An average home in Western Pennsylvania can run between $125,000 and $212,400. Most budgets for tiny homes (without crazy bells and whistles) are around $20,000. While I really don't have $125,000, I also don't have $20,000 either. Given my current employment, saving that money anytime soon is not a plausible option.
This conundrum lead me to purchase Your Message Here by Andrew Odom, a book to help tiny house builders with the financial side of building. Reviews I read raved about the ebook, one even claimed she hardly paid a thing herself during the build. I quickly learned after purchasing the book, this would not be the case for me.
Your Message Here is written by Andrew Odom who runs Tiny r(E)volution, a company that runs a site about tiny houses offering many free resources as well as buyable ebooks. (many of the blog posts are great and I do highly recommend using their site during your research) This is where the big issue forms for me: Andrew is writing this book for tiny builders looking to make a business out of their tiny house. He advises creating accounts for your build on facebook, twitter, blogging sites, even getting business cards made. Create an internet presence to present to potential sponsors to see you have something to offer them by investing you your tiny home.
Now this in and of itself is not bad advice and Andrew gives good instructions and resources to do this, but this is not a plausible route for every tiny home builder. I have a full time job that takes up usually over 40hrs a week and other annoying but required responsibilities on top of just trying to learn from scratch how to frame a house on a trailer. I do not have time (or the passion really) to create a whole business around my tiny home.
Second issue: Your Message Here recommends using the novelty of your project to intrigue possible sponsors. Tiny homes, while still a rarity for the everyday person, are permeating the culture. FYI has the show Tiny House Nation, HGTV has three separate shows about tiny homes. A tiny home project many not seem so unique when there are collectively over 100+ episodes following individuals going small. And I know that I am far from the first person to be blogging about their build (and I'm sure many of them are more poetic in their posts).
This interest from the mainstream american could be two fold; those of us wanting to go tiny may be seen as following a fad. Regardless of the numerous people who did their homework before going small, there are sure to be some who have over romanticized the idea. Though with the attention from the television shows, and with 84 Lumber now offering tiny home packages, maybe this will open a door. Though the majority of people are unlikely to downsize so drastically, tiny homes could become an acceptable lifestyle. Zoning laws could be revised to be more accommodating, landowners may opt to invest by renting portions of their land to park a home, and a family may skip a mini mansion for a reasonable ranch home.
Conclusion: While a good book if you are looking to invest the time into creating a following for your tiny build, this book is not for everyone. If you don't want to spend time advertising yourself on social networks, skip this read. Instead, I highly recommend Andrew's free blog: Tiny r(E)volution.
