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Would you like to buy a tiny home but are unsure about the costs involved?

Tiny houses typically range in size from 100 to 400 square feet and are a popular option for those looking to downsize their living space, cut costs, and reduce their environmental impact at the same time.

A 2018 survey by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) found that 53 percent of Americans would consider living in a home that is 600 square feet or less.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, our homes have become an even more sacred place as telecommuting increases and people spend more time at home due to safety restrictions. In a March 2021 report from NAHB, 12 percent of 3,247 current and prospective homebuyers surveyed said they would prefer a smaller home after the pandemic.

The price for a tiny house varies depending on whether you want to buy a prefab house or build one yourself.

“On average, building a tiny house from scratch can cost between $30,000 and $60,000, depending on the design, materials and finish. Purchasing a fully built tiny house typically costs between $50,000 and $100,000,” said Ashley Tison, CEO and founder of OZPros, a consulting firm specializing in opportunity zones. News week. Opportunity Zones are low-income neighborhoods that offer tax incentives for investors and developers.

Sebastian Jania is the owner of Ontario Property Buyers, a real estate solutions and investment company focused on home sales and renovations. He said Newsweek that the cost of building a tiny house or buying a new tiny house “depends largely on the quality of the tiny house you are looking for.”

Jania said, “You can easily buy a cheap tiny house at Walmart for about $9,000, but the quality of that tiny house can be questionable.”

Highest costs for tiny homes

Tison said the highest costs in tiny homes are typically appliances and the cost of adding kitchen and bathrooms. Other significant expenses include heating, ventilation and air conditioning, customizations in the home, high-quality materials and utility hookups, he added.

For example, the use of modern technologies such as solar cells can increase the initial investment in a home, “but drastically reduce long-term costs,” says Tison.

“While these costs can add up, the long-term savings on utilities and maintenance make tiny houses a financially smart choice,” Tison added.

Jania said the cost of building the tiny house may be “the least expensive of all” and that costs beyond that would need to be carefully considered.

“To have a complete, usable and functional tiny house, beyond the costs associated with building the tiny house itself, you also have to consider the costs of making sure you have a plot of land as well as a source of electricity to power the tiny house,” he added.

Jania said your tiny house may not necessarily have important basic living essentials like “hydro” — hydroelectricity, a renewable energy source that uses the power of running water to generate electricity — or insulation.

In reality, “the cost of actually building the tiny house could be the least expensive of all, as connecting the tiny house to water or municipal utilities from the street can be much more expensive than the construction itself,” Jania added.

Have you built or bought a tiny house? We’d love to hear from you. Send an email to [email protected] and your story could appear on News week.