Results from our search for a quick tiny house move

We want to pass along the results from our search for a quick tiny house move.

I was all ready to post on Craigslist but with the great results we received in such a short period of time I decided not to.

Within 24 hours of announcing that we were looking for a new space to move to we had 4 offers to host us by people we know directly. This was through general word of mouth and email to specific people. Both Jeff and I also posted flyers at our desks (work and school) that were copies of the 2nd blog post we did saying what we were looking for.

Within another 2 days of the announcement we had another 2 offers that were from friends of friends. One was through Facebook and the other was through word of mouth.

We first posted about our move on our blog on the 6th and had 6 solid offers by the morning of the 9th. When we moved to Seattle we had more offers but we also had surprise media coverage by the neighbor paper where we wanted to live and had months to prepare while we were building.

You’ll see on the map that the 6 possible spots to move to vary in location from the same neighborhood that we’re in now to up to an hours' drive away from work and school.


Although we’ve enjoyed living in Ballard these past four years, it’s now changing. Huge apartment buildings with hundreds of units are being built. Older houses are being torn down and three or four units are being built in their place. Some older houses are being saved but two units are being built in their backyard. The roads to the freeway and to downtown were congested before, now they’re worse. So we’re ready for a change in atmosphere… we considered all offers seriously. All six offers had what we needed and we felt very welcome at each location.

Bainbridge Island was very tempting. To have the experience of commuting by ferry from an island! How many can say they have lived on an island?

On Capitol Hill we’d be a shorter distance from our work and school locations. Being closer to downtown is very appealing too because we enjoy going to live performances. The location would be very close to my brother and his family.  We'd see them more often which would be great.

I haven’t yet been to Index but I’ve been told that there are some very eccentric people living there. It sounds fun to be surrounded by such interesting people.

The location in Kent seems to be not quite rural, not quite suburbs and is a great location. Very nice hosts and an open vista between our house and the next one over.

All 5 of those locations had their pros and cons. Population density and congested roads. Commute time short or longer. Being closer to entertainment and family.

Then…. we went to the Snohomish location. We really enjoy spending time with the hosts. One of them said, “We have lots in common but we’re different enough that it makes it interesting.” They have 2.5 acres and it’s fairly rural. We’d be a only 3 mile drive to restaurants and the library. We’ll miss walking to the grocery store and restaurants but we’re actually interested in how rural ‘feels’. We’ve built our own house, I garden for most of our food and we have many other self-sufficiency skills. We enjoy quiet, and ‘slower’ will be good for us.

When Jeff graduates this coming June we’ll be moving again. We’ve both experienced the city and the suburbs but neither of us have experienced rural yet. Living with this couple will be a great way for us to experience it, learn from them, and know if we want rural when we’re ready to buy a place to live and settle down the next time we move. Snohomish it is. Our move date is August 31st.

We're planning a tiny house move

 

Yes,... we've been told that our homeowner friend accepted a job in New Mexico and that the house we live next to will be sold. We need to find a place to move our tiny house by the end of September. The sooner, the better though.

We're putting out the word that we're looking for a space to move,
but we would appreciate it if you'd try to think of places and would pass along the word as well.

What we need:
- the spot should fit our tiny house (about 24' long, 8' wide and 13'-6" tall)
- the space should be available soon through June 2014
- utility connections within 15 feet of our house for an outdoor extension cord (preferably 20amps),   
   an RV water hose and internet (wi-fi or wire)
- within an hour drive or ferry ride of Seattle
- either urban or rural would be fine

What would also be nice:
- a space equal in size to a one car garage or bedroom where I could do my art projects
   (either at your location or a place nearby that I could rent)
- an area for a small vegetable garden or space for a few containers
- washer and dryer privileges once a week

What you'd get:
- two very nice neighbors who are quiet, are willing to house-sit and look after your pets when
  you're on vacation, and have a great reference from their current landlord
- monthly income while we live on your property
- the possibility of you owning our tiny house once Jeff graduates in June

Do you own a residential or light commercial space with enough room for our tiny house?

Do you have a vacation property that you'd like watched or that you'd like to earn some income on? (Maybe on Bainbridge Island or east of Seattle?)

Maybe you want to own a well-built, nice looking, tiny house at a fraction of what it would cost to build your own? We've thought about trading it.

Maybe you always pass a spot that you think would be a great place for a tiny house or you know someone that has a space for us?

We're great at thinking 'outside the box'. (We live in a tiny house, right?)
We're open to all ideas. What can you think of?    :)

 

Thanks for your help,
Jeff and Arlene 

Sure, our house has wheels... but how mobile are we really?

Recently we starting wondering how easy it would be to move our tiny house to live somewhere else.

What do we have to do so the move goes smoothly?

How do we find a new space to rent?

In what areas would we want to live?

Urban or rural this time?

We started thinking about this because the owner of the house where we've been renting tiny house space for almost 4 years is looking for a new job. Not all of the jobs he's applying for are local though. Some jobs are far enough that he'd sell the house we currently live next to, in fact.
We didn't expect to have to move until June 2014 when Jeff graduates and starts working. Until he's done with school, we need to stay in the Seattle area.

Getting our place ready to move should be easy compared to the many moves we did when living in larger conventional spaces simply because we own a whole lot less 'stuff'.

Because our trailer is rated to carry 7000 lbs maximum we'll have to box everything up (dishes, clothes, etc) and move our 'stuff' separately. We have trailer skirts that also cover the wheel wells that we can easily remove. We have a wooden fence that surrounds the trailer tongue where we store gardening equipment, our propane tank and bikes that also removes easily.

I rent a room in an office building for use as an art studio. I planned that workspace so that both tables and metal bookshelves are on wheels so I can configure my space depending on my project needs. Those wheels will make it easy to simply wheel everything to the elevator and out.

So far, so good, huh?
Where to move though?

When we were building our house and planning our move, I posted on our blog that we were looking for a space to rent in Seattle. I also asked two members of my family who already lived here to pass along the word and we were also lucky that a writer for our neighborhood paper wrote an article about alternative housing and linked to our blog.

We happily received 12 offers for a place to live! Rental costs ranged from free farther from Seattle to an unbelievable $800 a month (she said she wanted to pay off her student loans and didn't care that we brought our own house with us).

Six offers didn't work out because they had enough space, but we couldn't maneuver the house into the space. The two free spaces were great locations but farther than we wanted to commute. Another one was an empty lot surrounded by tall pines but no water or electric service we could figure out. The offer with the high price tag we didn't even consider. That left two offers. We could fit into either space, both are nice couples that we'd like to live near, they live in the same neighborhood... but we connected with one couple more than the other because of many common interests. Jeeps, rock climbing, yoga, organic gardening.

We feel extremely lucky that we found such great neighbors, new friends, and live in a walkable area where we can grow fresh food in the backyard. 

We met some very nice people while doing our search the last time. If we have to move soon, then I'm sure we'll meet more very nice people. Hopefully, finding a place to move the tiny house will be as easy this time as it was the first time.

If you have suggestions on how you'd approach a move like this, or have suggestions on where we should / could move, please post a comment. Lots of people are interested in living in a tiny house but how easy will it be for them to find a place to live in it?

We'll keep you posted on whether we have to move or not...

Downsizing – Part One

I've done it before, this thing called 'downsizing' of my possessions. It was 1998, I was recently divorced and living in SF as a single mom. I couldn't find full-time work in The City but heard through co-workers that there was an opening in their Seattle office.

I was offered the job and it was freeing to get rid of most everything that owned me in anticipation of our move. Freeing was definitely what it felt like when I considered moving.

What size moving van would we need, there were steps to move from so should I hire movers (Delancey Street Movers are amazing!), what size apartment will we need to move to and in what neighborhood to keep it all safe. Those answers would severely limit our choices of livable spaces simply because of what we owned, and trust me, I've never enjoyed limits very much.

Well, I gave away cherished items to friends who had admired them, sold things at a yard sale or gave them to charity. We left California with only the smallest enclosed trailer that held an antique birdseye maple armoire, some clothes, books, toys, 2 bikes and a few basic living items.

If it didn't fit in the trailer then it couldn't come with us.
It's a wonderful feeling that I look forward to again…

If it doesn’t fit into this tiny new cottage, then it won’t come with us.

Media Inquiries – Facts About Our Project

The following information describes our building project. If you have other questions, don’t hesitate to ask. We can reached at "mobilecottage.blogspot at gmail.com"

Why are you building a tiny house to live in?
This tiny cottage began as a project that we thought would be fun to work on together. We have both been interested in architecture since we were very young, have wanted to build our own home ‘someday’ since we were old enough to be out on our own, and are experienced ‘tool people’ so building it ourselves seems easily possible.

What does this project mean to you?
Building this tiny home is a way that we can live our dream of designing and building our own home. We’re building it with VOC free, high quality building materials. It will be very energy efficient with minimal material usage or solid waste going into a landfill. Without a mortgage we will have more freedom and options. This is our solution to help with environmental concerns and sustainability while lowering our living expenses. We purposely chose a cute exterior design so that people wouldn’t mind looking into their backyards and seeing us there.

Won’t it be too small for you two to live in full-time?
We are building a slightly larger version than some of the designs we have seen. Some people think that living in a space this size is impossible but there are many couples (and families) who happily live on boats or are full-time RVers. This type of living situation can work, and maybe because of the current hard economic times, there will be many who never thought it possible but who are now considering simplifying their lives as well as spending less on housing / utilities.

Why do you think it’s important to downsize your possessions?
In this country house sizes continue to grow. Larger houses create more land fill and waste, have larger power consumption needs, require larger lots, and more furniture. If we're buying more things for our bigger houses, then we need more square footage for our stores and bigger parking lots. We wonder why our commutes are so long!
We don't think this trend is sustainable and we want to do our part to help change things. Instead of commuting, we’d rather go hiking, take classes or socialize with friends. Paring way down to the minimum that we need, plus a few items that simply make us smile, and moving into a healthy, small, energy efficient environment is our reaction to all of this. We’d love to get to know our new neighbors and be part of the community and we think our tiny house is a step in that direction.

How do you think this project will change your lives?
We have never lived in a space the size of our tiny cottage for longer than a month but we’re certain that whatever challenges come with living in close quarters, we’ll figure out a solution that will make us both happy. We’ve read a lot about living full-time in small spaces (boats, RV’s) and can’t see any big problems with this that can’t be worked out. We already know that we travel light, enjoy each other’s company, are laid back and are willing to compromise. For a month long overseas trip we took a few years ago, we brought one carry-on each and really had a great time even during long car rides in the very tiny rental car.

What are the facts about your tiny cottage?
* Our tiny cottage exterior measures 8.5’wide and 24’ long (including the length of the trailer tongue).
* We will be using a propane tank for cooking and heating. Other tiny home owners say that heating during the winter even where there is snow costs them less than $10 a month.
* We have a composting toilet so we don't need a sewer hookup. No, it doesn’t smell like the porta potties in the park do. The compost is harvested about 3 to 4 times a year. The final product (thankfully) looks nothing like what goes into making it.
* We will need a garden hose hookup for dishes and showers when we aren’t at the YMCA or UW gym. The hose is an RV hose that can be heated using a tiny amount of electricity during really cold days so it won’t freeze.
* We have few appliances, so an outdoor extension cord from a host house will be fine. Someday we plan to go solar because our electric requirements will be so low.
* Our water from dishes and showers will be recycled (as we'll use only biodegrade soaps) by watering nearby plants so we’d like to have a few containers with vegetables or flowers in front of our cottage or would like to plant a small raised bed garden nearby.
* Building codes? The majority of municipalities have minimum size requirements and other constraints even for ‘accessory buildings’. However, trailers are not fixed structures so they have different legal requirements than local building codes.

What are you looking for?
* A 30 minute or less commute by public transport to the University District.
* We’re not interested in publicity so we’d like to be placed somewhere that the general public won’t be stopping by to peek in the windows out of curiosity or bothering the homeowners that we rent space from by walking uninvited up their private drive to get a better look at our cottage.
* A reasonable monthly rent as we only need a parking space sized area, our utility use will be very minimal, and we’ll be outside of your home so you’ll still have privacy. We bring our own ‘room’ (kitchen/bath/bedroom/living room) but expect to pay about what a room rental costs since we take up as little space. Rooms for rent seem to be running $400+ currently in Seattle near the university. Utilities could be added on top of the basic rent if it’s found that our usage shows on the monthly utility bills.
* Arlene is willing to help with house repairs/remodeling (she'll have a bit of experience in all areas by then) or gardening for an agreed upon number of hours per week in exchange for paying a rent close to the amount suggested above. Maybe someone has an elderly relative who needs help around the house or who could use some extra income? Pet/house sitting while our host travels is an option too as well as daily dog walking.
* Arlene will be looking for work upon relocation to Seattle. She’d like to possibly continue doing CADwork for consulting engineering firms but will also be looking at architectural firms who work on LEED projects. She is currently pursuing LEED certification so work as a consultant for other projects such as this one, for environmental conservation with respects to the building industry, or as someone who deals with recycling building products so they don’t end up as landfill, might also be options. She is also currently working on creating innovative LED light fixture designs.

Have there been any parts of this project that were unexpected?
For such a small project it’s actually effecting our lives in many ways. We’ve learned much more about each other and it’s improved our skills of communication, cooperation and compromise. We’ve also become much more knowledgeable in ecological conservation issues and which sustainable building products are readily available (and affordable) than we thought we’d need to be for this project.

What would you tell others who see your tiny cottage and want to build one too?
If you’re not an experienced builder then do your research ahead of time so your project will go smoother; use the library. We did this and were very happy that we did. Also, realize that no set of plans that you might buy will be set in stone. Because your trailer dimensions will vary, your needs and wants will vary from the designers’, you will need to change the construction plans. We never found a set that was complete so being able to make decisions based on the previous knowledge one has about building (for example, “If I do this, then what else will it effect?”) , and to get things done on the fly, will come in very handy.

Other FAQs

what model hot water heater you installed? Precision Temp RV-500.
It's a tankless, on demand, propane hot water heater.
http://www.precisiontemp.com/pt_rvmd_rv500.html