Let’s face it, a tiny house may be cheaper than owning or building an average size home, but it
does require a certain monetary investment; however there are ways to reduce the overall dollar
amount. Tiny homes can cost a few thousand dollars or up to $90k if you are customizing and/or hiring a professional architect. Nonetheless, there are ways that can help you reduce the amount
of money spent into this venture. There are many DIY options available reducing the overall
construction and labor cost; you can get volunteers to help reduce the labor cost even more; you
can use recycled materials for your build; or even buy a turnkey tiny house from sites such
TinyHouseMe.com. All of these options, detailed below, can help you make smart affordable
decisions in your tiny house build. If you use your wits and smarts, you’ll be able to shave off
hundreds to thousands of dollars on your tiny home without hurting your wallet.
Building it Yourself – The DIY option
There are many tiny house owners who decide to build their homes themselves. Most people
who do opt for the DIY route do either get local carpenter to build it for them; or have some
knowledge and have done a significant amount of research into the how to’s of building. Getting
advice or hiring your local carpenters and plumbers, could save you hundreds. This way you
save construction cost from whom you are buying your tiny house kit or shell from. Also, local
freelance carpenters tend to be a lot cheaper than going through a specialized tiny house
contractor and helps with your local community.
You can also always build your tiny house yourself. There are many tiny house workshops that
offer classes for tiny house customers to understand the technicalities of how to build and
construct. So do your research, watch videos, and just know that building your home yourself
will require a lot of time and energy, but you’ll be saving thousands of dollars on hired labor.
Volunteers
If you are fortunate enough to have some generous family members and friends, you could
probably ask them to help you. A few weekends here and there will help with your overall
spending. You could always pay them back by making your volunteers a meal or taking them out
to the movies. Projects such as these help bond people especially when the build is a home you
can visit. So make it a family event and get everyone involved; the end results would be very
satisfying.
Recycled and Donated Materials
Now here is where you’ll be saving the big bucks. Aside from paying for labor, you’ll pay a lot
of money for materials. Whether it be for wood for your walls and floors, to the light fixtures and
bathroom features, you’ll need materials for your tiny home to be possible.
Many DIY tiny house owners will go to their local junkyard to see if they can use any materials.
These can be old wooden pallets, wooden paneling or beams, and etc. If you are creative and
know where and what to look for, you’ll be able to save a lot of money on your home. A lot of
times you can find hidden treasure that truly bring out the look in your new house. So look for
good quality wood when looking for recycled lumber, or go to your local thrift store to find
unique light fixtures and/or other details that you are looking to add. All these elements help you
customize your tiny home at an affordable price and brings out one of a kind personality that
would be uniquely you.
Tiny Homes for Sale
As the tiny housing community continues to grow and prosper, the online marketplaces that offer
tiny houses for sale also grow. A simple Google search will reveal the many sites and places you
can get your tiny house – but this can be time consuming and unreliable. However,
TinyHouseMe.com is a great options. It is a trustworthy tiny house platform that not only allows
you to browse through their large curated list of tiny house builders, but also offers you financing
and other DIY options making your dream of owning a tiny house more affordable.
Further, the site also features turnkey tiny house options which would be a lot cheaper to buy
then to get a customized one. This would be a great way to buy off-the-shelf tiny house and will
take less time and energy. TinyHouseMe.com filters builders based on this so certainly look into
this feature.
The site also details and shows product pictures so you have an idea how the house looks like,
upgrades the builder offers for their builds, how the floor-plan is designed, and much, much more.
So make sure to talk to their sales rep for more details. Having a guiding hand in the process will
certainly help you understand how you can get the most bang for your buck.
So as you read, there are many affordable options one has when going through the process of
owning their own tiny house. Many go through the route of building their dream time home
themselves often using recycled materials, other ask for help of friends and family to volunteer in
the building process, or some just prefer to buy via sites such as TinyHouseMe.com. Whichever
the case may be, tiny houses are getting more traction and they certainly are fulfilling the
lifelong american dream of owning your own place in an affordable way.
