r/TinyHouses

the land isn't the hard part. the zoning is.

here's what I'd check before buying, not six months after.

1. minimum dwelling size

Some zoning codes have minimum floor area requirements for residential dwellings.

If you're looking at a 400 sq ft tiny home and the zoning requires 800 sq ft, you've got a problem before you even get to the fun stuff.

And this isn't some theoretical issue. Minimum dwelling sizes vary by jurisdiction, and requirements can be high enough to rule out smaller tiny homes entirely.

Don't assume "residential zoning" means your tiny home qualifies. Pull the actual zoning code and look for the minimum dwelling size.

2. tiny home on wheels vs. foundation

This is a huge one.

If it's on wheels, a lot of places classify it as an RV instead of a dwelling.

And plenty of jurisdictions have restrictions on living in an RV full time on your own land.

So you can end up in a situation where the tiny home is allowed to be there, but you're not allowed to use it as your permanent residence.

That distinction matters.

3. septic and utilities

Getting the dwelling approved doesn't automatically mean the site will work.

Check whether the property can actually support the required septic system and whether the county has specific requirements based on the type or size of dwelling.

If you're planning to go off grid, check water and septic before buying the dirt, not after.

4. how many dwellings are allowed

This gets overlooked by people planning multiple tiny homes.

A residential parcel allowing one dwelling doesn't mean you can put three tiny homes on it because they're small.

If the plan is one for you, one for family, and another for guests, check the actual dwelling and accessory dwelling rules first.

The listing can say "residential."

The seller can say "tiny homes are allowed."

Neither one answers the question that actually matters:

Can I legally live in my specific tiny home on this specific parcel?

I'd rather spend an hour reading the zoning code before buying the land than find out six months later.

If you're eyeing a specific parcel for your tiny home and want a second set of eyes on whether your setup is actually allowed there, drop a comment or DM me. Happy to help you look.

I'm looking for volunteers to join a 20-30 member focus group to determine general interest and planning preferences for the tiny home community I am actively looking to purchase land for.

The concept for this community is a 'no screens' encouraged intentional living community. This would not be off-grid, it wouldn't be vegan only or anything like that. I'm just looking to create a place where the intent is to create and encourage a lifestyle that is free or mostly free whenever possible of 'screens' while residents are on the property.

Let me know if you'd like to participate in my focus group and I'll coordinate how and when everyone can participate.

I’m from NY … Queens. I moved to Delray Beach Fla 7 months ago bcz my 97 yr old Mom was here. She passed away 9 months ago. My 2 boys ( in their 50’s ) and all my cousins are in NY. And I’m thinking of moving back.
I saw new manufactured homes in upstate NY ( Hudson Valley ). Wondering if anyone has experience with manufactured homes .. good or bad. Thank you

edit: we're in Virginia

Hello, I don't know if I post in the right sub-reddit. I'm researching about tiny houses these day for my family.

Me (33M), my wife, my mom (72), my dad (75) will be living in the same lot. In my culture, we keep family close and like spending time and having dinner together. But I prefer every family has their own house and space. So I'm planning to have:

• A small house for me and my wife, 1 bed 1 bth, big living space
• A small house for my mom and dad, 1 bed 1 bth
• A communal kitchen house, have kitchen and dining space
• An extra house so we can use as storage/office and guest room.
• We have a 1.5 acres land and the free spaces will be used for small livestock and vegetable garden for personal consumption.

For the 2 main houses, I'm doing research on small house instead of tiny house because I want my mom and dad to have real HVAC or systems that are more comfortable for senior.

Is this realistic and worth it? Am I being stupid for considering this... Would a normal traditional house 3 bed 2 bath actually cheaper?

Thank you for your advices, I appreciate every input and experiences you had. Have anyone here choose the same, building multiple small houses rather than 1 traditional house?

We've been living full time in our tiny house for about a year and a half now. We're off grid and don't have a black tank, so we went with a dry flush toilet pretty early on.

We've had a Laveo the whole time and honestly it has been pretty uneventful, which is probably the best thing I can say about a toilet lol. It flushes, seals, and we haven't had any major mechanical issues with it.

The only thing I've started paying more attention to lately is the refill cost.

When we bought it I was mostly thinking about avoiding plumbing and a black tank. I definitely wasn't sitting there calculating what bags would cost after 18 months of using it every day.

There are two of us and we usually end up going through around two bags a day. Individually it doesn't feel like much, but after doing it this long I've started noticing how much we're spending on refills.

That's what sent me down the rabbit hole of looking at other dry flush setups.

One I'm curious about is modiwell.

Their refill setup looks cheaper from what I can find, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what people actually pay once they've owned one for a while. Starter packs and website pricing don't really tell me much about the real long-term cost.

The other difference I'm curious about is the sealing system.

With the Laveo, everything gets twisted off into the continuous liner, so eventually you're dealing with that whole chain when you empty it.

From what I understand, modiwell heat seals each use separately.

I have no idea if that actually makes much difference in normal daily use, though. It sounds different on paper, but tiny house stuff has taught me that a feature can sound great until you've used it 500 times.

So I'm mostly hoping to hear from someone who's actually owned both, or at least lived with one of them long enough that the honeymoon period is over.

How have the seals held up?

Any jams or weird mechanical issues after a year or more?

What are you realistically paying for refills?

And are there any little ongoing costs or annoyances that you didn't know about when you first bought it?

I'm not really trying to figure out which one has the better spec sheet. I can read those.

I'm more interested in the boring stuff you only learn after the toilet has been sitting three feet from your bed for a year.

I want to learn plumbing to build a tiny home among other reasons and I know absolutely nothing.

Who can I learn from and trust to know that I am learning from the right person.

My biggest fear is that ill learn something from the wrong platform or book and ill make a huge mistake.

Thank you ❤️

All the photos online of tiny homes don’t look like people live full time in them. All the couches look unwelcoming to me. Anybody have a large cozy couch and living room they want to share photos of?

I am working and saving up to buy some land and build a Tiny House on it. I really love the Tudor/Medieval/Fantasy style houses and was wondering if any of you have a similar style in your tiny home and if you built it yourself or not. Thank you in advance!

Hello!

I am in the planning phase of converting a 16.5x37.5 (615ish square feet.) building on my parents land into a tiny home. The place is for me and my son, I need 2 bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom(with tub) and a kitchen. I also plan on fitting a stackable washer/dryer in either the bathroom or kitchen. Are there any available floor plans online in similar dimensions? Currently the most space friendly plan we've come up with basically splits the place in half long ways and puts the bedrooms and baths on that side and the living room/kitchen on the other half but im honestly not crazy about the design. Any and all advice is appreciated :)

I I know that a lighthouse may not be considered a "standard" tiny home (portable, etc.), but I've always wanted to live in one. Thoughts?

https://preview.redd.it/n4ietcp4h6ih1.png?width=1267&format=png&auto=webp&s=f778a7c54d05067113fc7fcf8b656f1a69749fef

Like, what's the square footage that makes the difference ?

I've seen 2 bdrm houses called a tiny house...

My cabin in Hawaii is 5 sided 14' diameter. To me, that's a tiny house...

So where's the line ?