With populations booming in small towns and large cities alike, the cost of living is increasing alongside. Many are answering the higher monthly expenses by renting instead of buying. In large cities such as Miami and Austin, median home costs near $300,000 with a two-bedroom apartment coming in around $1200 per month, it is difficult to justify the living wage against necessary expenses. Currently, it’s a seller’s market with home listings are disappearing overnight. So, how does tiny living compare to traditional housing costs or apartment rentals?
The tiny house boom has swept the nation over the last decade, with numbers growing in both houses as well as states legalizing tiny houses on wheels. The rise in acceptance has brought with it an increase in building costs. However, tiny home dwellers are still reporting a much lower cost of living versus the average apartment rent or home mortgage in most cities.
Lending
When considering housing costs alone, most tiny home buyers pay off their houses in full since opportunity for financing these mobile dwellings is still limited. Buyers who don’t have the savings to pay for their tiny house by the date the build is finished will be happy to know that there are now some lenders who are approving loans to build or buy tiny. The best part is the savings since the average tiny comes in around $60k, the financing is usually only over 15 years or even less and payments are reasonable. In the long-run, you are saving bundles on interest.
Monthly Payments
For tiny home owners who have their houses already paid off, many report the average monthly cost of living to range from $160-$800 per month. Most tiny dwellers report trading or bartering landowners with work for rent systems where they tend farms, gardens, help with upkeep or landscaping, or other odd jobs in exchange for the ability to park their tiny home on the property for free or a reduced payment. The tiny community is filled with pioneers willing to accept work for payment. This drastically reduces their cost of living and is mutually beneficial, unlike anything you’d likely see with a traditional apartment or house renter.
Utilities
The aforementioned average monthly cost includes utilities (electric, water, and gas where applicable), garbage, and property rental or payment. Other tiny home buyers who financed their tiny house, like any other home on the market, still report their monthly cost of living in the range of $450-$1100 per month. This means that the overall cost of living for tiny home owners can remain less than 50% of the cost of the average two-bedroom apartment in the city and even less compared to the median homeowner monthly costs.
Property Taxes
Tiny home dwellers who own their home as well as either owning their land or are parking in or near the city or on agricultural property or farm land where they have more room to roam—usually well over an acre—than what would be offered in most city homes, with the average being less than a quarter an acre in the suburbs of Austin, Texas. All of this comes without property taxes for the house itself, since it remains on wheels.
Design Included
Expert builders such as Movable Roots offer a completely custom design and build experience from the consultation to the day you leave with your keys in hand. Unlike an apartment that has had hundreds of renters before you or a fixer-upper house to keep you within an $1100 bottom budget in the city, the tiny home experience allows a client to design, build, and buy the home of their dreams.
Maintenance and Repairs
Since the size of the home itself is so much less square footage, the amount of things to be broken is less and should something major occur, like water damage, the financial output to repair and overhaul things would be minimal.
Is it possible that the tiny house revolution storm could be the answer to those dreaming of living in a booming metropolis without the price tag that comes with it? Could building your dream home actually be a fun and inviting process without all of the red tape and stress of traditional home building? Contact Movable Roots for your consultation today!