What is Holding You Back from Living in a Tiny Home?

Hi everyone, so you're thinking about jumping off into the tiny home lifestyle But there's that one major concern that's keeping you from taking that first step When I said concern, what was the first thought that came to mind? what thought when you think about going tiny kind of overwhelms you and Keeps you from going tiny. We're gonna talk about that today and See if we can't move you closer to living your tiny lifestyle So hi, I'm Cindy. I'm a member of the tiny home tours team and I want to thank you for joining our live Q&A We're normally here at 1 p.m. Central, but we're running just a little bit late today, and I'm sorry about that We'll be on time next week, but thank you for joining us I'd love for you If you can drop your concerns in the comments if anything comes to mind, I'd love to talk about those things today So again, if I were to ask you to drop in the comments that number one concern that pops into your mind What would that be? Let us know we want to we want to be able to help you work through that concern So while I'm waiting on Some concerns in the comments, I'm gonna tell you what my husband's Number one concern is and the reason I'm talking to you about his number one concern Because that's what kept me from going tiny was that he had a major concern that Kept us three years from going tiny. So I'm gonna tell you what it was and I'll tell you how we work through it His concern was he had his beloved garage his man space And he could not see giving that up. He had his lawnmower in there He had his weed eater and his leaf blower now He didn't use those things because we had somebody take care of our yard for us But they were still his he said and he wasn't ready to give them up And so in order to work through that When we were looking into going tiny and we finally found a community that he might be interested in He realized they took care of the lawns here. He'd never have to worry about that again so it made it a little bit easier for him to Give up the idea of having that beloved man space. So What would be your number one concern drop that in the comments for us? and If you want to go tiny But when you envision that lifestyle, what's that fear? That's another way of saying concern What's that fear that's holding you back? Here's one from house in the wood pottery not being able to handle tiny home living That's a really valid concern because of course, it's the fear of the unknown it's something that you've never done before and Many of us I know for myself when I went tiny. I didn't know anybody who was living the tiny lifestyle I didn't know anybody who could help me work through that fear, but I'm gonna tell you something It is Such a wonderful lifestyle and I know I'm saying that and you're listening to it But is it really for you? I would suggest and I've done this before in my videos Go look into renting a tiny home space Maybe for a weekend or a week and see how it feels See how it fits you. That would be a great way of overcoming that concern I have another one here from my home my life I'm dealing with the same husband has a man cave full of tools. It's his place to chill Yeah, I get that But I think too if you go look at tiny homes Go go to Communities and visit some tiny homes go to builders and visit some of their tiny homes He'll see that there are spaces that he can have If you have land and have a tiny home on wheels on that space You can build you a little shed for that or in our community For instance, we we are able to lease a shed so that might be an answer to but there are certainly ways to work around that and then Let's see chabal. I hope I'm saying that It says where to put where to put your tiny home that's a valid concern we've talked about that in some of our previous Let's talk tiny Q&A's, but I will tell you that that is the number one thing that you need to do Before you ever even look into having a home purchased or built is to find a place to put it. That's a very valid concern So, here we go from Tony, how did you downsize possessions? Wardrobe, etc. That's a great question And I will tell you this Tony chat GPT says that's the number one concern of most people who are thinking about going tiny is We're gonna put all my stuff. Well, first of all part of the tiny home living concept is Minimalization so you have to minimize your possessions and and the things that you have but I can tell you it can easily be done and Having lived here in my tiny home for three years I can't even tell you what I got rid of because I can't remember it, you know We're so used to living without all those things we don't remember what we're missing and we have everything in this home that we actually need and And more so I can tell you that although I realize that's a valid concern. It is a workable concern You will have to downsize and you will have to decide what can come with you and what can't but it's certainly an easy workaround and and then I see from Kathy storms ah And she lives in Ohio Kathy. That's a great concern I haven't haven't even thought about that one. I can tell you here in Texas We get a lot of tornadoes and we get a lot of hurricanes my tiny home has survived major thunderstorms rainstorms and even a hurricane and Now my home is a park model. So it's anchored down I know with tiny homes on wheels that might be a consideration but the good thing about a tiny home on wheels is you could always move that if you had to if you had Good enough advance that are storms coming. So Yes, that's a valid concern. But again, like I said my community my home We have survived a hurricane here in Texas and we did it. Well, we didn't have any damage whatsoever And I think in any home that's a consideration right that we have to worry about storms I've lived in a much larger home where we had a hurricane and it suffered damage So that's that's a concern you're gonna have in any home that you live in Grandma duty weeding out 50 years of stuff is overwhelming at 75 years of age Well, yes, it is it is but let me tell you a little bit about my story. So the reason that I went tiny One of the reasons that motivated me to go tiny was my mom had died I had taken care of what my sister and I getting rid of her stuff having to you know Sell it give it away See if any family members wanted it It was a very long drawn-out part process and and nobody wanted it because it was her stuff and it wasn't personal to us and I can tell you that that made me decide I didn't want all that stuff in my life and It is possible To weed it down and what you have to think about is that you look at the space you're thinking in terms of moving into Maybe if it's 399 square feet kind of get an idea of what that would look like in the house You're in now and think about what would go into that space some people and my husband and I did we use Boxes and we kind of figured out that space and put the boxes within that space that we knew we'd be able to take with We still even had to pare down after that, but it's it's a concern but it's something that you can easily do Tony says I'm in a wheelchair and not sure how accessible a tiny home could be Well, Tony we talked about this a little bit last week on let's talk tiny as well there are homes that can definitely be retrofitted for a wheelchair and I Mentioned last week. I have a neighbor who hurt his back. He had surgery and he's had to use a wheelchair it temporarily but he's had to use that to get around for a bit and It was totally workable for him. We have homes here in my community that have wheelchair access Going up into their home because all of us have front porches. We all have to climb steps to get an into our home. So There's many workarounds for that and I wouldn't let that be a major concern because if you even if you purchase For instance, I have a park model if you purchased a park model. There would be somebody that could help you Make your home wheelchair accessible There's plenty of room as far as getting a wheelchair around in my house. That would not be a concern here So I think it's something that you can work around But thank you for that that's a that's a valid concern so I Talked a little bit about what my husband's concern was I'm gonna tell you what mine is while we wait on a few more concerns from those who want to drop that in the comments mine was that I had a beautiful home 2,400 square feet and though we lived in our Upstairs game room most of the time about 80 80 percent of the time I Would when I'd walk upstairs to go into the the game room I would look out over my living room area much like the stairs behind me looking into my tiny home and I could see my kitchen. I could see my formal living room. I could see my dining room And and I would think man, this is a beautiful space And so I was kind of afraid that I wouldn't find a tiny home that would equal to The beauty of that space or you know the the comfort of that space But I will tell you after three years of living tiny. I Have more than found the space and and let me just say this There are so many different styles of tiny homes out there There are so many builders who can build according to what what is important to you For instance Tony if if you have a wheelchair they can build you a home That's totally wheelchair accessible and it's not going to break the bank necessarily But but I think that when I look at my home now I love this home as much if not more than the space I lived in before I've said this before on our Q&A's My house fits me like a glove. It is my comfort spot. It's my sweet spot and I love being at home So don't let that keep you from maybe moving towards going tiny So I want to remind you that today we're talking about that one thing That presses on your mind and keeps you from really taking that leap into tiny home living and Here we have a Susan Suzanne I'm 80 and single live in a mobile home now. I would love a tiny house My granddaughter has one on her property Wow Yes even at 80 years old and I should say 80 years young because I've got some friends who are in their 80s and I'm telling You they're they're going strong. Um But I would say that the older we get We find the less things that we need the less stuff that we need around us If you think about it in your life There's only certain things that you use all the time and there's so many things in your house so much stuff in your house That you don't use hardly at all And so I think that that would be something that would be well worth looking into and I'm just gonna throw out there Suzanne perhaps your granddaughter might share her property with you and let you put a tiny home on her property. That's just a thought so if you have a major concern put that in the comment, I'd love to hear what that is and While I wait on that, I'm good. I know we talked about what chat GPT said the major Concern is of most people who are thinking about going tiny, but I'm gonna say it again When I looked at chat GPT and I said, hey What's the number one concern of people who are thinking about going tiny? They said a lack of space and Everything that comes with it. So we're gonna talk about that here in just a second But big island sis says my biggest question is how do we finance our tiny home? Well, that's a great question and that's a great concern And I will tell you we've spoken about this before as well And if you haven't watched some of our other Q&A's, I would encourage you go back and watch the those There's some great information in there And but one of the things as far as financing you you have to go look for those Options within the area that you live in within your state for instance And I know many builders can help you with financing here in my community That option is available. They'll help you with financing so don't let that fear or that concern and Be a stumbling block for you because there's definitely financing out there for those who are interested in going tiny Holly says I live in Cleburne, Texas, and I want to go tiny so badly It feels good to start downsizing. I'm looking for something closer to the Dallas area Well, I will tell you this You Holly are blessed because there are a lot of tiny home communities in Texas And I just spoke with one today in Spicewood, which is closer I think toward the Austin area, but and in Austin there are some really nice Communities in the Dallas area and if I wish I had one that came to mind but in the Dallas area There's some tiny home communities I know also that you know, there's land in that area But I would say if you're looking and really interested Google tiny home communities in the Dallas Fort Worth area and Then go look at a few of those Because I tell you when when my husband and I came to look at the community we live in now It really became a possibility to us, you know, you just got to take that first step Get out there go looking and you may find something that really surprises you and is pleasing to you Leslie hi Leslie says Every county I looked at it said you cannot live in them on land as a permanent residence They have to be in a place that is RV certified, is that correct? Well, Leslie that depends on what state you live in I know different states have different zoning laws different cities have different zoning laws so I Think that that is something that can be worked around on tiny home tours YouTube channel, I watched one of our videos last night I think it's our latest video and a woman talked about how she worked around that You might I don't remember her name. Maybe Chris could put that in the comments for us. It was our last Video that we we put up on YouTube But look at that video because she talked about how she worked around that and there's always a way To work around it if it's something you're really interested in and that's what she did So I'm gonna encourage you don't let that necessarily stop you from looking into going tiny I know that Zoning laws are changing things are changing all the time as far as the tiny home landscape Because it's becoming more and more of a viable and necessary Source for for homes. So just keep keep researching keep looking into it And thanks Chris put up a link for you. So check that link out for that video and Then Sherry said does the rent increase every year? You know Sherry Hours has increased but I will say this I think it's only increased once in the two and a half because it increased about six months ago and we're almost here for three years and So it's increased once and I can say this if you lived in an apartment your rents gonna increase probably yearly and I Think for the most part tiny home communities Try to keep that lot rent as low as possible For as long as possible They try not to raise it because they know that's important and many people are paying out their tiny homes On top of that lot of rent. So Yes, sometimes lot rent does change it does go up but I don't think ours has gone up to where it was an unmanageable and Then Leslie said I tried looking in multiple states it is the reason I haven't did it yet and Leslie let us know what state you live in and what states you're looking at and maybe we can help you with a state That's close by you I might not get to it right this minute, but I'll look into it and I'll I'll message you back. Okay, so Anyway chat GPT, but like I said said that one of the number one concerns was storage I want you to drop in the comments a yes if that's one of your concerns because I'd like to kind of talk about that if If we don't have any other comments for right now So a lack of space and everything that comes with it and and chat GPT mentioned storage limitations Feeling cramped or confined. Maybe that's one of the things that concerns you privacy concerns in such a small square footage if you have a spouse or a partner and Hosting limitations and I can tell you I thought about all these things when I was looking to go tiny but Living tiny for three years now and looking back. I can tell you that yes Those are valid concerns, but those are things that are easily worked around so let's talk about a few storage solutions and One of the things that we have is we put our bed Which is a king-size bed on? blocks that have raised it up considerably and Thank you for that. Yes, Cheryl And so I call underneath our bed Prime real estate because we can get a lot of stuff under that king-size bed I have these metal storage racks that are on wheels that can roll in and or Underneath the bed and out from underneath the bed easily I have two very good sized bins with my offseason clothes that I that I put Under the bed. So that's prime real estate. We have a bed upstairs in our loft we've done the same thing with that and we have Our grandkids games and toys and there's there's all kind of luggage There's all kinds of things that you can put it under there So storage is a it's a big deal to us you know when we come and especially if you're a neat freak like me if you're a neat freak I guarantee you there are solutions and another idea is find a corner and you can find a corner in your tiny home and put up a tension rod and a Curtain and maybe use that to hide some things that you want to keep out of sight That's a solution for storage. I see your comment Leslie, Ohio But willing to go to any state, okay I will and I'll look into that for you and see if I can't help you with that See if I can't give you any ideas. Okay, and and then See, I'm not sure of the name but you live in California your daughter has offered her back I'm assuming her back yard to place your tiny house in any advice or info. Well 80 use that's that's What they would call that that is an excellent solution For a tiny home and and there's many videos out there of people who have done just that and sometimes they just lease the backyard space as someone they don't even know and they do like an interview process and they come into an agreement and they they lease that space, but I know for for a lot of especially older people if they have Family members who have a big backyard space and that's okay with the zoning laws in the area They live in that's an excellent solution and certainly can take care of any concerns You have about where you would be able to put your your tiny home So I would definitely look into that. I would look into those zoning laws First make sure that and that would be okay with the HOA if there's an HOA and with any zoning laws in her area, so Going back to storage solutions. There's One thing that I do I I use baskets. I use a lot of baskets in my bathroom I have my hand towels and I have my washcloths and baskets up on a shelf, but you know small baskets cute cloth baskets Upstairs we keep our our coats that we don't use all the time, but I don't want them out in the shed we use our coats put our coats in a big cloth basket and It kind of hides an area I keep it right along the railing of my loft and so it kind of hides from people being able to look up there into The loft because sometimes the loft is not the neatest space. So that's certainly something that you can do And then another piece of prime real estate if you want storage solutions is behind your couch My couch is right behind me and I can tell you that It's about that far from the wall There's a lot of stuff that goes back there that people can't see One thing that we keep back there are TV trays that we don't have a dining space here in our home So when we're eating we break out those TV trays from behind the couch and that's our dining space My computer's on one right now. We also have a step ladder. We keep back there and If you could see my Christmas decorations are up in the house right now There's a things that I don't want to put out in my shed which we have a tiny shed when I say shed it's tiny and just not my house, but So there are things that I keep behind my couch. So there's some storage solutions There's ways that you can work out storage solutions And and I'm gonna say that doesn't matter what size your tiny home is. Mine's 399 square feet, but I've seen where people have come up with brilliant ideas for storage solutions And one way to figure those out is number one Google, you know go on Pinterest or watch tiny home tour videos or watch tiny home videos and you'll you'll find some great solutions, so I've got Gosh, I can't I know the last name is Sanchez and I want to thank you for your comment It says in the process of building a tiny home Great great in your experience. What is important to have and can't live without living in a tiny home Don't want to make a mistake when building and living something out Well, I can tell you after living here for three years There's a few things that I would do differently number one. I would not have a large my I have a full-size Electric stove and oven I wouldn't have that. I would have a small stove two burner stove And maybe a little convection oven I think and or or you know that you can cook in A smaller oven. I don't need that and it takes up a lot of countertop space, which I would rather have The other thing for me in living in my tiny house is a big sink I have a great big sink and it's a farmhouse sink and I could not do without as a matter of fact We we took out the sink that was in here prior to when we moved in and we put in our big farmhouse sink It's really deep. It's two sections and Because we don't have a dishwasher and I'm just gonna say if you're one person or even two people I think it would be a waste to put a dishwasher into a tiny home But that's my opinion. We wash our dishes by hand and it doesn't take very long and it certainly works for us I think for me, too Which this surprises me you'd be surprised how little closet space you can live with Without but I will say I like having a bigger bed. It's me and my husband We were used to a king-sized bed. I could not go without my king-sized bed So I'd want to make sure my bedroom fits the bed sides that you're used to sleeping in don't go build a room and And think you're gonna have to downsize your bed If you're you you have a partner you're gonna want to you're gonna want to stay in that same bed size Or you're gonna be really uncomfortable. So those are a couple of things for me and I'll say this. Also. I have a full-size couch. I love my full-size couch I couldn't live without my full-size couch So that might be something when you're thinking about building your space is the size of the furniture Your couch whatever you're gonna sit in whether it's recliners or chairs Make sure that that's something that's going to be Really able to fit in there and be comfortable to you and give you plenty of walk around space and last I'm gonna go to This comment. I've never been so happy and content with 99% of my life since my tiny house came into my life I just finished arranging my extra bed covers and storage under my bed. I wouldn't trade it for anything that's a great comment to to close with because Yes, you know we have these concerns. Of course you have these concerns because it's a lifestyle You've never lived but I can tell you I love this lifestyle That's why I'm doing this live Q&A because I want to help other people experience what I've experienced and be able to get over your concerns and before we Leave today. I'm gonna Just leave you with a Few things first of all, as I said earlier if you look in the comments section We have a tiny home quiz and a transition worksheet that can help you work through some of these concerns as well as just help you move in the direction of Making the tiny home lifestyle a reality for you They're in the comments they're on our website tiny home tours calm So I would encourage you to download those print them out and really work through them It'll it'll help you I promise and then also Tiny home tours YouTube channel I can tell you I live in a tiny home but I still watch every video that comes out because it's a plethora of Information for those who are looking to go tiny so I would encourage you to like and subscribe tiny home tours I'm not trying to just sell tiny home tours. I would just say watch those videos There's so much information on them and I want to leave you with a little bit of homework So if you if you download the download the quiz and if you do the transition worksheet I look I would love for you to put in the comments Even though we're going off today Put in the comments some of those things that maybe are concerns for you. Even after doing that And maybe we'll we'll you know do our live next week or let's talk tiny on some of those concerns We'll pinpoint some of those so I wanted to leave you with that I'll be looking for these comments. Even after we go off of YouTube and And I just want to encourage you Be sure and tune in next week on let's talk tiny We're here at one central time and we love being able to help you. Thanks. See you later