where you've had the foundation poured and waiting for the structure to be delivered, lifted and lowered and bolted to your foundation. Everything being done in a factory means weather is not a factor for construction, and again, you avoid onsite waste and theft issues. Joshua Tree looks like both levels could have been built in the factory, shipped on a single trailer, to be lifted/stacked/installed onsite. I understand that that the fixed costs for septic, utilities to the home do not change, however, can either of these techniques lower your building costs to a more reasonable rate? What if you standardize on a particular design so that a SIP or manufacturer builder is cranking the same structural design each time? Would the builder discount the construction costs of new homes due to reuse of the same plans and repeat business? Why have you not attempted to build yet using either of these techniques? Regards, Mike
I agree. When I see videos of tiny houses costing $80k to build it sounds crazy high to me for a trailer. Fixed foundation tiny houses make more sense but imo the only way is via a traditional house. What I do is buy a single story house that I can see can be made into a kind of duplex where I can live in a tiny part of the house and rent the other part as a normal size rental. My current house is in central Phoenix. I live in 275 sq ft, separate entry and rent the other 3 bed, 1 bath, 1300 sq feet for $2100 / mo (market is $2200) and the house has appreciated $1785/mo on average over 14 years. I love to garden so as the owner I get the entire yard space to play. So I compare $3685 / mo profit after expenses to a deprecation for trailers and like my scheme better. During this allowed me to retire 20 years ago at 45. I think the big draw to tiny home trailers is it's trendy and looks good on social media. Also people seem to get confused seeing a tiny house sitting on a beautiful property and think a tiny house can be parked anywhere. That isn't true though. I do all the remodeling work myself. One thing I do is convert walls from 4" thick to 8" and increase attic insulation. That cuts energy costs and makes the space more comfortable. I switch from central AC/heat to split systems so each space can be controlled separately. In a tiny house trailer it's a little harder to increase wall insulation, more expensive using foam.
Don't believe it. Stupid RUclips VIDEOS got me in trouble. I guess I was just stupid enough to believe what people say in these videos. I thought being in construction most of my life, I could build a tiny cheap & quick. And man was I wrong. I'm 7 months into & I'm not even half way there. And spent a good 50 grand so far. And made this my full time job. 8 to 10 hour days. My buddy who a professional carpenter has been holding my hand & fixing all my mistakes. Because if you never built a house before, you will make every mistake there is in the book. I never realized there's so much to carpentry. So much that you can't put it all in a video. Or explain it to someone, because it's a lot of hard work. Like my friend said anyone can build a house. But that doesn't make it right, it can be held together with bubble gum. If your like me I want it done right. I want a house that feels like a house. Anyways this is gonna take me well over a year. And like I said that's as a full time job. And lots of the work you'll need two people to do it. I hope this helps someone. Because before I got into this mess I was in a RUclips bubble. And 99 percent of what's on these videos is BS. So believe me there's alot of bad things, but people want you to watch there videos to get them views. It's not all what it's cracked up to be
A lot of good info on here AND you give exact details about your finances and build costs! So many times people don't give those numbers up and just give vague statements, but you just put it all out there! I appreciate that. 👏🏽 Considering Airbnb home as a supplementary income as well and your vids really help me understand what is going to be needed on my end. Thank you!
We built a tiny house (cabin) last year and we are in for about $25,000 Canadian! We did most of the labour ourselves though. Lots of work! We are renting long term for $1000/month but may do Airbnb at some point 😉👍🏻
As an insurance producer that deals with appraisers and banks, he is right- it is a pain and is hard to get appraised or even insurance depending on where you live and other things. You really have to do your research, and worst-case scenario, be willing to bite that lost money and make it a guest house or keep it as an RV. At least at the moment, Maine is passing laws that are changing Tiny Homes for them, so we'll see!
Do you think its possible to build an absolutely tiny house with all necessities in coastal Nc? I'd love to build an absolutely cheap cheap house, but I could imagine that with hurricanes that it would be hard. Do you think I could pay more for a better foundation and structure to withstand hurricanes, and then would it be easier to get it insured?
@@Jake-te8et My license is for my state alone, so take what I say as opinioned advice, not legal guidance or fact. Having the land and foundation is a big help, but you have to look at the area's building codes and make sure they are up to code, and ask your insurance agent what they can legally cover. otherwise, you'd have to talk to specific insurance companies specifically for Tiny homes, and they may not be cheap. Hurricanes aren't something we deal with here, but I can imagine that your agent will say if it's easier to float away or a high flood zone, that will raise costs and you'd have to get flood insurance. My advice is to research what you want to build; is it with bricks, storage containers, or wood? What can I legally build and be considered a single-unit dwelling? Many people have to have insurance for their lake houses, and those are cabins, so I'd ask your local agent-- as they should know the laws or and direct you to where to go to find the information. Out where we live, if you are outside the city, you can buy a shed and live in it IF its up to the codes that insurance and local laws require, but that's the midwest. It depends on the square feet you are building, what you are building with, and the location. When it comes to price, they don't really care, except to make sure you are covered in case of a loss. So if you build a functioning cabin cheaply or with recycled parts, that's not a problem as long as it's up to code, safe, and no hazards or risks of loss. Also, you'll have to consider the price of lumber and metals right now due to the pandemic. If you were building a mobile tiny house, you could make sure the codes and customization are within RV certification to get RV insurance. You also have to consider if you can build with a loan, as many banks won't classify it as a mortgage, but a personal loan, and those are higher interest rates. As he says in another video, land and location matter. If it's a side project over time and not for right away, you may be able to get construction insurance in case of damages before completion too. So to summarize: 1research your local laws and value for the land you want to purchase (and if it has the channels for sewer, water, and electricity already in place) 2 talk to local insurance agents and county appraisers about what requirements need to be met 3 talk to your bank on what they can allow for funding if you need a loan. 4. research on what you want to build and if its for-profit or personal That's the only advice I can give is talk to local experts and research! Hope that helps...
Hey I live in Maine! I could totally live in a tiny house for a few years. Might be cheaper for me to get an apartment tho since you can get a 1 bed for $1500 a month…idk all I know is I’m 25 and I can’t afford $500k for a basic house OR $1500 for an apartment lol
You never suggest that people hire an architect. That would save people time and money on permitting issues as well as design issues for buildings meeting code.
Where I live in Australia, a THOW is classified as a caravan/RV and you can have it parked on your property and live in it under certain circumstances but others you can only have someone living for no kore than about 2 weeks at a time. So depending on how you go about the rules it is the perfect airbnb
Here’s the thing. ☝🏾☝🏾A Tiny Home on-wheels… is something that “THEY” can’t take away from you.. “It’s Yours.” ☝🏾🧔🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🧔🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️. No one can’t evict you.
You forgot to mention that tiny house on wheel is going aside of the normal system! This is why municipal authorities doesn’t like them, owner doesn’t have a civic address and will not pay any taxes. So you gona pay for the streets, the parcs, fireman, water,,school, etc. Yes it’s cheap coz you are not paying for the community services.
I really appreciate your video. I am planning on building a tiny house, but a lot of what you discussed won't apply to me. Let me explain. A little more than a year ago I was living in a 3 bedroom 1200 sq. ft. apartment that I had raised my 5 kids in. Then the downstairs neighbor's apartment caught fire and *poof* I was homeless at 5:30 in the morning. My son in SC, who has 3 acres, said come on down, we'll put you in a camper and you'll be fine. So I've spent the last year boondocking on his property in a 20' camper that leaks and has a bathroom and kitchen that don't work. Not completely terrible, but there's a lot of room for improvement. For my situation, for what I would spend on a 10' x 10' unfinished shed, about $7,500, I can utilize parts of the camper and build a tiny house on the frame. The biggest changes will be converting the bathroom area into a wet room, and building a loft bedroom so I have room for a kitchen, living area and work area. I'll be doing most of the work myself, and there won't be anything luxury about it, but it'll be a step up from where I am now. Just a slightly different perspective, and your points about being trendy or fiscally sound, as well as zoning and being a depreciating asset are valid and should be considered. Thanks again.
@@erikcable1755 Actually, eventually, I want to build a 3-bay garage with carriage house. However, of the 3 acres, 2.25 still need to be cleared from woods so that there's a permanent place to put it. And by the time we get to that point (within 5 years) I'll have the $$ for it. But in the meantime, I need to improve the situation I'm in, and the tiny house will serve as guest housing for when my other adult kids come down to visit after I've built my carriage house.
Loved the video and you had great content here! I wanted to point out that you are using the term “sunk costs” a bit incorrectly. Sunk costs are costs that will never yield a return on investment. Because all of those parts you described, are necessary for a proper building to be constructed, they aren’t sunk costs since they are part of the building being able to yield a return. What you should be referring to those costs as is “fixed costs”. No matter what size home you are building, you’ll always have those costs as “fixed costs” regarding the size or the project.
Rob does a wonderful job of laying out the reality of building a permanent tiny house legally. He talks from a position of direct, first hand knowledge. I thought one of the more useful bits of knowledge was the comparison of cost per square foot to a larger home. The cost per square foot then leads into the question of how much easier it might be to get a slightly larger home built; one that is more the norm in terms of building codes, financing, and insurance. Then there is the actual livability of the final home. As much as we might like the ideal of downsizing, how many people are going to be happy living in such a small space long term? Good to see someone let a little air out of the balloon of tiny homes. From an environmental standpoint, maybe they make some sense. But probably only as a contrast to the bloated homes being built in much of the US. One of the first things I noticed when investigating tiny homes was the promise of "cheap" housing. First, in the end, they don't appear so cheap. Even the self builds were more expensive than you could buy a somewhat comparable used RV/trailer. I can understand how people find them more esthetic than a trailer, but they really aren't more practical. They are much heavier, and, therefor, more difficult to actually tow around. Then there is the whole issue of where to park one, if they are mobile. I suspect many of them depend on being parked by stealth rather than by legal use. There are just lots of places where you cannot legally park and live in what is essentially a trailer for more than some limited period of time.
All points, very well made. Same reason I would never buy a pre-fab, you don't get your money out. Now if that isn't your goal and it's only to live cheaply then fine. But the whole reason is because they're cheaply made from cheap materials and don't hold up. We have been seriously thinking about a tiny home on wheels, but after finding out about financing, permitting, licensing etc, wow it's hard to be compliant. May just do a decked out van for half the year and str my house out. Would love a video on instancing str and getting permits.
I’ve been an appraiser for 20 years. Never appraised a tiny house yet. The smallest I’ve seen was around 550 sq feet. FHA will not insure anything less than 400. I haven’t seen much discussion yet about tiny homes in the appraisal circles.
Any kind of outlier home, large or small, is harder to appraise. We have one property that I will only trust with one appraiser, and I have had to have him added to the AMC (appraisal management company) with some lenders. If you can find a specialist who can justify going countywide for comps that will help your case. The local appraisal Institute may be able to help point you in the right direction.
Please stop saying "sunk costs" when you mean fixed costs. Sunk costs are anything in the past, fixed costs are those costs that do not change based on the your other choices in the build.
If this has clearly been a growing industry. Why aren’t municipalities getting on board? Why isn’t there a building code section for this? It’s been 7 years since this took off.
Park Model RVs (tiny house on wheels) are allowed in almost all municipalities and can certainly be listed on Airbnb! Lastly, when placing these tiny homes on land that you purchased, will without a doubt appreciate the value of the land!
IRC Appendix Q is for Tiny Homes, which allow smaller stairs, lower ceiling heights, 6'8", etc. I'm looking to D/B affordable tiny homes in an Eco-friendly PUD community. States are starting to allow tiny houses on foundations, and some states such as NC, OR, CA, TX, and ME are allowing people to live year-round in tiny homes on wheels. It's affordable living and we need more of that
The fact that you talk stuff about stuff that triggers people in the comments shows that you're totally real. You're not putting videos out to just get views. Your shit is real and whether you're wrong or right I subscribed to you because you're honest.
During the real estate collapse back in 2008/09 the appraisal process was totally corrupt. Because of this regulators came down hard on appraisers and today they are totally inflexible and hard-assed. Today the pedulum needs to move in the other direction and appraisers and banks need to lighten up a bit. It's also hard to get realistic appraisals on historic or buildings designed by famous architects. An appraiser can't take into consideration the fact that George Washington lived in Mount Vernon. It's only worth what a comparable plantation nearby is worth.
They aren’t butt hurt just because they disagree with you. I’m not for prefabs because they are way overpriced but it doesn’t mean those who think they are good value are butt hurt.
You are the exact person I needed to find today. I've been cruising tiny house videos for awhile now thinking about future housing for myself if my husband, God forbid, goes to his heavenly before I do. So was feeling uplifted about the prospects of being able to live a more simplified life in a coastal Pacific tiny home community. Or on a yacht or houseboat. It's good to keep ones feet on the ground with knowledge while filling the head with dreams. Thanks. 🙏
Dude. Don’t give up. I got rid of a lot of useless earthly possessions. Boat, sports car, slacks and ties….. you get it. Why was I keeping all this STUFF? I moved , left it all behind. How much space do two people need? Really. Now I reside in a 3000 sq ft house, 900 sq ft garage and a back yard big enough for 25 tiny houses. Maybe I’ll get a 4th car. Just because I can.
All houses are depreciating assets - just look at communities that were originally built 40 years ago... builders will often demolish the house and rebuild from scratch. The difference is really in the rate of depreciation of the wood / stone / steel / etc. The appreciation is from the land as a scarce resource, the house just makes it saleable to a retail audience.
That's the crazy thing about it. Tiny homes back in the day all started as a way to have a home for 10 to 20k. You can still do it, just have to keep it simple. Heck we build our off grid 700sq ft cabin for 10k.
@@Oldfarmlady nothing changed except builders started making THOWs or tiny houses on foundations. And pumping up prices due to tiny homes being rather trendy recently. Before it was just self-built diyers. Which is still the only way tiny homes make sense financially.
@@miavaughn2393 so true. Before it was diy with tons of upcycling built in. Now I've even seen mobile home dealers building some trailers that would be considered a tiny home.
A very informative video! I like that you talk about the cons as well as the pros, with examples of some of your own challenges. I will definitely be checking out more of your content!
@@kristinf785 I would agree that an RV, aka "Tiny house", is not an investment since you can buy one with a credit card. They are not really houses at all but merely a shelter from the elements and not very good shelter at that. They belong in a trailer parks and not in any neighborhood I'm would invest in.
A tiny house. Hes in CA so his prices are on the upper end. If you contract the plumbing and concrete pour, then do the rest yourself you would be looking more in the 50k range depending where your located. The majority of a small dwelling build is within the DIY standards unless you just dont have any experience at all. I cant imagine contracting a whole tiny build unless your income is six figured, it could be a nightmare. We are currently looking into a touristed area in the mountains with land plots in the sub 10k range which allows you to take your time if your doing it yourself. The total cost to get into a project is not all that important when the planned cash flow numbers dwarf the investment as is the case with any good airbnb plan. I myself am willing to overpay for a unit when I am sure of the numbers that will generate and $175k for a tiny home in the right place, done properly is well within budget.
Hi Rob, I really enjoy your channel. A few comments on this video and your channel as a whole: 1. You present yourself as an extremely aesthetically motivated person, which makes the design aspect very energizing for you. I think most people considering building tiny homes would just as soon buy a canned design, which can be had for $600-1000 bucks, unless they are likewise driven. It shortens the development process. 2. It seems to me developing a single tiny home project wouldn't be as attractive to a beginner, as, say, glamping or yurts. Down the line, a more experienced person may decide to move into tiny homes by looking for an existing RV lot or something similar for sale, to convert to a small tiny home village. That way you get better economy of scale and much of the site development is already there. You had the advantage of being able to build your first tiny home on your own lot - many of your subscribers are prevented from doing so due to zoning and lack of building rights. 3. In a similar vein, It might be of value to your subscribers to add a more strategic video that gathers up all the AirBnB options you talk about and classify as either 'entry level,' 'mid-level' or 'advanced' to help people think of the long play and what it will take in the short term to launch things. It's hard to compare the value of glamping vs tiny homes on an ROI basis alone, without adding the context of when in the process one may be more valuable than the other.
Appraisers in the post-crash era are very conservative. Many appraisers are reluctant to research actual costs that go into a tiny house. When bathroom and kitchen expenses are spread over so few square feet of a tiny house everything gets weird, and appraisers hate weird.
Thank you for the educational video and would love your thoughts on this: I own a couple acres of land zoned residential and have been considering building a tiny or small home on a foundation on this land. This would be mostly me working on the property stretched out over 2 to 4 years. While I have no real construction experience, I can definitely learn and know a couple people who could help with some of the process. My hopeful idea is that by doing this mostly myself over 2 to 4 years, it would allow me to buy the materials and pay for permits/labor if needed in cash rather than taking on a loan. A couple things I'm getting stuck on though: 1. I've heard that if you build the home yourself, it might be difficult to get home insurance for it and 2. is it worth all of the time, effort and energy to build the house myself rather than buying something prebuilt and putting it on the foundation? Really appreciate any feedback on this.
Gr8 vid - I built my fixed foundation tiny home and I agree with everything you said. There is a fixed-cost threshold where the cost is similar maybe from 200 600 sq ft then increases with sq ft. I priced a detached 2 car garage with living space upstairs about 600 sq ft total at about $60K pre covid. Tiny home on wheels = RV = Vehicle = depreciating asset.
Hola ! Great video . You must come to Tucson AZ ! We are reviewing the codes for "little casitas" ADUs( Accessory Dwelling Units) Next meeting Oct. 19th -Tucson has very progressive building regulations (love it) . Many homes here already have the Casitas in the back of many homes. I considered all the things you said (past RE experience ) so I settled in remodeling a little casita that was on an acre. Bought the acre and casita for 80k! Smaller home ,bigger nest egg ! Gracias for all the great inspiration , ay nos vemos.
I think tiny homes are best as an investment property on platforms such as Airbnb, Vrbo, etc. where you can make a good amount of money renting them out as short-term rentals. These platforms are known worldwide and bring people from all over to the properties. People want to stay in unique homes for their vacations and create memories. I'm looking to D/B unique tiny home retreats. My tiny home on wheels which I designed and helped build cost me $42,000 which I paid in cash. It took 9 months to build (the builder originally told me 2 months-ugh). There were hiccups along the way, but it turned out beautifully and I'm glad I had the chance to do it.
Good overview of code and permitting. Most States and locales still are not on board with Tiny Homes and especially Tiny Homes on Wheels. Also, contrary to common misconception, not all real property appreciates in value. Market fluctuations, inflation, tax increases, neighborhood decline, and other negative factors cause property devaluation.
So real bro!!! I love your vibe and how genuine, vulnerable and honest you are. I am planning for a tiny house and as positive as I can be, I also acknowledge toxic positivity. Would like to know both sides of the coin. Your videos are so engaging and I learn so much😊usually construction and build videos are boring AF 😁
Have you looked into the permit process in Maine? Is it fairly easy? We have been thinking about New Hampshire as well. Any information you have would help. Thanks!
Who would you recommend talking to about the concept of your build. I don’t think I would do something as small at 300sqft but maybe 800-1000. But I love the concept of tiny living. So I still want to be able to put a lot on a small space but be able to sleep more. So how do you find a designer/engineer to make the concept on paper? Then how did you pick you contractor or builder?
There would be a lot less homeless people if more places allowed tiny house communities. They would be cheap to build and maintain so low income people could afford to live.
Seems that apartment complexes would be more efficient than tiny homes. A 250 ft home on a 6000 ft plot of land wastes far more space than 3 750 ft apartments (in a 3 story building) using 2000 ft for the apartments, common area, and parking. Unless you start stacking tiny homes giving them shared walls with their neighbors, it doesn't make much sense for low income housing.
I wish in 2016 when I first expressed interest that I saved my money and got one established before now. Although there is places I could place one, I want one to live in to try and save money. However with how expensive everything is, I feel lucky to be able to rest somewhere at an affordable cost for the current moment.
I'm.calling bs.Most tiny homes on RUclips are custom designer jobs with a huge budget.My place cost 13k total with land solar water tanks and I'm in California on an acre...we built it our selves...........all new materials last summer when shit was hella expensive............
Yep. All true. And in rural areas it’s even tougher to find comps because there are so few houses. Not to mention how conventional lenders often won’t even consider lending on a residence under 750 sf. Add to that the rising tide of short term rental regulation….not simple, especially if you’re hoping to make profit. You came in at a sweet spot that I’m afraid has largely evaporated.
I’m agree. the permitting, building codes, locally, are constraining and. Not friendly to the idea of affordable housing under which a landowner can do themselves-fire apparatus access road, water, electricity systems or connections are the big ones. And the. The codes limit design like Fenestration limits, title 24, ADA
The only people building tiny homes and doing it for affordable prices are owner/builders. You literally have to learn how to build a house from start to finish yourself. I built a 736sqft house with a bank construction loan of $50k and came in at budget with about 2-3K of my own money for luxury items. The only things I subbed out was the pier foundation columns, some stucco work, and an electrician to help me with the wiring. I had additional helpers at times for some heavy lifting. It was quite the journey from start to finish. I was also fortunate enough to find land that already had a well and a septic system the county let me tap into. That could have cost me an additional 10-15k out of pocket.
Rob, Can you please help me understand why you include the cleaning fees in your spreadsheet as part of the calculation into the operating profit if the airbnb guest is paying for it? If the guests pay for the cleaning fees, why would it be included in the calculation for profits. For the life of me, I cannot figure it out. Thank you!!
More and more, I belive the way to go would be the unique stays with the glamping set ups, low cost start ups and decent long term turn around, and easier to scale ⚖!🚀🛸📈
Architect and investor here. You are 100% spot on about tiny homes. They are way over hyped in terms of affordability, to the point of flat out falsehood. Same goes for the trendy shipping container houses. If you really want to see a good balance in affordable and great returns people need to stop focusing on the trendy tiny homes and such and start looking at just small homes. Stop building/buying the 3000 sf house and start building the 1000-1500 sf house. There is a sweet spot in this range where if you go any smaller the price/sf just skyrockets and if you get any higher your total amount just start to balloon.
Very useful video, thank you, do you know if i had a tiny house and sold it under owner financing do i count that as the sold house can be used to comp other builds so count the sale price or does the monthly payment i get just counted as income?
Fellow tiny house builder here! Not sure why your plumbing/electrical is costing you just as much as a regular house? Yes the material cost is less due to the house needing less, but the house is also smaller all around, implying that there is less work therefor less labor and labor cost. Maybe I’m missing something? Anyways love the videos 🙏🏼
The materials are less. But generally the labor isn’t that much less. This hinges on if you’re talking about a tiny house on a fixed foundation vs THOW. Part of this rides on how insane the labor costs are in a market where everyone is perpetually turning down work because they are book 6-12 months in advance.
I appreciate the honesty. I'm working on plans for two not quite tiny homes at the moment, and I plan to use them as STRs. Both are just over 500 SF. So far it seems like I'll save a little bit compared to a full size house, but won't lose an equivalent amount of STR revenue (we'll see if I meet those projections or not though). One thing I am able to save on with these properties is land cost. Both lots are extremely small and a much larger home would not be feasible or permitted. In cities like San Antonio where there are a lot of "unbuildable" lots, tiny homes or not quite tiny homes seem to be a decent solution.
Building a 40 foot tiny & it's a nightmare. I wish I didn't listen to RUclips. Because it's a completely different experience then I thought. I guess if you build house for a living your ok. But if you never built a house beore watch out. Because your gonna make every mistake in the book. And don't watch how to videos on RUclips. Have a professional carpenter that knows what there talking about, to at least check your work. Build a house isn't as easy as people think. I'm 7 months in & I'm not even half way finished. And thats working 40 plus hous a week.
I was looking at car prices and small cars here are not appreciably cheaper than bigger cars. And I suppose the thing about sunk costs are true. Engines are going to cost regardless of the externals. I suppose the savings will come in - heating, cooling, time spent cleaning. As someone in the comments here said, in a tiny home, the risk of becoming a hoarder are drastically reduced. lol. I would also like to think that a smaller home will have less stress on its foundations. I've watch too many HGTV episodes where someone's foundations had sunk on one side or cracked and needed major repairs. Time will tell if this will eventually translate into durability in the long term.
@Robuilt where should someone start if they've never bought or built a house before? i don't know anything about real estate as far as financing, picking land to build on, how to assess the financials. I really want to create a property with a few tiny homes on it that i can airbnb. please help.
Glad this popped up. When I first saw your Joshua Tree house video I loved it so much but, and please don't take this the wrong way, the little "garden area" and path leading to the front door is so bad it makes my heart hurt. The house is so beautifully designed it deserves a front entrance and yard to go along with it. Showed a photo to a lot of my other garden designer and landscaper friends and they all agreed. Please hire a local professional to do a nice natural native plant landscape for the yard and a new hardscape entry way. Doesn't have to be something crazy expensive. Can probably DIY the planting if someone else comes up with a nice natural design (and this is not be looking for work I am on the coast. You should hire someone that specializes in that Joshua Tree area with a familiarity with desert plants). Anyway I hope you take this criticism as me trying to be constructive. I see all these beautifully designed tiny homes or houses and 9 out of 10 times the yard/garden is an afterthought. And since yours is so nice and you are using it as a rental it deserves something truly memorable that people will love when they stay at your Airbnb.
@@Robuilt gotcha. That's interesting because he told me you couldn't order another appraisal just because you didn't like the result. Told me they made that law after last financial crisis
Isn't a lot of the idea of THOWs is that you GET to skirt ridiculous building regulations? Most building codes make no sense for tiny homes, like kitchen/stove location relative to bedroom, etc. Biggest one is many jurisdictions actively make under certain square footage houses illegal! THOWs are the ONLY option in a lot of places. Additionally the THOW movement is closely related to the off grid movement. Local government in most places make being off grid nearly impossible such as requiring septic even if you compost, or making reuse of water illegal, off grid energy being very difficult, etc. A similar movement, the earthship movement is very very difficult to pull off due to these regulations, self-sufficient houses are very frowned upon by most local governments. Also, isn't building the thow yourself part of the popularity and cost saving? Yeah, if you took out a loan on a depreciating asset...that would be idiotic. But if you build it over a year to few years slowly putting money in it, you can have a completely paid for place for the cost of a downpayment. I've seen gorgeous THOWs self-built for 20,000-70,000. Best option I think is buying a duplex with a large backyard. Build a thow in the backyard, move into that, rent out both units in the duplex and you get house hacking on steroids. But generally, financing for a thow is idiotic, a foundation based tiny house is less idiotic, but still doesn't make a lot of sense, as you get less for your dollar.
Amazing thank you so much very helpful. I want to design my tiny house on fixed foundation I just wonder about the land, it’s is going to be y first house. I don’t know what I should look on the land for build my tiny house
Fantastic Rob! The appreciating asset part alone! I’m working on videos for my build in JT as well on my channel and I appreciate your videos for motivation and inspiration. “Tiny” appliances are a “Big” problem! Lol
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I want to get into real estate but 0.25 of an acre in my country costs 100k on average. Is it hopeless?
What kills me is that the tiny home at one time was a cheap way to have a home. The more popular they become the more expensive they are
They can still be cheap, if you put in the sweat equity and build or partially build your own house. And many people collect used wood and windows and doors to keep costs down. So I do see pricey THOWs as well as those that work to keep a better bottom line.
No joke! A person can actually build or purchase a nice conventional house for $175,000. Maybe not in all states, but you can in Florida.
Not if you build them yourself. Mine was 10k and looks just as nice as any one I've seen on HGTV.
@@Bess9779 huh? Wdym conventional like a 1 bedroom mabey
Yes, let's face it, most people wanted to live cheaply and get rid of a lot of their possessions. This type of "living" sounds like so much work to obtain and maintain it doesn't seem worth it.
I think a lot of people who watch Kirsten Dirksen videos really think that they do it for cheap, missing the fact that so many of those people did the labor themselves AND owned the land prior AND did it OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS.
So much this haha.
Agreed! I actually left a comment on one of her videos inquiring about the permitting, considering none of the homes were on a foundation. I’m explaining about that in some videos I’m creating. 👌
@@ShortTermRookie Subscribed. One thing though: KD is a documentarian, and she travels all over doing these short films , so she may not know the ins and outs of permitting. The best thing is to try to reach out to the subjects of her films for permitting especially those who are in North America/USA. But still, people need to realize that there are challenges that will not be necessarily covered in those films.
@@EMSpdx Thank YOU, Edith! Ah, didn’t think of that - you make a vey good point and that’s very good advice. I may do that soon, when a property is of real interest. You might need to start making content to educate others as well :).
Agreed. I'm one of those crazy people. It takes a lot of time gathering salvaged materials. Then it takes a lot of time designing to use those materials. And I often run into it just not working so I have to start over. Lots of unused materials have to then be sold again or tossed. So yeah I can honestly say I remodel a normal 3/2 house from the studs in for around $15-20k which is crazy cheap but it takes me about 2 years full time. I consider my labor as free because it's a hobby for me. I couldn't make a living at it if I had to do it for other people because builders using new materials could charge half. But then I like the result of my remodels better because they always are unique. Some buyers will pay a little more for unique done well but that still wouldn't cover my actual labor. It doesn't scale very well.
Never build just one. Make sure your land is zoned for either multiple residences or can be subdivided into separate parcels so that you can build 3+ at the same time. That way you offset the cost of electrical, well, and septic hookup as well could have shared drive. Got to get creative to squeeze the asset.
As a certified residential appraisal in So Cal, thank you for understanding how difficult it is to appraise a tiny home. The ease or difficulty of an appraisal has everything to do with available data. If you're the 1st tiny home, there just isn't data to compare to.
I'm glad you got that 3rd appraisal.
3 approaches to determine value (appraisal theory): market, income & cost. Not preaching to you, Brinsley. Wondering if a lender would accept the other approaches?
Generally, new construction can use the cost approach.
I worked for a tiny home building in Oregon and they were RVIA certified which is the same certificate as RV and camp trailers so you could get RV loans on them at equal rates compared to a standard RV
That is bad and not were I would want to be when the a big storm hits.
I live in Oregon and thinking about doing this. Know any resources???
Same in Washington.
@@philshifley4731 You don’t really get “bad storms” in Oregon and California.
i love your honest truth statement about --- foundation , driveways , water/ electric meter connection, septic tank? ,water well? ,land , permits . . are all a good 50% of the cost of the house --- if the house is 500 sqft or 2,000 sqft the difference isn't as much as you think
This is why I can't wrap my head around tiny homes. Just consider a single-wide instead 🤷
Yes just went thru a year of buying land putting in well and power with composting solutions excavation on supposedly unrestricted property, was not true lots of harassment the lumber went thru the roof, Hard to do as a single older female in this country.
Private property is not actually private. This is the reality in USA
I LOVE to hear fair criticism of the small space movement.
Like many others in recent years, I have become fascinated by tiny homes. I often watch video tours of these modestly sized dwellings, imagining what adjustments I'd need to be satisfied (or to discover what is the minimum amount of space I truly require).
However, I do not like making big lifestyle/financial decisions that I will regret later on. For example, I am grateful for the knowledge that shipping container homes are actually not all they're cracked up to be (e.g. not cheap, often damaged, not actually that environmentally friendly, not good for insulation, require a lot of adjustments to put in windows and meet regulations and requirements, and so on).
Depreciating Assets can be a myth. We were surprised by this too. We bought our THOW for $55,000 in 2017, lived in it for 4 years, and sold in 2021 for $60,000. It was only $5k in appreciation but because it had already been fully paid off for 2 years, it felt like $60k.
You saved $80k on rent those two years you paid it off I would say it was worth it
I've heard this argument before. That a house is not an appreciating assert. Perhaps not. But it is a store of value, like gold. If you sell it for what you paid for it, you recover all the money you would have paid in rent so those years. If it has "appreciated" in value, you will be able to move and buy a home of equal somewhere else or greater value because you will qualify for a higher mortgage.
I observed this in my old neighborhood in Las Vegas. My white neighbor didn't appreciate all of the blacks moving in so he and his Mexican wife did their home and moved several miles away but purchased a home of equal value but in a "lighter" neighborhood.
My other neighbor was experiencing economic pressure from health issues and ostensibly for that reason sold his house. Coincidentally, it was just after we'd had two random shootings in two weeks and his move was also lateral. So no economic benefit.
Shortly thereafter the worldwide housing market crashed. I'm not sure how the two families ultimately made out.
@@terrifictomm I'M currently trying to get a cardinal by resort cottages out of Texas & last year the exact model was 64k &, now is 85k BUT still better than a $140k + house. I'm just wondering w 20k down if I'll be able to get a RV loan for 65k. My fico is 691 & I have excellent payment history for 2 cars. However no credit cards so aka thin credit. After putting it on land & after paid off on a foundation I agree I definitely don't see it as depreciating.
If you don't mind my asking was it hard to get a RV loan? The model I want is now 85k (was only 64k last year) & I have $20k to put down. My fico score is 691 & am about to buy 1 acre. However I don't have any credit cards aka thin credit history. I do at least have excellent payment history- from 2 cars. But I'm worried about finding a RV loan that would be for 15 years for 65k.
@@WarmongerYT
I just wrote a very long reply to you, published it, and RUclips ATE it!
I'm so pissed off at RUclips, this is not the first time. it's been happening more and more so I'd taken to copying and saving some of my comments until I was sure they had posted. I thought it might be RUclips censorship so I didn't think it would happen to this post. But it did. Just a crappy software glitch, I guess.
Give me some time to recharge and I'll respond again. It won't be revelatory. Just helpful, I hope.
I was all-in on the idea of a tiny house a little less than two years ago, I guess it was ... but then started hearing and reading about all sorts of zoning restrictions, the inability to park them on your own property if they were too small or you didn't have all sorts of the usual things built up around them like sewer, electricity, etc. And also their just being outright outlawed. This looked like a coming wave in municipal regulation that was likely to leave tiny house owners in serious trouble. So much as I loved the idea, I turned aside from it. Govts want their money! And NIMBY homeowners want to "retain property value." It's very hard to beat city hall and your neighbors at the same time.
You're forgetting the biggest enemy, the banks. The "american dream" was created by the banks as a way to issue loans.
If the State or county thinks they are going to keep me from having my own home on my own property, they had better have a loooot of kevlar.
@@Beuwen_The_Dragon Exactly! We live in such a greedy and dictative world it's pathetic. No one should dictate how you want to live. Taxes are illegal anyways.
@@jessiwhitt870 how are taxes illegal lmao
@@happybeetz They are illegal because the government is taking your earnings that you have worked hard for and then pocketing that money as their own. If you don't pay yearly taxes you go to jail. How do you think all those people in power are millionaires? Why do you think our system is so flawed, or there is poverty and crappy roads and buildings everywhere. They are supposed to take our money to put back into the community but they don't. It's just actively stealing a huge portion of our wages. It's just a way to control the people.
Unfortunately there are far too many people out there (including the host), who believe that a house is an investment, rather than a place to live. This is why the vast majority of people across the world will never own a home and struggle just to pay rent. Greedy landlords, multi-home owners, and investment companies should all be called out for their scummy behaviour.
People laugh bc its small but thats exactly why we love them! Theres just something about small living spaces with multiple rooms
Buy a studio apartment and divide it yourself.
I had to see it to believe it I agree about tiny homes but not with them becoming too expensive
Why most local Governments don't like tiny houses. Because they loose money on property taxes like you said some banks don't really know how to appraise the value.
That's just dumb. You still have to pay personal property tax on your RV but you will have nothing to show for it after it ages. Also, financial institutions do know how to appraise them but consider the people borrowing for "tiny houses" a poor risk unlike real RV owners.
Thanks for this. I've recently been seriously considering building a "tiny house". I floated the idea of downsizing to my husband, and we began researching the costs of tiny homes, expecting to spend maybe around 20k or so since we already own our own land. Imagine our absolute SHOCK at the fact that most of the prices for "tiny homes" cost _just as much_ as a _full-sized_ home. In fact, sometimes the costs can actually EXCEED a full-sized home. Seems simpler to just buy a manufactured home for cheaper and with 5 times the space...or just go to Home Depot My and buy one of those outdoor barns. But even converting those could get quite costly from what I've seen.
We even looked into shipping container homes and were _shocked_ at the costs. There is absolutely NOTHING cheap about starting with _either_ of these options, (tiny homes or shipping container homes) contrary to popular belief. Although I don't begrudge anyone who does this. But for those looking for a "cheap" alternative of living, the only benefit (for me) would be that I wouldn't have to worry about becoming a hoarder in my old age, since a tiny house would have so little space to begin with.
Thank you for sharing, and I'm sorry folks are giving you a hard time for simply stating facts.
He built both for less than $200k which seems actually pretty cheap in my opinion
As someone who grew up in a large city, I think part of it is that the tiny homes are cheap compared to houses in urban areas. And for people who don't have land yet, a smaller house might allow them to park on someone else's land. Though I have seen videos where people said they managed to build a tiny house for that cheap. Salvaged woods, reused windows and using their own labor cuts down on the costs a lot I believe.
Land 5k materials including woodstove 1200 gallon tank and solar 8k thats 13 k I did the work soooo what the he c k you all trying to have?
Yep capitalism at its finest. The government and banks don't want you to live a debt free and simple life. They want to make their millions off the backs of the American people so therefore you can't "own" anything.
@@taylorthompson3788 yeah I live in a small town in Maine and sometimes there isn’t even a single house in my town under about $500k on zillow
“The haircut screams don’t take his advice” 😂
When Rob goes to the barber all he says is "2010 me bro."
ETA this is a good video though. I didn't know you could argue about appraisals with banks. I am getting my rental appraised soon. Now I know what to do if the appraisal is low.
@@adeptronic
An appraisal is nothing more than one man's opinion. His certificates give him credibly with the banks, that he has a professional level knowledge of the appraising process but but that's all he has over your opinion.
@@terrifictomm Yeah, the appraiser even asked me what I thought the house was worth. It seemed like he agreed with me after he found out that pretty much everything in the house was new.
@@adeptronic
I did the same thing with my appraiser just before the econ collapse in '08. He told me he was busy as hell and how everyone was pressuring him to appraise their property higher and higher because of what "the market" was doing, but he was resisting. Problem was, if he got a reputation as someone who low-balled there was a chance he wouldn't get hired anymore or not as much. Everyone around that time was riding the bubble for all they could get before the music stopped. We all saw what happened when it finally did.
The hair is closer to Fresh Prince than Mentos Freshmaker.
So far from what I understand with limited knowledge when it comes to codes and tiny houses.
It's basically cheaper/easier to get the paperwork done for like an RV park, or trailer park. Where the essentials of electric, water, and septic are nice hookups to attach to. HOWEVER then you make it modular for the tiny houses. The tiny houses on wheels in the long run are the better investment for this style of project. You may not be able to flip it for a profit like a normal home, but the money is made via rent. Then still getting some money by selling it after use, and not needing to scrap it. Plus you earn brownie points for supplying someone with a home too. Along with if something happens, say a fire or whatever, you can simply slide the tiny house off the lot then replace it.
That way you scoot around all the BS that comes with what essentially is a suburb, but uber small due to the houses sizes. They're modular so if you want to change the style of the neighborhood you can, or to do maintenance swap units out.
Most of the time too. People just build the stuff, and then deal with paperwork later.
Rob,
I asked you this question earlier in your channel. There are 2 technologies or techniques available to you that I do not believe you've ever implemented:
1. SIP - Structural Insulated Panels
2. Manufactured Homes
SIP panels as you know, are stryrofoam sandwiched between wood (or metal) panels. You submit plans to a factory and they build the panels that will comprise your outer walls and roofing. They go up with less labor than traditional stick building, and less onsite waste (clean-up) and less on-site theft issues. With the panels delivered, it may be possible for you, and one or 2 partners to put up a tiny house structure yourselves.
Manufactured homes as you know, are built to code in a factory, and delivered by truck to your site where you've had the foundation poured and waiting for the structure to be delivered, lifted and lowered and bolted to your foundation. Everything being done in a factory means weather is not a factor for construction, and again, you avoid onsite waste and theft issues. Joshua Tree looks like both levels could have been built in the factory, shipped on a single trailer, to be lifted/stacked/installed onsite.
I understand that that the fixed costs for septic, utilities to the home do not change, however, can either of these techniques lower your building costs to a more reasonable rate? What if you standardize on a particular design so that a SIP or manufacturer builder is cranking the same structural design each time? Would the builder discount the construction costs of new homes due to reuse of the same plans and repeat business?
Why have you not attempted to build yet using either of these techniques?
Regards,
Mike
I agree. When I see videos of tiny houses costing $80k to build it sounds crazy high to me for a trailer. Fixed foundation tiny houses make more sense but imo the only way is via a traditional house. What I do is buy a single story house that I can see can be made into a kind of duplex where I can live in a tiny part of the house and rent the other part as a normal size rental. My current house is in central Phoenix. I live in 275 sq ft, separate entry and rent the other 3 bed, 1 bath, 1300 sq feet for $2100 / mo (market is $2200) and the house has appreciated $1785/mo on average over 14 years. I love to garden so as the owner I get the entire yard space to play. So I compare $3685 / mo profit after expenses to a deprecation for trailers and like my scheme better. During this allowed me to retire 20 years ago at 45. I think the big draw to tiny home trailers is it's trendy and looks good on social media. Also people seem to get confused seeing a tiny house sitting on a beautiful property and think a tiny house can be parked anywhere. That isn't true though.
I do all the remodeling work myself. One thing I do is convert walls from 4" thick to 8" and increase attic insulation. That cuts energy costs and makes the space more comfortable. I switch from central AC/heat to split systems so each space can be controlled separately. In a tiny house trailer it's a little harder to increase wall insulation, more expensive using foam.
I’m researching into tiny homes right now and really only see good things, so it helps seeing more about it.
Don't believe it. Stupid RUclips VIDEOS got me in trouble. I guess I was just stupid enough to believe what people say in these videos. I thought being in construction most of my life, I could build a tiny cheap & quick. And man was I wrong. I'm 7 months into & I'm not even half way there. And spent a good 50 grand so far. And made this my full time job. 8 to 10 hour days. My buddy who a professional carpenter has been holding my hand & fixing all my mistakes. Because if you never built a house before, you will make every mistake there is in the book. I never realized there's so much to carpentry. So much that you can't put it all in a video. Or explain it to someone, because it's a lot of hard work. Like my friend said anyone can build a house. But that doesn't make it right, it can be held together with bubble gum. If your like me I want it done right. I want a house that feels like a house. Anyways this is gonna take me well over a year. And like I said that's as a full time job. And lots of the work you'll need two people to do it. I hope this helps someone. Because before I got into this mess I was in a RUclips bubble. And 99 percent of what's on these videos is BS. So believe me there's alot of bad things, but people want you to watch there videos to get them views. It's not all what it's cracked up to be
A lot of good info on here AND you give exact details about your finances and build costs! So many times people don't give those numbers up and just give vague statements, but you just put it all out there! I appreciate that. 👏🏽 Considering Airbnb home as a supplementary income as well and your vids really help me understand what is going to be needed on my end. Thank you!
We built a tiny house (cabin) last year and we are in for about $25,000 Canadian! We did most of the labour ourselves though. Lots of work! We are renting long term for $1000/month but may do Airbnb at some point 😉👍🏻
Wow, that will pay it off in two years and a little even as a long term rental...way to go!
As an insurance producer that deals with appraisers and banks, he is right- it is a pain and is hard to get appraised or even insurance depending on where you live and other things. You really have to do your research, and worst-case scenario, be willing to bite that lost money and make it a guest house or keep it as an RV. At least at the moment, Maine is passing laws that are changing Tiny Homes for them, so we'll see!
Do you think its possible to build an absolutely tiny house with all necessities in coastal Nc? I'd love to build an absolutely cheap cheap house, but I could imagine that with hurricanes that it would be hard. Do you think I could pay more for a better foundation and structure to withstand hurricanes, and then would it be easier to get it insured?
@@Jake-te8et My license is for my state alone, so take what I say as opinioned advice, not legal guidance or fact.
Having the land and foundation is a big help, but you have to look at the area's building codes and make sure they are up to code, and ask your insurance agent what they can legally cover. otherwise, you'd have to talk to specific insurance companies specifically for Tiny homes, and they may not be cheap.
Hurricanes aren't something we deal with here, but I can imagine that your agent will say if it's easier to float away or a high flood zone, that will raise costs and you'd have to get flood insurance.
My advice is to research what you want to build; is it with bricks, storage containers, or wood? What can I legally build and be considered a single-unit dwelling? Many people have to have insurance for their lake houses, and those are cabins, so I'd ask your local agent-- as they should know the laws or and direct you to where to go to find the information.
Out where we live, if you are outside the city, you can buy a shed and live in it IF its up to the codes that insurance and local laws require, but that's the midwest. It depends on the square feet you are building, what you are building with, and the location.
When it comes to price, they don't really care, except to make sure you are covered in case of a loss. So if you build a functioning cabin cheaply or with recycled parts, that's not a problem as long as it's up to code, safe, and no hazards or risks of loss. Also, you'll have to consider the price of lumber and metals right now due to the pandemic. If you were building a mobile tiny house, you could make sure the codes and customization are within RV certification to get RV insurance.
You also have to consider if you can build with a loan, as many banks won't classify it as a mortgage, but a personal loan, and those are higher interest rates. As he says in another video, land and location matter. If it's a side project over time and not for right away, you may be able to get construction insurance in case of damages before completion too.
So to summarize: 1research your local laws and value for the land you want to purchase (and if it has the channels for sewer, water, and electricity already in place) 2 talk to local insurance agents and county appraisers about what requirements need to be met 3 talk to your bank on what they can allow for funding if you need a loan. 4. research on what you want to build and if its for-profit or personal
That's the only advice I can give is talk to local experts and research! Hope that helps...
Hey I live in Maine! I could totally live in a tiny house for a few years. Might be cheaper for me to get an apartment tho since you can get a 1 bed for $1500 a month…idk all I know is I’m 25 and I can’t afford $500k for a basic house OR $1500 for an apartment lol
You never suggest that people hire an architect. That would save people time and money on permitting issues as well as design issues for buildings meeting code.
Where I live in Australia, a THOW is classified as a caravan/RV and you can have it parked on your property and live in it under certain circumstances but others you can only have someone living for no kore than about 2 weeks at a time. So depending on how you go about the rules it is the perfect airbnb
Here’s the thing. ☝🏾☝🏾A Tiny Home on-wheels… is something that “THEY” can’t take away from you.. “It’s Yours.” ☝🏾🧔🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🧔🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️. No one can’t evict you.
You forgot to mention that tiny house on wheel is going aside of the normal system! This is why municipal authorities doesn’t like them, owner doesn’t have a civic address and will not pay any taxes. So you gona pay for the streets, the parcs, fireman, water,,school, etc. Yes it’s cheap coz you are not paying for the community services.
I really appreciate your video. I am planning on building a tiny house, but a lot of what you discussed won't apply to me. Let me explain. A little more than a year ago I was living in a 3 bedroom 1200 sq. ft. apartment that I had raised my 5 kids in. Then the downstairs neighbor's apartment caught fire and *poof* I was homeless at 5:30 in the morning. My son in SC, who has 3 acres, said come on down, we'll put you in a camper and you'll be fine. So I've spent the last year boondocking on his property in a 20' camper that leaks and has a bathroom and kitchen that don't work. Not completely terrible, but there's a lot of room for improvement. For my situation, for what I would spend on a 10' x 10' unfinished shed, about $7,500, I can utilize parts of the camper and build a tiny house on the frame. The biggest changes will be converting the bathroom area into a wet room, and building a loft bedroom so I have room for a kitchen, living area and work area. I'll be doing most of the work myself, and there won't be anything luxury about it, but it'll be a step up from where I am now. Just a slightly different perspective, and your points about being trendy or fiscally sound, as well as zoning and being a depreciating asset are valid and should be considered. Thanks again.
I think you should build a 20x20 garage, slab 3200.00, plumbing 2500.00, shell 10,000
@@erikcable1755 Actually, eventually, I want to build a 3-bay garage with carriage house. However, of the 3 acres, 2.25 still need to be cleared from woods so that there's a permanent place to put it. And by the time we get to that point (within 5 years) I'll have the $$ for it. But in the meantime, I need to improve the situation I'm in, and the tiny house will serve as guest housing for when my other adult kids come down to visit after I've built my carriage house.
I did weeks of research to figure most of this out. You're saving people a lot of potentially wasted time with this video!
Not all the time..Not everywhere
Loved the video and you had great content here! I wanted to point out that you are using the term “sunk costs” a bit incorrectly. Sunk costs are costs that will never yield a return on investment. Because all of those parts you described, are necessary for a proper building to be constructed, they aren’t sunk costs since they are part of the building being able to yield a return. What you should be referring to those costs as is “fixed costs”. No matter what size home you are building, you’ll always have those costs as “fixed costs” regarding the size or the project.
Rob does a wonderful job of laying out the reality of building a permanent tiny house legally. He talks from a position of direct, first hand knowledge. I thought one of the more useful bits of knowledge was the comparison of cost per square foot to a larger home.
The cost per square foot then leads into the question of how much easier it might be to get a slightly larger home built; one that is more the norm in terms of building codes, financing, and insurance.
Then there is the actual livability of the final home. As much as we might like the ideal of downsizing, how many people are going to be happy living in such a small space long term?
Good to see someone let a little air out of the balloon of tiny homes. From an environmental standpoint, maybe they make some sense. But probably only as a contrast to the bloated homes being built in much of the US.
One of the first things I noticed when investigating tiny homes was the promise of "cheap" housing. First, in the end, they don't appear so cheap. Even the self builds were more expensive than you could buy a somewhat comparable used RV/trailer. I can understand how people find them more esthetic than a trailer, but they really aren't more practical. They are much heavier, and, therefor, more difficult to actually tow around.
Then there is the whole issue of where to park one, if they are mobile. I suspect many of them depend on being parked by stealth rather than by legal use. There are just lots of places where you cannot legally park and live in what is essentially a trailer for more than some limited period of time.
What about putting up a tiny house on wheels in agriculture zoned area which allows for more flexibility for multiple structures/ rv/trailers
That’s the best route!
@@WillEdmond I agree. Tried. Tested. True. In Canada Eh.
All points, very well made. Same reason I would never buy a pre-fab, you don't get your money out. Now if that isn't your goal and it's only to live cheaply then fine. But the whole reason is because they're cheaply made from cheap materials and don't hold up. We have been seriously thinking about a tiny home on wheels, but after finding out about financing, permitting, licensing etc, wow it's hard to be compliant. May just do a decked out van for half the year and str my house out. Would love a video on instancing str and getting permits.
I’ve been an appraiser for 20 years. Never appraised a tiny house yet. The smallest I’ve seen was around 550 sq feet. FHA will not insure anything less than 400. I haven’t seen much discussion yet about tiny homes in the appraisal circles.
Any kind of outlier home, large or small, is harder to appraise. We have one property that I will only trust with one appraiser, and I have had to have him added to the AMC (appraisal management company) with some lenders. If you can find a specialist who can justify going countywide for comps that will help your case. The local appraisal Institute may be able to help point you in the right direction.
Please stop saying "sunk costs" when you mean fixed costs. Sunk costs are anything in the past, fixed costs are those costs that do not change based on the your other choices in the build.
If this has clearly been a growing industry. Why aren’t municipalities getting on board? Why isn’t there a building code section for this? It’s been 7 years since this took off.
Park Model RVs (tiny house on wheels) are allowed in almost all municipalities and can certainly be listed on Airbnb! Lastly, when placing these tiny homes on land that you purchased, will without a doubt appreciate the value of the land!
IRC Appendix Q is for Tiny Homes, which allow smaller stairs, lower ceiling heights, 6'8", etc. I'm looking to D/B affordable tiny homes in an Eco-friendly PUD community. States are starting to allow tiny houses on foundations, and some states such as NC, OR, CA, TX, and ME are allowing people to live year-round in tiny homes on wheels. It's affordable living and we need more of that
The fact that you talk stuff about stuff that triggers people in the comments shows that you're totally real. You're not putting videos out to just get views. Your shit is real and whether you're wrong or right I subscribed to you because you're honest.
During the real estate collapse back in 2008/09 the appraisal process was totally corrupt. Because of this regulators came down hard on appraisers and today they are totally inflexible and hard-assed. Today the pedulum needs to move in the other direction and appraisers and banks need to lighten up a bit. It's also hard to get realistic appraisals on historic or buildings designed by famous architects. An appraiser can't take into consideration the fact that George Washington lived in Mount Vernon. It's only worth what a comparable plantation nearby is worth.
They aren’t butt hurt just because they disagree with you. I’m not for prefabs because they are way overpriced but it doesn’t mean those who think they are good value are butt hurt.
You are the exact person I needed to find today. I've been cruising tiny house videos for awhile now thinking about future housing for myself if my husband, God forbid, goes to his heavenly before I do. So was feeling uplifted about the prospects of being able to live a more simplified life in a coastal Pacific tiny home community. Or on a yacht or houseboat.
It's good to keep ones feet on the ground with knowledge while filling the head with dreams.
Thanks. 🙏
Dude. Don’t give up. I got rid of a lot of useless earthly possessions. Boat, sports car, slacks and ties….. you get it. Why was I keeping all this STUFF? I moved , left it all behind. How much space do two people need? Really. Now I reside in a 3000 sq ft house, 900 sq ft garage and a back yard big enough for 25 tiny houses. Maybe I’ll get a 4th car. Just because I can.
All houses are depreciating assets - just look at communities that were originally built 40 years ago... builders will often demolish the house and rebuild from scratch. The difference is really in the rate of depreciation of the wood / stone / steel / etc. The appreciation is from the land as a scarce resource, the house just makes it saleable to a retail audience.
Right. What truly appreciates is the location- and THAT can 'depreciate'. I mean (waves in direction of Midwestern cities)
Question: If the costs are practically similar to regular sized house, then why not build a regular sized house?
That's the crazy thing about it. Tiny homes back in the day all started as a way to have a home for 10 to 20k. You can still do it, just have to keep it simple. Heck we build our off grid 700sq ft cabin for 10k.
You can turn a shed into a tiny home. This is much cheaper than using a contractor to start from scratch.
@@Oldfarmlady nothing changed except builders started making THOWs or tiny houses on foundations. And pumping up prices due to tiny homes being rather trendy recently. Before it was just self-built diyers. Which is still the only way tiny homes make sense financially.
@@miavaughn2393 so true. Before it was diy with tons of upcycling built in. Now I've even seen mobile home dealers building some trailers that would be considered a tiny home.
Location Location Location, try building in America instead of Amerika sonny.
I love watching videos about OTHER people living in tiny houses. But NOT for me at all.
A very informative video! I like that you talk about the cons as well as the pros, with examples of some of your own challenges. I will definitely be checking out more of your content!
Do you have a video about building tiny houses on the technicalities of coding where the tiny house is built outside of the codes but still legal?
Tiny house on wheels inspected by proper company, certified, and meets the required RV codes. Is classified as an RV.
Right, but an RV depreciates similar to any other motor vehicle so not a good investment compared to a fixed asset
@@kristinf785 I would agree that an RV, aka "Tiny house", is not an investment since you can buy one with a credit card. They are not really houses at all but merely a shelter from the elements and not very good shelter at that. They belong in a trailer parks and not in any neighborhood I'm would invest in.
@@philshifley4731 that’s exactly what I said, read again…I’ll requote myself “depreciates like any motor vehicle” and “not a good investment”
@@kristinf785the fixed asset is the land..
Hey Rob, if you think tiny homes aren’t the best investment, what would you recommend for someone looking at building in that same price range?
A tiny house. Hes in CA so his prices are on the upper end. If you contract the plumbing and concrete pour, then do the rest yourself you would be looking more in the 50k range depending where your located. The majority of a small dwelling build is within the DIY standards unless you just dont have any experience at all.
I cant imagine contracting a whole tiny build unless your income is six figured, it could be a nightmare.
We are currently looking into a touristed area in the mountains with land plots in the sub 10k range which allows you to take your time if your doing it yourself.
The total cost to get into a project is not all that important when the planned cash flow numbers dwarf the investment as is the case with any good airbnb plan. I myself am willing to overpay for a unit when I am sure of the numbers that will generate and $175k for a tiny home in the right place, done properly is well within budget.
Build a small house and position it on land where you can add later. Choose a small design that allows for easy additions.
Hi Rob, I really enjoy your channel. A few comments on this video and your channel as a whole:
1. You present yourself as an extremely aesthetically motivated person, which makes the design aspect very energizing for you. I think most people considering building tiny homes would just as soon buy a canned design, which can be had for $600-1000 bucks, unless they are likewise driven. It shortens the development process.
2. It seems to me developing a single tiny home project wouldn't be as attractive to a beginner, as, say, glamping or yurts. Down the line, a more experienced person may decide to move into tiny homes by looking for an existing RV lot or something similar for sale, to convert to a small tiny home village. That way you get better economy of scale and much of the site development is already there. You had the advantage of being able to build your first tiny home on your own lot - many of your subscribers are prevented from doing so due to zoning and lack of building rights.
3. In a similar vein, It might be of value to your subscribers to add a more strategic video that gathers up all the AirBnB options you talk about and classify as either 'entry level,' 'mid-level' or 'advanced' to help people think of the long play and what it will take in the short term to launch things. It's hard to compare the value of glamping vs tiny homes on an ROI basis alone, without adding the context of when in the process one may be more valuable than the other.
Appraisers in the post-crash era are very conservative. Many appraisers are reluctant to research actual costs that go into a tiny house. When bathroom and kitchen expenses are spread over so few square feet of a tiny house everything gets weird, and appraisers hate weird.
Mentos...I...Just...Love...You...Man!!! 🤣 Great video as usual, and loving the haircut 🤜🤛💯😉
Thank you for the educational video and would love your thoughts on this: I own a couple acres of land zoned residential and have been considering building a tiny or small home on a foundation on this land. This would be mostly me working on the property stretched out over 2 to 4 years. While I have no real construction experience, I can definitely learn and know a couple people who could help with some of the process. My hopeful idea is that by doing this mostly myself over 2 to 4 years, it would allow me to buy the materials and pay for permits/labor if needed in cash rather than taking on a loan. A couple things I'm getting stuck on though: 1. I've heard that if you build the home yourself, it might be difficult to get home insurance for it and 2. is it worth all of the time, effort and energy to build the house myself rather than buying something prebuilt and putting it on the foundation? Really appreciate any feedback on this.
Great vids.. wondering when you going to do an update on your project in Tennessee?
Gr8 vid - I built my fixed foundation tiny home and I agree with everything you said. There is a fixed-cost threshold where the cost is similar maybe from 200 600 sq ft then increases with sq ft. I priced a detached 2 car garage with living space upstairs about 600 sq ft total at about $60K pre covid. Tiny home on wheels = RV = Vehicle = depreciating asset.
Hola ! Great video . You must come to Tucson AZ ! We are reviewing the codes for "little casitas" ADUs( Accessory Dwelling Units) Next meeting Oct. 19th -Tucson has very progressive building regulations (love it) . Many homes here already have the Casitas in the back of many homes. I considered all the things you said (past RE experience ) so I settled in remodeling a little casita that was on an acre. Bought the acre and casita for 80k! Smaller home ,bigger nest egg ! Gracias for all the great inspiration , ay nos vemos.
Hey! How did the code reviews go?
I think tiny homes are best as an investment property on platforms such as Airbnb, Vrbo, etc. where you can make a good amount of money renting them out as short-term rentals. These platforms are known worldwide and bring people from all over to the properties. People want to stay in unique homes for their vacations and create memories. I'm looking to D/B unique tiny home retreats. My tiny home on wheels which I designed and helped build cost me $42,000 which I paid in cash. It took 9 months to build (the builder originally told me 2 months-ugh). There were hiccups along the way, but it turned out beautifully and I'm glad I had the chance to do it.
Is it actually illegal to post on Airbnb ? Would the city regulate it ?
Video idea: best places to find tiny house furniture
Good overview of code and permitting. Most States and locales still are not on board with Tiny Homes and especially Tiny Homes on Wheels. Also, contrary to common misconception, not all real property appreciates in value. Market fluctuations, inflation, tax increases, neighborhood decline, and other negative factors cause property devaluation.
So real bro!!! I love your vibe and how genuine, vulnerable and honest you are. I am planning for a tiny house and as positive as I can be, I also acknowledge toxic positivity. Would like to know both sides of the coin. Your videos are so engaging and I learn so much😊usually construction and build videos are boring AF 😁
Nothing is going to dissuade me from getting a tiny home 🏡 It is legal in Maine to have a tiny home now.
Have you looked into the permit process in Maine? Is it fairly easy? We have been thinking about New Hampshire as well. Any information you have would help. Thanks!
It legal just about every place. But you have to park it in a trailer park were it belongs.
Who would you recommend talking to about the concept of your build. I don’t think I would do something as small at 300sqft but maybe 800-1000. But I love the concept of tiny living. So I still want to be able to put a lot on a small space but be able to sleep more.
So how do you find a designer/engineer to make the concept on paper?
Then how did you pick you contractor or builder?
There would be a lot less homeless people if more places allowed tiny house communities. They would be cheap to build and maintain so low income people could afford to live.
Seems that apartment complexes would be more efficient than tiny homes. A 250 ft home on a 6000 ft plot of land wastes far more space than 3 750 ft apartments (in a 3 story building) using 2000 ft for the apartments, common area, and parking. Unless you start stacking tiny homes giving them shared walls with their neighbors, it doesn't make much sense for low income housing.
I wish in 2016 when I first expressed interest that I saved my money and got one established before now. Although there is places I could place one, I want one to live in to try and save money. However with how expensive everything is, I feel lucky to be able to rest somewhere at an affordable cost for the current moment.
I personally appreciate your honesty here. I want to know the good, bad, and ugly as a newbie. Thanks!
I'm.calling bs.Most tiny homes on RUclips are custom designer jobs with a huge budget.My place cost 13k total with land solar water tanks and I'm in California on an acre...we built it our selves...........all new materials last summer when shit was hella expensive............
Yep. All true. And in rural areas it’s even tougher to find comps because there are so few houses. Not to mention how conventional lenders often won’t even consider lending on a residence under 750 sf. Add to that the rising tide of short term rental regulation….not simple, especially if you’re hoping to make profit. You came in at a sweet spot that I’m afraid has largely evaporated.
I’m agree. the permitting, building codes, locally, are constraining and. Not friendly to the idea of affordable housing under which a landowner can do themselves-fire apparatus access road, water, electricity systems or connections are the big ones. And the. The codes limit design like Fenestration limits, title 24, ADA
Instead of showing bad comments show the ones that praise you!
The only people building tiny homes and doing it for affordable prices are owner/builders. You literally have to learn how to build a house from start to finish yourself. I built a 736sqft house with a bank construction loan of $50k and came in at budget with about 2-3K of my own money for luxury items. The only things I subbed out was the pier foundation columns, some stucco work, and an electrician to help me with the wiring. I had additional helpers at times for some heavy lifting. It was quite the journey from start to finish. I was also fortunate enough to find land that already had a well and a septic system the county let me tap into. That could have cost me an additional 10-15k out of pocket.
Rob, Can you please help me understand why you include the cleaning fees in your spreadsheet as part of the calculation into the operating profit if the airbnb guest is paying for it? If the guests pay for the cleaning fees, why would it be included in the calculation for profits. For the life of me, I cannot figure it out. Thank you!!
More and more, I belive the way to go would be the unique stays with the glamping set ups, low cost start ups and decent long term turn around, and easier to scale ⚖!🚀🛸📈
Facts from start to finish!!! 🙏🏾 this channel has helped me so much!
Architect and investor here. You are 100% spot on about tiny homes. They are way over hyped in terms of affordability, to the point of flat out falsehood. Same goes for the trendy shipping container houses.
If you really want to see a good balance in affordable and great returns people need to stop focusing on the trendy tiny homes and such and start looking at just small homes. Stop building/buying the 3000 sf house and start building the 1000-1500 sf house. There is a sweet spot in this range where if you go any smaller the price/sf just skyrockets and if you get any higher your total amount just start to balloon.
Thank you for honesty. Excellent
Hey Robuilt!
Great Video ! Quick Question , Would You Be Willing To Mentor Someone Trying Do The Same Thing With Getting 2 Tiny Homes Built ?
Very useful video, thank you, do you know if i had a tiny house and sold it under owner financing do i count that as the sold house can be used to comp other builds so count the sale price or does the monthly payment i get just counted as income?
Fellow tiny house builder here! Not sure why your plumbing/electrical is costing you just as much as a regular house? Yes the material cost is less due to the house needing less, but the house is also smaller all around, implying that there is less work therefor less labor and labor cost. Maybe I’m missing something? Anyways love the videos 🙏🏼
The materials are less. But generally the labor isn’t that much less. This hinges on if you’re talking about a tiny house on a fixed foundation vs THOW. Part of this rides on how insane the labor costs are in a market where everyone is perpetually turning down work because they are book 6-12 months in advance.
Speaking of harsh reality. Everyone has to poop…and it has to go somewhere. Would you “doo” a video on glamping bathrooms?
perk test, tank, and leach field is my guess
Your forthrightness really makes me love this channel. (!)
I appreciate the honesty. I'm working on plans for two not quite tiny homes at the moment, and I plan to use them as STRs. Both are just over 500 SF. So far it seems like I'll save a little bit compared to a full size house, but won't lose an equivalent amount of STR revenue (we'll see if I meet those projections or not though). One thing I am able to save on with these properties is land cost. Both lots are extremely small and a much larger home would not be feasible or permitted. In cities like San Antonio where there are a lot of "unbuildable" lots, tiny homes or not quite tiny homes seem to be a decent solution.
Building a 40 foot tiny & it's a nightmare. I wish I didn't listen to RUclips. Because it's a completely different experience then I thought. I guess if you build house for a living your ok. But if you never built a house beore watch out. Because your gonna make every mistake in the book. And don't watch how to videos on RUclips. Have a professional carpenter that knows what there talking about, to at least check your work. Build a house isn't as easy as people think. I'm 7 months in & I'm not even half way finished. And thats working 40 plus hous a week.
I was looking at car prices and small cars here are not appreciably cheaper than bigger cars. And I suppose the thing about sunk costs are true. Engines are going to cost regardless of the externals.
I suppose the savings will come in - heating, cooling, time spent cleaning. As someone in the comments here said, in a tiny home, the risk of becoming a hoarder are drastically reduced. lol. I would also like to think that a smaller home will have less stress on its foundations. I've watch too many HGTV episodes where someone's foundations had sunk on one side or cracked and needed major repairs. Time will tell if this will eventually translate into durability in the long term.
So much valuable information in this video. Thanks. Also, kudos on perfect hair after your nap.
@robuilt, love the intent of the tiny home. Family first. You're paying it forward and leaving that legacy.
Wait, you purchased land for 12 Grand in California? I haven't done the research for land prices but I thought it would be somewhere around 100k
so...did you base the colors and stuff in your room there on your airstream's interior...or is that just your style?
@Robuilt where should someone start if they've never bought or built a house before? i don't know anything about real estate as far as financing, picking land to build on, how to assess the financials. I really want to create a property with a few tiny homes on it that i can airbnb. please help.
"The majority of tiny homes are depreciating assets..." Wow, good point! Thanks. 😊
Glad this popped up. When I first saw your Joshua Tree house video I loved it so much but, and please don't take this the wrong way, the little "garden area" and path leading to the front door is so bad it makes my heart hurt. The house is so beautifully designed it deserves a front entrance and yard to go along with it. Showed a photo to a lot of my other garden designer and landscaper friends and they all agreed. Please hire a local professional to do a nice natural native plant landscape for the yard and a new hardscape entry way. Doesn't have to be something crazy expensive. Can probably DIY the planting if someone else comes up with a nice natural design (and this is not be looking for work I am on the coast. You should hire someone that specializes in that Joshua Tree area with a familiarity with desert plants). Anyway I hope you take this criticism as me trying to be constructive. I see all these beautifully designed tiny homes or houses and 9 out of 10 times the yard/garden is an afterthought. And since yours is so nice and you are using it as a rental it deserves something truly memorable that people will love when they stay at your Airbnb.
Just realized I made this exact comment on one of your other videos about a year ago but only because I am very passionate about it! 😄
I recently got a really low appraisal and was told I couldn't get another one by my lender. So, how you do this?
I LAWYERED UP. Just kidding. I put up a huge stink about it and they eventually obliged. Gotta fight for what you believe in.
@@Robuilt gotcha. That's interesting because he told me you couldn't order another appraisal just because you didn't like the result. Told me they made that law after last financial crisis
What do you think about a tiny house trailer park? Not your regular trailer park but like a modern better one
Are any other structures like yurts or plastic bubbles worth considering when it comes to price to build or buy?
Every time I hear someone say "I build" I imagine them actually physically building them.
Yessir
Isn't a lot of the idea of THOWs is that you GET to skirt ridiculous building regulations? Most building codes make no sense for tiny homes, like kitchen/stove location relative to bedroom, etc. Biggest one is many jurisdictions actively make under certain square footage houses illegal! THOWs are the ONLY option in a lot of places.
Additionally the THOW movement is closely related to the off grid movement. Local government in most places make being off grid nearly impossible such as requiring septic even if you compost, or making reuse of water illegal, off grid energy being very difficult, etc. A similar movement, the earthship movement is very very difficult to pull off due to these regulations, self-sufficient houses are very frowned upon by most local governments.
Also, isn't building the thow yourself part of the popularity and cost saving? Yeah, if you took out a loan on a depreciating asset...that would be idiotic. But if you build it over a year to few years slowly putting money in it, you can have a completely paid for place for the cost of a downpayment. I've seen gorgeous THOWs self-built for 20,000-70,000. Best option I think is buying a duplex with a large backyard. Build a thow in the backyard, move into that, rent out both units in the duplex and you get house hacking on steroids.
But generally, financing for a thow is idiotic, a foundation based tiny house is less idiotic, but still doesn't make a lot of sense, as you get less for your dollar.
Amazing thank you so much very helpful. I want to design my tiny house on fixed foundation I just wonder about the land, it’s is going to be y first house. I don’t know what I should look on the land for build my tiny house
I would love to hear more about the fund you’re creating to finance your next project!
Fantastic Rob! The appreciating asset part alone! I’m working on videos for my build in JT as well on my channel and I appreciate your videos for motivation and inspiration. “Tiny” appliances are a “Big” problem! Lol
Hey Rob, could you recommend a realtor in Joshua Tree area?