This just might be the craziest thing I’ve been able to persuade Aaron to do with me yet. We are going to build a tiny house! You may have seen this coming with all the tiny house posts here on the blog and on social media, and if so, you, my friend, are very perceptive. ;)
Ever since we went to check out the Tumbleweed tiny houses last spring in Colorado Springs, I haven’t been able to shake the idea that going tiny is something we needed to do. Going tiny feels right.
By going tiny we will be able to take every single area of our life to the next level.
There are so many reasons we want to go tiny. Here are our top 4 reasons:
1. Rental income. Denver’s real estate market is insane right now. Tons of people are moving here each month (approx 4k). We’d love to rent out our current home but we wouldn’t have anywhere to go! By going tiny we would be able to rent out our current home when we’re traveling in the tiny house. Then, when we are in Denver for wedding season we can rent out the tiny house. Either way we will be able to make income from the place we’re not living in. We see going tiny as a way to have an investment property without spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to do it the traditional way. With the rental income we could make from renting out our current home (either with a long-term tenant or through a short-term rental site like Airbnb) we could pay for our mortgage, HOA fee, and the payment for the Tiny Home loan.
2. We want to expand our wedding photography business. Eventually, we would like to travel with the tiny house to warmer markets during Denver’s cold winter months.
3. We’re out here in Denver by ourselves (apart from my bro and sister-in-law in Erie, Colorado) and we want Henry to have a relationship with his cousins and grandparents. By going tiny we’ll be able to be by family more often; we’ll actually be able to become a part of their daily lives again.
4. Book Tour! When my book comes out we just might take the tiny house on a book tour! (Side note: my book will now be published on April 26, 2016 and this is exciting since I haven’t announced this here yet – the name of my book will be: The Spender’s Guide to Debt-Free Living: How to do a Spending Fast and Get From Broke to Badass in Record Time)!
Building a house, even an itty-bitty one, has been a huge undertaking. Now, we’re technically not doing the actual building of the house ourselves, a local builder, Rebuild Right, will be doing it but there is still so much that has had to be done. It has also been a roller coaster of an experience in many ways but I’ll save all that for another post.
While I can tell you that we’re going to be building a tiny house, I can’t share many other details, and there’s a good reason why: we’re going to be featured on the TV show, Tiny House Nation! Nuts, right?
It will be an hour-long episode and they will show the build, some down-sizing that we will be doing, and then the big reveal! The show airs on the FYI network. (Check it out here: www.fyi.tv) We don’t know the air date of our episode yet but I will share it as soon as I know it. Also, we won’t be able to share pictures of the completed house until after the episode airs.
Here are a few things I can share:
- Our tiny house will be around 200 square feet
- The design is awesome!
- We are paying for the house (not the show)
- The tiny house has become way more expensive then we thought it would be
- The house will be built within 10 days (!!!)
- We will be filming for 6 days
- We’ve been working on this with a the builder and Tiny House Nation’s production team since June-ish
- I can’t tell you the exact dates we’ll be doing the filming and building but it’s sooner than later;)
One last thing, we need your help!
There’s one other little thing we’d love your help with, we have a build site but we don’t have a spot in town to park our tiny house once it’s built. If anyone has any leads in the central Denver area about where we could park it we would love any leads you may have!
What questions do you have for me about the tiny house? I’ll try to answer the ones that I can/am allowed to.;)
P.S. Looking to declutter and minimize? CLICK HERE to learn about the Fearless Minimalist Guide
I’m obsessive about Tiny House Nation, so PLEASE let us know when you’re on it!! It’ll be so cool to see someone I blog-follow on the show. I’m super curious to hear your thoughts on doing the tiny house thing with a kid involved and how you make that work. Enjoy the new adventure!
I’m curious how that will work, too! Hah!;)
We’ve been talking about Tiny House life… We’re more the put it on some land, but my husband and I have been looking at Container Homes! We have 1 toddler, and would like to obtain one more of the squealy things. Container homes have a bit more flexibility, and could be easily moved on a semi-truck!
ANNA! I am SO excited for you! That is crazy-awesome news! I can’t wait to see the episode and check out your book. :)
Thanks, Mandi!
This is so funny because my Boyfriend and I are building tiny right now too! AND were going to be on a new HGTV show about it too! (Tiny Luxury) Our plan is also to Rent out an owned home, and we’ll live in a the huge backyard with fences and whatnot. I’ve followed this site for a really long time and Its awesome to see other people with similar financial goals do what we’re doing! Can’t wait to see it!
Whoa! Awesome!! Be sure to let me know when your episode will be on! I’d LOVE to see it!! xo
Congratulations and good luck!! I am obsessed with reading about and looking at other people’s tiny houses, but I am not interested in living in one myself. My boyfriend and I have too many eclectic hobbies that take up a lot of space, like music and sewing and record-playing. :-)
So exciting! I can’t wait to see it!
Anna- congrats!!!!! What an achievement! It all sounds so exciting! Good for you!
Congratulations!! That is so amazing and cool. Can’t wait to see how it all turns out- keep us posted! Also if you’re offering any signed copies of your book please let us know. I’d be happy to pay extra for a personalized copy :)
Congrats!!! Soooo exciting! I love that show and I can’t wait to read the blog posts about the Tiny experience!
This is so cool!! I can’t wait to watch your episode when it airs and hear all about your experience!
Yay! This is so exciting! I’m looking forward to following this journey you’re on.
That is so awesome! Congratulations on your tiny home!!
Hi Anna,
Ho exciting! In terms of parking, a lot of the parking in Denver has a 2 hour limit unless you’re a resident living in that street. But not all. Try finding a neighborhood street that doesn’t have the two hour restriction. If parking is not an issue in that area it’s more likely that your new “neighbors” won’t mind that you’re parking there. I live in Park Hill next to City Park, and there’s plenty of streets that have unrestricted parking, so it’s legal to park there. Just keep an eye on when the monthly street sweeping happens– that is an expensive ticket!
Good luck, and thanks for creating this blog!
Congrats Anna, I can’t wait to hear all about your “tiny” new adventure..
Congrats! We are also tiny-housers in the making. Have you seen the parking map at TinyHouseCommunity.com?
wowwwww big things all around!!! Congrats!!!
now can you PLEASE come over here and convince my wife to move into a tiny home too?
PLEASE!!! (and not get me divorced in the process? :))
Hi J-Money! Big fan of yours for several years!!
Best wishes your wife is converted to the tiny life soon.
We are planning on it!
Jenelle
My boyfriend and I just moved to Denver and I have SERIOUS tiny house dreams (especially with the rent prices here!) Can’t wait to see your episode!
Aaron’s hat is awesome, who/where is it from?
Thanks, Matt! That hat is actually super old. I think he got it from somewhere in Portland or his brother gave it to him. Either way, I know that’s not helpful! I’ve seen some similar styles for sale on Etsy under the search term: wool bicycle cap.
I saw the tiny house listed for sale. As we are in the process of becoming empty nesters we have toyed with the idea of going tiny but seeing yours for sale has me wondering what you found the challenges to be and what led to your decision to give it up.