Author: Davids

What Type of Vehicle Do You Need to Haul Your Tiny Home?

Of all the raved-about benefits of a tiny house, its mobility features at the top of the list. The ability to take your micro dwelling wherever you go means you can enjoy life on the road without having to sacrifice the comforts of home. If that’s your plan, the last thing you’d want is to run into a mismatch between your tiny house and the vehicle to haul it.

To help you take advantage of this, here are some towing tips to know before you hit the road with your tiny home on wheels.

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Getting ready to tow
To determine whether a vehicle is right for your tiny house, you need to understand two critical towing basics. The trailer’s weight and the towing capacity of your vehicle.
Trailer weight

When shopping around for a trailer, make sure that it’s heavy enough to safely accommodate your tiny house, plus the cargo and people inside. Remember, the commercial travel trailer is built to be lightweight and agile. But for a home on wheels, the building materials add to the weight the trailer must carry. It’s best to choose a trailer with a carrying capacity of a couple of thousand pounds more than your home for good measure.
Another important factor here is the ‘tongue weight.’ It’s the amount of the trailer’s weight that exerts downward on the hitch (the connecting point of the trailer and the tow vehicle).
Typically, the tongue weight should be not too less or more than 10-15% of the total weight of the trailer.

Too much tongue weight and you run the risk of having your front wheels lifted. It may dangerously affect the traction, steering response, and braking of the trailer. Less than the ideal tongue weight will cause the rear to be lifted.

Therefore, before purchasing a trailer, you must consult with someone who knows about tiny house trailers. Or, you could get one custom built to your specifications.

Vehicle towing capacity
To decide the right tow vehicle, knowing your home’s weight is a must. You can calculate the weight in two ways — with and without full water tanks. Depending on whether you’d want to travel will filled tanks or drain off the water before each trip, look for towing vehicle with the appropriate weight. Also, keep in mind any customizations you may have made to your house that could alter its weight.

The weight of a vehicle determines its towing capacity, and the info about how much it can safely tow is available with manufacturers. Let’s talk about the different categories of towing vehicles based on the weights they can pull. But bear in mind that these are not exact
numbers. To be sure, check your tiny house and trailer specifications.

Light-to-medium duty
This category includes vehicles such as light trucks, smaller SUVs, sedans, and minivans that have a towing capacity of up to approx. 3,500 lbs. These vehicles can pull the double duty of towing your trailer as well as being used for normal driving. But these aren’t heavy enough to meet the requirement for most sizes of tiny homes.

Medium-to-heavy duty
Trucks and SUVs that can handle up to 5,000 lbs fall under this category. Factors like engine, transmission, etc. also determine the hauling capacity of these vehicles.

Extra-heavy duty
In this category, we have commercial vehicles, including larger SUVs and heavy-duty trucks with a towing capacity of approx. 5,000-10,000 lbs. They can easily haul some of the largest trailers.

Super-Heavy Duty
This class of vehicles is meant for trailers weighing more than 10,000 lbs, which includes most dwellings on wheels. As such, these are perfect for hauling massive trailers.

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Some of the best SUVs and trucks
Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford Expedition, and Range Rover are some of the most feature-packed and powerful SUVs, great for towing an average-sized tiny house.

When it comes to trucks, Ford F-250, Chevrolet Tahoe, Chrysler Pacifica, and Subaru Outback are the most popular ones used for hauling larger homes on wheels.

In a nutshell
As you’ve seen, choosing the right tow vehicle for your tiny house involves a lot of planning and research. There’s a lot to consider before zeroing in on a vehicle that will suit your tiny home. Therefore, we recommend you take the time to understand your requirements, know
the weights, and do some number crunching. Remember, it’s ultimately about your safety and well-being on the road while you enjoy moving around with your tiny house.

Are There Any Tiny House Communities?

Tiny homes are on the rise. Social media is replete with pictures of owners flaunting their pint-sized dwellings. There are half a dozen tiny living shows on the television. Even celebs are downsizing from sprawling mansions to smaller living spaces that don’t skimp on luxury. And it’s not hard to see why. The tiny house movement is a big trend at this moment. But more importantly, there are practical benefits attached to it.

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Trimming down your living quarters is not just an environmentally-conscious decision. It’s also being seen as a passport to a debt-free life. As such, it’s a way to realize the great American dream of homeownership for many. Others are choosing tiny homes to declutter their life and live on the go.

For all that’s wonderful about the micro lifestyle, it does have its own challenges. The zoning laws and building codes can be tricky to navigate, with many of these regulations designed around traditional homes. So finding sites and neighborhoods to put up a tiny house can be quite a headache for homeowners.

The good news is, tiny home communities are sprouting across the country. From RV parks, backyard co-ops, and townships to rural communities, retirement villages, and pocket neighborhoods, these communities come in different shapes and forms. And they are allowing tiny homeowners to live among like-minded people without having to wrestle with zoning restrictions or private and public land-use laws.

That said, here are five tiny house communities that you’ll want to be a part of.

Lemon Cove Village, Near Sequoia National Park, California
Located in the foothills of the western Sierra Nevada, just at the base of Sequoia National Park, this RV Park has just about everything you’d need when living small. From necessities like power, Wi-Fi, bathrooms, laundry, and sewer hook-ups to resort amenities such as community garden, dog park, swimming pool, and a community clubhouse, residents get access to a boatload of features
.
Besides tiny houses for purchase, they also offer monthly spaces for tiny homes. With plenty of outdoor activities, adventure sports, and dining spots in the area, there’s something here for everyone.
Park Delta Bay, Isleton, California

Claiming to be “the only legal tiny house community in Northern California,” Park Delta Bay is situated at the heart of the California Delta. The park’s zoning regulations require tiny homes to be certified as RVs and registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The park boasts of a small community that enjoys a peaceful lifestyle amidst lush green lawns and country club features. Amenities include a bathhouse, clubhouse, tennis courts, and volleyball court, to name a few.
Try to land a catch at the fishing docks on the San Joaquin River, head out for a wheeled trip in the Delta, or go on a local wine tour — there’s no shortage of recreational activities here.

The rent is inclusive of water, sewer, trash, and landscaping for common areas, while you have to pay for electricity, propane, and internet. The rental application will set you back by $39.99.

Green Anchors, Portland, Oregon
Built within a 7-acre eco-industrial art park, this community is perfect for artists and creative professionals seeking a rental space to construct their tiny house.

The cool thing about this community is that it offers not only space but also professional advice and assistance to get a tiny house project off the ground. You can stop, build, and then, move on or rent for long term. Starting at $350 per month, residents get amenities like water, electricity, on-site parking space, and gated security. With gyms, restaurants, pubs, and coffee shops nearby, you won’t be out of options.

So for those looking for a head start in their tiny house journey, this is the place to be!

LuxTiny, Lakeside, Arizona
Joining the small living movement doesn’t mean you have to forego luxe interiors or high-end amenities. With rows of mini luxury dwellings and the beautiful White Mountains posing in the background, LuxTiny echoes this belief. Spread across six acres and consisting 41 spaces and 19,000 square feet of a scenic walking path with benches, this is Arizona’s first tiny home community. Lease rates for lots fall anywhere between $329 and $379 and include water, sewer, and trash. Their first phase of plots is filled, but they are in the process of creating the second phase.

Airstream Park (Llamalopolis), Las Vegas, Nevada
Airstream Park or Llamalopolis — as some refer to it — has its biggest claim to fame as the place that Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh calls home. This urban RV park in Downtown Las Vegas is modeled on the iconic Burning Man festival and isn’t like any other tiny house community.

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Residents are encouraged to contribute to the community, while communal bonfires, movie nights, potluck feasts, open mic nights, and other impromptu social gatherings are intrinsic to the life here. Not to mention, the gated park is only a few minutes away from pubs, restaurants, and casinos, so there’s plenty of activities to keep you busy.

Living here comes with amenities like TVs, Bluetooth connectivity, stainless steel interior, high-end appliances, and more.

There’s so much to explore!

According to Trulia, there are over 50 tiny house communities across the country, and more are coming up. Though our list scratches the surface of what’s out there, it’s a good place to start if you’re scouting for a spot to put up your tiny house.

Whether you’re a tiny house nomad wanting a temporary spot, or someone looking for a permanent stay, you can be sure that there’s a community for you.

5 Places to Park Your Tiny House Legally

A tiny house on wheels is a lifestyle involving constant change and inspired simplicity. It helps you save on taxes and maintenance but comes with its own set of challenges. Parking is one of them. In fact, one of the most common dilemmas for those interested in small space living is: “Where should I park my tiny house?”
Because tiny homes often fall in the legal grey zones, it may be difficult to know for sure which parking spots would be your best bets.

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What makes things tricky is that there’s no strict definition of a tiny house. In most places, a “house” is a structure with a foundation, which is why tiny houses on wheels don’t qualify as a “house.” They are classified as RVs. So while most laws will allow you to park them on your property, treating them as your full-time dwelling might be illegal.

If that sounds confusing, don’t worry, it is! There are various legalities around recreational vehicles, local codes of accessory dwelling units (ADUs), local zoning, and coding regulations. Some of them can be quite constrictive. Plus, short-term and long-term conditions of parking differ from one state to another.
The good news is that local authorities and the International Code Council are rethinking the laws on tiny houses given their increasing popularity.

Until that happens, you must be careful of parking your tiny house responsibly. Here’s a rundown of five places where you can do so.

1. RV parks and campgrounds
If your tiny house has an RVIA certification, then you are legally allowed to park your micro dwelling in RV parks and campgrounds. This certification also means that national parks are legal parking spaces for you. However, some national parks do have size stipulations of entering and parking. The bottom line, therefore, is to conduct proper and thorough research to know where you can put up your tiny house without stepping on the wrong side of the law.

2. Online classifieds providing spaces
The internet and social media are the best friends of the tiny house movement. So it’s not hard to find supporters and like-minded people making parking spot available for tiny homes on wheels.
Websites like Craigslist, Nextdoor, and Meetup advertise available driveways, backyards by interested homeowners, and landowners willing to rent their lands for parking. These can both be for short- or long-term basis and offer a ready option for people to park their home on wheels. Just be aware of the local regulations and make sure you’re not breaking them.

3. Website listings
As we said, the tiny house movement is now a community initiative, where the online advocates are helping to connect homeowners and facilitating an infrastructure that will lessen parking hassles.
Websites such as those listed in the Tiny House Network, Tiny House Map and Facebook groups such as Tiny House Hosting are listing parking spots, available agricultural land on rent, parks featuring interactive maps and searchable databases for finding the perfect and legal parking space for your tine house.

4. Tiny house communities
Ever wondered how fantastic it would be to have a tiny house community? Well, pioneers with an aim to sustainability are sprouting communities that look much like campgrounds with shared gardens, recreation rooms, and garages, etc. While some landowners are leasing spots to tiny homeowners to establish a community of tiny houses on wheels, more and more states are opening up to legalizing the tiny houses. California, Oregon, Texas, North Carolina and Florida are some of the best places to park your teensy home.
Tiny house boondocking

This is the ultimate frontier in going minimalist and owning your micro lifestyle. If you want to leave the cityscape altogether, then drive your tiny house to the Wild West and look for a secluded vastness or wooded privacy. Again, be very sure that you are not trespassing on private property and second, be extra sure that your essential supplies are stocked. Also, there are directories and listings for boondocking locations across the country. Be sure to check them to avoid any legal trouble.

A tiny house lifestyle is a world apart from the usual routine. The lure of financial freedom and the promise of a simple yet exciting life is drawing many towards owning a tiny house. The range and scale of small dwellings are astounding these days. And more so, when we consider the tiny homes on wheels. However, the parking question often looms larger than anything else. The answer lies in doing proper research and staying connected with the community.

Finally, as long as you do your research and understand the legalities in your location, you can find a parking spot that’s safe and won’t attract any unwanted legal issue. Whether you’re a homeowner or an owner of other properties, or even just a young millennial aspiring for your own tiny house, we hope you found these tips helpful. If you never liked doing homework, however, we can help you on that front. Connect with us today for all your tiny house solutions.

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Tiny House Shells vs. Move-in-Ready Homes: Tips to Choose the Right Option

The economic and environmental factors have successfully converted many to opt for a minimalist lifestyle. At the forefront of this is the tiny house movement, sweeping millennials as we as older homeowners and even retirees with a wide range of creative, custom-designed, and technologically sound mini dwellings.

You may have taken the plunge and decided to be a tiny house owner too. Now, it’s time for another crucial decision—will it be a tiny house shell or a move-in-ready home for you?

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To begin with, let’s get familiar with the two options:

Tiny House Shells: These are pre-built structures which involve a partial amount of DIY building on the part of the buyer. So, a tiny house shell will comprise flooring and roofing, built-in walls, doors, and windows. Some options also include a custom trailer. The constructional framework of a tiny house is completed in the production facility premises, while the shell requires just the interior and exterior fittings and the finishing touches.

Move-in-Ready Homes: These are readymade homes for immediate possession and do not require any DIY building experience on the buyer’s part. You can move in and start living your dream.

These homes complete their entire construction process at the manufacturing facility and are custom-fitted according to the buyer’s budget and preference by the builder.

Admittedly, there are several pros and cons attached to both these options. Therefore, based on your tiny home aspiration, you have to decide on the right fit for you. There are several factors involved, such as budget, commitment, experience, and the lifestyle you are aiming at when you consider a tiny home for yourself.
That said, here are some pros and cons of both the options that will help you make a well-informed decision.

Pros of tiny house shells

1. Tiny house shells can reduce labor costs extensively from the building process as it involves a fair amount of DIY. Besides, building your own tiny home can be a rewarding experience.

2. A tiny house shell is way less expensive than a finished, move-in-ready home.

3. Customized interiors can be quite an expensive feature escalating the cost of your tiny home. Tiny house shells come in standard specifications which keep the budget under control.

4. Shells come with a pre-fabricated foundation, which means that experience and time required in building the rest of the house isn’t a cause for worry.

5. When using a shell, you can opt for recycled and upcycled building materials, reducing both consumptions and cost in the process.

Cons of tiny house shells
1. Tiny house shells require some amount of time commitment to be able to turn out according to specifications. Moreover, non-professional work plans and design executions could create unforeseen problems too.

2. Tiny house shells come with fixed floor plans allowing zero flexibility in terms of changing dimensions or future size alterations to your home.

Pros of move-in-ready homes
1. These homes are ideal for those who have zero building experience and aren’t too confident in their DIY skills. By willing to pay extra, you can put your trust in the builder’s efficiency and enjoy complete peace of mind.

2. Most move-in-ready homes offer customization from floor plans to window sizes and even storage options.

3. This turnkey solution can save you a lot of time and drastically reduce the waiting period before you start your micro-living experience.

4. Move-in-ready homes are built to strict safety standards and come with proper certification, so you know they are safe for the road as well as for living.

5. The builder made homes are expensive but have a better resale value.

Cons of move-in-ready homes
Besides the price factor, there isn’t really any drawback of this approach. If you can afford it, you can realize your dreams of tiny living much sooner, and with much less hassle.

Ultimately, there are two critical factors to consider when it comes to making the building versus buying decision: Time and Money.

If you can’t see yourself spending on a ready-to-move-in home, then you have to make peace with the tool belt and focus on building yourself a house. Depending on how handy you are, you may still need to hire professionals to handle some parts of the construction, which will add to the cost. However, if saving time is your prerogative, then buying from a builder is your best bet.

No matter what you choose, remember to ask for and source help when building and do not forget to do your research before buying. If you are still looking for answers to this dilemma, reach out to us today — tiny homes, whether in shells or ready to move-in, have our passionate commitment.

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