Her future dream home was one that I had never considered before… and I didn’t have any answers.
“What I really wish for in my first home is to build a Tiny House, sourcing a lot of materials for myself so I can make it affordable!” Her cell phone was facing me, showing the cutest little yellow bungalow shrunk to 225 square feet; only 10% the size of a typical home. My mind was multitasking when I should have been more attentive to her. “A single mother and professional, with her child in a Tiny House? It DOES sound economical… sort of. But, a custom Tiny House in Cedar Rapids? Is that even permitted by the city?”
Upon returning home, my fingers danced across my laptop’s keys for an hour and I learned that Tiny Houses in Cedar Rapids ARE actually a thing. There are a few scattered around town and yes, they are permissible with the right zoning, neighborhood design requirements, etc… As I kept pressing link after link, per my expectation, prefabricated models were readily available for purchase. You can even buy Tiny Houses and shipping container house building kits on Amazon and Temu!
After the caffiene buzz from my buyer appointment wore off and my eyes were blurry and bloodshot from staring at the glare of Google’s minimalist homepage, what had been nagging at me since I first head the words, “Tiny House,” surfaced in my brain. Building a Tiny House as a first home or as an ANY-time home to be used as a primary residence WOULD be a dream for many people (due to their recent popularity on home networks). But alas, if not done right, it may be a financial and logistical nightmare for any but those who have the means to build a second getaway or vacation home.
1. For a first time home buyer specifically, getting pre-approved for a construction loan rather than FHA or conventional loan may prove difficult at best or impossible at worst.
2. Tiny Houses still require at the very least a concrete slab foundation, just as regularly constructed houses do.
3. The cost of a simple, vacant lot in Cedar Rapids is by no means inexpensive. Depending on its size and location, an investment of $20k and higher would be
required for just the parcel of city land to build on.
4. Oh, and Cedar Rapids prefers that you have modern tiny plumbing and tiny power in your new Tiny House, BTW.
5. Then, there is the structure itself. Tiny House or shipping container kits can run in excess of $15k, even from the big box companies. If your dream is REALLY big, a custom designed Tiny House or storage container home is very doable and many national companies would love to have your business. But then, factor in achitectural costs, shipping costs and hidden fees of all sorts.
6. Don’t forget, someone has to DO all of this. City vendors and contractors will be needed to run utilities, a concrete copany will be needed to pour a slab (which alone may run you $20k+), carpenters will be neeed to assemble the kit and or construct the deisgner Tiny House according to spec… you get it.
Perhaps I’ve gone too far?
As appealing as the Tiny House TV shows make them seem, as you can tell, I’m more than a little hesistant about building a tiny home in the Midwest as a residence. THAT IS, unless you have the vision of my client which is very hands on, very patient and very faith-filled. Otherwise, local, established home builders haven’t caught up with HGTV yet. Perhaps someday they will and a great may of us will embrace domestic minimalism. Or, domestic miniturism? I’m still workshopping it.
But… for the needs of this present context; I am a Realtor which means I am also a “Dream Catcher.” I don’t trample on anyone’s dreams, but rather give the facts to my clients and do my utmost to make their dreams into a reality. We haven’t put a pin in this Tiny House dream, yet, and I’m still posing a lot of questions to Google, our lender and my dream team at Inspirational Realty. In spite of the hurdles, I’m really rooting for this dream. Maybe someday in the not-too-distant future I’ll get jacked up on java again, but this time inmy client’s multipurposelivingspace-kitchen-diningroom-breakfastnook-laundry…room, and I’ll be sure to take a selfie for you.
-Blessings Daniel Stanford
#bemovedcr
