All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Greg Maden - Are you talking about Tiny Tranquility in Waldport? If so, I'm a fan of them, even though I've never been. Our primary focus is full-time, permanent living. Where we can truly build community, sustainability and stability.

There is a "lifestyle" appeal to it. I've had some compare the tiny community lifestyle to that of a Country Club. I'm not 100% convinced it's an exact comparison, but I get the point they were making.

@Joe Splitrock - All of that sounds terrible. The reason trailer parks (that's right, I said it) have the stigma they do because of all of that. In a voluntary, free market, we want to make things functional and beautiful so people WANT to stay there. Currently, yes... tiny homes do not appreciate in value. However, who defines the value placed on what living in a tiny home can do for someone's financial stability? 

For example... my personal situation... If I were able to live in my tiny home right now, I'd sell my condo. The proceeds from that sale would nearly wipe out my entire personal debt (sans student loans). With my job paying $35/hour, I'd have over $2,000/month in surplus even IF I had to pay $600-900 a month in lot rent to park my tiny home. Based off of that math... I guess you CAN assign a value to it.

Not everyone is in that situation, but many are or would be if they knew they had a place to legally park their tiny. 80-85% of tiny homeowners (and aspiring ones) don't want to move their home very often. As they're not as easy as an RV but also not as hard as a mobile home.

Couple all of that with the demographics of those choosing to live tiny. Most are a single person, a couple or a couple with a small child. Many are educated and squarely in the middle class. Yet STILL cannot afford a traditional home or simply choose this lifestyle because it makes sense to them (for various reasons).

Financing is an issue. Without question. Luckily, there are financial institutions starting to see that tiny homes are a thing and the risk of default is lower (because of what I mentioned in the last couple of paragraphs).

@Ramon Vazquez - True! They're typically only mobile once. From the factory to the destination. Whereas a tiny home retains it's mobility. This not only provides the capacity for the owner to relocate their home, should life change (because that never happens right?). This also adds a layer of accountability to the community owner/operator. The moment the park becomes a slum, well... the people move out, taking their tiny home with them.

@Lynnette E. - I'd beg to differ. It all depends on the design of the tiny home. If you're curious, here's a video (no audio) tour of my tiny home: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hpgx... Plus my entire build process is documented here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Cxc8...

I do agree that a lot of tiny homes have sleeping lofts, but if that's not your thing dont do one.

@Jo-Ann Lapin - Please do! There's a large group of us working with ASTM on how we can facilitate a tiny home specific building and community development standards. After all... tiny homes are a hybrid of single family, RV and mobile home and we need something that addresses all of the challenges.

@Omar C. - Sure will

@Mike Reynolds - I agree 100%! There is a question of the mobility piece and there's been a couple of builders who are looking into how that can happen. However, because of the constraints of a traditional tiny home it might not be feasible. I can say that a majority of the people looking into tiny homes are boomers approaching retirement. Most of them are active and mobile so they've got a good 10 years before mobility becomes an issue, if at all. My grandma is 80+ and still gets around just fine.

I just know what I know about the industry and market because I'm in it and actively involved. I start these threads so I can gain access to questions, answers, and concerns from others as to make sure I'm covering as many bases as possible.

@Omar C. - Oh we're going to do it! There's a significant market of people, just like me, who already own a tiny home and just need a place to put it.

@Rachel H. - Thank you. You and I have chat before. Tiny homes do tap an entirely different demographic and dare I say "psychographic"? It's a mindset thing. I, too, know of people who've gone tiny and are all the happier for it.

@Nicole W. - Your post sounds like it is directed towards me and not the other Joe. So, I'll comment. My team and I have the numbers and they certainly work to a degree that is more than adequate.

I AM a tiny home owner, although I am not living in it right now. Being as though they're largely considered illegal. With that, I am deeply connected to the tiny home industry to the degree of my organization actually being a part of the under way ASTM Committee that is actively pursuing tiny home standards to help jurisdictions with the adoption process.

Even in my R&D phase of putting all of this together, I actually had conversations with residents in mobile home parks. Just to find out what they loved, liked, didn't like and hated.

Thank you for your comment.

@Leilah Davis - Thank you! I certainly appreciate that! I've put extensive work into the whole idea of the tiny home community model. Including laying a lot of ground work in terms of the government cooperation. We're under contract with a property that we're working to establish our pilot community.

For the "hey that's a great idea, maybe I'll try it too!" thing... I'd say GOOD LUCK! LOL. It's been an uphill challenge and I'd wager that most traditional real estate investors wouldn't be interested because it's hard. I'm a tiny home owner just trying to fix the issues so that more people can have the option of going tiny. With the current market, we all need options. My goal is to create something that can scale.

The whole reason I joined BP was to try to figure out this real estate thing and make connections with people who have more knowledge and resources than I do.

@Joe Splitrock - I mostly disagree. The main reason tiny homes haven't taken off is because of the regulatory "gray zone" they currently exist in. I currently have a laundry list of people who already want to live in our first community.

What I do agree with is the niche part of it. Or as you put it, lifestyle. Tiny homes aren't for everyone, true. But there are a lot more people out there than what you think, who actually want to live in a tiny home. If tiny homes are normalized to the degree where you can place them any where a single family is allowed AND we can get legit financing for them, I'd be willing to bet they'd take off a lot quicker than you might predict. In fact... I have bet on that fact.