My Search for a Tiny Home Community Is Over
Are you ready to join the tiny home movement?
The tiny home movement is growing, but it’s not a new thing as some would have you believe. There have always been homeowners who want something small, sustainable, and easy to care for.
My search for a tiny home began in 2018, not long after I had sold my large “dream house” and downsized to a Texas farmhouse on 10 acres. That was just the start of my journey to simple living and tiny home living.
Shortly after we moved into the farmhouse, I already knew it was more house than I needed or wanted. Sure, it was smaller than the home I had sold but we were now officially empty nesters, and really, how much square footage did we take up on a regular basis?
After filling all the rooms with furniture and “stuff”, I had a thought that spoke to me: tiny homes. I hadn’t been following the tiny home movement on social media or via shows like Tiny House Nation and Tiny House Hunters (a tiny house version of HGTV’s popular House Hunters series), but I had been making some moves toward minimalism.
As I researched tiny homes I found a growing movement of people who wanted to live in a community but live sustainably. Living just outside of Austin, TX we saw firsthand what was happening to the housing market. With prices skyrocketing in and around Austin, people who wanted to live modestly were being priced out of two-bedroom homes because of gentrification and the influx of tech giants.
The search for a tiny home
I had already lived for a house — aka — been “house poor” and didn’t want to live like that again. Out of curiosity, I began contacting tiny home builders and community developers. And my quest for a tiny home community was underway.
We decided, after a few years of playing with chickens and goats, that we would prefer a much smaller house without land to take care of. We wanted to rest, explore, and live a more carefree lifestyle. We put a down payment on a tiny home lot in a community called Village Farm in East Austin.
They were in Phase One of development, with plans for an organic farm, fruit orchard, and community events. They already had a pool and some early adopters in place. Our plans changed when my husband accepted a job in Colorado.
Village Farm has gone on to become all that it promised and more. I am shocked, however, how much the prices have increased since we were planning in 2019. Alas, the housing market dictates. Still, in a market like Austin where the median house price is $695K, a tiny home in a community with like-minded neighbors and nice amenities for under $200K is still a bargain.
While in Colorado we inquired about a few tiny home communities but they were never quite the right fit. I was looking for all my boxes to be checked and I didn’t want to compromise.
The truth about tiny home communities
While most tiny home communities offer (or promise to offer) some amenities like community gardens, walking trails, or a community gathering spot, many were just tiny homes on a patch of land. If I was going to live in a community with others and pay for a monthly lot rental, I wanted amenities galore!
Yes, you read that right: most tiny home communities charge a monthly rental fee on your lot, anywhere from a few hundred dollars to close to $1,000 per month. You don’t own your lot. You do own your house. You also pay for your own internet and electric or other heating sources, but most include garbage, water, and sewer in your monthly fees.
Alternative tiny home living
We were seriously beginning to think that our dream of a tiny home in a community that met all our needs and wants was a pipe dream. After two years of apartment living during the pandemic, we were ready for new sights and adventures. We bought a 44' fifth wheel and hit the road. That became our tiny home. The toy hauler garage was perfect for my office so I could work on the road. There’s more than one way to skin a cat, as they say!
When selecting campgrounds or RV parks, we were really interested in the resorts and mobile home parks because they offered the amenities we had been looking for in our tiny home search. Park to park, we’d look around, make a list of what we liked, what was missing, and if it felt like we could call that place home.
After four days in an RV resort in the White Mountains of Arizona, we knew we had found our dream community. It checked all of the boxes and then some!
Pool, community gardens, exercise and sauna rooms, outdoor activities, nature surrounding the grounds, well-kept facilities, social and craft activities, dog parks, and private access to a lake for kayaking and swimming, to name a few.
But, the key factor that sold us was something we could not find anywhere else: homeowners owned their own lots in this community — no rent that could be jacked up year after year. There are HOA fees, of course, to maintain the grounds and the facilities, but at $200 per month we’re well under any rental fee we found at other parks.
Many of the tiny homes here are summer homes for those who want to escape the heat of the Arizona desert. But, about one-third maintain residency year round. Neighbors look out for one another, have a vested interest in keeping the community in top shape, and work together to enjoy life.
Homes in our community range from the truly tiny home park model at under 400 sq. ft. to upwards of 1,000 sq. ft. with enclosed porches or family rooms added on over the years. Now, I realize there are tiny home purists who will say it’s not truly time home living unless you are living in less than 400 sq. ft., but I don’t worry about the critics.
There are also those minimalists who will judge you on whether your home is minimalistic enough. I say stop being the minimalist police and let people live how they want to. Any effort at simplifying life and reducing one’s impact on the environment should be applauded.
We’re keeping our other “tiny home” for now — we haven’t exhausted our desire to travel just yet — and having an option to go south for the winter is the cherry on top of my tiny home sundae-dream-come-true!
If you are interested in tiny home living here are some tips to get started.
It’s not for everyone, so doing some research and a lot of leg work can save you time and heartache in the long run.
- Check out the tiny home Facebook pages, groups, and Instagram accounts, and also watch some Youtube videos. You’ll find a LOT of opinions out there but it’s good to start learning and asking questions.
- Sadly, you can’t just buy a tiny home and plop it anywhere, so you’ll need to find tiny-home-friendly states and cities, own your own land, understand the zoning and building regulations, or find a community with space for your home.
- Are you really ready to get rid of most of your stuff? Honestly, I could not have made the move from 4,200 square feet to a tiny home immediately. For us, it was a gradual step down. Give yourself some time to plan and purge — it may not be as easy as you think it will be.
- Are close neighbors okay with you? If you're going to live in a community with others, you will be close to your neighbors with most tiny home lots the size of an RV lot.
- Age restrictions. Our community is 55+but when we started our search we were not in that bracket. Entering into that age category certainly opened up many more opportunities for us to find the tiny home community we wanted.
- There will be other restrictions! Sheds? — maybe. A driveway? — maybe. You might be restricted in the style or color of the house or what type of trees and landscaping you can plant. One community we looked at only offered parking up front so you’d be carrying your baby, your groceries, and your camping gear to your front door.
- Friends and family will probably criticize you. But that’s okay. It’s perfectly fine to live a life that others do not understand!
- Are you willing to relocate? You might have to in order to pursue a simple living lifestyle. Crazy as it seems, it can be a real struggle to get approval for tiny home communities in some states and cities. There is a tiny home community I’ve had my eye on for a few years now in North Carolina. I fell in love with their Instagram account because it’s closely named with my account about simple living! Their motto is Live Large — Carry Less. A beautiful place to live but I really wanted to live in Arizona.
My search for the perfect tiny home community might be over but my endeavor to live as simply as possible is an ongoing journey and commitment. What’s your version of tiny living? What is your dream of simplifying your life? Don’t give up yet — if you know what you want, you’ll find it!
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