I'm personally invested in the tiny home movement. I'm building my own and started a company for developing communities. It seems the tiny home discussion on here has agreed a fair amount and I'd like to get people's thoughts and reopen the dialogue.

I'm aggressively looking for outside capital but an a total noob in the real estate world. Any advice on getting the funds to move forward on purchase and development?

Hey @Joe Callantine ! That's awesome! My wife and I are full-time RVers, and have talked about building tiny homes for at least 2 years now as a next step. Plus, I love the possibility of placing them as an ADU for a significant value-add. My brother-in-law and I were researching the laws in CO regarding tiny homes and TH communities, there's a couple (WeeCasa was the nicest), and I think it would be a fantastic concept to expand upon.

@josephi6 has built a number of TH’s, and would might be interested in connecting about the market. It can be a bit tricky from a legal standpoint as the government still hasn’t exactly figured out what to do with the market. 😄

@Joe Callantine I have looked into this briefly.  I sell portable buildings that can be used for temporary housing, guest quarters, sleeping quarters etc and have thought about pursuing a larger property to develop a community.  There is a huge demand for affordable housing here.  Do you have any information on zoning requirements or others who have done it successfully.  

@Paul Leavitt - Full-time RVing can be awesome! I know a lot of people who do that. Many of them start looking toward something a bit more durable, i.e. a tiny house as the RV starts falling apart. They're not really designed to stand full-time living. Hopefully yours is doing well. So... here's the thing about CO and tiny houses. There are some RV parks/mobile home communities that allow them. There's a community in Durango and a small one in Fairplay. I've heard rumor of one in Pueblo, but not sure yet. I launched my company (http://lifesizetc.com - currently being renovated), to build a template community then DUPLICATE it in every city, every county, every state where there is a need for tiny houses and the missing middle. I actually have a handful of jurisdictions that know me personally, my company and are willing to work with us to bring about a community in the Denver metro/CO Springs markets. The biggest hiccup right now... CAPITAL. I'll need a few million dollars to pull it all together. 

I'm deeply connected to the movement, as I am a tiny house person myself. I'm currently building my own. I know MANY other tiny house people in the region and the state. I have connections throughout the nation with other tiny house people and organizations. The movement is quickly becoming an industry and we NEED to do it right. In fact, my whole mission, from the beginning of my research and launch of the company was founded on doing things right.

@Colby Fryar - I am not familiar with the Tucson area, in terms of tiny house goings on. I know Taos had stirrings, but am not sure of its current state of being. My focus has mainly been Colorado's front range region. 

@JoeCallantine I am extremely interested in this as well! I have not done much research but I have ambitions to have a tiny home and have through about buying a trailer park type property an turning it into something like this but I don't know if I could..

@Bethany Virago - Are you just looking down in the Tucson area? Or just looking to be involved in general? I do need to add a third person to my team, preferably someone with development/financial experience. I've dont a lot of the legwork here in the Denver/Front Range area. My SVP of Govt Affairs works on other jurisdictions all the time. If I had a big sack of money right now, we could make something happen in the Denver AND Colorado Springs areas.

The really awesome thing is... a tiny house community development(s) is VERY timely. The current state of affairs will drive BOAT loads of people to look for ways to pair down their expenses. Tiny houses offer such an option for people who just dont need a lot of space, want to downsize or whichever reason makes sense to them.

@Joe Callantine I am looking in the Tucson area but do want to get more involved! I think living tiny is easier to sustain and it is easier to have higher quality because you to not need as much!

@Bethany Virago - I totally get it! Can't wait for my tiny house to be finished and I can actually start living in it! I have to find a place to put it so I can live in it until I get a community established.

My house:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Cxc8...

@Joe Callantine that is super cool and it looks like you are not too far from being done! Tiny homes never fail to put a smile on my face!

The tiny homes industry is expected to grow! We totally need to raise the capital to get the pilot community going! I'm open to suggestion on who to talk to and where to look?!

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200611005548/en/Tiny-Homes-Market-2020-2024-Product-Innovation-Leading?fbclid=IwAR2CUgi92Y4Hgr4s27bjag09LyLQ_YL-9vig_DRJMnWWe6oQ6fcntriilp8

@Joe Callantine   I am seeing huge interest here.  As I mentioned I sell portable buildings which are similar to tiny houses except they are not on wheels.  I post regularly on Facebook and get a huge response from people in the City looking for an affordable alternative to apartments and trailer parks.  Also, I think they love the tiny house idea (she sheds, man caves, etc.)  Many of them think that I am selling the buildings already finished out inside with the land even though I post a photo of the unfinished inside with the ad and also state within the ad that they are unfinished and we only sell the buildings.  Obviously they want something already livable and on a piece of land. Because of this I am currently focusing on properties that are zoned for multiple units and of course have capacity for more units.

As for capital, getting the word out is key.  You would need to somehow educate investors on the advantage of and profitability of investing tiny house communities.  I think a lot of investors are hesitant because it is so new and I think there is some speculation that the cost/benefit ratio is just not there right now. My thought would be to start with the big developers up in your area.  Contact them to see what their thoughts are on it and if they know anybody doing it.  They can also tell you how involved the permitting process might be.

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@Colby Fryar - Totally get the interest. Which is why I've been working to get this done. The latest turn of events will drive even MORE people to tiny houses. The biggest issue is the ignorance of cities/counties in what tiny houses are and what they are not. My aim is to create a turn-key system that any city or county will be calling to have one(or three) built in their town. The concept isn't "new". But it's new enough that causes hesitation.

I've done significant work on local jurisdictions and, in fact, my SVP of Govt Affairs was the first official I approached. When she didn't get re-elected, I contracted her and now in negotiations in bringing her on the team. I'm so close to pulling everything together, I can taste it! It just comes down to having an investor(s) with a few million bucks who sees the potential here.

@Paul Leavitt - I’m also in CO and am very interested in tiny home developments. I sent an initial dev proposal through our city planning dept for to test out the reception for this concept.

It was for a development on 33 acres that would have had lots for tiny homes as well as small cottages (< 1000 sq/ft) with a multi family unit as well, 288 doors. Also a noob at real estate investing, however, and didn’t have the team or capital lined up at that time.

Yes. I know it’s not the typical way to get into investing but there is an unmet demand in our local housing market and asking “why” to lots of people creating this idea.

Would like to connect on this further if you are still interested!

@Joe Callantine - how is this project going for you? I’m very interested in this type of project also. Would love to hear more about this.

@Heidi McCoy - Good morning Heidi! We are moving right along! We have several jurisdictions ready to work with me and my team here at Life Size: Tiny Communities. We "primed" a handful of cities/counties on what we're attempting to do and have made an offer on a property. We've been in process now of launching our crowdfund campaign and looking for people to help fill that and potentially some additional Limited Partners.

Personally, I've been working on this project for a while now as I refuse to take any shortcuts. I'd be curious to know where you stand on everything. Let's chat.

@Joe Callantine Great to hear you have several jurisdictions willing to work with you. It'll be interesting to see how things turn out. Have been looking at this space as well. Keep us all updated on your progress. Best of luck! 

Certainly @Rachel H. The best way to stay up to date with what we're doing is subscribe to our newsletter. Stay tuned as we're about to launch our CF campaign. Could be a good way to invest in the tiny home movement, without shouldering the work yourself. We're already doing it!