Are Tiny houses a fad, or will they endure the test of time?

[Late_Bloomer]

We are considering something similar. Not a tiny home, but a cottage/park style. They are the 600 to 800 sq. ft. Homes, and cost about 60k. For NE Texas Piney Woods region, that's 4-8k for a less than acre lot within walk to the lake. Electrical and sewar/water less than 10k to set up. Property taxes some stupid amount like 13.00 yr. all told, that's less than I could get a 30 yr old run down house or condo where we currantly live. We're thinking of buying the land now and just running electric. And put a small used camper on it to use as a vacation place until we Fire. Than putting in sewar and dropping the house on it.

[Metric Mouse]

I would like personally to see smaller home subdivisions being built again like 1200 squ feet or 1000 squ feet . 

There are a few of these that have recently sprung up in my city. Very nice, attractive, well-appointed homes in the 1000 sqfoot range. A little less yard to maintain, as the lots are smaller, but look great. It kinda feels like you've wandered into a munchkin village at first, but once you get used to it the neighborhoods look great and really make a lot of sense.

[shelivesthedream]

I would like personally to see smaller home subdivisions being built again like 1200 squ feet or 1000 squ feet . 

There are a few of these that have recently sprung up in my city. Very nice, attractive, well-appointed homes in the 1000 sqfoot range. A little less yard to maintain, as the lots are smaller, but look great. It kinda feels like you've wandered into a munchkin village at first, but once you get used to it the neighborhoods look great and really make a lot of sense.

Something has just occurred to me about the unspoken assumptions in this thread when contrasting tiny houses with various 'normal' houses: are most houses in America detached? I'm thinking of ordinary houses in cities, towns and suburbs. Because when I think of a 'normal' British house in any given city or town, it's definitely a terraced house.

[davisgang90]

I'm fascinated by the tiny house concept.  My wife is not a fan, so that's where it ends for us.

We have talked about building a tiny house in the backyard of our home for our adult son with autism who lives with us.  He doesn't use much space and he would enjoy his own space while being close enough for us to care for him. 

[Joggernot]

I would like personally to see smaller home subdivisions being built again like 1200 squ feet or 1000 squ feet . 

There are a few of these that have recently sprung up in my city. Very nice, attractive, well-appointed homes in the 1000 sqfoot range. A little less yard to maintain, as the lots are smaller, but look great. It kinda feels like you've wandered into a munchkin village at first, but once you get used to it the neighborhoods look great and really make a lot of sense.

My kids were raised in an 836 sq ft house and didn't realize it.  When they were ~40, they went to Zillow and learned this fact, and they were surprised.  They thought of it as a very large house.  I think, because they were small and could pass side-by-side in the hallway, they thought of it as bigger than it really was.  Take yourself back to your grade school and walk the hallways.  Don't they look narrow now that you're bigger?  Grade school kids can go 4 abreast, but its almost single file for adults.

[Dancin'Dog]

We tried a tiny house.  Looking back I think a travel trailer would have been a better choice, since we quickly realized the tiny house was too small to be a permanent home.

Who really wants to live in a storage shed?   

[boarder42]

tiny houses are a fad from the mobility perspective.  These people that build them for the purposes of road tripping with them and staying less that 3-4 months (or likely more) in a single location are just costing themselves vs owning an RV.  NEWSFLASH the mobile living industry has been around for over 100 years and we've optimized weight and functionality at a much cheaper price than stick building on a trailer. 

now that being said if you plan to use it to reduce your lifestyle and live in one location and move very sparingly i think it could make sense.  but i personally think its a fad that will wear off on the pulling them all over the place side.  but something that will grow on the frugality side of reducing lifestyle and keeping them more stationary with the option to move every few years.

[TomTX]

I think the biggest problem with Tiny Houses on a foundation(if it's not on a foundation, it's not a house). Is that if you ever move, you probably won't be able to sell it for what you paid for it, and you probably won't be able to rent it out for very much.

If it's built as an ADU to an existing home in a high-demand area, and is more like 500 square feet with a real bathroom - you could probably break even or better with it as an Airbnb. Local example: I'm sure you could break even in Austin just renting it out during the various festivals.

[TomTX]

I don't think its a fad but its definitely a niche. I watch those shows and so many if not most wouldn't even travel well. The fronts would get all dinged up etc.. So for those people that want to keep moving around I think just by an RV. If your going to sit still then for the cost there building these things just build a garage kit and turn it into a studio house or build what you want. I think you would find it easier to place something like that. But people will keep trying to reinvent and better them to keep an interest in them. I would like personally to see smaller home subdivisions being built again like 1200 squ feet or 1000 squ feet .  You plop in a tiny house community (which I think would be very hard) by the time you add roads, all the infrastructure then its at the very least a glorified trailer park and that reduces values of other homes in the area. For my money In a few years I would prefer to find some land out a bit and as I said build a 5-600 squ foot garage kit and build what I want where I want.

Might not make sense to build out the infrastructure somewhere new, but to someplace like Spur, TX it's pretty appealing. You already have roads, water, power, sewer to "city" (town) lots - but the population had crashed since most kids moved to the Big City for jobs for decades. Many lots have derelict houses or already had the old house cleared/torn down. Many lots reverted to the city for nonpayment of taxes. Sell 'em off to the Tiny House folks and you get some revenue and revitalization.

http://www.spurfreedom.org/

[Metric Mouse]

I would like personally to see smaller home subdivisions being built again like 1200 squ feet or 1000 squ feet . 

There are a few of these that have recently sprung up in my city. Very nice, attractive, well-appointed homes in the 1000 sqfoot range. A little less yard to maintain, as the lots are smaller, but look great. It kinda feels like you've wandered into a munchkin village at first, but once you get used to it the neighborhoods look great and really make a lot of sense.

Something has just occurred to me about the unspoken assumptions in this thread when contrasting tiny houses with various 'normal' houses: are most houses in America detached? I'm thinking of ordinary houses in cities, towns and suburbs. Because when I think of a 'normal' British house in any given city or town, it's definitely a terraced house.

I can't say 'most', but I would say that is the theory behind tiny houses.  If one has a bunch of tiny houses stacked together, it's called an apartment building...

[shelivesthedream]

I would like personally to see smaller home subdivisions being built again like 1200 squ feet or 1000 squ feet . 

There are a few of these that have recently sprung up in my city. Very nice, attractive, well-appointed homes in the 1000 sqfoot range. A little less yard to maintain, as the lots are smaller, but look great. It kinda feels like you've wandered into a munchkin village at first, but once you get used to it the neighborhoods look great and really make a lot of sense.

Something has just occurred to me about the unspoken assumptions in this thread when contrasting tiny houses with various 'normal' houses: are most houses in America detached? I'm thinking of ordinary houses in cities, towns and suburbs. Because when I think of a 'normal' British house in any given city or town, it's definitely a terraced house.

I can't say 'most', but I would say that is the theory behind tiny houses.  If one has a bunch of tiny houses stacked together, it's called an apartment building...

I read a lot of American internet and a lot of discussions about housing on here and I've always been a bit confused as to why some things are such a big deal in America, but I now realise that for years I have been projecting all these discussions about mowing your too-big lawn or American houses being too big or whatever onto my mental image of the Victorian terrace I grew up in (which was actually quite big for its type). Makes much more sense of the complaints about the endless pavement-free, low-density American suburb if I think of the houses in American Beauty or The Truman Show.

We Brits are notoriously obsessed with having our own front door and would stereotypically rather live in a mouldering back-to-back than a modern block of flats. Do Americans have a similar thing about terraced houses? Is there a 'national hatred' of sharing walls with your neighbours? Because terraced housing is actually pretty space-efficient.

[TomTX]

I read a lot of American internet and a lot of discussions about housing on here and I've always been a bit confused as to why some things are such a big deal in America, but I now realise that for years I have been projecting all these discussions about mowing your too-big lawn or American houses being too big or whatever onto my mental image of the Victorian terrace I grew up in (which was actually quite big for its type). Makes much more sense of the complaints about the endless pavement-free, low-density American suburb if I think of the houses in American Beauty or The Truman Show.

We Brits are notoriously obsessed with having our own front door and would stereotypically rather live in a mouldering back-to-back than a modern block of flats. Do Americans have a similar thing about terraced houses? Is there a 'national hatred' of sharing walls with your neighbours? Because terraced housing is actually pretty space-efficient.

There is quite the cultural "you've made it!" stereotype of the separate dwelling. Also, a lot of flats have rather thin (not noise blocking) walls.

[clarkfan1979]

Tiny houses have existed for a long time in Hawaii. However, it's very easy to incorporate outdoor living in HI due to the mild weather.

[Kitsune]

Tiny houses have existed for a long time in Hawaii. However, it's very easy to incorporate outdoor living in HI due to the mild weather.

Yeah, if I had Hawaii weather I'd seriously consider a smaller house.

And then I think about being stuck in the house during -20 Quebec winters, with 2 small children ricochet-ing off the walls anytime they're not outside (and it being too cold to spend THAT much time outside), and... I think we need a bit more space to survive the experience. ;) Not like 3000 square feet, just... more than 500 square feet.