Building a Tiny House on Your Own Land
Building a tiny house on your own land may have some unexpected expenses and hurdles to overcome before you even begin.
You’ve been thinking about tiny living for a while now. YouTube videos have inspired you, websites like ours have educated you, and you’ve determined that owning the property on which you wish to build your home is the way you want to go. Just like any other prospective homeowner, you’ve done your research. You believe you know what it will take to make this happen.
And now you think you’ve found the perfect piece of land.
You are fairly sure you could plunk your tiny abode there tomorrow with a few simple preparations.
You imagine you know how much it will cost.
You’ve got a pretty good idea of what kinds of tiny houses you can bring in or build.
Now’s the time, and you’re raring to go.
You may have the right timing, location, resources, and knowledge to make it happen. But just in case, we’re going to take a look at the two main components in this process:
- Choosing the type of house you want to build or bring in, and
- Understanding EVERYTHING that will go into building a tiny house on your own land.
Foundations, Zoning, Permits, Tap Fees, Utility Connections, Septic Systems, and More?
For the purpose of this page, we aren’t addressing the choice of living off-grid, although there may be components of that lifestyle you will be able to adopt for your project. Everything you need to know about living off-grid can be found on our page, Off-Grid Resources Directory.
Rather, we’ve created this page to give you an idea of all the tiny home types available. Each of them has a page with detailed information, both pros and cons, as well as resources to help you make the best decision possible.
Before we get to that list, you might want to visit our page on Building a Tiny Home Village. It may sound crazy to even think of this when scraping together the funds for your own project is a challenge. However, the costs associated with connecting an unconventional build with conventional infrastructure can be formidable. Sharing the cost burden has proven successful for some tiny home dwellers.
Knowledge is power, and it’s best to have a good grasp of the realities up front. This might help you determine what kind of structure or vehicle would work best on your very own piece of paradise.
Just One More Thing: Foundations. Will You Need One?
Foundations. You might think you won’t need one, but many factors come into play in that decision. Rather than spell them out here, please visit our pages Tiny House Foundations and Permanent Tiny House Foundations.
Check with your counties code and zoning enforcement officer to see what kind of foundation they require. Responses can vary from just a firm dirt pad for a THOW to a complete below the frost line foundation. The requirements might very well change what type of tiny structure you had in mind to build.
Calculating the sometimes unexpected cost of infrastructure
Here is a great video by Living Big In A Tiny House about a couple who started with a good amount of savings to build their dream container home, but find out that getting the utilities installed took the whole amount they had saved before they even got started on the build.
See details of the build and more of Jaimie and Dave’s struggle to overcome some huge obstacles to realize their dream.
Tiny Types, in No Particular Order
Covers everything you need to know about solar power. From understanding all of the components that go into solar powered projects to choosing the right solar panels and even building your own solar panels, this book teaches you everything you need to know about custom solar powered systems and creations.
Buying a Tiny House From Amazon, eBay, or The Home Depot
ADUs (Auxiliary Dwelling Units)
Manufactured Homes or Park Models
Earthbag Underground Earthships
Converting Rail Cars to Tiny Homes
| Don’t try and skirt building codes and zoning laws.
Here’s how to work with them: How to be Proactive with Building Codes and Zoning Laws |