Every home-buying journey comes with a few challenges, but one of the toughest is when your friends and family don’t support your home-buying goals. Unfortunately, this phenomenon can be even more common when it comes to tiny homes.
The good news is that everyone in the tiny home world has heard the objections to tiny home before. So we come to you today with collected wisdom from the tiny home community.
Ouch. This one hurts. Also, it’s kind of funny, but let’s break it down.
If you say you want to buy a tiny house, and a loved one suggests you “just buy an RV,” it can sting. After all, you don’t want an RV, you want a tiny house, and those things are different.
Traditional RVs are intended for recreational use so the materials used to construct them are cheaper.
Tiny homes, on the other hand, are built with higher-grade insulation, real glass windows and doors, and higher-quality materials all around.
So when someone suggests that you should settle for less, it can hurt.
Now, here’s why their “helpful suggestion” is a little bit funny
Technically, many tiny homes on wheels are RVs. In fact, we even call them “tiny home RVs” to help the world understand that even though a tiny home is a much higher quality product, tiny home builders often build them to RV building codes. (Tiny homes just often far surpass the minimum RV requirements!)
So how do you handle this one with your family?
Well, you could say, great suggestion, Aunt Marge, and then ask her to help you choose one from our tiny home RV gallery. 🙂
This tiny house objection can hit you hard. After all, no one wants to make mistakes when it comes to finances.
But while financial doubt can be discouraging, just remember this: “tiny homes are a bad investment” is a super vague thing to say.
First, let’s discuss the word investment. Many investors would argue that one’s own home is not actually an investment at all. So if you plan to live in your tiny home, “investment” may not even be a helpful way of looking at a tiny house.
What your loved ones might be trying to get at though, is that tiny homes depreciate, whereas real estate generally appreciates over time. (Real estate is land and anything permanently affixed to land, like, for instance, a traditional house.)
But while it’s true that tiny houses depreciate, it doesn’t necessarily make a tiny home a “bad investment.”
For example, how much would it cost to rent an apartment for ten years? And how much would you lose to deprecation over those same ten years? Would a tiny home still save you money? And even if it was a wash, would you have a better quality of life along the way?
We’ll leave the math to you, but the point is that there are other numbers and angles to consider.
So what do you do if your friends and family pull this one out? We’d start by asking them to define what they mean by “investment.”
Oh, and if you do plan to use your tiny house as a long-term or short-term rental unit, just let your family go do the math on that one! And please take a picture of their faces when they compare tiny home ROI (return on investment) to investing in a traditional rental property!
Ohhhh, some people can get so judge-y about this one! But why? Tiny houses on wheels are cute, functional, and provide more flexibility than traditional homes!
We’ve heard of plenty of people getting hung up about houses built on trailers, but do you know what else? We’ve also seen plenty of people totally transformed the minute they step into a tiny home.
Sometimes, our loved ones just have to see it to believe it when it comes to the beauty of a tiny house.
So what do you do if your friends and family give you that judge-y glare? We’d suggest they follow us on Instagram! Pretty pictures have a way of softening people up.
Oh, and when your tiny house arrives, be sure to throw a tiny house house-warming party so they can experience the Mint magic for themselves!
Well, it can be, but there are options.
Before we get into them though, you might want to remind your friends and family that no housing option is 100% obstacle-free.
So, yes, you’ll need to find a place to park your tiny house, but don’t let that small detail stand between you and your tiny home dream.
A tiny house is not about avoiding hard; it’s about choosing your hard.
So what do you do if your loved ones throw a fit about tiny home parking? Ask them to help you find it!
It’s hard to not take it personally when our friends and family don’t support our dreams, but we hope this post gives you ideas of how to help your case for buying a tiny home!
We hope your loved ones come around, but even if they don’t, know this:
The tiny home movement is a pioneering effort, and its success is thanks to inspired, courageous souls like you who’ve dared to explore this new housing frontier.
Is that a risk? Of course, it is! Anything and everything worth doing is a risk, but if you have the fortitude to press on, you will cross to the other side where the tiny home community is waiting with open arms.
At Mint, we know it can be hard on our clients when their loved ones don’t offer support, but know that you will have support before, during, and after your tiny home journey! Our team will be there every step of the way, and our past clients know they can call us any time, and for any reason. We’ll always do our best to help you.
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