- Tiny homes, they're super cute. People have many different uses for them. But there's lots of things
that people don't consider when they're purchasing one. Whether you're buying a
small manufactured home, an RV park model, a year to an earthship, there's a million different
types of tiny homes that you could be considering, but you don't wanna
make these big mistakes. So today we're gonna be talking about the five biggest mistakes
when it comes to tiny homes. And that way, you can save
yourself a lot of this, 'cause that's what you all
wanna do is save a lot of this. The thing is as much as we
love tiny homes as the public, when it comes to the government
and government officials, whether that's local or federal, they're not necessarily on
board like the rest of us. Now, not all tiny homes are gonna be affixed to a foundation. In many cases, with many of my videos, I'm talking about the tiny homes that are affixed to a foundation, but in this video, we're gonna be talking
a little bit of both. So when I talk to people on the phone, the first thing I ask, "Are you planning on
putting this tiny home "on a piece of land? "Are you planning on traveling with it?" Though a lot of people, what they say is, "Well, I want to be
able to travel with it, "but I also wanna be able to
have it on a piece of land "in the future." Here's the thing, if you're going to be
looking for a tiny home that you can travel down the road with, make sure it's RV certified, because you're not gonna be
able to park that thing anywhere unless it has that RV certifications. Most parks aren't gonna let you stay there for extended period of
time unless you have that. Now let's talk about when
you're planning on keeping it in a more permanent residence
for a period of time. So you have it on wheels, and you're just wanting to
drive it up to a piece of land and park it there. Now, a lot of city officials are not gonna allow you to do that unless you have the
proper hookups for that. They may consider it a campsite, but if they don't know
where your sewage is going, they're gonna be, "Eh, absolutely not." And then when it comes
to composting toilets, 'cause I know a lot of
you are off the grids, a lot of county officials
are saying, "Absolutely not!" I know they're fine, I understand. But when you talk to local officials, they hear composting toilet, and they think that
there's gonna be like poop laying around the road. They have no idea what a
composting toilet does. And so, they've already made ordinances that don't allow for that. So if you're planning on doing this and you have a piece of land,
make sure that you've checked with the county officials in that area that you're gonna be able
to park your RV there and still be able to live in it. Now, sometimes, they will allow
you to park it on the land, but you can't live on it during that time, which kind of defeats the purpose. And in other cases, they'll
let you stay on there, but you have to hook up to
the city water and sewer or at least have some kind of
well system and sewer system on that piece of property. Now, if you plan on keeping in our park, as long as they allow you to stay there for an extended period of time, that has nothing to worry about. I will say this, if you are
looking at a park model RV, it does state in the
statements that they have in all of their warranties, that they're not meant
for long-term living use. They're meant for, like, a vacation spot, like a camper per se. So just know that if you're planning on living there for like 10 years, they weren't designed necessarily to be lived in for 10 years. So now that we've touched
a little bit on land uses, let's talk about the laws
in your specific area. When it comes to anything, any structure, doesn't matter if it's a shed,
a barndominium, a tiny home, you have to get some kind of permitting to put that structure on that, especially if you're attaching it to land. Before, I was talking about if you weren't going to attach it. If you're planning on putting a tiny home on a piece of land, it does
not matter how small it is, you still need to get written permission or permitting in that specific area. Now, if it's a piece of land
that you have inherited, and it's been in your family
for a gazillion years, that does not mean that
you still have the right to do whatever you want. I know that sounds incredibly crazy, because it belongs to your family, and that you shouldn't
have to ask for permission, but still, you have to
have the proper permits to be able to put any
structure on any piece of land, 'cause nothing be worse is if you poured a concrete
pad for your tiny home, and you're about to put
it together to find out that you didn't have it
put in the right location, 'cause the setbacks for your
property line weren't correct. And let's talk about that a little bit. If you have a piece of land that you've had for quite some time, and you haven't had a survey done to it, you're going to need a proper survey done. So that way, you know
exactly where you're allowed to put this tiny home in the first place. You must have the proper setbacks, because you'll have some
neighbor in that area that says, "That's done in the
right location, and I know." Somebody is always too nosy
and is up in your grill and is willing to throw you
under the bus in a heartbeat, when it comes to anything unusual. I even saw this couple on TikTok. - Hi, if you're new here, we're building a shipping container house. Get out of the yard, get out of our yard. I will be calling the police. - This belongs to them.
- [Summer] No, it does not. - They have acres of land
in the middle of Missouri, and the neighbors are all over them because of their container home. So don't think you're
gonna get away with it because your family
knows everybody in town, or it's been in your family forever and no one's gonna bother
you about it, somebody will. Somebody always has something to say. So make sure all your t's are crossed and all your i's are dotted, when it comes to putting any
structure on a piece of land. Have that survey, check
with the permitting office, make sure the local
laws are being followed, and don't try to be sneaky and
put in a composting toilet, they're gonna find out,
they always find out. So what's the best kind of land to own when it comes to putting in a tiny home? Well, I always tell people to look for something called Rural Tract, and that's gonna have the
least amount of restrictions when it comes to the piece of land itself. In many other areas,
you're gonna wanna check with your local real estate professional and ask them what would
be the best piece of land. Here in Louisiana, it'd be rural tract. In some other states, it
might be agricultural, but you have to find out
what their local laws are, and that real estate agent
will be able to direct you. And my favorite piece of land, when it comes to putting any structure on, is one that's either, A,
had an old structure on it, like an old house on it, or
even an old mobile home on it. If you look in the descriptions, they'll say there's a
structure on the property that's considered a 'no added value,' meaning the house that's
there is a piece of garbage, and they don't wanna take the time to either take it down or take it apart. It's just gonna cost them more than they really wanna put into it. That's actually a really
good piece of land, because the utilities have already been to that piece of land. So that to me is like a gold mine. You can find really good
pieces of land that way. And then you know exactly
where the house should be. And you have a good idea
from just by looking at it. Whenever you're looking
at a track of land, also, you can always ask the sellers if they have a survey that's on file, no matter how old it is. That way, you can have a general idea. I always recommend getting
a new, updated survey, because, you know, some
of those old surveys are not necessarily the best
in the whole entire world, but at least it gives you a good idea of what you're working with. Now, if you're working with
a real estate agent on this, they can also pull it out
from old title work as well. Not all the time you're
gonna have a survey on file, but at least look for it. And just remember, because
it's a piece of land doesn't mean you don't
have an inspection period. When you're looking at a piece of dirt, you still have the right to inspect it. And that means you can
have your surveys done if there hasn't been any surveys done, that means you can have
any kind of perk tests that you wanna have done
on the piece of land, and any other inspections,
whether it's a timber inspection, soil test compaction, there's a million different tests that you could have done
to that piece of land. Ask your real estate agent which things are gonna be most prudent for the project that you're
doing with your tiny home. Now, that brings me to my next point. What kind of tiny home are
you thinking about buying? Let's talk about that a little bit. Not all tiny homes are created equal. If you live in the state of California, a lot of people refer to
a tiny home as an ADU, because they're using it as a
structure behind their house in order to have like a rental unit. And it's called an Accessory
Dwelling Unit, an ADU. In most cases, if you're
looking at this in California, and this is just for you Californians, you can't just go to any tiny home place and pick up a tiny home and
throw it in your backyard and be able to get that
permitted for an ADU. Make sure you work with
somebody in the California area that can help you set that
up and set it up correctly, because they will, they
will make you tear it down. There's all sorts of laws when it comes to ADUs in your backyard. And one of them is sprinklers
and the right kind of sewage. So don't be silly, just
because you heard it's approved doesn't mean it's an easy process. I'll tell you who knows
more about that than I do is my friend at "How to ADU." If you're in California, go over to his channel and check it out, because he has all the
information when it comes to ADUs and your backyard and
what you wanna do with it. Now, for all my other people
that are not in California, this is what I want you to do. When it comes to your tiny home, I want you to first
think about your purpose of why you're purchasing the
tiny home in the first place. Are you purchasing it because
you are wanting to downsize, or your kid that is going off to college but isn't really going off to college but wants some independence? There's a lot of us, me included, not me personally, I'm
not going off to college, but my kid is. Every tiny home that you're considering, write down all the pros and cons. If you're purchasing
it with somebody else, make sure that they make a
completely different list than you do, in a different room. Don't have a discussion until
both of you have made a list of what you want in your tiny home. So that way, you can meet in the middle, and there isn't any
hardships in the long run. Now I'll tell you, if you're thinking about
buying a tiny home, and you're gonna dip into
your 401(k) to do it. I wouldn't necessarily think that is the most wise financial
decision on your part. But if this is the only way you
can get an affordable house, and that's the way you're
gonna have to do it, I understand there's
always reasons to do this. But I would also look to see if there's any financing that you can get if you're buying a brand new, tiny home. I'll warn you, a lot of times, those interest rates
are gonna be sky-high, because they're mostly
considered like personal loan, and they can be as high
as 10, 15, even 20%, depending on your credit. And if you're just trying to
get outta the rental rat race, and it would save you
actually even more money than if you were renting,
it all kind of makes sense. Then you also need to consider is how much it's gonna cost
you to maintain the tiny home. Even though there is a tiny house, that doesn't mean it
doesn't have tiny problems. Even my client, who actually
turned a shed into a tiny home, she has now lived there
almost seven years. And she's had all sorts of
different things that come up that you don't even think about. If you live in Texas,
you know as well as I do, there's tons of hail storms. So you're gonna have a lot of damage that happens to your roof. Are you gonna be able to replace those roofing materials easily? Do you have the financial
means to do that? Over time, you're gonna
need to have to paint it. I mean, it's probably gonna
only take you one can of paint on the outside, but make
sure you don't go cheap when you're going to replace that paint. And if your tiny home is made of wood, you may still have to worry
about termite problems. Especially here in Louisiana,
we have termites like crazy. These are all things you're gonna have to put
in the back of your head so you can save money for the future. And don't think that just because you bought
a brand new tiny home, you'll have nothing to worry about, things happen all the time. And if you put it on wheels,
there's things that can happen as you're going down the road. I mean, there's rocks that kick up, and you can break your windows. The tires can go flat in your tiny home. There's numerous things
that you add on top of it, especially if you're
traveling with your tiny home down the road. And that brings me to my
next point, insurance. Insurance, when it comes to
tiny homes, is so difficult. You're gonna have an easier time with you're having a tiny
home that's on wheels, because it's considered an RV. So you would get RV insurance, and you could roll it into your policies you probably already have, if you own a house already,
or you have some cars already. Now, you're gonna have a harder time if you're getting insurance on a tiny home that sits on a foundational
pad, because it is so small. Lloyd's of London is one of
those companies that I've heard that does ensure them. Somebody said Progressive
has been ensuring them, but again, it's gonna
be a little bit harder, and it may be so expensive that it's not even worth
you trying to ensure it. Me myself, I'm too much of a panic freak. I couldn't live without insurance. Oh, one more thing, I was gonna tell you
about the financing part. This is one of those costly mistakes that a lot of people make. They think that they
have to use the company that's selling the tiny home itself, their financing company. That may not be the case. If you have pretty good
credit, you most likely will be able to go to your local
bank or local credit union. You may be able to get
financing through them and with a better interest rate. I would strongly suggest,
before you purchase a tiny home and you plan on putting
it on a piece of property, look at other financing options other than just the people
that are sitting on the lot. Their job is to sell you a tiny home and for them to push
you to their financing. I want you to save as
much money as possible. So if you can get it
financed somewhere else, through your local credit union, and save yourself a ton of money, that's what I want you to do. So look there before you
assign on the dotted line at the tiny home company. Now, another costly
mistake that people make when they're purchasing a tiny home is they do not consider where
they're purchasing it from and where they're deciding to put it. If you are buying a tiny home in, let's just say, middle of Texas, and then you happen to live in Maine, that tiny home may have
been designed and insulated for that specific weather in Texas. So you were to go ahead
and bring it up to Maine, where it goes below zero quite often. And now, that tiny home
is literally an icebox. It's nothing more than a shed by the time you get it up to Maine. Ask them specifically if this is designed to be going all over the
United States, just not Texas, if you can have it in Oregon when there's a snow load of eight feet. So that way, this tiny home isn't collapsing on you and your family when you decide to move into
it. I know, for some of you, that might sound absolutely crazy to you, but not all tiny homes are built the same, and they're not built to
the same exact standards that you would need
for every single state. So make sure that you understand exactly what type of
tiny home you're getting and if it can handle the weather elements in your specific area. So I have this idea for me and my husband, and I wanna get your opinion, but I wanna buy a plot of land and put a tiny home on one side for me, a tiny home on one side for him, and then have a tiny home in the center, with a kitchen and a living room area. The poor guy needs a break for me, 'cause I am pretty obnoxious. (chuckling) So what do you think about that idea? Let me know in the comments section below. I do have some great information when it comes to tiny
homes and modular homes and different types of
affordable housing options, so you're gonna wanna check
out these videos right here. My name is Kristina Smallhorn,
Your Real Estate Whisperer. And I tell you all this because good real estate
information matters.
