We're interested in the idea of a tiny home, but we live in NJ which, to my knowledge, isn't considered a tiny home friendly state. Getting land looks like it'd be easy, and getting a builder to build the tiny home looks easy. The hard part is the legal stuff - zoning, how do we know we can build on a plot of land we're looking at buying, does it have square foot minimums, if the tiny house is on wheels does it count as a mobile home, how does the school district work for the kids, how do taxes work, etc.?

We just have so many questions. Are they any state specific resources for this type of thing? Are there professionals that can help us navigate this process like there are with the traditional home buying process?

Thanks in advance!

Looking at an all ages Tiny Home community at Lakeshore. Love the cottage style and size of homes available, along with the amenities and sense of community. I have not found any communities like this one in the eastern part of the US. If you are familiar with this community, I would love to hear your thoughts! Also, any additional recommendations for similar communities are appreciated.

About ten years ago, Spur called itself a 'Tiny house friendly town' and came up with a set of regulations for houses on foundations. I haven't seen or heard much about this in a long while and wondered how it worked out?

I’m looking to buy land in Pickens County, South Carolina. The land has no restrictions, I’d like to have 4 tiny homes on the land. We’re going through the sale and the septic guy says I’ll need 6 different septic systems, one for each dwelling.

Is there any way I can get around this? I know a 4 bedroom house can live off one septic, if I were to build 4 tiny homes with 1 person living in each(aka 1 bedroom each) wouldn’t it be the same thing?

Hi. My husband and I want to downsize to a small home (1,000-1,400 sf) in the south east part of the US. I can find tiny home communities that I love, but not small home communities. Suggestions?

What would the ideal size home for two people to live somewhat comfortably? If two people lived together, friends, roommates, would you consider two bathrooms to be important?

Thinking about downsizing from 2400+ sq ft home to smaller house and as an older person want to have space for a roommate/ helper, if I decide to go that direction.

What is important to include in house design in downsizing for an older persons?

Hello all.

I have been rummaging this subreddit for ideas, financial preparations and the idea of my forever home being the goal of a tiny home. Ideally I’d go through a vendor with the shed shells where I could utilize a loft and main level space to create a two bedroom, one bath. It could be next spring this has to occur (if rent goes up where I live while I’m in school), or post graduation for me. So here is my big question…

Has anyone ordered or purchased the cabinets from ikea? Did you like them? Have they lasted throughout your build experience?

Thank you all in advance!

we want to build a modest home (2 bed, 1 bath about 16x50). We would want to love here for at least 5+ years then potentially building a bigger home as family and finances grow. We don’t have unlimited funds but I also hear so much great things of icf. we are in rural KS with many tornadoes. that all being said, would you opt to do icf walls in a small home or just stick frame? no experience with icf have framed stick built walls a few times but still total beginner

I contacted the DOT and they said that they would save the mud flaps that come off a big trucks they happen to have a conveyor belt that came off of a truck and I took them and cut them up and put them on I'm starting putting them on the front of my shed then I'm going to put them along the side it looks pretty good and it's doing its job.

Hey people. I have zero experience building homes, and want to just help people out so that I can learn. I am highly motivated/dependable etc, but due to my 9-5, can really only help out during weekend shifts. If anyone has a company and wants some free help building these babies, please feel free to DM me!

I have the opportunity to buy a 30’ tiny house for under $20k. I’ve never made a big purchase/decision like this. I’ve been a renter my whole life, struggling to work to pay rent and keep that cycle going. I have options to park it. I’ve never bought a car, I’ve never owned something big and inconvenient. I feel like I’m being irresponsible if I go through with it, even though it makes sense to me, I feel like I can’t trust myself. I feel as though I’m not a reliable person to be making this decision on my own and that somebody should tell me speak reality into me because I may be blinded by rose colored glasses. Is it an irresponsible decision? I have the money to buy it in cash. I don’t actually make much at all per month. Which is why renting for the rest of my life feels more irresponsible to me than buying a tiny home, but again, I don’t feel like I’m a reliable source.

Is there a way to connect THOW to other THOW or bigger structures? That would be a way to increase the space a home offers while still remaining highly portable.

Considering them for either a park model build or even a modular because a year and a half in to my process and the zoning and building code issue is as you all know tedious to work thru. So, am considering starting a new process with the modular certification on the tiny house.

Okay so I'm working about 3 hours away from my house that I don't want to sell. I found an empty lot a block from work thar is $11k. I can get gas, electric, and water hook up. I am wondering abiut a tiny home already to be dropped don a lot that I could live in. I checked a few sites and so many end up being a run around of "oh no this will be released in 2028" "this isn't in your state" "it's actually 4 times the advertised price". What's a ready thing I can buy today to live in for 4 nights a week far from my regular home. It does not need to be big at all. A studio is fine. If it's on wheels and I can move it later that's good too.

doing a small van build and trying to figure out the bathroom situation without turning half the van into a wet bath. dry flush toilets seem perfect on paper, no water, no plumbing, no cassette tank. but i started crunching the numbers and its rough.

laevo cartridges are pricey, and even with those cheaper folding options like modiwell, the ongoing cost for refills builds up crazy fast. i tried to do the math myself to see if bulk buying refills makes it worth it, but i honestly still can’t tell if it’s a smart move or a money pit. the daily numbers just feel iffy when you actually think about two people relying on it full-time.

for those of you who actually full time with a dry flush setup, are you using it as your primary or just for nighttime/emergency? trying to figure out if the convenience is worth the recurring cost or if i should just go with a different route entirely

Only the bathroom and pantry left! The ceiling will be stained the same colour as the trim in the last photo, that’s coming next. Painted my daughter’s room “May Flower” and the living room/kitchen “Pale Oak”. A few touch ups on the ceilings and I can hang up the roller for good.

The tap water here has a heavy chlorine smell and a weird metallic taste. I used a basic pitcher filter for a while, but it was way too slow for two people working from home and making coffee every morning. We temporarily switched to bottled water, but i got tired of hauling heavy cases up the stairs and dealing with all the plastic waste.

I started looking into countertop RO systems to get better water without touching the plumbing. I ended up trying an Aigerri countertop RO unit recently since it just plugs into the wall and doesn't require any installation.

It definitely solves the landlord problem, but there are some very real trade-offs if you're considering this route:

First, the cabinet clearance is a bit annoying. When closed, the machine is about 16 inches tall, so its fine under my standard upper cabinets. But opening the top lid to refill the tank requires about 22 inches of clearance. I basically have to pull the whole unit forward to an open spot on the counter every time I need to add water.

Second, it doesn't hook up to a drain. It relies on a 5L raw water tank and a 2L clean tank. They claim a 5:1 pure-to-drain ratio, which seems more efficient than older systems, but you are still manually dumping that wastewater and refilling the raw tank every day or two.

The water taste is a massive improvement — no more pool water smell or metallic edge. I still need to grab a decent tester to check the before and after TDS numbers, and I am still looking into the exact certification documents for the filters, but for basic apartment tap water, it feels like a reasonable compromise so far

For people using countertop RO setups, how annoying is the filter replacement after a few months? And is there a better renter-friendly setup I should have considered before going with a tank system like this?