How Much Does It Really Cost to Build a Tiny Home That Doesn’t Suck?

Ever since the early 2000s, the tiny home movement has exploded. The idea of taking up less space and living minimally appeals to many, but how much can you really expect to spend on one?

Just because they are smaller than your traditional home doesn’t mean they can’t be costly. In fact, you don’t want to go for the cheapest options, because they likely won’t be sustainable. It’s like any other real estate investment, you need to research thoroughly before you even take that first step.

Let’s dig into what costs go into a tiny home that doesn’t suck.

Costs of the Home

The first thing you have to take into consideration is the cost of the home, but it’s not as straightforward as you might think. There are a number of expenses that go into this type of purchase.

For example, you have to consider whether you’re going to DIY or have one professionally built. Then, there’s the materials, amenities, size and design, not to mention the land you’re putting it on.

DIY vs. Professional

When choosing your tiny home, doing it yourself is could potentially be cheaper, but it can take longer as well. If you don’t have the know-how, you could introduce issues into the build, making it even more expensive.

Hiring professionals will cost more upfront, but the job will also be done right, minimizing costs down the road.

Materials

The materials can vary in cost depending on what you use inside and outside the home. For example, the type of wood and siding, if any, you use, plus the materials in the home. Think granite or marble countertops or high-end materials to create other surfaces in the home.

If you go the DIY route, you’ll also spend money on building materials such as nails, screws, plates, joiners, and the like. The materials can run into the tens of thousands, easily.

Appliances

Just because it’s a tiny home doesn’t mean you can’t have appliances. You will need to sacrifice the size of said appliances, however, unless you opt for a tiny home that’s more on the not-too-tiny size.

Dishwashers and washer/dryer combo units are all possible, but they will set you back a few grand.

Permitting

Regardless of where you build your tiny home, you’ll need to obtain the proper permitting and meet the zoning requirements. In some cases, that may require you to do additional work to bring the property up to standards.

This category can run several hundred or thousands of dollars, depending on where you live and if you already own the land or not.

Land

You can’t have a house without some property to put it on and that can be just as costly as your home or more. If you already own land, you can easily move on to having the house built providing your zoning and permitting are in order.

If you don’t finding the property can be a tedious challenge and depending on the market you may pay more.

Overall Findings

The costs for a tiny home can vary widely. In fact, you could probably create one for $20,000. But if you want it done right and you want it decked out with multiple amenities that make life easy, you’ll likely spend upwards of $100,000.

That doesn’t include the land, which we mentioned before. If you already have it, there are no additional expenses, except yearly taxes. However, if you don’t have a plot to build on, you can expect to lay out several thousand more, at a minimum. So while you can get a tiny house for $3,000 or so, is it really going to be what you want? Likely not.