AS tiny homes gain popularity across the country, The Home Depot is showing you don’t have to splurge to attain home ownership with a small house available for just north of $8,000.
As Americans look to lower their monthly spending, tiny homes have become more common, no matter if you’re living by yourself or with a family.
1
With traditional homes’ price tags typically set above $200,000 and monthly mortgage payments remaining high across the board, some people turn to an unorthodox and minimalist lifestyle: tiny homes.
Many people have converted vans and sheds into full-scale tiny homes for less than $10,000.
At The Home Depot, several sheds are available for affordable rates, and you can easily convert the spaces into your new residence with a little bit of creativity and grit.
The retailer’s Western Red Cedar Garden Shed is one such option, for a price of just $8,325.
Read more about tiny homes
The 12-foot-square shed comes fully stocked with a panel to hold your belongings.
The 144 square feet shed also has tons of windows for natural lighting as well as an L-shaped wall for easy design.
While the space is small, you can transform the shed into a full tiny home if you add in a bed, kitchen appliances, and perhaps a couch.
You’ll just need to scan sites like Facebook Marketplace for cheap materials to upgrade the flower shed into a full-scale home.
Most read in Money
TINY HOME VILLAGES GAIN MOMENTUM
While there’s no requirement that a tiny home must exist in a larger community of mini-houses, many Americans have been joining niche neighborhoods that only offer units specifically designed for the tiny home lifestyle.
These villages combine low-cost, minimalist housing with community events and additional amenities.
In Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, Tiny Estates offers 58 tiny homes, and rent begins at just $650.
At first, the space operated more like a hotel, but owner Abby Shank said over time, it became the community it is today, far different from its past as a mobile home park.
“Everybody kind of has a different lifestyle and a reason for having their tiny home, but it’s created this nice, well-rounded sense of community,” Shank said.
The space includes a community garden, firepit, mailbox space, and laundry facilities.
Meanwhile, in Wilmington, North Carolina, the Eden Village offers a solution for homelessness, providing a 32-unit tiny home community for those who fit the criteria of “chronically homeless.”
To live in the village, people also must have a physical or mental illness that makes them a high-cost burden to the public.
Once approved, you’ll pay only a small portion of your monthly earnings.
Orlando, Florida has also built a tiny home community with rent as low as $350.
The Orlando Lakefront at College Park community officially launched in 2015 when the 1950s RV park transformed into an upscale tiny home village.
“We offer available lots to tiny housers who wish to legally park, live on the shores of a beautiful lake and take advantage of all that a nearby metropolitan area has to offer,” said Adam Money, the owner of Orlando Lakefront.
To date, 27 RVs and 23 small houses line the property, but many more are interested in joining the tiny home neighborhood.
HOW TO GET STARTED ON YOUR OWN TINY HOME
While tiny homes generally save money on upfront costs and rent, you’ll often need to be actively involved in finding and building your unit.
The most common type of unit tends to be either a shed or an RV, and there are advantages to both.
While RVs give you the flexibility of traveling wherever you’d like, many town ordinances require them to only be parked in certain spaces for a short period of time.
Sheds likewise require you to know your state and county’s zoning laws, as you typically won’t be able to fully live in a shed on someone else’s home property.
Many sheds are on sale at The Home Depot, but in most cases, you’ll be responsible for adding all the required plumbing and electrical services.
You’ll also need to ensure you have a space to put your tiny home.
This means you’ll likely need to search for land to rent.
Spaces are routinely put up for auction on sites like Facebook Marketplace, or you can apply for a lot in an established tiny home community.
Another tiny home duo showed how they were able to build their mini home for just $18,000 and now live mortgage free.
The Home Depot is also offering a $5,000 tiny home that even fits a King size bed.
