5 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE BUILDING A TINY HOUSE

February 16, 2021Mariah Hoffman

I took 8 months to plan my tiny house build, before I even bought my trailer or a single tool. This planning and thoughtful reflection process was critical to establishing some of my own project parameters. Believe me, I was itching to finally start building, but looking back I’m SO glad that I took my time and did thoughtful planning before starting.

There are plenty of considerations one should make before choosing to build a tiny house oneself. Below are a few questions I think one should sit with before deciding to build a tiny house.

5 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE BUILDING A TINY HOUSE:

What does 'home' mean to you?
Sounds loaded, I know, but it’s important. This is the foundational work that I always go back to. Whether we are trying to recreate fond memories from a childhood home, build the exact opposite, or a little of both, unpacking our relationship to ‘home’ is critical for any personal home build project. In my opinion, this should always be step-one.
What’s your vision for my your ideal life in the next 5 years? 10 years?
After breaking down our personal relationship to home, we can start to re-imagine what our ideal life would look like. THEN we start to see how this lifestyle informs what type of dwelling or tiny house and specifics when it comes to design features. If your ideal life looks like being on the road 24/7, maybe a van-life journey is more relevant for you?
What's your realistic timeline and available investment?
Be honest. This is a toughie. This goes for both time and financial resources. If you don’t have a chunk of funds saved to build the entire tiny house maybe you will have to work and build on weekends - how will that affect your timeline? Will you need to secure outside funding like a personal loan? Honest cost estimating beforehand will set you on a better track.
How comfortable are you with risk?
When it comes to the legality of tiny homes, the reality is…it depends. It’s a grey area, and this all depends on where you live. Are you comfortable going a non-traditional route with DIY home building for the sake of learning a new skill, or does that compromise your personal sense of safety? Is your goal to live on or off-grid? This is a personal one, but again requires honestly with oneself.
Who is in your corner to support you?
ONE MORE TIME for the people in the back. Your community is EVERYTHING. Friends, family, partners, peers…you might be surprised who comes through in support of your project. Take stock in your network and in-kind resources. Don’t abuse relationships for resources, but be honest about who you can call when things get tough.

I hope these questions have been helpful to kickstart your reflection process!

Looking for more resources?

If you want a little more guided help as you consider a potential tiny house project, check out this FEASIBILITY TOOLKIT. This toolkit designed to help you start brainstorming, researching and crunching some numbers to assess the feasibility of pursuing your dream tiny house project!