6 Reasons You SHOULDN'T Buy A Tiny Home

After 2 years of living in our tiny home, we want to take about the reality of it and some of the reasons why you may want to reconsider the idea of going tiny.

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[laurelwenson]

I love stumbling upon tiny house owners who admit they love their home and lifestyle, but also explore and discuss the real challenges -- invaluable information for anyone who is seriously considering a tiny home! Will be checking out your channel for sure!

[IgorRockt]

German here: to get rid of the moisture in (very) cold temperatures, don't CRACK OPEN your windows - open them FULLY, if possible, get some other window open at the other side of the home - and close them after just a couple of (if very cold) or a few minutes (just "cold", like at -10C and warmer outside). With that temperate difference, the one or two minutes are enough to exchange all AIR in the home (so the moisture is gone, since colder air cannot hold much moisture), but it's SHORT enough for all walls and furniture to NOT cool down very much (if at all).
That's what we Germans do in our homes at least twice daily (as long as it's not raining or more humid outside than inside) for literal centuries already (and I'm still doing it here in Nova Scotia, even when we get -20C or so, and it works just fine (and actually saves heating fuel, since your heating system only has to heat up the air in the house, but not everything else. If you crack open a window instead, you'll have to leave it open for MUCH longer to get rid of the moisture, which leads to everything close to the window (the wall around it, the furniture close to it, and so on) to cool down (or even freeze, if there is a water pipe or faucet!) as well. So not only it's less efficient for getting rid of the moisture, but it will cost you more for heating afterwards, too, since *everything* has to be heated up again - and you yourself will be cold for much longer, too. 😳

[ScarieWOW]

I own a tiny house on wheels, 128 sq.ft in Tennessee, USA. Insurance is $70/month and it's a local insurance agent who insures. Local code/zoning allows it to be on its wheels and our insurance classifies us as an RV. It's extremely hard to find a place that will take your home unless it's an RV park. Rv parks have rules and sometimes tiny home builders do not build their homes to fit RV requirements, something else to keep in mind.

[clearlyconsistent]

I have my tiny home on foundation, and it was grandfathered in. I love it and have lived in it since 2010. So nice to be able to do everything I want--I am disabled, and my home is perfectly set up for me in my wheelchair.

[blessedwithchallenges]

I love my tiny home. It's my dream. I never liked having spring cleaning and working so hard to get rid of crap. What i own is enough, and gives me time, and money, to travel the world, enjoy what's right around me and not get bogged down with stuff. Never had cabin fever - and my guitar us played every day, so no dust on it

[powerofknowledge]

1. Insurance is difficult to find
2. Unable to keep it on wheels
3. Steep stairs unable to meet code
Considered an RV
4. Hard to find somewhere to park it
5. Minimum sq footag for zoning
(Can be a secondary dwelling to someone elses house and rent a spot on their land)
6. Cabin fever if you cant go outside of small place
7. Limited Storage, cant stock up
8. Moisture and mold -small amouts of steam can cause mold

[braukorpshomebrew]

I had to live in an RV for a few months, and I had to deal with almost all of these things. That was when I realized that a tiny home is not for me. I live in a small home (less than 1000 square feet), but it allows me to keep my books and mugs, but not live in excess. I appreciate this video!

[nothingtoseehere]

I grew up in a tiny home, not by choice, we were poor. Most homes in our village were small. One room for kicthen/eating. living and another room where everyone slept, maybe 2 bedrooms if lucky and a small bathroom. It is a night mare. My home now isnt huge but I vowed I would never make my kids cram into a shoe box and have to give away their possessions because there is not space.

[nickjohnson]

If your tiny home is a permanent setup, you could drop a 20' Shipping Container and repurpose it as a sort of "storage" module that would alleviate most of the storage concerns

[TheMightyCookieShow]

Well maybe if normal homes wherent 3000% over priced, folks wouldnt need to buy these storage buildings to live in.

[minnime]

It's not exactly a tiny home, but I live in a 700 ft² 1 bed, 1 bath that, until recently, only had 3 usable standard-sized kitchen cabinets and about 3 feet of usable counter space to store all dishes, appliances, pantry items, coffee stuff, tea stuff, etc. You weren't kidding about how hard that small amount of storage space can be! You really do have to be choosy about what you're going to keep, store away, or get rid of entirely! I've definitely felt the stress of receiving a cute glass and internally panicking like, "I have no idea where I'm going to put this!" ... I did find a space for it, btw, and it's my favorite glass!

[sunnehome]

I love my all cedar gabled tiny house on an acre. It's on the ground, not wheels. It's labeled as a shed and as thus, not taxed. We build a Covered porch the same size, no permit needed, as we built it according to county codes...no higher than 18". We have a composting toilet, an EPA "approved" wood stove. We have no neighbors but deer and elk. Our tiny home and property cost $20, 000. Our property taxes are VERY low. Cabin fever never happens, as we each have our own spaces. We use our loft for storage, have an IKEA sofa/bed, built in seating/table, and we disassembled our our truck camper to get a fridge, stove sink. We are building a bump out bathroom. Propane stoves cause condensation. Our loft gabled windows help with condensation and added vents. We researched airflow on YouTube to eliminate condensation issue.

[gusmonster]

I lived in a tiny home for two years (permanent- no wheels ever). I would NEVER do it again. Sure, you have a compact, easy to clean space. What you don't have is space to do a hobby, sew, or anything that takes any kind of space. To me, a tiny home is just a glorified, ridiculously small studio apartment. If it works for you- wonderful. It didn't work for me.

[snobird]

I do have a tiny home on wheels (THOW). I've been living in it for almost 3 years now and I love it. It does come with it's pros and cons as you said. I looked into it for a few years before going ahead and it was a process. I live on rented land, a spot next to the land owner's garage. I plug into her electricity and I collect rain water, no running water here. My expenses are so much lower than all the homes I lived in over my working lifetime, I am retired. My tiny is literally tiny (136 sq. ft. inside plus two lofts). It just became a perfect fit for me to retire. I live in a lake community which is seasonal. It's rural and quiet. Just what I wanted.

[hinatamercury]

It's baffling why it's illegal to buy a plot of land and then put a tiny home/RV in it. If its private property then the land owner has the rights to do whatever he/she wants

[Mntguy-nrvl]

There's a lot of crap on YouTube most of it is but this was probably the most informative and educational video I've ever seen.
Bravo to you sir.
I don't even care about tiny homes but I was so enthralled with what you had to say I watched.

[daynasafranek]

I was stuck living with my parents in a full sized RV, for a month, while our home was being built. To make a long story short, it was the worst month of our lives and none of us would choose to relive it. Plumbing issues, heating issues and the like… we were parked with full access and we still had issues with all of these things. It was a nightmare.

[geegeelast]

This is easily the most informative video on the reality of tiny home living I’ve seen. Thank you

[paxzin]

Tiny homes are not for everyone. Before committing to 'living small', I'd suggest renting an RV, or staying in a hotel, with EVERYTHING you feel like you would need to exist comfortably. Yes, this means your family, your pets, your hobbies, and see how long it takes to either reach a 'breaking point' or come up with creative solutions. Tiny homes 'look good on paper', fewer bills, maybe a garden, some 'critters', living off-the-grid, whatever is your pique-point. I've seen a lot of jaded new-comers who cannot deal with the stress, or constant upkeep/maintenance, or just the fact that you can't just go into the other room, if you and your spouse are in a disagreement.

Cabin fever is a big one. The same four walls can come closing in when you couped up with the same faces. Tiny homes weather the seasons a lot differently than a brick home. Rainy seasons, winds, snow, dare I say it? "Tornadoes/hurricanes". A lot of people are just used to big housing structures, so try to get a feel of what it is 'really' going to be like before you sell the house and move the kids into a cabin in the woods.

I've also seen where people in Tiny Homes, decide to 'expand' and before long, they've got a regular sized house, but built more piecemeal. I love tiny homes, I like seeing the innovations that people do, how they overcome their obstacles, but a lot of YouTube vids make it look easy and relaxing, and it can be those things, until the building inspector gets nosey, or zoning laws, change, or you get that one pesky neighbor that nit-picks everything about your property. Don't just research the 'structures', or 'locations' or 'selling power' or whatever.. but research yourself first, is this the kind of thing you can do for more than a few years? Hope this helps

[epowell]

It's been a while since I was addicted to watching tiny home shows, and you brought up issues I had never heard of before. I always loved when people on shows say one reason they want a tiny home is because they are so tired of cleaning their big house. Bet it was painful when they realized that you have to constantly clean/put up stuff in a tiny home because you can't work around it. I hadn't thought about the moisture issue, but it makes sense. People don't realize that we even exhale moisture, and don't notice how much moisture is released in cooking. You even release moisture through skin in bed. I did always worry about the ventilation, thinking "that bathroom air is all over the house", or "the whole house will smell of last thing cooked" but I guess you learn quick to always remember to turn on the vent fan. My favorite part of the tiny home shows was when they came back 3 months later to check on how people are doing, and the people look like the first week home with a new baby lol. On the rare occasions when it seemed like a great fit, it was usually an older lady or people who spend most of their time outside - their home was just for eating/sleeping/bathing. While I dream of the peace having so little could give me (hoarding runs in my family), I know that it isn't for me, and if hubby and I did it, one of us would end up dead lol